Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: So it's been at least a couple of weeks since we've been doing what we're doing. So you guys can turn to Galatians.
That's what we've been studying, and we've been studying it a certain way. What type of Bible study have we been doing?
Yeah, inductive. Right? What is an inductive Bible study?
Levi?
Yeah, from the inside out. That's a great way to say it. We want to take the words and the sentences and the paragraphs and the chapters and work our way out to understand the meaning of the text, because we believe the meaning is important, because this is God's word. So that's why we want to study inductively.
We don't need to take.
We don't need. And we definitely don't want to start by taking things outside.
You know, say you are really. You're a big philosophy guy, and so you got this philosophy and you want to interpret the Bible through that. It's not that philosophical thinking can never help us, but we ought never start with something from the outside to interpret what's in the Bible. We want to start from the inside and work out.
So we've been.
We're going to start today in Galatians 2:11.
Let's see if we can catch up. What are some of the things we've talked about in the first chapter and a half of Galatians?
Yeah. False teachers.
Do we know anything about the false teachers besides that they are false?
Maybe. What's false about their teaching?
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah, they're adding more to salvation, like.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: Serving citizens and other Jewish.
Yeah, that's right.
So they are what we call.
What's the L word that we might call such a teacher.
Yeah, they are being legalists. Legalism, adding to the gospel, adding requirements that are not there. That's what legalism is. And I think we've started to see pretty clearly how they've been legalistic.
But, you know, it continues to kind of unravel and be revealed as we read the book. But at this point, Paul has given us the vast majority of the background context that we need, so we are getting a good sense. Okay, so there are false teachers in Galatia.
What else have we kind of discussed in this book?
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Basically how Paul's teachings are true.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Paul's teachings are true. They came from God. What are some of the ways that he evidences and proves that they are true? They came from God and not from man.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: Whenever Jesus.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: I mean, God.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Yeah, Acts.
Yeah, Jesus confronted him personally in Acts 9. I think.
Yeah. Is there anything else, maybe particularly chapter two, verses one through ten?
What's he talking about in there?
That was the last thing we went through.
Oh, sorry, Caden, I didn't see your hand.
Yeah. The other disciples or apostles agreed with him. He says that they are actually pretty important apostles. He calls them pillars.
Talking about James and Cephas or Peter and John. Yeah. So those are our three very important apostles. Right. They saw Jesus transfigured, they were particularly close to him and were seen as, you know, primary leaders of the church. So they agreed. He's also saying in there that he didn't go just to, you know, take what they were saying, but he went and kind of, you know, lined it up next to each other to say, you know, are these two lines parallel? Are we going in the same direction, preaching the same gospel?
And he said we were.
So I didn't add anything or change my gospel because after talking to them, though, I'm sure they learned and were encouraged by hearing from one another and the work that they had been doing. But, you know, he explains his independence of them, not in a prideful way, but to say that we're independent only because we're actually dependent on Christ.
We're not dependent on other man.
Men were dependent on the Lord all the same.
So then we can pick up in verse 11. We'll read verses 11 through 14.
He writes, 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.
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?
I'll stop there. I think this will kind of be where we'll focus today, so we'll kind of go through that verse 11. He says, When Cephas came to Antioch. So who is Cephas?
Peter. The Apostle Peter. Now, why does Antioch sound familiar?
Maybe it doesn't.
Anyone know what Antioch is?
Flip with me in your bibles to Acts 11.
Let's see, 27.
Does someone want to read Acts 27 or 11? 27, 30.
Can I get a Volunteer.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: I can do that.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:07:35] Speaker C: And in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.
This they also did and sent it to elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Perfect.
Okay, so what's going on here? Or does this help anyone? Is anyone putting the pieces together? Why is this passage helpful for us?
It is kind of a hard question.
So let me remind us, what exactly is Paul talking about? So he's been talking about this background, this story of him going to Jerusalem when he met these important apostles.
Well, I believe, and now there are a couple different interpretations. Some people think Paul went there in Acts 11, which is what we just read for. Well, he did go in both of these occasions. But some people believe what he's referring to is Acts 11 something Acts 15.
I'm swayed that what we just read is what he's talking about in chapter two.
So notice Barnabas and Saul. Who is Saul?
Paul. Right. Just different forms, different languages of the same name.
