“GOSPEL-SHAPED
LIVING: Keep in step with the Gospel!”
Galatians 2:11-21
Introduction: John Stott 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.” 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 chapter 12
Peter departs to “another place,” and only briefly returns to the story to
testify at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. In chapters 13-28 the Church in
Antioch becomes the center of attention, and the Paul emerges in his role as
the Apostle to the gentiles. Acts shows what Paul is arguing in
Galatians: he and Peter were both Apostles in the fullest sense. Consider what
happened in this scene 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 is not whether Peter
believed and preached the same Gospel as Paul. We see several indications in
Galatians that they were solidly on the same page theologically. Paul is
referring to an example from the past when Peter came to Antioch, and, for a
time at least, was not acting consistently with the truth of the Gospel that he
professed. He preached Grace, he lived
under Grace, but then, yet in order to win the favor of some fellow Jews, for a
time, Peter was acting hypocritically, not in step with 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, separation
between Jew and Gentile needed to be maintained. Peter knew better, and Paul
reminded him of that.
The BIG 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) WALK in step with the Gospel; 2) Know that Works
can’t justify you before God; and 3) As you live in the light of the Gospel, 3)
Watch, as the indwelling Christ transforms you!
I. Walk in step with the
Gospel: Guard against slipping into Hypocrisy (2:11-14).
Most believers know what hypocrisy is, but think they could never fall into it.
Remember this
case! This is Peter, the Rock, one of the men who walked with Jesus for three
years! If it could happen to HIM, let him who stands take heed lest he fall! A right understanding of Grace should
result in gracious living. Right
thinking should result in right living, orthodox doctrine (orthodoxy)
should lead to a changed life (orthopraxy). Paul points to the conflict:
11 Now when Peter had come to
Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from
James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played
the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their
hypocrisy. (2:11-13).
First, we see a crisis described
(11-13). Peter was one of the twelve, one of the inner-circle closest to the
Lord, and yet he was temporarily caught up in hypocrisy. The word
came out of the old Greek and was used of an actor, wearing a mask, or playing
a part. By NT times it was used metaphorically of someone pretending to be something
or someone he wasn’t. Like the guy who, when the circus gorilla died, was hired
to put on a gorilla suit and fill in for the animal until they could get another…
“His first day on the job, the man didn’t know how to act like a gorilla. As
he tried to move around, he got too close to the wall of the enclosure and
tripped and fell into the lion exhibit. He began to scream, sure his life was
over… until the lion spoke to him: ‘Quiet! You’re going to get us both fired!’”
Playing a part! Peter was playing the
part, being a hypocrite. Remember, it was Peter, who, in Joppa, on the roof top
of Simon the Tanner, had 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 40 miles north,
to Caesarea, to that gentile home, and preached Christ. He saw God open their
hearts and 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! After that experience, Peter slipped into acting hypocritically! We need
to watch.
Paul confronted Peter: “To his face”
(2:11). There is a lesson there. Not by complaining behind his back, 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 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 preached the truth. He had been living in the light of the gospel, relating
to gentiles as brethren, but now, when some men from James came, he “put on a
mask” and separated from the others.
Peter feared the “circumcision party”
(2:12). 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 groundwork for what is coming. Peter was
afraid, and in a moment of weakness he cut off the fellowship with his Gentile
brethren. A poor example can be contagious. When Peter did it as a
leader, so, “even Barnabas” was turned, along with 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 even eat with us?” We need to
be intentional about living a Gospel-centered life. The Gospel of Grace should
result in a changed life as Christ lives in us. Secondly, we need to be Willing
to Confront one another in love (2:14)…
14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all,
"If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews,
why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? "
The key word in 2:14, “straightforward,”
[orthopodeo] is translated
in the ESV by the phrase, “your conduct was not in step” – a single word
which appears only here in the NT. It has the root idea, “walking straight” (from
which we get our English word “orthopedic”). Frequently, the Bible describes the
life of faith as a “walk,” a step-by-step process. As Psalm 1 begins, “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, he lives by faith. Peter knew the truth, he believed the same Gospel as
Paul. There is only one true Gospel, the apostles agreed about that. But after some Jews from Jerusalem arrived in
Antioch, he was “out of step” with the Gospel (v.14). The Gospel should
shape our living! Theology is not a merely mental exercise. It also extends to the
heart, and to our hands and feet!
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 Mt 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, Paul
confronted him publicly. Augustine might
have had something like this 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 for us is to be watchful,
first of all, to guard our own hearts. Are we living in the light of
the Gospel? Does the truth of the Gospel impact our attitudes, decisions,
and actions? But also, we share responsibility for the 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. That is what Paul does here with Peter. The Gospel of Grace
should result in a changed life as we allow Christ to live through us and in us,
so walk in step with the Gospel, and secondly, know that…
II. Works can’t justify you
before God (15-16)! We are justified by grace through faith in
Christ alone. We
need to live “gospel-centered” lives. Right
doctrine should result in right living.
15 "We who are Jews by nature,
and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16
"knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith
in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be
justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works
of the law no flesh shall be justified.
That
is pretty direct! “Law” could not save the Jews, how then could it save
Gentiles? The issue is highlighted by the repetition of some key words in these
verses. Paul uses the verb “justify” three times in v.16 (cf. Rom
3:19-22). John Stott summarizes this
issue:
“…there
are at least two basic things which we know for certain. The first is that God
is righteous; the second is that we are not. And if we put these two truths
together, they explain our human predicament, of which our conscience and
experience have already told us, namely, that something is wrong between us and
God…” (Galatians, p.60).
