In the previous post, we learned that Peter deserted grace
and returned to the law for righteousness. He reverted to the law, following its mandate for a Jew to
not mix with the Gentiles so the nation of Israel would not abandon God by
following the false gods of the Gentile nations. They were not to eat with or marry Gentiles. The nation of Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles by
revealing the truth about God. When Jesus came, he was the light to the Gentiles. Through his death, Jesus ended the Law of Moses, enabling
Jews and Gentiles to assemble in on body...one family of grace. This is called the church Both Jew and Gentile would now relate to God and each other
through grace, meaning all that God did for them in Christ. Jesus sent Paul to be a light to the Gentiles and Peter to
the Jews to teach them the truths of grace (Galatians 2:7-9). However, Peter deserted grace and returned to the Law of
Moses for righteousness (Galatians 2:11-13), telling the Gentiles they must not
only believe in Jesus as the Messiah for righteousness, but they also must
follow the Law of Moses - its diets, days, duties, and demands for
righteousness. The reason he did so was because he was influenced by men
sent from James, the leader of the Messianic church in Jerusalem, to spy on the
freedom from the law and freedom in Christ the people of the grace-based church
in Antioch were enjoying (Galatians 2:12). These men infiltrated the church and were persuading people
to set aside grace and return to the law for righteousness and for how a Jew
should relate to a Gentile. By doing this, they were not acting in line with the truth
of the gospel of grace (Galatians 2:14). One of these persuaded was Peter. Before these men came from James, Peter enjoyed friendship
with the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). He enjoyed eating with the Gentiles. But when these men came, he ceased friendships and eating
with the Gentiles. He returned to the law to seek righteousness, and he
persuaded others to follow him in his desertion of grace. In his heart, Peter knew the Law of Moses had been abolished
through the death of Jesus. In a dream and in an encounter with Cornelius (a Gentile),
God revealed to Peter he was to no longer follow the Law of Moses (Acts 10). Yet Peter so feared the rejection and craved the acceptance
of those from Jerusalem, that he set aside grace and returned to the law,
leading many others away with his decision. Paul confronted Peter for his hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11,
14-21). Paul told Peter that if Peter, a Jew, lived like a Gentile
by no longer following the Law of Moses, then how could he tell the Gentiles to
follow the Law of Moses for righteousness (Galatians 2:14). He told Peter that since he (Peter) knew a person is not
justified (declared by God to be righteous) by the works of the law but through
faith in Jesus, and that through the works of the law no one be will be
justified, then how could he tell the Gentiles to pursue righteousness through
the works of the law (Galatians 2:15-16). In the next post, we will continue Paul’s confrontation of
Peter. |