So Paul and Barnabas. And remember Paul's talking about how he went with Barnabas to Jerusalem. So we kind of see here why he went. And we hinted at it two weeks ago when we were in chapter two, because the apostles in two verse 10 said they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
And I said, I think this is because he was actually there to help feed the people in Jerusalem because there was a famine. And so Paul spent a lot of time in Antioch. And Antioch is an important city for various reasons and there was a well known churches. But what Paul did was he gathered money and collections from Antioch and from other churches throughout the known world and he brought it to Jerusalem. So I think that's what was happening. So this is why it's actually interesting that Cephas goes up to Antioch. It seems as though Cephas or Peter goes up either at a later time or, or maybe perhaps before this relief was brought down to Jerusalem. But I think it was after the fact, sometime later, Peter goes up to Antioch and that's kind of where we have ourselves now. So and continuing, Paul says I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. So Paul's telling some history with it happened after those events in chapter two, verses one through 10.
And so this also kind of means that it happens between Acts 11 and Acts 15. So Acts 15 is when a bunch of church leaders get together in Jerusalem to kind of decide, how are we going to handle Gentiles coming to faith? Are we going to require them to live like Jews? And of course they said, no, we're not going to. That was the decision.
And so this is sometime in between.
So that's pretty important. The Jerusalem Council is what we call it, makes a decision on circumcision. So Paul bringing up this issue is important because, well, he knew the Gospel by applying the Gospel to Gentiles. Even before this council met to make the decision, he. He knew, how should we handle Gentiles? Well, they need to repent of their sin and have faith in Christ, nothing else. There are no conditions that you have to meet to come to the Lord.
No conditions.
Salvation is unconditional. You must only turn from your sin and have faith in Christ.
Of course our lives are changed. We are made new people and are converted and are sanctified and grow in Christ and do good works and all this. But there are no conditions before that that we need to meet. And so Paul knew this because that is the heart of the gospel, even before this council met. Although the council, you know, is important so that we can clarify.
But he. He knew this. And so I think this is why what Peter does here when he comes to Antioch and is opposed to by Paul to his face, it's before this official decision, because if you read Acts 15, you'll see that Peter was a big leader in that discussion and helped sway the council to the position that Paul is expressing.
So it's almost like he started to live hypocritically. Paul rebuked him and he corrected and saw that that is the Gospel, and he taught it and led the rest of the churches in the world to believe the same thing that he had once been rebuked for, which is amazing humility by the Apostle Peter.
Now. So why exactly is he condemned? Does anybody know why is he condemned?
You can see it in the text.
He's a hypocrite. How is he a hypocrite? What makes him a hypocrite?
Yeah, exactly. He wants Gentiles, or at least by his actions, he's showing that Gentiles should live a little bit like Jews to make it easier on the Jews. But he himself, when he's not around those Jews, is not doing that.
So then we get to verse 12, and this kind of is how he explains what Seth just told Us for. By certain men.
For before certain men came from James, he was eating with Gentiles.
What is the significance of eating with Gentiles? Why is eating in particular what he points out communing? I think that is a good guess, but I don't think that's exactly what he's talking about because I think the Jewish Christians understood that you can have fellowship with Gentiles.
I think they were, at least for the most part, they were okay with that. Why else would eating maybe be a big issue?
Did anyone have breakfast today?
What did you guys have?
Donuts. Everyone just said donuts. Bacon? Yeah, Katie and I had some bacon.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Bacon and eggs?
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Yeah, bacon. You know, I think Gentiles maybe enjoyed some bacon. May have looked differently. But would Jews have enjoyed bacon? I'm not so sure.
And so I think this is what he's talking about, the dietary restrictions.
Jews could come to Christ and probably a lot of them, maybe even most, maybe the vast majority, would still have eaten their typical diet, though they didn't have to. But it's not wrong to abstain from those foods. And so they, probably a lot of them, I think, did.
But Peter, it seems like he is eating food that would have made some of the Jewish Christians really uncomfortable when he was around Gentiles. So I think that's what is being said.
Then we read. But when they came. So these are the people from James. When the people from James came, Peter drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. So these men from James, let's talk about them.
Did James tell them to pressure Peter out of the unclean food?
Why do you think he's saying these people are from James or can we not know?
Yeah, I don't know exactly.
I don't know. If we can't know, maybe we can know some things about these men. I had a hard time nailing down exactly who they were.
