Galatians 2:
2 Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.
2 I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, 5 to whom we gave no place in the way of subjection, not for an hour, that the truth of the Good News might continue with you.
11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For 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. 13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But 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, 16 yet 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. 17 But if while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker. 19 For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who 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. 21 I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
Hey Everybody,
Welcome back to the PvBibleAlive podcast. I’m Bruce Hays, the pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Wichita, Kansas. And today we continue through the text of Scripture in the New Testament epistle to the Galatians, chapter 2. So, if you want to find that passage of Scripture, I want to share with you the second half of a sermon I preached about faithfulness.
The Apostle Paul here is a great example of faithfulness.
I said in the last sermon that Paul was someone who couldn’t be kept down. There’s a song that was popular a few years back entitled,
Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down) Lyrics - YouTube
www.youtube.com › watch
Lyrics
I get
knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
As I looked at the verse lyrics to that song, it sounded like a song about a guy who could drink a lot of liquor, but stay on his feet. But that’s not who Paul was, Paul made a commitment to Jesus Christ, and to preaching the gospel to the Gentile world, and despite the fact that, at every turn, someone was knocking him down, sometimes literally, he remained faithful to the Lord and to his calling.
And it was a daily grind kind of faithfulness. He was faithful through, extensive travel on foot, through heat and cold, through hatred and violence, and through daily opposition. That’s why he is a great example for Christians. Because, though few of us will have to face death for our faith, most of us are faced daily with the temptation to just give up.
Faithfulness
Fred Craddock, a professor of preaching at Emory University, said this about day to day faithfulness; "To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table-- 'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.' But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."
Darryl Bell.
And that is the example that Paul sets for us in this epistle to the Galatians. Remember, he is writing this letter to several churches in a region called Galatia, the region called Turkey today. He took the Good News of salvation, by grace, through faith, to them, and many believed, and churches were started. But after Paul and Barnabus left these churches, Judaizers came along and corrupted the message Paul had preached.
They said, you must have more than just faith in Jesus Christ. You also have to become a Jew; thus the name Judaizers. You have to be circumcised, and follow all the 613 laws of the Jewish Scripture.
And many Galatians believed that message. So Paul revisits these churches, and writes this letter to be circulated around these congregations.
And letter can be broken down into three parts; First, Paul stands up for the gospel, and himself against accusations, chapters 1 through 2. Second, Paul stands up for the gospel of grace through faith, chapters 3 through 4. Third, Paul stands up for living by the Spirit.
Now, we are finishing up today with Paul’s standing for the gospel and himself, against accusations. Paul is forced to defend himself against accusations. And the accusations are that he is not an apostle, and that he is a man-pleaser. These Judaizers were saying that Paul was just telling them what they wanted to hear, to make it easy on himself, and so he could gain a following.
Well Paul uses chapters 1 and 2 to narrate for us a history of his life, demonstrating that he got his message and apostleship straight from Jesus Christ, and that he is no man-pleaser.
In fact, he has remained faithful to his Lord, and to the message, despite numerous hardships and dissension about the message.
We considered that last time. Paul’s Christian missionary work was full of hardship and dissension. But Paul kept preaching, discipling, and reaching out regardless.
That was described last time in Paul’s description of his attendance at the Jerusalem Council. The Jerusalem Council was a gathering of apostles and elders to decide, once for all, whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabus went to that meeting. But it tells us in Galatians 2:
Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.
3 But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
If you want to know how faithful Paul was to the gospel message of salvation by grace through faith alone, he took an uncircumcised Gentile Christian convert to a discussion about whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised to be saved.
And he points out that during the council meeting, nobody among the apostles and elders tried to make Titus get circumcised.
So Paul was faithful in hardship and dissension. The third point from this two part sermon is that Paul was faithful during hostility
I. Faithful during hostility
Now this is just a short point before we get to the big story in today’s message. But apparently, though the apostles and elders at the Jerusalem Council agreed with Paul about the gospel, and about Titus remaining uncircumcised, there were some there who did not accept Titus, or any uncircumcised convert to Christ. In Verse 4
3 But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Nobody compelled Titus to be circumcised, except..
there were some at the Jerusalem council who,
came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
He says that there were people at the Council meeting who wanted to force Gentile converts to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law,
We can read about them in Acts 15.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
But Paul describes them in Galatians 2 as false brethren, secretly brought in. They weren’t really Christian. They were just there to undermine the truth of the gospel. And these phony Jewish Christians had a long-standing beef with including Gentiles in the Church.
