Galatians 2:11-16

 

Rachel Workman: ¹¹ But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. ¹² When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. ¹³ As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. The fear of being criticised by others is misplaced. If we worried about how God viewed us as much as we worried about what other people thought about us, I promise we would sin less.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” We will never be good enough. Not with works, not just as we are. Without Christ there is no hope. 

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John Burnett:  11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he [a]stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of some men from [b]James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not [c]straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “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?[d]

15 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from the Gentiles; 16 nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of [e]the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of [f]the Law; since by works of [g]the Law no [h]flesh will be justified.  These verses go to show that even the Lead Apostle designated by God to lead the Jewish beleivers could be lead astray.  There are millions of people who think that being a good person makes you a Christian, but verse 16 contradicts that false teaching.  No one is justified (SAVED) by any works of the law.  It is completely dependent on our faith in Jesus Christ and His perfect life following the law, His death paid for our breaking the law, and His resurrection overcoming death and giving us eternal life.  Our Salvation depends on not one work that we have done and all the work that Jesus has done.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Galatians 2:17-21

¹⁷ But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. ¹⁹ For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ.^[e] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.