Nov. 12, 2023

“THE ROAD TO FREEDOM”

“HEALING HYPOCRISY”

GALATIANS 2:11-21

1.   Peter’s Relapse- Galatians 2:11-13

Galatians 2:11-12 “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 

To “eat with the Gentiles” meant to accept them, to put the Jews and Gentiles on the same level as one family in Christ.

Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”

How easy it is for us to use “Bible doctrine” to cover up disobedience.

Galatians 2:13 “And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.”

“Hypocrisy” occurs when a person develops external practices that even implicitly contradict internal beliefs, leading to false pretenses.

You can see that this problem was not a matter of personality or party, it was a question of “the truth of the Gospel” and Paul was prepared to fight for it.

2.   Paul’s Rebuke- Galatians 2:14-21

Paul rebukes and corrects Peter for five basic doctrines that were being denied by him because of his separations from the Gentiles:

1.   The Unity of the Church

Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?”

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s words must have stung Peter; “You are a Jew, yet you are living like a Gentile. Now you want the Gentiles to live like Jews. What kind of inconsistency is that?”

Peter himself stated at the Jerusalem conference:

Acts 15:9 “And made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”

2.   Justification By Faith- Grace Alone

Galatians 2:15-16 “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

Job 9:2 “Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous (just) before God?”

Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.”

Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38.

“Justification”- is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ. Justification is an act not a process.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Justification is an act of God, it is not the result of a man’s character or works.

Romans 8:33 “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The bottom line is that sinners are declared righteous (justified) by God through faith in Christ, not by keeping the Law. 

3.   Freedom From the Law

Galatians 2:17-18 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.”

At the Jerusalem conference, Peter had compared the Mosaic Law to a burdensome yoke:

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

Now he had put himself under that impossible yoke.

In other words Paul is arguing from Peter’s own experience of the grace of God. To go back to Moses is to deny everything that God had done for him and through him.

4.   The Very Gospel Itself

Galatians 2:19-20 “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

To go back to Moses is to return to the graveyard! We have been raised to walk in the newness of life:

Romans 6:4 “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Since we live by His resurrection power, we do not need the “help” of the law.

5.   The Grace of God

Galatians 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Grace says, there is no difference!

John 19:30 “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

Ephesians 2:8

3.   The Believers Response

*Have you been saved by the grace of God?

*Christians are accountable to one another. We can’t live as we please and expect everyone to look the other way. 

*Christians Impact Other- for the good or for the bad, we represent Christ to a watching world. 

*Christians Should Be Committed To The Truth.