{"id":26122,"date":"2023-05-05T22:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/galatians-2_1-10-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-04-18T12:28:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T19:28:40","slug":"galatians-2_11-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/galatians-2_11-21\/","title":{"rendered":"When Paul Confronted Peter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Galatians\u00a0 2:11-21 \u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is Galatians 2:11-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:11-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.<\/p>\n

On verses 11-13:\u00a0 Why was Paul so upset at Peter (also called Cephas) for not eating with the Gentile Christians in the city of Antioch?\u00a0 Why did Paul even confront Peter publicly on the issue?<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that before, Peter, a Jewish Christian, would happily eat with Gentile Christians (v12).\u00a0 God had even used Peter in the past to help Jewish Christians see that Gentiles could also be saved by faith in Christ (see Acts 10-11).\u00a0 But along came certain Jewish Christians from Jerusalem (“from James” in verse 12 is a reference to Jerusalem, where James was leading the church).\u00a0 These Jewish Christians were part of the “circumcision group” (v12) who believed that in order for any person (Jewish or Gentile) to be fully accepted into God’s family, it wasn\u2019t enough to believe Christ; even more, that person had to undergo the Jewish custom of circumcision that God had established with Abraham centuries earlier in Genesis.\u00a0 Since the Gentile Christians had not been circumcised, these Jewish Christians refused to eat with them.\u00a0 By refusing to eat with them, the message they were sending was: we don’t accept you into our circle, and you don’t share in the same spiritual blessing that we share.<\/p>\n

Fearing this circumcision group (v12), Peter gave into their peer pressure and began to disassociate himself with the Gentile Christians at meals.\u00a0 Barnabas and other leaders joined Peter in this behaviour (v13).\u00a0 This resulted in racial and ethnic segregation between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.\u00a0 Paul was understandably upset.<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:14a (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all\u2026<\/p>\n

On verse 14:\u00a0 Sometimes a public sin requires a public rebuke.\u00a0 Otherwise, staying silent on the issue could give people the wrong idea and set the wrong example for others.\u00a0 In this case, Paul would be one of the more appropriate people to speak up to Peter about this issue, since both of them were apostles.\u00a0 The fact that Paul was willing to call on Peter on his behaviour also reflects Paul\u2019s lion-type personality, unafraid of direct confrontation.<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:14b (NIV)<\/strong>
\n\u2026 “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?<\/p>\n

On verse 14b:\u00a0 What does Paul mean by this?\u00a0 How was\u00a0Peter a Jew but living \u201clike a Gentile and not a Jew\u201d?\u00a0 And how was Peter forcing Gentiles \u201cto follow Jewish customs\u201d?\u00a0 Peter was a Jew but living like a Gentile in that he was not trying to earn his salvation anymore by following Jewish customs.\u00a0 Yet at the same time, Peter was forcing \u201cGentiles to follow Jewish customs\u201d in this way:\u00a0 by disassociating himself from Gentile Christians at meals, he was giving Gentiles the impression that they were not fully accepted into God\u2019s family unless they followed Jewish customs like circumcision.<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:15-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.<\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0 Paul uses this as an opportunity to remind Peter and everyone else what the doctrine of justification by faith is all about:\u00a0\u00a0that all people – both Jews and Gentiles – are justified (that is, declared righteous and acceptable in God\u2019s sight), not \u201cby observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ\u201d (v16a).\u00a0 In other words, no one can be justified (declared righteous and acceptable before God) by trying to follow God’s laws (v16b) since none of us is perfect.\u00a0 Why does Paul bring up this doctrine of justification by faith?\u00a0 It\u2019s because Paul is saying, \u201cif God accepts all of us not because of how well we observe Jewish customs but by our faith in Jesus, then isn\u2019t it hypocritical of Peter, Barnabas and others to exclude Gentile sinners from the dining table because of how well they observe the Jewish law?\u201d\u00a0 It goes to show that the way God treats us should determine the way we treat others.\u00a0 Rather than thinking of the Gentile Christians as \u201cGentile sinners\u201d (v15), Paul was encouraging everyone to remember that we are all sinners justified by our faith in Christ, that we\u2019re all in the same boat and that there should be no segregation between Jewish believers and Gentile believers.<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:17-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17<\/sup>\u00a0“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.<\/p>\n

