Happy Independence Day!!! While it is the Fourth of July today, we must
never proclaim political freedom as more important than our spiritual freedom in
Christ. And while Paul will write in Galatians 5:1, “Christ
has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke
of slavery,” Paul will introduce
that concept quite clearly in today’s passage. To explain what it would be
like, let me give a political example before Paul drops a spiritual example. The
day is July 5, 1776, or maybe, better yet, September 4, 1783. Freedom has been
declared and the victory has been officially won. However, as a country, we
decided, “You know what, it’s hard being autonomous. We have way more
responsibility now. Sure, we aren’t being terrorized anymore, but now we have
to figure out how to run this place. Let’s ask King George to take us back.”
All the lives that were lost in the cause of freedom would have been in vain,
England probably would have treated us even worse, and none of the freedoms
that we enjoy today would exist. Listen to Paul’s next—and final—argument from
experience.
Galatians 2:11-21 says, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him
to his face because he stood condemned. For he regularly ate with the Gentiles
before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and
separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party.
Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was
carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were deviating
from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who
are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles
to live like Jews?” We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners”
know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in
Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be
justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the
works of the law no human being will be justified. But if we ourselves
are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is
Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild the system I
tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. For through the law I have
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 comes
through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”
Paul wants to say once and for all a couple of things to conclude this
first section (though the second one will definitely carry throughout the rest
of the letter). First, that his gospel was not given to him by man. Second,
that the freedom of the gospel is at stake in what the Galatians have started
believing.
Verse 11 gives the situation. “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I
opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.” Cephas is Peter. Peter is
the one Paul got acquainted with for fifteen days. Fifteen days were not enough
time for Paul to change his theological foundation of the previous three years.
However, Paul’s point throughout this section is that even if Peter had added
anything to Paul’s gospel, Paul would throw it away if it was garbage.
Now when does this account take place in the scheme of things? I
mentioned last time that verses 1-10 probably occur in Acts 11:30. The next
thing we see in Acts is James the brother of John being martyred by King Herod.
Afterwards, Herod imprisons Peter, who is miraculously released. In Acts 12:17,
“he departed and went to a different place.” That different place could very well have
been Antioch. Perhaps he wanted to give a face to the name likely being
reported in relation to Jesus (cf. especially the stories related in Matthew’s
gospel where Peter is the obvious spokesperson; stories that would have been
initially transmitted verbally). Or maybe he just wanted a vacation from
Jerusalem—his life had just been threatened—because everyone wants/needs a
vacation at some point. Regardless, he came up to Antioch. And when Paul says, “I
opposed him to his face,” it is possible to understand the grammar of the introductory
phrase as relaying the idea that “Peter may have already
been there for some considerable time when the recorded incident took place.”[1] In fact, as we will see, it
really only makes sense to understand it this way.
But what was it that condemned Peter, that made Paul oppose him? Verses
12-13 explain, “For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came
from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because
he feared those from the circumcision party. Then the rest of the Jews
joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”
Peter caused a rift in the Antioch church. The split was over race; the split
was over religion; the split was serious, and Peter influenced many others to
follow him.
In this day, meals were a form of fellowship. To show that someone got
along with someone else, he or she would eat with the other person. Jesus is a
prime example; it’s why the Pharisees had such a problem with him: “While He was
reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as
guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this,
they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and
sinners?’” (Matthew 9:10-11). Jesus accepted them; He got along with them.
Peter as well, had been eating with the Jewish believers in Antioch—showing that
he fully accepted them as believers in Christ on equal footing as him—but then
something happened that changed it.
Certain men came from James. Cole writes,
The
words ‘from James’ are not as strong in Greek as in English, but they do
express controlled indignation. Paul is not implying that James of necessity
sent them (indeed, James denies this in Acts 15:24); but
they were certainly men from James’ circle, James’ group, within the Jerusalem
church. The implied criticism is that James should not have tolerated such
views.[2]
Regardless
of where specifically these men came from, they claimed to have been sent from
James. They claimed his authority and his level of influence. This shook Peter
to the core. MacArthur comments,
The
old Peter—weak, fearful, and vacillating—had come to the fore again. Here was
the same Peter who under divine inspiration declared Jesus to be “the Christ,
the Son of the living God” but who a short time later rebuked his Lord for
saying that He must suffer and die (Matt. 16:16, 22). Here is the same Peter
who boldly declared he would rather die than deny his Lord but who, before the
night was out, had denied Him three times (Mark 14:29-31, 66-72). Here was the
same Peter who was called to preach but who disobediently went back to fishing even
after he had encountered the resurrected Christ (John 21:3).[3]
Peter
was often afraid of people, and here it almost caused a disaster; in fact it
had already caused a church split—Jew vs. Gentile. And this is where Paul comes
in with verse 14, in the spirit of Titus 3:9-10: “But avoid foolish debates,
genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable
and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second
warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being
self-condemned.” Thankfully, Peter was corrected on his first warning, because
when we see him next—Acts 15—he’s on Paul’s side.
