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Well, so today we're going to be in Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 15.
I want to just first say Lydia's answer is actually an absolutely
correct application of even that 7th commandment.
Paul himself, he would argue that to live by the Spirit means that if you were to go back to live under the
law, that you're committing adultery on God, and that's exactly what Lydia said there.
And so there is an application to that, and so I just find that remarkable that today's message from
Galatians is dealing with churches that are, guess what they're doing?
They're committing adultery on God by going back to law, going back to
that which is not freedom, going back to that which does not save.
And so that's exactly what we're dealing with today.
Today's title for our message is Rebuke.
What is the rebuke that takes place?
It's going to be Paul speaking about Peter.
And today's message, I would tell us this, I think today's message is vitally important for each one of us
because it's dealing directly with Christian living.
And I hope that each one of us here identifies as a Christian.
I hope that's the case.
And in so doing, I hope that you're striving to live accordingly with that profession, that identity
of Christianity.
And the question that I want to ask us right now that I would have, I would hope that you have as an underlying question as we go
through today's text is how are we to live today?
How are we to live as Christians today in this world?
We're going to be exploring a little bit of that question.
I hope we'll answer that by the end of today's message.
But let's go ahead and begin with a word of prayer.
And then we will read this text of Galatians 2, verses 11 through 15.
So let's pray.
Lord God, we just thank you so much, Lord, for the freedom that we have in you, Lord.
The salvation, the righteousness
that is found in your son alone.
Lord God, I would ask today, Lord, that you would help us.
Lord, grow in holiness, that we would be more and more conformed to the image of Christ.
And that we would leave this place in just a little more humble stature.
God, I would also ask, Lord, that on especially what Leland has brought to us today for a prayer
request, Lord.
God, we do ask that in being conformed more and more to your image, Lord, that we would have
growth within us.
But, Lord, also that there would be growth amongst us.
That we would look to each other and we would say, this person has become more like Christ than they were last week.
And, Lord, also we would ask that there would be growth inside of our church numerically, Lord.
God, we would beg, God, that you would help grow this church.
We would love to see this room filled.
But, Lord, we want what is right in your eyes, Lord.
If there is none, God, you are still going to be glorified here at this church.
So, Lord, we want your will to be done.
But, God, make us willing vessels to take forth your gospel.
Make us bend the knee to be obedient to that great commission, Lord.
God, help those that are yours hear the gospel preached and may they come to know you, Lord.
In your name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Galatians 2, verse 11 -15 is where we're going to be.
So, let's go ahead and read this text first right now.
And then we will pray again and then get into the context of what is going on here.
Galatians 2, verse 11 -15 says this,.
For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.
But when they came, he began to shrink back and separated himself, fearing the
party of circumcision.
And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away
by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas
before everyone, 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 Gentiles.
And I will read verse 16, which we will not be getting into today, but let's read 16.
It says this, Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, 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 shall be justified.
Let's pray again.
Lord God, we thank you again just for this wonderful text here.
Lord, the confidence that we can have, Lord, in saying that we are
justified in Jesus.
We're justified through faith in the only righteous one, the only law keeper, the only one that has
been obedient to you, Lord.
That it's not based on our endurance, our strength, or anything that's inside of us, Lord, as we know we are
vile and we are undeserving.
So Lord God, may we today in this room be comforted in knowing that you are
good, that you save, and that it is not up to us, Lord, but it's up to you and what you have
done for us on our behalf.
Lord, I would ask again that we would look at this account of Peter having pride in his life, having
this sense of hypocrisy and something that affected the early church, Lord.
May we just take these applications that we might rationalize what was being done in this first century and that we
would apply it in our own lives, that we would live a more holy and righteous life to you, Lord.
Not to earn salvation, but because we have been saved through the blood of Jesus.
Lord, we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, as far as context goes, we know that this book, just as a quick reminder, this book
of Galatians, this letter from Paul to the churches of Galatia, is a letter that is directed to
those that have been overtaken by the theology of Judaizers, who have denied the finished work of Christ.
They're going into these churches saying, you need to do law -keeping, you need to be circumcised, you need more than
Christ in order to be saved, is what the Judaizers are doing.
And last week, I would just want to remind us that we delved into the historical narrative that provided
additional details about Paul, Titus, Barnabas, and Peter and the
other apostles during specifically in that Acts 15 text, specifically their council
in Jerusalem that dealt directly with Judaizers.
