So far we have seen Paul take a stand. He stood against the
false teachers that were distorting the gospel message of Jesus. He had to re-enforce
his position as an apostle, as someone who was personally called by Jesus
Christ. He then spoke at the Jerusalem Council and the others agreed that the message he was bringing to the gentiles was the true gospel message.
It was there that it was determined that the message being shared with the
Jewish and the Gentile was one and the same. One message being shared to all
that unites us as the Body of Christ.
It had already been decided that believers did not need to
adhere to the law, but the problem continued to linger.
Galatians 2:11-13
“11 But when Cephas came to
Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 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. 13 Then the rest of the
Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by
their hypocrisy.”
Peter an apostle was being a hypocrite. He behaved one way
when he was hanging out with the gentile believers and then behaved differently
when the strict Jews arrived. They had discussed this at the Jerusalem Council.
Believers did not need to follow the Mosaic Law, but Peter was having issues
with it when others were around. He accepted the gentiles as equal and dined
with them accordingly, except when the strict rule guys were around. He was ok
with eating ‘unclean’ things except when around those who would not eat the
unclean things. As an orthodox Jew, Peter was having a hard time learning the
lesson of freedom through grace.
Back during Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees were questioning
why the disciples were eating when they had not ceremonially washed their
hands. Jesus talks about the heart being the issue not what someone eats. He
later explains in more detail at Peter’s request.
Matthew 15:15-20
“15 Then Peter replied to Him,
“Explain this parable to us.” 16 “Are even you still lacking in understanding?” He asked. 17 “Don’t you
realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But
what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. 19 For
from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities,
thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. 20 These
are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not
defile a man.”
Man is to be judged on his words and actions, not by what he
eats. Peter struggled to get it the first time and then the Holy Spirit gave
him a second lesson.
Acts 10:9-16
“9 The next day, as they were
traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the
housetop about noon. 10 Then he became hungry
and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he went into a
visionary state. 11 He saw heaven opened and
an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four
corners to the earth. 12 In it were all the
four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. 13 Then
a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and
eat!” 14 “No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have
never eaten anything common and ritually unclean!” 15 Again,
a second time, a voice said to him, “What God has
made clean, you must not call common.” 16 This
happened three times, and then the object was taken up into heaven.”
It seemed that Peter learned the lesson after this as he did
go to Cornelius and ate whatever was put in front of him. Then as we know he
was part of the Jerusalem Council where it was decided that freedom through
Grace was more important than the law. It seemed like he understood, but then
we read he was being a hypocrite.
Before we become too critical of Peter we need to look at
our own lives. The Bible is full of teachings that we should be following. Not
one of us can honestly say that we are following the teachings of Jesus 100%.
It is not possible. Even on our best days we make mistakes. We say something
critical, we judge non-believers, we gossip, or we don’t listen to the nudging
of the Holy Spirit as He guides us to someone in need. Bitterness, worry,
anger, hatred, or despair creep into our lives.
Yes, Peter heard from Jesus and he had the Holy Spirit speak
directly to him and he still did not get the message. If we are honest with
ourselves our chances of doing much better are slim to none. Peter struggled
with the concept of freedom, I would say most people today have no problem with
freedom. Our society is to free. People believe they can do whatever they want
and it does not matter. The legalism Paul is addressing can be an issue today,
but it is not as bad as it was back then. In some churches it might be, but in
society as a hole it is not.
I honestly believe our problem today is still freedom, but
it is to the opposite extreme. People are not being pushed to follow rules that
are outdated or to carry a heavy yoke around their necks. Instead they are
rebelling against any rules or structure. The fast food mentality, do what I
want when I want, instant gratification, overly sensitive culture we live in
today is just as much a problem today as the super legalistic Jews were back
then.
Peter was driven by fear.
Matthew 14:28-30
“28 “Lord, if it’s You,” Peter
answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.” 29 “Come!” He said. And climbing out of the boat,
Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But
when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink
he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Peter walked on water, until he got scared. He declared he
would die with Jesus, but instead was afraid and denied Jesus three times. Fear
got the best of Peter and it led him down the path of legalism and Barnabas
followed his lead.
Today’s freedom in all things has led person after person
down the wrong path in life and sadly as each person heads down the wrong path
they are followed by others.