They were hostile to the gospel of grace, and to Paul because he was preaching it to the Gentiles. But Paul remained faithful despite hostility.
You know, it’s hard to remain faithful through hostility. We’ve entered a time in the world where angry people are no longer content to “agree to disagree.” If you disagree, they will try to destroy you.
The violent destructive tendency of today reminds me of a story I read.
In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine. The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.
Daily Bread, August 13, 1992.
As I said, this was a long-standing beef between Jew and Gentile.
To be entirely truthful, welcoming Gentiles into the church had been a struggle from the start. The gospel is not actively being preached to the Gentiles.
Philip baptizes the Ethiopian Eunuch, but he doesn’t become a part of the Jerusalem church. He goes home to Ethiopia.
In Acts chapter 11, after Paul’s conversion, at least 3 years after Jesus ascension and commission to go into all the world, we have the story of Cornelius, a Gentile convert.
It took 3 years after Jesus ascension to begin preaching to the Gentiles, and even then it was because God gave specific directions in a vision to Peter.
At that time Peter, was still keeping himself separate from Gentiles, and believed that Gentiles had to become Jewish to be saved. And it takes a vision from God, and the Gentiles receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit to convince him.
But Paul and Barnubus did not succumb to hostile pressure. Paul is saying, I am not a man-pleaser. In fact, I stood for the gospel before the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, and before those who were hostile to the gospel.
And finally, Paul finishes his personal defense by telling the churches at Galatia, that he even personally confronted the lead apostle; Peter. He is no man-pleaser.
II. Faithfulness in Peer Pressure.
I have had the privilege of preaching before large and small crowds. The largest I have been in front of was 2000. Some have asked, “which is harder, preaching to 2000, or talking to a friend about faith. I would have to say, it’s more difficult to talk to a friend. But in this last section, Paul tells the Galatian churches, Jesus gave me the message that I teach, and I have faithfully preached it, without change, to the Jerusalem Council, to false brethren, and now let me tell you about an encounter with Peter.
Now, in the interest of time, let me just tell this story as we read it from Scripture.
11 But when Peter came to Antioch,
When did this happen? Well, as in verse 1, I told you that I believed Paul was talking about attending the Jerusalem Council, so now, Peter’s visit to Antioch would appear to have occurred after the Jerusalem Council. Some believe that this visit by Peter to Antioch took place before the Jerusalem Council.
So why does it matter whether Peter visited Antioch before or after the Jerusalem Council? Because Paul confronts Peter in Antioch for separating himself from Gentiles. He came to Antioch by himself and sat down and ate with Gentiles. But when other Jews showed up, he moved to the “Jews only” table. It’s helpful to remember that Jews believed that Gentiles were unclean, and that they (the Jews) would become unclean if they ate with Gentiles, used their utensils, went into their houses, etc.
So let’s back pedal a little bit and remember Peter’s journey regarding Gentile salvation and fellowship.
First step: As I said before, it took three years from the ascension of Christ for Jewish Christians to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And that only happened because Peter was given direct instruction in a vision from God.
Remember this?
Acts 10
9 Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon. 10 He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, 12 in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky. 13 A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!”
14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
15 A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.” 16 This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven. 17 Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate, 18 and called and asked whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. 19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three[c] men seek you. 20 But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
So Peter goes to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius. And Cornelius had gathered his entire family to hear Peter. And when Peter gets there, he says this,
28 He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean. 29 Therefore I also came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”
Cornelius explains that he too had a special revelation from God to call for Peter. And Peter responds,
34 Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism; 35 but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
Now don’t miss this, God brought Jew and Gentile together. God broke down the wall barring fellowship between Jew and Gentile. God told Peter not to make judgments about whether these Gentiles were “unclean” before God.
So Peter preaches the gospel to them, and they receive the Holy Spirit, evidenced by their speaking in foreign languages. And that was the exact same gift that had been given to the Jewish disciples after their conversion. Well, Peter, seeing this, said to those who accompanied him,
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. 45 They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God.