These early church individuals that were coming in and saying, the Gentiles,
they have to be circumcised, they have to keep the law in order to be saved.
They can't be Christians if they don't do this.
And so during this event, that council in Jerusalem, all the apostles,
not a single one didn't do this, all the apostles condemned the Judaizers and their
theology.
They all were unanimous in coming to the conclusion, this is anathema, this is not correct, this is not being
with the gospel.
And Paul shows us that this was a process here in Galatians 2, in the previous text, he shows us
that this was a process that took time and involved many conversations.
However, again, they all reached that heartily agreement.
And Paul reverts to these events recorded in Acts 15 -16 to inform the churches of Galatia
here in this letter.
He refers to those things that this issue of the Judaizers, the things that they've been duped and misled by,
has already been resolved.
It's already been decided.
So years go by, and now these churches are, guess what they're doing again?
They're being duped by a matter that's already been handled, something that has already been rebuked.
The teachings of the Judaizers are to be rejected, and righteousness does not come through circumcision
and law -keeping, but through faith in Jesus alone.
One thing I find that we need to read over, just to remind ourselves of this, is the words of Peter himself
here in Acts 15 -7 -12.
This is the stance, and this is contextually important for us today in Galatians, because this is the stance of
Peter.
Peter says these words.
Peter, the one that's going to be rebuked here in this text, Peter says this in Acts 15 -7 -12.
He says this.
And after there had been much debate, so these Pharisees who are saying that they believe in Jesus Christ, who are saying that they need
to be circumcised in order to be saved, these Gentiles, there's been much debate going on.
And Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in early days God made a choice among you,
that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did
to us.
And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their heart by faith.
Now therefore, why are you putting God to test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our
fathers nor we have been able to bear?
But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
just as they will.
And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul.
So Peter preaches this sermon to everyone.
He gets up and he says, Look, this is wrong.
And then Paul and Barnabas, who have been gone for 14 years according to Galatians, they get up and they
start telling everyone this.
They start relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
So they get up and they say, Peter's right.
When we went up to these areas that we were sent to, that the majority of them were Gentiles,
they were performing signs and wonders, things that are undeniable.
They had faith in Christ and were saved just like the Jews have been, just like we have been.
So throughout today's message, I want you to keep in mind Peter's own words here.
Peter says that God makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile.
He argues that God's redemptive plan of salvation is an impartial plan, saving all
people by the same means, regardless of nationality, background, history,
or cultural norms.
Peter states that we are cleansed in our hearts through faith and saved by the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And following Peter's claim again, Paul and Barnabas confirms this truth amongst this council.
The theme of this text that we're reading here in Galatians, so you can turn back to Galatians with me, the theme of this text
is Peter's behavior after the events of Acts 15 in Jerusalem
is in contradiction with their decision.
And despite the council's decision, Peter's actions have become very inconsistent with
gospel behavior.
Another key theme is Paul's confrontation with Peter over this sinful attitude and behavior.
As we explore today's text of Galatians 2, 11 through 15, consider these
questions.
These are the two questions I really want you to keep in your mind.
Would we have Paul's courage today to rebuke a friend?
Would we have Peter's humility to repent if we were the ones in the wrong?
Those are the two questions.
If you were to find yourself in the shoes of Paul, would you be strong enough to rebuke a friend?
And if you were to find yourself in the shoes of Peter, someone who's in the wrong, someone who's sinning by their behavior, would you
have the humility to repent and be placed back into right standing according to the gospel?
Let's go ahead and look here at verse 11.
Verse 11, Galatians 2, it says,.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him
to his face because he stood condemned.
Paul is recounting to these churches of Galatia an experience he had with a
fellow apostle.
Sometime after the Council of Jerusalem again, Paul had to confront Peter, who is also known
as Cephas here.
To understand why Paul confronted Peter, we need to examine
what Peter was doing.
Why would Paul rebuke a fellow apostle in the faith?
What did Peter do that warranted public opposition from Paul?
And why was Peter in the wrong?
What was Peter doing?
Well, let's go ahead and read verse 12 because it tells us exactly what he was doing.
For prior to the coming of certain men from James,
he used to eat with the Gentiles.
But when they came, he began to shrink back and separated himself,
fearing the party of circumcision.
Listen to what Paul says there.
