“GOSPEL-CENTERED
LIVING”
Galatians 2:11-16
Introduction: John Stott was one the most
respected Bible Expositors in recent history. He said of the episode described
in this passage of Galatians:
“This
is without doubt one of the most tense and dramatic episodes in the New
Testament. Here are two leading apostles of Jesus Christ face to face in
complete and open conflict.”
Don’t
miss the drama of what is happening here! Think of who these two men were!
Consider their importance to the early church! If you read the Book of Acts,
one way to divide the narrative is to see chapters 1-12 with Peter as the chief
apostle, and from the human perspective, at the center of the activity of the
church in Jerusalem. At the end of that chapter Peter departs to “another
place,” and only briefly returns to the story in the Jerusalem Council in
Acts 15. [Was that when he made the visit to Antioch that Paul describes here?
Possible, but we can’t be sure.] In chapters 13-28 the Church in Antioch becomes
the center of attention, and the Apostle Paul emerges in his role as the
missionary to the gentiles. The narrative of Acts shows what Paul is arguing in
this first part of Galatians: he and Peter were both Apostles in the fullest
sense, authorized representatives of Jesus. Now consider what happened here
between them.
Here in Galatians, Paul describes not a
conflict in doctrine, the two men were of one mind in terms of the Gospel, but
a conflict in practice, the application of the doctrine to life. The issue here is not whether Peter believed
and preached the same Gospel as Paul.
We’ll see several hints here as we have in the first chapter of the
letter that they were solidly on the same page theologically. Paul here is
referring to an example from the past when Peter came to Antioch, and, for a
time at least, was not living consistently with the truth of the Gospel that he
professed. He preached Grace, he
lived under Grace, but then, in order to win the favor of some fellow Jews, for
a time, Peter was acting hypocritically, not living consistently with the truth
of the Gospel. There was a sort of “cultural peer-pressure” as Peter suddenly
withdrew from fellowship with the gentile believers apparently to appeal to the
cultural sensibilities of some Jewish Christians who had come to Antioch. He
preached grace, but his conduct was implying that something more was needed,
that tradition and law were necessary “supplements” to grace, and so, the
separation between Jew and Gentile needed to be maintained. Peter knew better,
and Paul reminded him of that.
The Maine* Idea: The Gospel of Grace should
result in a changed life as Christ lives in us and through us. We’ll look at three admonitions drawn from
that firm foundation: 1) Be Wary of slipping into Hypocrisy (if
it happened to Peter it could happen to us!); 2) Be Willing to
confront one-another in love (Paul did it, for Peter’s sake, and for the sake
of the church, so must we); and 3) Be Wise to base your actions
on God’s truth (in other words, live in the light of the Gospel!)
I. Be Wary of
slipping into Hypocrisy (2:11-13): We need to walk “in step” with the Gospel! Before you think,
“there are a lot of hypocrites around, but there is no way I could act
hypocritically,” remember that this is Peter, the Rock, the man who walked with
Jesus, part of his inner circle, for three years. If it could happen to HIM,
well, we’d be hypocrites to think it could never happen to us! A right understanding of Grace should
result in gracious living. Right
thinking should result in right living, orthodox doctrine (orthodoxy)
should lead to authentic Christian living (orthopraxy). It should. However, if we are not watchful,
we can get out of step with the Gospel…
But
when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood
condemned. 12 For before
certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they
came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision
party. 13 And the rest of the
Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led
astray by their hypocrisy… (2:11-13).
We
should take heed: this was Peter, one of the twelve, one of the inner circle
closest to the Lord, and he was at least temporarily caught up in hypocrisy.
The word came out of the classical Greek and was used of an actor, wearing a
mask, or playing a part on the stage. By New Testament times it was used
metaphorically of someone pretending to be something or someone he wasn’t…
The
story is told of a zoo that was noted for their great collection of different
animals. One day the gorilla died, and to keep up the appearance of a full
range of animals, the zookeeper hired a man to wear a gorilla suit and fill in
for the dead animal. It was his first day on the job, and the man didn’t know
how to act like a gorilla very well. As he tried to move convincingly, he got
too close to the wall of the enclosure and tripped and fell into the lion
exhibit. He began to scream, convinced his life was over… until the lion spoke
to him: “Be quiet, or you’re going to get us both fired!
This
is too serious to joke about! Peter was playing the part of a hypocrite. Consider
who this is. Peter was the one used by God to preach the foundational messages
as the church was being established! He was the one, who received a vision of a
sheet coming down from heaven, and heard the word of the Lord: what I have
called clean do not call common. He received the contingent from the house
of Cornelius, and then went to that gentile home and preached Christ. He saw
God open their hearts and saw the manifestation of the Spirit that confirmed
these gentiles were accepted by God on the basis of faith alone. He knew
the Truth, he preached the Truth! If Peter, after all that, could act
inconsistently, even hypocritically, do you think it can’t happen to you or me?