But I think if we're not careful, we could assume wrongly that just because we just, you know, I think it would be wrong to assume that James was the influence on these men to act this way or to pressure Peter.
I don't see that. Because we see in the context that James articulated the gospel well. Right. He talks with James, one of the pillars, and they agree, Paul and James.
And I just want to point this out because James and Paul are so often put against each other as if they're contradicting or saying different things.
I guess they're saying different things, different sides of the same gospel, as you read about works proving Your justification. Whereas Paul's saying we don't have to do any works to be justified. They're kind of talking from different sides of it, but they're not contradicting.
And so I just don't. I want us to avoid that. I think that could be a temptation when we see that James men came and then Peter got worried. I don't think there's textual evidence for that now. I think many or all of us can relate to Peter. So I want you guys to think to yourselves, so everyone think about this. Go into your imagination. Think of a time that you were maybe embarrassed about your beliefs, or maybe you hid what you believed in some way because of peer pressure or social pressure.
You felt like it was right maybe to speak out against something, but you were timid and did not want to for fear of social repercussions.
Now I'm wondering what are some common examples of this? How are. What are some. You can talk about your example that maybe you might be thinking of, or maybe just a common example of this being embarrassed or ashamed or timid about Christian beliefs. What are some situations in which this happens?
It.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: Maybe someone making fun of you for being a virgin?
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that could be one.
Not just. I think. I know it could. I know it could definitely be one.
And maybe, you know, you could be asked why and you could feel social pressure to not really explain why you have that view of how you should live your life.
Yeah, I can relate to that.
I can think of an example from my life in high school.
I had a few different friend groups, but there were some friends that were not godly friends that I spent a lot of time with.
And I remember them asking me why on earth I was going on some mission trip.
And because I didn't want to be a weird Christian, I really just gave them basically nothing. You know, I didn't explain why that's something Christians should do and why I was led to apply and go on that trip.
And so that's an example. So it could be just depending on your friend group.
And certainly got a lot of questions in college, although sometimes I just didn't answer them well because I didn't know the answers.
Like when I was a freshman and people were asking me why I didn't want to party with them in the same way. I just didn't really have good answers.
So there could be a lot of different reasons that we might be hypocrites. Live one way and talk another, or live one way here, live another way there, talk one way Here, talk another way there, school, church, friends, band, your sports team, whatever it might be. There's so many different little social groups or even with your family, you know, you might be different here than with your family. So many different little groups bring up so many different sides of us when that's not how we should be. We should be authentic, not hypocrites.
And even Peter was able to make a mistake like this.
But we know that Peter later obviously repents of this sin and is a major leader in the Jerusalem Council which allows uncircumcised men to join the church, which is a wonderful thing.
And so if you are thinking, hopefully, you know, maybe you don't have examples, but if you do have any, if you are thinking of times that you maybe have been a hypocrite, then just take heart that the apostle Peter was.
But you should be humble and repent of that sin and seek Christ just as he did.
Verse 13.
The rest of the Jews also acted hypocritically along with him.
So even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
Now, Barnabas was on a mission for whom? He was on a mission for the Gentiles.
That's why he was with Paul. They were going to the Gentile world on their missionary journey.
And he even he just found it easier to not eat with the Gentiles, it seems. You know, how is he led astray? Perhaps his view was changed or perhaps out of the pressure he was just, I'll just eat with the Jews. I'll kind of follow Peter's lead.
However it was. Now, obviously this is an issue if our conduct is causing others to be hypocrites as well, especially those of you who might be more natural leaders, like maybe people just happen to look up to you more.
You have a responsibility to be godly because people will be led astray by your unbelief and by your sin.
Now, on your papers, I want you to write down at least one way that you can be bold for the gospel rather than going with the flow.
So think about that for a minute.
How can you be bold? What are some situations in which you think God wants you to be bold for the gospel rather than just kind of pushing it aside, you know, maybe particularly think of those parts of your life where you're. If you claim to be a Christian, where you're Christian, I identity kind of gets put on the back burner, kind of is a little bit more hidden where you a less active public Christian, maybe in those areas. I think that's where God most wants you to be bold in your faith.
All right, well, I encourage you to share that with somebody and do that doing things like this with a partner are a lot are very helpful.
So that's my encouragement. Now finally, verse 14, he says, but when I saw that their conduct. He's talking about Peter and all the people that are with him, the circumcision party, and even Barnabas. Now he says, when I saw their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas or Peter before them all.