Prior, Paul says that Peter used to act a certain way.
But when certain men came around him, he changed.
He became a hypocrite.
So how was Peter being a hypocrite?
And to understand this, I think we should read, I know I just told you to turn back to Galatians.
Go back to Acts now.
We're going to go back to Acts 11.
We're going to go back and forth here to consider this.
Go to Acts 11.
We're going to read a lengthy portion of text today.
Acts 11 verses 1 through 17 here in a moment.
While you turn there, I'll explain the context by referencing the Old Covenant judicial and
ceremonial laws.
These laws that we find in the Old Testament were given to the ethnic nation of
Israel.
And it required obedience to maintain their health and the stay in the land, the blessedness of those covenant
promises.
In order to maintain those things, they had to be obedient.
And this obedience was tied to a covenant of works by definition.
In order to maintain that covenant promise that we see there in the Old Testament that was given over and over and over again, this
land promise, these children promises, guess what they had to do?
Be obedient to the covenant.
Be obedient.
And so part of this obedience was tied to ceremonial food
laws.
And these ceremonial food laws associated with these covenants of old, I
just want to list out some of the things that they couldn't do, some of the things regarding food that they couldn't eat.
They couldn't eat eagles, right?
That's a strange one being in the United States.
They couldn't eat eagles.
We can't even pick up a feather off the ground, I think, which is kind of remarkable.
But regardless, they couldn't eat eagles there.
Ravens, they couldn't eat.
Vultures, buzzards, falcons, ostriches, pelicans, water animals without fins or scales,
owls, anything that crawls on its stomach, anything that chews cud without a divided hook,
rabbits, camels, and any animal killed by another animal, they could not eat those things.
And there was many, many, many more things that they couldn't eat.
The point of me bringing this up is that I just want you to see those type of animals in your mind, these animals that the Jews
saw as unclean, because this will help illustrate what we're going to read here in
Acts 11.
The Jews who refrained from eating these animals often considered Gentiles who did eat them
as, guess what?
Unclean.
God said to the Jews, if you eat this, you will be unclean.
You'll be cast out of the land.
These things will happen to you.
Well, here's these Gentiles, and guess what they're doing?
They're eating the food that God told Israel not to eat.
And so this led the Jews to view Gentiles as unclean
animals and sinners, fostering a sense of superiority amongst, guess what
kind of groups?
Pharisees.
They thought themselves to be better than other people because guess what?
I've never put one of these animals in my mouth.
I've never eaten it like the Gentiles have, right?
We see that all over the New Testament whenever Gentiles speak, they always point at the Gentile and they say, see, I'm far better than that
one.
I'm far better than this other individual.
And this understanding sheds light on several New Testament passages, such as, and I just want to give you an example, such as the story of the
prodigal son.
After taking his inheritance from the father, the prodigal son goes to where?
A distant land.
What do you think that means?
Non -Jewish land.
And guess what they find him in?
He ends up being with the pigs.
Unclean animals.
Do you think Jesus just chose that language just as a happenstance?
No.
Jesus chose that language in that parable very purposely to point out to the Jews, you
view these kinds of people as pigs.
This prodigal son, unclean.
So with that in mind, with that context in mind, with those Jews in mind of how they view these unclean animals and
unclean people, let's now read Acts 11, 1 through 17, where Peter recounts a
story from chapter 10, just the previous chapter about, he's recounting in
Acts 11 to a group of ethnically Jewish people, is who Peter's talking to here in Acts 11.
It says this, now the apostles and the brothers who were brought, who were throughout Judea heard that the
Gentiles also had received the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised party criticized him
saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.
But Peter began to explain it to them in order.
I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance, I saw a vision, something like a great
sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners.
And it came down to me looking at it.
Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.
What birds do you think he was seeing?
Owls, eagles, ravens, those things that were unclean.
And he says, I heard a voice saying to me, rise, Peter, kill and
eat.
But I said, by no means, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.
But the voice answered a second time from heaven.
What God has made clean, do not call common.
This happened three times and I was drawn up again into heaven.
And behold, at that very moment, three men.
And according to chapter 10, these are three Gentile men.
Three men, three men, excuse me, I lost my place here.
Three men arrived at the house in which we were sent to me from Caesarea.
And the spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction.
These six brothers also accompanied me.
And we entered the man's house.
And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, send a job and
bring Simon who is called Peter.