We need to take heed!
Notice in 2:11 how Paul confronted him:
“To his face.” Not by complaining behind his back, not by complaining to
Barnabas, not by mumbling and grumbling, not by gossiping. Motivated by love
and concerned for the unity of the church he spoke to him directly.
“Communication” is essential to any relationship, and that includes within the church!
Not every confrontation can or should be public. In this case, Peter’s
conduct had impacted others, so it was necessary, for the sake of the church,
to publicly confront his hypocrisy. He knew the truth. He affirmed the same
gospel that Paul preached. He had been living in the light of the gospel in relating
to gentiles as brothers and sisters, but now, when certain men from James came,
he “put on a mask” and separated himself from the others.
In v.12 we are told Peter feared the “circumcision
party.” It seems Paul is using that phrase to describe Jewish believers,
and the issue may have been more cultural than theological. In chapter 3 he’ll
get to the false-teachers that are currently troubling the Galatians. By
referring to this situation with Peter he is laying the ground work for what is
coming. Peter was afraid, we are not told why he feared. But he did. And in a
moment of weakness he cut off the fellowship with his Gentile brethren. And
when he did it as the leader, so, “even Barnabas” was turned, and all
the other Jews. They followed his example, his hypocrisy. Put yourself in the
place of a Christian Gentile in Antioch and imagine what that would have meant!
“Wait a minute Peter, you said we were brothers, that Jesus broke down the wall
and made the two into one, that there was no more division. Do you mean we’re second-class
Christians? You can’t eat with us?”
We need to be wary of slipping
into hypocrisy, and be intentional about living a Gospel-centered life. The
Gospel of Grace should result in a changed life as Christ lives in us and
through us. Secondly, we learn here that we need to…
II.
Be Willing to Confront one another in love (14).
14 But when I saw that their
conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas
before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a
Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
The key word in this verse, and perhaps
in this whole passage, is “your conduct was not in step” – the phrase
translates [orthopodeo] – a word which appears only here in the
Bible. It literally has the idea of “walking straight.” Frequently in the Bible
the life of faith is described as a “walk,” a step by step process. The
Psalmist begins that way in Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked…” Instead, the righteous man “…delights in
the Law of the Lord…” He believes God, and lives by faith. Peter
knew the truth, he had affirmed and preached the same Gospel message as Paul.
Paul has established that in the opening of this letter. There is only one
Gospel, and he and the Jerusalem apostles were of one mind about that. But Peter’s action in separating from the
gentiles was a contradiction, after group of Jews from Jerusalem arrived in
Antioch, was “out of step” with the Gospel (v.14). Theology is not a merely
academic exercise of the mind. It also extends to our heart, and to our hands
and our feet. Theology is always practical. I think that is what James means
when he said “…I will show you my faith by my works…”
Paul saw the problem clearly, since it
was public and impacted the body, as an apostle he confronted Peter. We might
think wait a minute, what about Matthew 18:15-17? In this case, because of the public nature of
the hypocrisy, and because of Peter’s unique position as one of the
foundational leaders of the church, he confronted him publicly. Augustine might have had this kind of
situation in mind when he said “It does no good to correct in secret an error
which occurred publicly.” Out of love for Peter, and for the church, Paul
called Peter out – you know better brother – the gentiles are part of the
family, by grace through faith, the same as us. There is no room for separation
– we are one body in Christ!
The warning here is to be watchful,
first of all, to guard our own heart. We need to choose to live in the light of
the Gospel. But also we share responsibility for the attitude and reputation of
our church. I am not saying that we should be self-appointed “fruit
inspectors.” But if we love one-another, we need to speak up when we see
someone walking a path that is inconsistent with the Gospel. The Gospel of
Grace should result in a changed life as we allow Christ to live through us and
in us, being wary of our own hypocrisy, willing to
confront in love, and…
III. Be Wise to base
your actions on God’s Truth (15-16). Right doctrine should result in right
living. Grace Precludes
“works” as a means of justification: Reflect on the implications of Grace. We need to live
“gospel-center” lives.
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth
and not Gentile sinners; 16
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through
faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be
justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of
the law no one will be justified… (Galatians 2:15-16).