To
experience reconciliation with God we don’t need reformation, we need
regeneration! Then, as Paul is tells Peter, the message of the Gospel, which
they believed, by which they were saved, should be reflected in how we live our
lives. I think Paul is still talking to Peter here in Galatians 2:15-16,
essentially restating what they both know to be true. This is how J. Gresham
Machen, one of the founders of WTS, paraphrases the sense of these verses…
“You
and I,” said Paul to Peter, “were Jews by nature; we had all the advantages
which the law could give. Yet we relinquished our confidence in all those
advantages, so far as the attainment of salvation was concerned, by seeking our
salvation in exactly the same way as that in [which] it is to be sought by
despised Gentile ‘sinners’ – namely, by the free grace of Christ received by
faith alone.” (Machen’s notes on Galatians, p. 148-149).
Peter
and Paul agreed on what it meant to be “justified.” There is only one way we
can stand before a holy God. It is by faith in Christ that we are justified,
declared “right” with God. Our sin was imputed to Christ. He bore our sins,
taking the punishment that we each deserved. By grace, through faith, His righteousness
is imputed to our account. So, when the Father looks at us, we are in Christ,
and He sees only the righteousness of Jesus. The Temple veil is rent, and we
can come to Him directly and boldly. How then, shall we live?
This is not the idea most have of
“religion.” 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. We are saved “unto good works” but
not because of being good or righteous…
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,” that is, we are “justified.” As Spurgeon said, “Morality
may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you
out of hell!” We who are “justified” because Christ was judged in our
place (Isa 53:4,5). It’s a good thing,
because, “…by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified…” We read in James
2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole Law,
and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all.” In our honest moments,
we know it! Like when Arthur Canon Doyle, who sent identical messages to twelve
acquaintances, some of the most prominent men in London. It simply said, “All
is discovered! Escape while you can!” All twelve promptly left town! We know
we are guilty! Our only hope is the grace of God. And the Gospel of Grace
should result in a changed life as Christ lives in us and through us.
III. Watch, as the
indwelling Christ transforms you! (17-21).
The
gospel should shape our living (2:17-19). Right
doctrine should result in right living. We should guard against, “conduct…
not in step with the Gospel.”
"But
if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found
sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 "For if I build again
those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 "For I through the law
died to the law that I might live to God.
We can
sometimes struggle with the idea of “grace.” One interprets it as a license to
sin, another begins to add “rules” that we must keep in order to earn God’s
favor. Neither of those is biblical grace! It is like Paul is saying, “Look
Peter, we both recognize that we who were born Jews, people like you and me,
are no different than gentiles. Our only hope is in Christ alone, by grace
alone, through faith alone. If I admit that for myself, how could I add to it
requirements for gentile believers?” Grace means grace, plus nothing!
Liberty
in Christ does not mean license to sin (17-18). How can “faith alone”
justify us if Christians still sin? Or worse yet, why can’t I believe and then
do whatever I want? If God justifies sinners, what is the sense in being good?
Does that mean Christ is advocating sin? Paul addresses that directly in Romans
6, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may
abound? 2 By no means! How
can we who died to sin still live in it?”
Most
people don’t recognize the seriousness of sin – that it separates humans from
Holy God. For the Christian, we are positionally “righteous.” Practically,
we are learning and growing as our life comes increasingly under the Lordship
of Christ. If we are declared righteous by grace alone, how does the gospel
become the foundation and the fuel for Christian
living? Paul points to the power for Christian living: union with
Christ in his death and resurrection (2:20-21)…
"I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness
comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
This
really describes the dynamic of the Christian life, in Christ, he is saying 2:19b-20
he had died to the Law—and was united with Christ in his death on the cross—“I
have been crucified with Christ…” Imagery of baptism in Romans 6:3-6
develops this idea further…
3 Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with
him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with
him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. 6 We
know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin
might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to
sin.
If we
are united with Christ in his death, we are also united with him in his
resurrection (Col
Paul
makes a final statement in v.21 that end any idea that “works of the Law”
were necessary for salvation, or even necessary to complete it. He says, “…if
righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing…” If human effort could justify us before God,
if there was some other way, something less than the humiliation and horror of
the passion and the death of the Son, why did He do it? Why did He spare not
the Son? God is Just, and Holy, and it was the only way that a just and holy
God could pardon sinful humans. There had to be a substitute. This is
how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world, that we might live through Him (I John 4:9).
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? That’s the BIG
Idea: 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? Early in my
Christian life l thought the Gospel was for evangelizing the lost. Period. I
learned about the gospel day one, I wanted to move on to deeper things! Only
later did I realize that the Gospel is truly the foundation of our
faith, it impacts every aspect of our doctrine. And it also fuels the
Christian life. As we grasp the love of God and the Grace of God revealed in
the Cross, we are constrained by the love of Christ, to live differently!
Many start with grace through faith, as
did the Galatians, and then begin to add things, like their church’s thinking
about what Christianity should look like. Believe in Jesus and do
these things (or usually, don’t do them!) and you’re in! 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.
Over time, as we grow in our understanding, the Gospel of Grace impacts how we
live. That means we are all a
work in progress. So let’s be patient with one another, and agree to grow together,
holding fast the Word of Life, and provoking one another to love and good works! AMEN.
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