He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved.
You and all your household.
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as it was on us at the beginning.
And I remember the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us, when we first
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?
Go back down to Galatians chapter two, verse 12.
Again, Acts 10, 11.
It's dealing with the circumcised party, right?
According to Acts, what was the prior way that Peter used to act?
Peter received a vision from God, revealing that there's no partiality between
Jews and Gentiles.
And I just want to pause there and say, praise God.
Who in here is Jew?
We're Gentiles.
Praise the Lord that there's no distinction, or else we would be doomed.
We would have no hope if God only dealt with Jews.
God deals with all people, all kinds, all nationalities.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved.
There's no partiality between Jews and Gentiles.
And following this vision, Peter sat at the same table with guess who? Gentiles.
What do you think he was eating there with those Gentiles around that table?
Probably some bacon, right?
He was like, well, how did I miss out on this all my life?
He ate that unclean food that God says, what I have said is clean.
Do not call unclean.
What do you think that is greaterly pointing at?
Now Peter is sitting with Gentiles.
Don't look at the Gentiles and tell them they're unclean, because I have made them clean.
How dare you, Peter?
Don't treat them differently.
Peter ate the meat that he'd previously avoided, acting in a manner that guess what?
This manner that he acted was consistent with the gospel.
But when did Peter shift from this obedient behavior of sitting down with Gentiles and eating their
food to then showing hypocrisy?
When did this happen?
Well, it's really hard to pinpoint this.
And the reason that it's hard to pinpoint is, again, we see Paul come to faith in Acts 9.
And then in Galatians, it says three years passed before he returns to the apostles, right?
And then in Acts 10, Peter receives this vision, which then is when Paul has already gone to these
foreign areas in this land.
And then in Galatians 2, it says that he then returns 14 years later.
So this is a lot of time has transpired in all these events.
When you can read Acts, sometimes you forget that there's a lot of years that are transpiring between different
historical narratives that are going on in there.
So it's hard to tell when it exactly occurred.
But it had to have been sometime after these 14 years of Paul.
Again, it's hard to pinpoint.
But this hypocrisy that Paul addresses here in Galatians could have developed over years and possibly even a decade.
So just keep that in the back of your mind, a long period of time.
And after Peter received the vision, absolutely.
And I want to warn and caution us today, even if we don't see hypocrisy in our actions today, maybe you
walk around and you think that you're showing no partiality to anybody, which, praise the Lord, if you were in that.
But the point of saying this, Peter received a vision to not show partiality.
A decade potentially has gone by, and what is now Peter doing?
Being a hypocrite.
Just because you don't see hypocrisy in your life today doesn't mean that in a week from now there's not going to be seeds that take root.
Watch yourself for this.
Live a life that is accordingly and consistent with the gospel.
Don't have actions in your behavior, in your workplace, in your private life, amongst your family that contradicts
the faith that you say and profess that you have.
It's crucial.
It's absolutely crucial.
Because we can fall into hypocrisy, because we can fall into sin, it's absolutely crucial to guard our
hearts and our minds against such tendencies that we all like to have.
Hypocrisy.
So how was Peter behaving again like a hypocrite?
Let's read verse 12 again.
For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he began to shrink
back and separate himself, fearing the party of the
circumcised.
The circumcision.
From Acts 11, we see that Peter initially ate with Gentiles according to the command of the Lord.
He was obedient, knowing that the circumcised party was aware of his new freedom from the ceremonial
laws, those foo laws that we mentioned earlier.
However, over time, Peter began to act differently around certain individuals.
When the party of circumcision came around, he no longer wanted to be associated with guess who?
The Gentiles.
Peter's fear of man and desire for their acceptance led him to be acting contrary
to the command of God.
And this wasn't just a command of God that he read.
This was a command of God that he heard in a vision.
Peter, again, is often seen as an impetus fool.
Which he often, and to be fair, he can be seen as this in the scripture.
Peter, who saw Christ and denied him how many times?
Three times.
After Jesus reinstates him as an apostle by telling him to feed his sheep, how many times?
Then Peter proclaims to an angel that he would never eat the unclean animals.
How many times did he do that?
And the angel tells him how many times to do such?
Peter then lives consistently for many years following that command of the angel to then fall into
hypocrisy by living in an inconsistent manner to the gospel.