On verses 17-20:\u00a0 Here\u2019s my best effort to explain what I think Paul is trying to say here in these four not so easy to understand verses.\u00a0 First, when we as Christians sin, that is definitely not Christ at work in us but it is sin at work in us (v17).\u00a0 Second, when I condemn sin but continue to sin (or in the words of verse 18, when I try to rebuild what I\u2019ve already destroyed), I show just how much of a sinner (a lawbreaker) I am and how much I need someone to save me (v18).\u00a0 Third, \u201cthrough the law I die to the law\u201d (that is, by knowing what God\u2019s law requires me to do and trying to do it and failing miserably, I die to the idea that I could save myself through perfect obedience to God\u2019s law).\u00a0 This \u201cdeath\u201d is necessary \u201cso that I might live for God\u201d (v19) (in other words, so that I can experience the new life that God has for me, I need to realize that I can\u2019t earn my way to righteousness).\u00a0 This new life that God has for me is not about me trying to be righteous in my own strength.\u00a0 Rather, \u201cI have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live\u201d (v20a); in other words, I have quit trying to earn my own righteousness through perfect obedience to God\u2019s law; that old part of me is dead just as Christ died).\u00a0 Instead, \u201c\u2026[b]ut Christ lives in me.\u00a0 The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave myself for me\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, my trust is no longer in myself, but in Jesus Christ who loved me and sacrificed His perfect life so that by faith in God\u2019s grace I could be righteous in God\u2019s sight.\u00a0 Whoever thought that an awkward and uncomfortable confrontation between Paul and Peter could lead to the deep theological statements Paul is making here.<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”<\/p>\n

On verses 21:\u00a0 So instead of clinging to his own imperfect adherence to Jewish customs as his hope for salvation, Paul now clings to God\u2019s grace as his hope.\u00a0 We must do the same.\u00a0 That\u2019s the very reason why Christ came and died for us, because we could never gain righteousness by trying to obey the law ourselves.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Stop trying to earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance on your own. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Instead, realize that Christ died to give you His righteousness and forgiveness as a free gift of His grace.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Be mindful of how peer pressure affects you<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not all peer pressure is bad.\u00a0 Some peer pressure is good. The circumcision group gave Peter a negative peer pressure that led him in the wrong direction.\u00a0 Paul gave Peter some positive peer pressure that steered Peter back in the right direction. Who are you eating with?\u00a0 In other words, who are you allowing to influence you and what kind of person are you becoming as a result?<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0God\u2019s heart is to break down all unnecessary barriers that stand between Him and people, and between one group and another group.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Since that is God\u2019s heart, let that be our heart too.\u00a0 Here’s what I find in church: unless you are going out of your way to be welcoming to others, you can – without trying – cause people to feel excluded.\u00a0 So go out of your way to be warm and welcoming to people who are new to our church family.\u00a0 Don’t just stay in your comfortable circle and hide in a clique.\u00a0 Show the inclusive, embracing love of Christ to people who come from a different background from you.\u00a0 Show them that in Christ we have the most inclusive, courageous love that crosses all borders.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father that when I was unable to earn righteousness on my own, Christ died for me so that I could have Your righteousness and eat at Your table.\u00a0 Since You showed me that kind of love, help me to show that kind of love to those around me, especially those who are different from me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Galatians 2:1-10.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Galatians 2:1-2 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 Paul\u2019s goal is to show the Christians in Galatia that they are heading in the wrong direction by thinking that they need to be circumcised in order to be saved.\u00a0 To help them see the error of their ways, Paul uses an interesting and commendable approach: he shares a story.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s his own story, the story of how years before he went through a similar struggle.\u00a0 Paul shares about a time when he also wondered whether he was preaching the right thing by telling Gentile Christians that they didn\u2019t need to be circumcised in accordance with the law of Moses.\u00a0 So Paul goes to Jerusalem, along with his ministry teammates Barnabas and Titus, to ask for advice from leaders in Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26125,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26122\/revisions\/26125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}