Letters from Paul

A taste of the study room coming with Paul — pull open whatever you'd like to sit with.

The reading — Galatians 2:11-21

¹¹But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. ¹³And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do? ¹⁵“We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners, ¹⁶yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker. ¹⁹For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. ²¹I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

World English Bible

The words behind the words

Hear the word "justified" — I used it three times in one breath (Galatians 2:16). It does not mean "made a little better." It is a courtroom word: to be declared righteous, acquitted, set right before God. And weigh "faith in Jesus Christ" against "works of the law" — the law here is the whole demand of the commandments, circumcision chief among them for these men. I set the two side by side not as partners but as rivals for the same throne: on what ground does God accept a man? On what Christ did, or on what I do? When I say "I have been crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20), the word is not a feeling but a death — the old Saul, with all his law-keeping, put to death, so that another life lives in him.

Where else you say this

I labored this same ground with the Romans, that "a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (Romans 3:28), and I showed it from Abraham, who "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). I said it again to the Philippians, counting my own blameless record as refuse, "not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ" (Philippians 3:9). And to the Ephesians: "by grace you have been saved through faith... not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The situation

Cephas — Peter — came to Antioch and ate freely with the Gentile believers, as was right. But when certain men came from James, he drew back and separated himself, afraid of the circumcision party, and the others followed his fear, even Barnabas. This was no small stumble over manners. By his eating and then his refusing, Peter was preaching with his feet that Gentiles must become Jews to be full brothers — that Christ was not enough. So I opposed him to his face, before them all (Galatians 2:11-14), because the truth of the gospel itself stood or fell in that room. And behind my heat lies my own story: I who once trusted the law above all men now count it loss.

The hard question

You may ask: how could I rebuke Peter so sharply — Peter, who walked with the Lord — and does this not shame him and divide the church? Do not soften it, and do not misread it. I did not oppose Peter because he sinned worse than I once did; I opposed him because he "was not acting in line with the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:14), and no man's standing, mine or his, may be spared when the gospel is at stake. Notice this too: I name his fault, but I do not name him an enemy — he is Cephas, a pillar (Galatians 2:9). The gospel is worth a hard word between friends. Read the passage again and see that my quarrel is never with the man but always for the truth that saves him and you alike.

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