Though it is easy for us to call Peter an impetus man, we are often the
pot calling the kettle black in that case.
Peter falls victim to the desire to have favor in the world rather than purely seeking the favor of
God at all times.
And this is a tension for many Christians.
And I know that it's a tension that was there in the first century.
And it's a tension that I know each and every one of us in this room feels in our lives.
In that first century, they were transitioning from the covenant of works, those old covenants, to now
living purely in a covenant of grace.
Absolutely.
I can speak as a former LDS individual that when you leave something that you were always trying to justify yourself
with, when you leave that to being in grace, there's a tendency to want to try to justify
yourself.
There's a tendency of wanting to do this.
And look, every one of us in our unconverted state, we are all trying to do what?
Justify ourselves.
So it's easy to fall back into these tendencies.
But that's why we have to war against the flesh.
That's why we need to remind ourselves what we have through the covenant of grace, that we've been saved through the works of another
and not ourselves.
We've been saved through Jesus Christ.
This would be challenging for any first century Jew.
And it's challenging for us today.
And it's not just Peter who is struggling with this.
This desire to be liked by a group and to maintain a good reputation in the world is a very common
struggle.
Right, brothers and sisters?
We must continually fight against that temptation to seek approval from others at the expense of our obedience to God.
This truth was brought home.
This truth, I'm greatly reminded by this, as just so happened that this week, I believe it was on
Monday, I was having a conversation at the fire station about guess what?
Reputation.
What do people think of you?
What do you want people to think of you?
And in the midst of this conversation, we said we're going to have a very honest, open conversation about
how we think people view us.
And then we are going to be very blunt and honest about how we hear other people talking about us.
And in the midst of those things, I said, you know, I really think that people probably see me at
the fire department as someone who is not super dedicated to the fire department.
Someone who's more dedicated to Jesus and is this kind of crazy Jesus maniac.
And guess what they told me?
They said the most crap that people talk about you, Brayden, is that you do evangelism, that you love Jesus, and that you
pastor a church.
I said, well, praise the Lord.
I'm thankful that that's what they're saying about me.
What a great reputation to have.
But guess what they said?
These individuals said, Brayden, if you want to fix your reputation, just stop doing that.
And I said, I don't really care what your reputation that you have towards me is.
I want to be known as that.
Thank you.
I'm thankful that my expectations of how people are seeing me is actually fitting.
Praise the Lord for that.
But think about in that situation, and I don't want to use myself as a story to say, look, this is what
we should be going towards.
But think about if that's my reputation right now, if that's your reputation at work, if that's your reputation at home today,
five years go by.
And let's say now you start living in a manner that's inconsistent with the gospel.
You start fearing people.
What does that do to the last five years where people had that reputation?
It wasn't real.
It undermines it.
It's devastating to what that testimony could have produced.
Are there areas today where you might be compromising your faith for the sake of
fitting in?
Is there areas in your life where you should be showing that you are a Christian, but you're quick
to be more like the world?
Let's look here at verse 13.
It says this.
And the rest of the Jews joined him in a hypocrisy with the result that even
Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
Is there places in your life today where you're not acting like a Christian?
Hypocrisy can spread like cancer.
In our pride and departure from behaviors that are consistent with the gospel, we can set off a chain
reaction that leads others astray.
Peter's partial treatment, partiality in treatment to the Gentiles caused what?
Was it just himself that was sinning against God by his actions?
No, he dragged others with him.
Others looked up to Peter.
But Barnabas, you can imagine Barnabas.
Here's Peter.
The one that looked at Christ and said, you are the son of God.
Here's Peter and he's acting like this.
So how should I act?
I should start withdrawing from the table of the Gentiles.
Peter's action brought others with him.
This reminds me of great advice that I think all of our parents have given to us in one way or
another, right?
Our friends greatly influence us, right?
I'm sure we've heard something like this.
By observing a person's friends, you can predict their character, right?
I know that the teachers in here can say that they agree with that, right?
You see kids and you see who they're hanging out with.
Who's that kid going to be like when he grows up?
Like his friends, those that are having influence around him.
And sadly, in this case, in the text, Peter became that bad
influence.
He led Barnabas and others into sin and hypocrisy.
And imagine if Peter and Barnabas would have continued in that sin.
What would it have told the churches of Galatia or even Antioch in this text that we see where Peter's at?
What would it have done to the churches?
What would it have told them?
Law -keeping.