“Law” could not save the Jews, how could
it possibly save Gentiles? Some-times it is hard to tell in the Bible where a
quotation ends, and the narrator turns to talk to the audience. There were no
quotation marks in the original manuscripts! I think Paul is still talking to
Peter here, essentially restating what they both know to be true. What does it
mean to be “justified”? How is it that
we can stand before a holy God? Most people have an idea that faith plus
obedience gives us a right standing before God, don’t they? There is something
skewed in that understanding. It is by faith in Christ that we are justified,
that is, declared “right” with God. Did you learn that little saying in Sunday
School as a child: justification = “just as if I never sinned!”? Because our
sin was imputed to Christ, He bore our sins, taking the punishment that we each
deserved, His righteousness is imputed to our account, by grace, through faith.
So, when the Father looks at us, we are in Christ, and He sees only the
righteousness of Jesus. So, now, for us, the Temple veil is rent, and we can
come to Him directly and boldly.
The words “just” or “right” in the Bible
are from a root word meaning “conformity to a standard.” However,
“justify” does not mean we are made righteous or good. Because of God’s
presence in our life we are saved “unto good works” but not because of
being good or righteous… Let’s read a couple of verses from another letter
Paul. First, Ephesians 2:1-3 describes our former state…
…And you were dead in the
trespasses and sins 2 in
which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience- 3 among whom we
all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the
body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of
mankind...
Then
we read in the following verses about how we can come into a right standing
before God…
4 But God, being rich in
mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been
saved- 6 and raised us up
with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he
might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. 8 For by grace you
have been saved through faith…
Rather,
in legal language, we were condemned sinners (Eph 2:1,2) deserving judgment,
under God’s wrath, BUT because of God’s intervention in our lives, by
means of faith in the substitutionary death of Jesus, we are declared “not
guilty.” Spurgeon said, “Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes
the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell!”
Legally speaking, we who are “justified”
are not judged by the merits of our case, in fact we are not judged at all,
because Christ was judged in our place (Isa 53:4,5). It’s a good thing we are not judged on the
merits, for (2:16), “…by the works of the Law shall no flesh be
justified…” Paul is saying that even we who are Jews know the Law does not
justify! So, we have in James 2:10, “For
whoever keeps the whole Law, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Even one little infraction and that is it, we are guilty? That seems to very
explicit, does it not? Our only hope is the grace of God applying to our lives
the righteousness of Christ—justification by faith. Christ alone, by grace
alone, through faith alone.
There are only two ways humans try to approach
Holy God: trying to make themselves good enough – no one can do it – or
trusting in Jesus and his finished work on our behalf (Eph 2:8.9; Rom 6:23).
Most religions of the world, and sadly, many professing Christians, add to the
Gospel. They start affirming salvation by grace through faith, and then
think adding good works or human traditions is what makes them acceptable to
God. The gospel is Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. He took
our sin. We received his righteousness. If you are His, you are forgiven! Am I
saying all you have to do is say you believe? No. All you have to do is believe,
rightly, who Jesus is, trusting in what he did for you. The result will be a changed
life that longs to obey Him our of love. You are saved “…unto good works,
which God before ordained that you should walk in them.”
What is God saying to me in this passage? So, we should be wary of slipping
into hypocrisy; we should be willing to confront one-another in
love, and we should be wise, living out the Gospel, remembering
that theology is always practical. The Gospel of Grace should result
in a changed life as Christ lives in us and through us.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? We’ll see in
this letter that people easily drift in their understanding and application of
the Gospel. Many embrace the idea of grace, and then think “I’m free! That
means I can live any way I want!” No. The Bible says that if you truly believe,
there will be fruit as God’s Spirit works in you (Eph 2:10; Phil 2:12). John said, “These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that
you have eternal life…” (I John 5:13). He never says, remember the decision
card you signed? Remember when you walked the aisle and prayed the prayer? He
says look in the mirror, what do you see? A life being changed by the Spirit?
Growing in faith and faithfulness? Loving, without prejudice, the brethren?
What does that tell you? If you are living like the world, you should ask, have
I really believed? Without a changed life there is no basis for assurance. When
we have believed, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God, we have eternal life! Believing in Jesus means recognizing and
responding to Him as the Son of God, and trusting in His finished work as our
hope of salvation.
Easy-believism is not biblical. Neither
is legalism. Many start with grace through faith, and then begin to add things,
their church’s thinking about what Christianity should look like.
Believe in Jesus, and do these things (or don’t do them!) and you are right
with God. Paul will get to that present crisis in Chapter 3! (Read 3:1-3!).
Grace plus works is not the gospel. When we are justified the perfect
righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to our account. We are saved. Then we begin
to live differently, as the Spirit exposes different areas of our life and brings
them into the light of the Gospel. God’s love constrains us, God’s Spirit
convicts us and guides us. That is Good News! And that is truly amazing
grace! AMEN.
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