Now, what's going on here? Let's just make sure we're caught up. What's going on? What's he saying is happening?
[00:26:07] Speaker B: Maybe they were acting legalistic.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: Yeah, they are acting legalistic. And so what's Paul doing?
Yeah, he is confronting. And so in this letter in Galatians 2, Paul is just explaining how he confronted Peter. He's not giving us every single detail. His point isn't to tell exhaustively the whole conversation and what exactly it looked like, but he just wants us to know how he confronted Peter and how he did it was in front of everyone.
In front of them, in front of everybody there.
Why did he do it in front of everyone?
Why not take him aside privately and lovingly, gently rebuking him?
Yeah, well, so they all have the issue. I think that's at least part of the reason. But then why is he particularly specifically targeting Peter in front of them all.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: And like part of the reason other people were acting as he was like.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I think that's. I think combined. Those are right. Everyone needs to hear it. They are all doing that sin. But one man in particular needs to turn.
If he repents and lives according to the true gospel, then it's at least most of those other people, if not all of them, will follow his lead. And so Paul is acknowledging, you're all sinning, but you are the leader. There's a greater responsibility on your shoulders.
God has called you to a higher calling, Peter, and you need to act that way because you do have a lot of influence in this room.
So that's something to remember. If you are in a position of authority or leadership, that your character really does matter.
It's not just how you can lead. And if you can whip up people and get them to follow you. If you want to be a good leader, you need to have godly character and live according to the true gospel.
And here's what he says. If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?
So Peter understood that people are saved in the new Covenant by grace through faith.
That's what it seems like, he says, because clearly he's living that way. He's not in private forcing Gentiles to be like Jews. He's not privately being a legalist.
He knows that the law of Moses is not binding on Christians in the same way anymore.
However, he was timid and not bold. He was afraid in front of the Jewish Christians and so he allowed them to bully the Gentile Christians with their legalism.
Now let's think about this for the last couple of minutes. Why does Paul share this anecdote?
Is he just trying to light Peter up or embarrass him?
No, I don't think so.
I don't have any way of knowing this, but I would venture to guess that Peter would have probably even blessed Paul's use of this story because he was in step with them. They're on the same team.
They're not rivals. They both want the true gospel to go forth to all the world.
So the gospel is of first importance. So if we add any requirements to acceptance into the church, to salvation, any conditions that you have to meet before you can come to Christ, well that's not right.
Right. We are saved unconditionally, not by any works that we have done.
Likewise, if we are adding requirements to join our church that are not, you know, they need to be biblical, we cannot say, okay, you can. If you're going to join our church, then you also need to, you know, you got to dress nice enough on Sundays or you got to have a decent haircut or you know, something stupid like this, you know, or you can't make these non biblical requirements to be in fellowship. God is calling people from all the corners of the earth to be in one universal assembly in eternity. And so each local church are just little microcosms of that of people from all backgrounds and personalities and every different type of diversity you can imagine can come together and have fellowship in the Gospel.
So that's why we can't add these non biblical requirements. If the requirements we have aren't biblical, then we're being legalists, we're spreading a false gospel.
So friends and even people in authority need to be held to account with the Word of God.
So that's one reason that just normal members, even, you know, everyone in this room, we can know the Word, we can study the Word with one another and ourselves and listen to good teachers our pastors as they preach so we can know it better and better and better. And. And if you're ever in a situation in the future where you notice leaders in the church doing something like this, you can lovingly bring it up and rebuke them so that they can turn just like Peter did and promulgate and push forward the true gospel.
So that is one of the reasons, not the only reason, but one of the reasons we want to be good students of the Word. So that is maybe my main encouragement for today is try to think of ways that you can be a good student of the Word.
Where are some times that you can carve out for the Word of God? This summer I think could be an easier time for some of you to do that. So take advantage of the season of life. You have to really dive into the Word.
Now let's pray and then we can go worship with the church. Father, thank you for the Word and the Gospel.
God, we know that Christ is good and worth it.
Lord, we ask that today as we worship, anyone not in Christ would be attracted to him. They would see the benefits of the gospel and they would turn from their sins and have faith in him.
God, we pray that this church would remain healthy and growing and that we ought never be so foolish as to add requirements to the Gospel. God, help us in this. Help us by having our pastors love sound doctrine as well as our members to love sound doctrine. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.