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us.” 48 He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.
Now after this occasion, Peter anticipated that he would get some push back from the Jews back in Jerusalem,
2 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!”
so he retells the entire story to them about the vision, the baptism of the Spirit etc. Then they respond.
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”
Now, back to the question, why is it important whether Peter’s trip to Antioch happened before or after the Jerusalem Council? Because if Peter went to Antioch before the Jerusalem Council, and moved from eating at a Gentile table, he is violating the truth given to him by God around the conversion of Cornelius’ household. If this event happened after the Jerusalem Council, he is not only violating God’s direct revelation, he is also violating the decision made by the apostles and elders at the Jerusalem Council. So he is either a big coward, or a ginormous coward.
Well, to help you understand, you need to remember what was decided about Gentile salvation at the Jerusalem Council. In summary, after the apostles and elders gathered, including Peter, James the Lord’s brother, John, Paul, and Barnabus, they decided that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised or follow the Mosaic law in order to be saved. This is actually what Peter said in Acts 15. He refers to the conversion of Cornelius’s household.
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 7 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,[b] just as they are.”
In other words, Peter says, the Jews are no different from the Gentiles. Gentiles do not have to become Jews in order to be saved. I fellowshipped with Cornelius and his family.
So after the Jerusalem Council, where the apostles, elders, including Paul and Barnabus concluded that Gentiles are saved the same way that Jews are, by grace through faith, not of works, or circumcision, or following the Mosaic law. And then Peter decided to make a visit to the first Gentile church at Antioch.
Now, I already stated that I believe this happened after the Jerusalem Council. I just think it fits the narrative well. They have just had this big meeting about Gentile salvation, and decide that Gentiles are welcome in the church without Mosaic law. So what would be more natural, at that point, than for Peter, the first apostle, to visit the first Gentile church?
So Peter comes to Antioch, but the story takes a sour turn. Paul says, in Galatians 2
But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For 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.
So this is what happened. When he came alone to the Gentile church, he was fellowshipping with Gentiles, eating at the same table with Gentiles. He had no notion that Gentiles were in any way inferior to Jews. Though they were uncircumcised and had a different diet, and different clothes and didn’t follow the Mosaic law, Peter was liberated in his mind. He understood that none of that saved a person, or made them clean or unclean, or right with God.
But then, after a few hours maybe, or a day or two, another group of Jews from Jerusalem showed up. And Peter recognized them as being more legalistic, more uptight about separation from Gentiles.
As we noted earlier, at the Jerusalem council, there were some Pharisees who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law. But they were overruled. So why did these people come to Antioch? Well, after the Jerusalem Council decision, it’s possible that they were sent, to kind of check out this Gentile church. The text says that they “came from James.” Now this does not mean that James had any problem with Gentile salvation. In fact, at the Jerusalem Council James says,
14 Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. 15 This agrees with the words of the prophets.
19 Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God,
So these are sent from James, maybe sent simply to check out this Gentile church. But it appears that they weren’t as open to Gentile fellowship. They were accustomed to separating themselves from Gentiles. To put it bluntly, like in the deep south, during the civil rights era, there were “colored” water fountains and restrooms, and “white only” water fountains and restrooms. There was separation on buses, and at restaurant counters. And though there may have been those (even white people) who opposed the separation, it was difficult to fight the long-standing tradition. So these Jews came from Jerusalem. And when they arrived, they sat down apart from the Gentiles. They separated themselves.
So what does Peter do? Peter was sitting with the Gentiles. But Peter gets up and moves his tray over to the cool kids table. Peter leaves the fellowship with Gentiles to join the Jews who are sitting separately from the Gentiles.
And it gets worse.
13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
Because Peter was a leading apostle and elder of the Jerusalem church. Other Jews followed his lead, and separated themselves from the Gentiles.
I bet the room got really quiet.
Now why did Peter do this? We can only guess. Maybe he was intimidated by those Jews who came from Jerusalem. Maybe, back in Jerusalem, he was used to the separation, because non-believing Jews separated themselves from Gentiles, even in synagogue services. And maybe Peter reasoned that he was making himself like the Jews, in order to win the Jews.