It's required to be a part of any group.
We need to act a certain way amongst the Jews and not amongst other individuals.
God shows partiality.
And guess what we can't have anymore?
No bacon for breakfast.
That's what it would have communicated to everyone around.
There would have been several more dominoes that it would have affected.
And it would have destroyed, in a lot of cases, the non -partiality of
God.
It would have taught against those things.
It would have taught a different doctrine.
And my point in saying this is that this type of behavior destroys the testimony that Christians are
called to have in the world.
If you think today that, oh, I act 90 Christian when I'm around other individuals but then 10 when I'm around these
other types, you're destroying the 90 of your testimony.
You're destroying the ministry that you are called to have amongst the world.
Let's look at verse 14.
It says this,
Notice how Paul responds to the sinful behavior of his fellow brother in the faith, Peter.
This one that is apparently heralded as a greater apostle, right?
He looks to him.
How does Paul react?
Did he simply decide it wasn't his concern?
Did Paul just walk away and say, let him do what he's going to do?
Did Paul brush it off and continue with his own affairs?
How does Paul respond?
No, he does not.
Paul openly rebukes Peter when he notices such behavior.
And how does he do it?
He does it in front of others.
And it doesn't explicitly say here who Paul rebuked
Peter in front of.
But I think it would be safe and reasonable to assume that probably Barnabas was there.
Probably some of the other apostles were there at this rebuke.
Paul's actions were not driven by fear of man but by a reverence of God who shows no
partiality.
Peter's standing before the greatest authority of the church, he himself as an apostle likewise.
And guess what he does?
I rebuke you, Peter.
You're acting wrong here.
Does Paul have a fear of man or a fear of God in this text?
Recognize when Paul does this, Paul's recognizing the impact of Peter's behavior on others
and its inconsistency with the gospel.
And Paul took immediate action to correct this.
Let's look here at verse 15.
It says, We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles.
And this statement is an interesting statement because Paul is directly confronting Peter here.
He's telling Peter that if he insists on living like a Jew, he should not behave like a Gentile
and return to the burdensome yoke of the law.
Peter, if this is how you want to act, if this is the group that you want to be a part of, forsake the gospel and go back to the
law.
Go back to the kind of thinking that the Jews have, that only the Gentiles are sinners and that you yourself are unclean.
And think back about what Peter says to the angel in that vision in Acts 10.
He says, I've never eaten anything unclean.
He's boasting before the angel.
Look, angel, I'm not this dirty unclean, this uncleanly
animal.
I never put it in my mouth.
I've never eaten that.
Paul is saying, if that's what you really want, go back to the law.
Go back to that kind of thinking, Peter.
Go back.
Paul is telling Peter that if he chooses to observe laws intermittently, he should commit himself to
observing them consistently rather than selectively.
If Peter was to do this, he would be under the law rather than grace.
So listen, let's say Paul rebukes Peter right here and Peter says, yep, you're right.
I'm going to just go back and just hang out with the Jews from now on and never eat with the Gentiles, never show the gospel unto them.
Guess what he would be doing?
He'd be going back to the law.
And what would he be doing, Lydia?
Committing adultery on God.
He'd be going back to that which doesn't save.
He'd be cheating on Jesus in a sense.
He who thought he was a part of the bride of Christ has actually found himself to be chained to the law is what he would be doing.
But was this the case?
Was this the case that Peter does this?
Guess what Peter remains as?
An apostle after this.
Paul rebukes Peter and Peter stays an apostle.
Peter was in the wrong and he most likely repents and comes back to the right standing before the Lord.
What does this all teach us in here?
What is the conclusion?
Again, that first question I asked, how is this part of Christian living?
How should you live as a Christian in the world?
I want to give you three helpful conclusions, I think.
And that's one is demonstrate your salvation.
If you have been saved, act in a way that reflects your salvation today.
If you recognize behaviors that are not consistent, that are not in accordance with the gospel,
make a change today.
If you're a 90 % Christian that shows 10 % worldly actions, stop that 10%.
Brothers and sisters, not because that's what saves us, but because we have been saved.
And this is a very hard thing to do as we will fall over and over when attempted.
It's a challenging thing to stand face to face with the world and say, I don't want to be like you.
It's a hard thing to do because we like acceptance.
We like to fit in.
But this is something that we must keep practicing.
We are called to live unto Jesus and not unto the world.
