Galatians 2:11-21

But when Cephas [Cephas is another name for Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.  But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, 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. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.  (Galatians 2:11-21 ESV—Brackets mine)

If I am ever to preach this text I am going to rip off the following outline from Warren Wiersbe:  Peter’s Relapse, Paul’s Rebuke, and The Believer’s Response.  In fact, lets go ahead and rip it off today.

Peter’s Relapse

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.  (Gal. 2:11-13 ESV)

Peter was no stranger to Christian Liberty.  He freely enjoyed the company of Jews, Gentiles, Sinners, Tax Collectors etc…He also enjoyed fellowship with a host of believers from many different backgrounds and cultures.  But here, we see a bit of a relapse.  He is doing what he is supposed to be doing and then he gets afraid.

Do you allow fear to overcome what you know is true?  It is easy to criticize Peter.  But, take a look at yourself—are you upholding all Bible doctrine?  Have you ever been quick to stand up for Christ at church but slow to get out of your seat at work or school?  I have.

In other words:  Is your freedom in Christ threatened by your fear of man?

The biggest aspect of what Peter did here, and I think what we do when we are afraid, is that he led others astray with him.  He even involved Barnabas who was one of the leaders of the church in Antioch.  Peter was introducing a form of legalism into this group of people.  Peter was a respected teacher of the Word and therefore people believed him.

What they were falling into was a dangerous form of legalism.  This is a good spot to define what legalism is.  Here is a good working definition from a good apologetic website I read all the time—www.carm.org:

In Christianity, legalism is the excessive and improper use of the law (10 commandments, holiness laws, etc).  This legalism can take different forms.  The first is where a person attempts to keep the Law in order to attain salvation.  The second is where a person keeps the law in order to maintain his salvation.  The third is when a Christian judges other Christians for not keeping certain codes of conduct that he thinks need to be observed. [Emphasis mine][1]

That last part of the definition is where Peter is finding himself.  I could write a whole other blog filled with stories of first hand encounters of people imposing this type of legalism on me.  I could then write a third blog about how I have imposed my own special brand of legalism on people.  This is one of those things that if you think you’re not doing, you’re just fooling yourself.  We all do this—that doesn’t make it right.

Take a look at your life right now.  Do you require those around you to uphold a certain degree of your law in order for them to be worthy?  How about you church attenders—when the inked up, leather wearing, mohawked dude takes the seat next to you how does that make you feel?  That poor soul, I hope that preacher gets a hold of him this morning and God saves him—then I can take him to Super Clips and get that hair fixed.  Of course I’ll just meet him there b/c I don’t want him in my car.

Don’t hear me being too accusatory here—I am a recovering legalist.  I get scared of people all the time.  But I have found that most the time I am scared of what my Christians friends will think, not the inked up dude.

So that is what Peter is doing.  He’s being a real jerk to his friends and eating with them one minute and the next he is afraid to be seen with them.  Kinda like a middle school lunchroom.  Lotsa troubles can come from this.

Paul’s Rebuke

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.  But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, 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. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Gal. 2:14-21 ESV)

I think it helps to read this part out loud and in a yelling tone.  I am not saying that is what happened but it makes sense to me that way.  Paul was, again, foam at the mouth mad.  I’ve been there dude.

Here Paul introduces the term Justification by Faith.  Paul writes about justification elsewhere in the NT.  Take the time to read the Scripture—there’s a lot but read it anyway.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:16-17 ESV)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.  (Romans 3:21-31 ESV)

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,  “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  (Romans 9:30-10:13 ESV)

So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31 ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)

You can see why Justification by Faith is a hill worth dying on and why Paul was so teed about Peter having a relapse on this one.  Justification is key, in fact Martin Luther said that if the article of justification by faith is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost.  Big deal man.

Mark Driscoll gives us some good verbiage on this in his book Doctrine:

To be justified means to trust only in the person and work of Jesus and no one and nothing else as the object of our faith, righteousness, and justification before God.[2]

The Believer’s Response.

 So where are you on this?  How is it going with you and your legalism?

The only Gospel that saves you is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Any other Gospel is a curse to you.

Are you trusting in yourself for your salvation?  Your morality?  Your good works?

Take some time to inventory your life—it may take you a while—ask God to find the areas that are killing you and cut them out.  Confess your sin of legalism and leave it behind.

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[1] Matt Slick, “What Is Legalism,” www.carm.org, http://carm.org/what-is-legalism (accessed February 7, 2012).

[2] Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (RE: Lit) (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2010), 262.