Maybe, he reasoned, that the Jews were the weaker brothers, and weren’t quite ready for desegregation.
Whatever the reason was, Paul saw differently than Peter, or the other Jews did. This wasn’t just a simple social tradition. By separating himself from the Gentiles, Peter was making a statement about salvation, how a person is saved. By his actions he was saying that the Gentiles were still unclean. They were not complete. They hadn’t gone far enough in order to be saved. They needed to become Jews in order to be accepted by the Jews. And that meant circumcision and following the Mosaic law.
As G. Walter Hansen put it in his study of Galatians,
No doubt Peter would have denied that he meant to communicate this requirement to the Gentile believers. But how else could his action be interpreted? The Gentile believers could not help but conclude from Peter's withdrawal that they were lacking something, that they were unacceptable outcasts. If they wanted to enjoy fellowship with Peter and the mother church in Jerusalem, they would have to become Jews. Their experience of salvation would be incomplete until they became Jews and observed the Jewish law.
And Paul sees that.
Now we need to remember why Paul tells this story in Galatians 2. He is defending himself against accusations that he preaches the gospel of grace alone, by faith alone, because he is a man-pleaser. He just wants to tickle people’s ears, to tell them what they want to hear. Well if what Paul says to Peter is ear-tickling, I’d hate for him to pinch my ear. He remains faithful to the gospel, despite the peer pressure. Look at what Paul says.
14 But when I saw that they (Peter, Barnabus, other Jews who are drawn away) 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?
“If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do—you sit down and eat in fellowship with the Gentiles—you know that your salvation is not achieved by following laws of separation.
“why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?” You are sending a double message. By removing yourself from sitting with the Gentiles, you imply that the Gentiles have to become Jews to be saved, but you give yourself the freedom to not eat separately, whenever it suits you.
15 “We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners, 16 yet 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.
He’s saying the same thing again. We, Jewish Christians, know that the law doesn’t save us, we are trusting in our being justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
17 But if while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!
He is saying that Peter and the Judaizers are proposing a logical fallacy.
You claim to be Christians, (freedom from the law) but you are insisting on Gentile adherence to the Mosaic law. If you say to them that a person has to be justified by the law, then your exchange of the service to the law, for the service of Christ, puts you in violation of the law. So becoming a Christian made you worse off, not better. And so he says, Certainly not.
18 For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.
He’s saying, you are building up the things you just tore down. You need to decide what you believe. If you trust in Christ, you don’t need the law. You can tear it down. But if you need the law, then you were an awful sinner for having torn it down.
19 For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.
Paul is saying that the law had its place. It brought us to Christ. It was our tutor, as he describes in another place. But once the tutor gets us to Christ, we don’t need the tutor anymore.
Then Paul says,
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who 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.
Now Paul lays out the real relationship between the law and grace. The law was given to get us to Christ. Once I came to Christ and put my faith in Him, I die, and Christ comes to live in me. Now I no longer need commandments written on stone, they are written in my heart, and energized by the Spirit of Christ in me.
21 I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
If it were possible for us to be good enough to be right before God, to pay the penalty for our own sin, then what was the point of Christ dying?
We can ask the same question of people who claim to be Christian today. If you believe that you have to do all this stuff, to be saved, be baptized, participate in the Eucharist, confess your sins, do penance, then what was the point of Jesus’ death? Either His sacrifice can cover our sins, or it can’t.
So Paul is saying here. My message hasn’t changed. It has always been “by grace through faith.” I didn’t get the message from the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, I wasn’t pressured into changing it despite opposition, nor did I allow that message to be watered down, even by the actions of Peter, and other Jews. I have been faithful.
Paul is an extraordinary example of faithfulness. He kept going. He didn’t let up. I believe we are entering some challenging days ahead for the church. The challenge is going to be whether we remain faithful. As we come out of this lockdown period, I anticipate a couple of challenges. 1st A precedent has been set regarding government dictating what we do as a church. 2nd People have been made afraid of gatherings, closeness, fellowship, and hugs. 3rd Many have become accustomed to staying at home. Isolation and separation has become acceptable and preferred.
But Scripture calls on us to remain faithful, despite hardship, dissension, hostility, and peer pressure.
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
And thank the Lord for faithful witnesses like Paul.
Let us pray,