And number two, I think the second thing that this teaches us today in this text of how we can act like Christians is
we too can and should possess courage that Paul had when confronting
Number two is that we should have a courage that exists in the gospel.
Like using a coarse sandpaper.
Has anybody used sandpaper, sandwood before?
Right?
I hope all of us in some sense have had a hand on a piece of sandpaper.
Do you reach for the fine sandpaper or do you reach for the coarse to begin the work?
You first use coarse sandpaper.
So guess what life sometimes needs?
Coarse sandpaper.
Sometimes you have to be able to use a heartily rebuke, a coarse word with someone in
order to correct them.
Because guess what?
If you were to approach it with fine sandpaper, do you think that's going to get the job done?
It's not.
Act with courage.
Sometimes you need to be harsh.
Sometimes you need to be coarse.
But this is sometimes the most loving action to take and it's what guides people back to the obedience
of Christ and his commandments.
And number three, I think another thing that we can recognize that is absolutely applicable for this is that we need to
have an awareness of our fallibility.
No one is immune to sin, including hypocrisy.
Peter continued his apostolic ministry after Paul confronted him because he acknowledged his fault and repented.
True believers recognize their sin and realign their actions according to God's word
through the Holy Spirit.
Peter's restoration shows us that even the strongest in the faith, brothers and sisters, take some
hope in this.
I don't think I wouldn't say I'm one of the strongest in the faith, but yet Peter, someone that we read about in the New
Testament, guess what?
He fell.
Was he still saved?
Yes.
This strength that Peter had in the faith, what we would say and look at and call him an impetus
man, he was far greater than several of us in the faith.
We should be reminded that we are saved by the gospel through this and that it's good to repent.
It's good to be called out and it's good to realign yourself with the obedience of the gospel.
Be aware that anyone in this room at any time is not above sinning.
We will sin, we will fall, we have the gospel.
Go back to living a holy, righteous life.
However, in all these things, I want to remind ourselves that even though we are saved through the finished work of Jesus,
we are absolutely saved through Him and His propitiation.
We are still called to live a righteous life.
We may fall right into the same pitfall if we were to think for a moment that it's
not the finished work of Christ, that it's our righteous living that saves us.
Guess where we fall into?
We're Judaizers at that point.
We fall right back into the same area that these churches have fallen into.
So remind yourself today, this is the most important, remind yourself today that God is the author and
perfecter of our salvation and that we are to live to Him.
We are to live to Him because He has saved us.
And Paul uses his confrontation here with Peter as an example to teach the churches of Galatia a
crucial lesson that you and I must learn today.
By highlighting how an apostle like Peter fell short in his behavior and influenced others negatively,
Paul emphasizes the importance of repentance.
He warns that continuing in unrepentant sin is a path that leads to denying the finished work
of Jesus Christ and potentially dragging others down
with you.
However, if they repent, if we repent, it shows that they and we are truly saved and just
needed a vital reminder.
Salvation comes not through works or law -keeping, but through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
alone.
We should care about living a life that is faithful to God.
And if that means losing all favor in this world and in this life, having a bad reputation,
so be it.
So be it.
It's losing a favor in life, in a world that is not
an everlasting thing like what we have in Christ, so be it.
Christ and His cross are far better in eternity than the wisps of the
bliss of this fleeting life.
Let's go ahead and pray.
Lord, God, I do thank you so much for this example that Paul does give to the churches of Galatia
and by extension that which he has given to us, Lord.
God, I would ask that you would be glorified in the rest of our service today, that we would sing a song to you
who has saved us, that we would lift our voices on high because you have kept us,
even in our failures, in our sin, in our falling short of your glory.
Lord, I would ask that you convict each one of us today that in the ways that we don't live unto you, the
ways that we are being hypocrites, the ways that pride has snuck in, and those ways that are demonstrating to the world that
this is what the gospel looks like, and we would be ashamed of that.
Lord, that we would repent, that we would realign ourselves to what you have called us, that we look at your commands and take it
very seriously, that these are the things that glorify you, these are the things that honor you, these are the things that advance
your kingdom.
Lord, may we be like Peter, who in our lacking, if we are
called to repent, that we might repent.
May we be like Paul in being adamant that this is the consistent behavior of the gospel.
And Lord, I would ask that today again, we would examine ourselves honestly and truthfully, and that we would
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