Galatians 2:14-21 contain Paul’s speech to Peter, though in the Greek it
is hard to tell exactly where the quotation ends. Some translations end it in
verse 14; some end it in verse 16; some end it in verse 21. The HCSB, which I normally
follow, ends it in verse 14. However, I think it is best to understand it as
going all the way through verse 21. The NASB reads, “But
when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I
said to Cephas in the presence of all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and
not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like
Jews? We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the
Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ
Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of
the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. But if,
while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found
sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild
what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For
through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. "I
have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. I do not nullify
the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then
Christ died needlessly.’ ”
Paul’s reason for confronting Peter publicly was to show him that,
ultimately, his decision to separate from the Gentile Christians was basically
to say that Christ’s death didn’t need to happen. Just like if we told England that
we wanted back under them after the Revolutionary War had ended, all the
soldiers who had shed their blood for our freedom would have died in vain, so
if we want to return to living under the Law Christ would have died in vain.
Peter was a Jew, who lived like a Gentile for a while after his
experience in Acts 10. People knew this. They also knew that he had stopped
living like a Gentile, and was now expecting Gentiles to live like Jews. Paul
called this hypocrisy in verse 13, and explains his meaning explicitly to Peter
in verse 14.
In verses 15-16, Paul drops a theological bomb. He says, “We’re Jews;
they’re Gentiles; so what? The only way to be right with God is to believe in
Jesus and trust His faithfulness in keeping the Law for the 33 years He lived on
earth. It is the faithfulness of Christ that makes us righteous, not our own
righteous deeds, or even our faith in Jesus; it is all of grace.” The phrase
that occurs twice in Galatians 2:16, translated “faith in [Christ Jesus]”could
also be translated “faithfulness of [Christ Jesus].” I think, to keep the
conversation as simple as possible, it is best to render it “faithfulness of
Christ Jesus” because Paul’s point here is to prove that we as a human race are
not faithful to keep the Law, and that only Jesus will ever fit that bill
perfectly.
Verse 17 solidifies this point. If seeking to be justified in Christ, as
Paul teaches, really is just an excuse to break the Law, and thus leaves people
guilty of sin, then Christ is leading people into sin. Cole helpfully explains
it just a little more clearly by paraphrasing Paul, “If, at the very moment
when we say that we ourselves are justified by faith alone, we turn out to be
preaching to others that ‘faith alone’ is inadequate, but that they must keep
the law as well, does that not mean that trusting in Christ is only leading
them into sin? for it is teaching them not to trust the law.”[4] Paul exclaims, “That’s
blasphemous to even think!” Therefore, Christ’s faithful law-keeping is the
only hope we have for salvation.
Paul explains what conversion means in verses 18-20. Paul says that he
tore down living a life under the law, but that if he then decided—like Peter
had done—to return to living under the law, he would be guilty of sin. Living
under the Law had been Paul’s sin of choice before being saved. Paul says that
that is no more. He now lives to God. He was crucified with Christ—living under
the Law was crucified with Christ—and he now lives by faith in Jesus Christ. It’s
the same with our sins of choice prior to salvation—and, in context, for Peter’s
as well. Paul wants us to know that whatever held us back from totally
committed service to God was crucified with Christ, and that since we no longer
live, that thing was crucified when Christ was crucified, and Christ is now the
one who lives through us. Since Christ lives through us, we never have to
return to cowering before people, we never have to return to yelling and
fighting and anger at those we are supposed to be closest to, we never have to
return to gazing at images on a screen. Christ died and the old me died with
Him. It’s the same for you if you are in Him. Don’t be found a transgressor
because you are rebuilding the things you tore down!
I say, “if you are in Him,” because someone here may be reading and not
be in Him. Look at the end of Galatians 2:20: “who loved me and gave Himself
for me.” The giving of Himself was the physical example of His love for you. He
loved you so much He didn’t even consider His life worth keeping so long as He
could have you for eternity. Think about that, believe that, and let thoughts
of worthlessness, depression, and loneliness die. Jesus loved you. He gave
Himself up for you. Put your trust in Him today. Tear down the strongholds that
are being rebuilt in your life. He is powerful.
Paul concludes his message to Peter by summing up his first argument.
Experientially, he says, “I don’t set aside God’s grace, because if I do,
Christ’s death was in vain.” Christ died for our freedom. Run to Him. Don’t run
to the Law. Don’t run to sin. RUN TO HIM. Everything else is slavery. On this
Independence Day, celebrate spiritual freedom!
Til next time.
Soli Deo
Gloria
[1] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008),
WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 114.
[2] R. Alan
Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 117.
[3] John
MacArthur, Galatians (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1987), 51.
[4] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008),
WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 123.
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