The issue is at the opposite end of the spectrum from
Peters, but the results are the same. Let’s see what we can learn from how Paul
handled things.
Galatians 2:14
“14 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?”
Peter knew better, but fear was interfering with his
actions. He knew there was no longer a barrier between Jew and Gentile. He knew
that all were united in one Body of Christ through faith in Jesus. Yet, he was
creating a wall between them and in essence denying the unity of the church.
Galatians 2:15-16
“15 We who are Jews by birth and not
“Gentile sinners” 16 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.”
Paul is reminding us that we are not justified by our
ability to follow the law. It does not matter if we are Jew or Gentile, we
cannot follow the law and be justified. The only way to be justified, or saved,
is through faith in Jesus.
Habakkuk 2:4b
“But the righteous one will live by his faith.”
How are we to be justified or saved? By having faith. It is
not something that can be earned, and in reality we have a very very small part
in it happening. We believe and then God acts, He declares that once we are
believers that we are saved through Jesus.
It is not a process that we have to work through. It is not
a process that allows for one believer to be more saved than another. Once we
have faith in Jesus we are justified, we are saved.
Romans 5:1
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Have faith and instantly you are saved. Not by your actions,
but by God’s. Through His action your sin is wiped away and you are forever
part of His family.
When Peter separated himself from the gentiles, he made it
seem like the Jews were better than everyone else. Those that followed the law
were above those who did not. The reality is that both need Jesus and no one can
be saved on their own. All need Jesus and it is only through faith in Him that
one is saved.
Galatians 2:17-18
“17 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! 18 If
I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.”
Jesus took away the need for the law. At the Council meeting
both Peter and Paul agreed that salvation did not come from the law, yet now
Peter is trying to live by it again. If legalism cannot save you, why would you
torture yourself with all of those rules. Why would you walk away from what has
saved you?
Why would you grab on to the things of the world instead of
having faith? Things that you know will only pull you down, things that will
only lead to your ultimate destruction, when you could have Jesus?
Galatians 2:19-21
“19 For through the law I have died
to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with
Christ 20 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. 21 I
do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the
law, then Christ died for nothing.”
If we can be justified or saved through the law, why did
Jesus need to die? Why, because the law cannot save a single person. It was
insufficient. Jesus died on that cross and rose again to pay the ultimate
price. We are saved by faith, we have life through our faith, we are justified by
our faith in Jesus. To return to the old ways is a slap in the face to Jesus.
Paul’s teachings are pretty clear. Having grace and trying
to live by the laws is not the right path to take. If we look around today, we
find a lot of people who say they have grace. Say that they are Christians but
you see too much freedom in their lives. I am not saying legalism is not a
problem today, but taking too much freedom is the bigger problem.
1 Corinthians 1:23
“23 “Everything is permissible,” but
not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything
builds up.”
Yes, we are saved by grace. Our own actions do not save us
they condemn us. It is our faith in Jesus that saves us. But that does not give
us the freedom to do whatever we want.
Choosing to live in sin is the same as saying that the grace you have been given is not enough. No different than the Israelites wanting to go
back to slavery in Egypt when things got tough. No different than a dog
returning to its vomit.
The gift from God is the grace that sets us free, we need to
repent of our sins and turn away from them. We need to do our best to live our
lives as Jesus commands, knowing that we cannot earn our way to heaven but
should truly try to follow Him in every way.
As we saw earlier, Peter’s behavior led another to follow
suit. His turning away from the gift of grace led Barnabas to turn away also. As
much as each person is responsible for the choices they make, we influence
people without realizing it. People are watching what path we choose, they are
watching if we go to the bar, they are watching how we spend our free time,
they are watching how we live our lives. If we claim to be a Christian, yet
live our life with too much freedom. Partaking in things that are harmful.
Living by a set of rules. Others will follow our example and our ability to be
a witness will be hurt.
Our job as Christians is to simply follow Jesus. We are not
perfect like Him, so we are going to make mistakes. It all starts by having
faith in Him and the amazing gift of grace He has given us. It continues by
doing our best to live our lives as He has commanded. Loving God, Loving
Others, and Being a Witness.
As you live out your faith, Grace will be modeled. People
will see what it truly means to be a Christ follower, opportunities to share
the Gospel will arise, and lives will be changed.
Thanks for reading!
Blessings,
Robert
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