Galatians 2:11-21 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before 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. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “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? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
In the above focus, we see Peter, a foundational apostle, the one who said by the Holy Spirit’s unction that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, now wavering in his understanding that the uncircumcised Gentiles and the circumcised Jews are equal before God. Paul was fully convinced that circumcision and following the law added nothing to being right with God. He died to the idea that the law was necessary to know or please a righteous God, I died to the law so that I might live for God. Every aspect of being right with God through his own works was crucified on the cross. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I live by faith in the Son of God. Peter understood this too, for he had seen the Gentile Cornelius and his household baptized in the Holy Spirit. After the Jerusalem elders came to Antioch, Peter’s preference to eat only with the Jews bothered Paul a lot, for Peter was now making a distinction between the Jews from Jerusalem and the Greeks in Antioch. The Jerusalem brethren believed that circumcision was a necessary step for all Christians who come to believe in Jesus as their Lord. Along with circumcision as a necessary act in being right with God, they also believed in the customs of the Jews as important to follow, such as following the Jewish hygiene procedures before and after eating a meal. The Pharisees condemned Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before eating. The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. (Mark 7:1-4) Now out of fear of the Jewish brethren from Jerusalem who were law-bound, Peter and Barnabas chose to eat with them only and not with their Greek brethren. Paul knew that both Peter and Barnabas knew that to be right with God, one must have faith only in Jesus’ work on the cross. They knew Jesus alone purifies people, rids them of their sins and makes them right with God; no other work pleases a righteous, perfect God. After Jesus the Christ had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3) This choice of Peter to sit only with the Jews at meal time was pure hypocrisy. Peter’s hypocrisy was a dangerous leaven. Paul had to address openly this hypocrisy, for it was leading other Jews in Antioch to make a distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised believers. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “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? Peter was living in freedom that Christ won for him by his work on the cross. He was free from the shackles of the law. Paul reminded him that Christ made him right with God, not the law. Then why would he shackle the Greeks with the law when he is living in the complete freedom that faith in Christ has earned for him.
This hypocrisy of pleasing God only through obedience to the law was very dangerous and would destroy the Good News in the Greek community. Paul knew the believing Greeks were not desiring to take on the likeness of Jews, but the likeness of Christ. The Jewish customs and traditions were heavy burdens on people, so the Greeks were not seeking for these burdens to make their lives better. They were seeking for a better way to be right with God. The Greeks were heavily involved in serving many gods and in adopting the philosophies of learned men. Paul's ministry was to both Jews and Greeks, who had very different ideas about life and about existence. However, Paul preached only Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:23-25) In today’s focus we see Paul concerned that the Jews are now trying to make the Greeks into law-abiding Jews. This is an anathema to Paul. This idea opposes the work of Christ on the cross and the freedom Jesus brings to people who trust in him. Paul did not want the Jews to pursuade the Greeks to take on the burden of the law and the customs of the Jewish society. If they attempt to do that they would lose out in their rightness with God that comes through faith. They would lose their precious high priest who makes them eternally safe in God’s domain. Jesus came as a man to deal with the sins of mankind. He alone makes us right with God and He alone is our high priest. We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16) If the law and works become a substitute for faith in Christ Jesus, then the high priest is no longer available to men and women. The writer of Hebrews says, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. Paul is telling Peter and Barnabas to hold onto Christ, profess his righteousness, not their own righteousness, for their righteousness will NEVER make them right with God. In the above focus, we see Paul is very fearful that this deadly hypocrisy of the Jerusalem Jews will spread through the believers in Galatia. If it spreads, their souls will die, for they will trust in their dead works and not in Jesus’ ever-living works, finalized on the cross.
Jesus the Christ was sent to the world out of Mary’s womb. The Spirit of God established this holy seed in Mary. Jesus came in the weakness of the flesh. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15) Jesus completed the task that He had been commissioned to fulfill. He lived a sinless life even though He carried the weaknesses of the flesh. He performed miracles and wonders that only God can do. He paved the way to God for He did only the will of God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit so He always had access to God’s directions. Jesus made it possible to have the breath of life in the minds of Christians. He breathed on the disciples and filled them with the Holy Spirit. They would now have the words of God in their minds. They would now be able to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. They would be imbued with the fruit of the Spirit presented in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This nature is what Paul was preaching to the Galatians. He wanted both Greek and Jew to be fully filled with the love of God for all people. He knew Law would separate people, not make them ONE IN CHRIST. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15) Peter and Barnabas had been wrongly influenced by this idea that circumcision brings rightness with God. They began to separate themselves from the uncircumcised by not eating with them. Law always separates, but love serves one another humbly. Jesus prayed to his Father, let them be one as we are one. Now in Galatia we see circumcision was separating, not uniting in love. Paul knows the grace of God: Jesus Christ, has been given to all mankind, everywhere and forever. Paul desperately says to the Galatians, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! But Christ did not die for nothing. Jesus said to Nicodemus, You must be born again.’ (John 3:7) Born again is a simple step, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Breakfast companions, do not let the insidious work of the devil enter your life; he would tell you that works contribute to your salvation. No, your works will never earn you salvation--freedom forever, bought by the blood of Jesus. The only true sign of your salvation is what Jesus told the Pharisees, believe in the one who spent three days in death and then was raised again by the Holy Spirit to new life. You, dear friends have been raised to a born-again life through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. You have died and are raised again because you through faith IN Jesus Christ have a new life. So, enjoy your freedom IN CHRIST. Walk in him, talk in him, live in him! He is your everything.
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