Learning to Dance: Face Off
Galatians 2:11-14
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
02-23-2020
Wrong Key
Last Sunday was simply amazing! The “miracle man” Mark Johnson was able to worship with us and I was overjoyed to see the church respond with such love for him.
And it was such an honor to baptize Jared, who was in our youth group all those years ago, Heidi, who is a beautiful trophy of grace, and Taylor and Lane! In fact, after service, Lane was walking around the auditorium saying, “I’m pumped!”
It was perfect. Well…not exactly. We began our service with a new song called “Death was Arrested” and it was a disaster. I literally couldn’t find the note to begin the song. Something was wrong but none of us could figure out what was going on.
As we began the second verse, it clicked. I knew why I couldn’t find the note. I was playing in capo 3 which is F. I had printed out the music in F for Beth but didn’t tell her before service. (This was my fault not Beth’s) So she was playing in B Flat. You don’t have to understand music to get that F and B Flat don’t go together. That’s why we couldn’t find the note.
The piano and guitar were not in synch so it was nearly impossible to find the note to start the song.
While that was frustrating last week, it provides the perfect introduction to today’s verses. Paul and Peter were in different keys. Actually Peter was out of synch with the Gospel itself and Paul has to confront him to his face about his hypocrisy.
Paul vs Judaizers
We are too far into our study of Galatians to recap everything. I would encourage you to go to our Facebook page and watch any of the sermons you missed.
Last week, Paul zeroed in on a private meeting in Jerusalem with James, Peter and John. He laid out the Gospel that he had been preaching for 17 years to the Gentiles and even brought a real live test case with him - Titus, a bacon-loving, BBQ smoking, Greek Gentile Christian.
The Judaizers were hoping to drive a wedge between Paul and the Jerusalem apostles but failed miserably. Titus was not compelled to be circumcised and Paul was offered the right hand of fellowship to affirm his Gospel to the Gentiles. All they asked was that he remembered the poor, something he was eager to do.
Turn with me to Galatians 2. We will begin this week in verses 11-14 and take 15-21 next week.
Prayer
Let’s Set the Scene
When the meeting between Paul and the Jerusalem apostles was over, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and then Paul left for an undetermined amount of time. While Paul was gone, Peter arrived at Antioch. This visit may have been official or he may have just been curious to see what was going on in the Christian community there.
Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire and was a cosmopolitan city north of Israel in Syria. (Not to be confused with Antioch in Galatia. Like Pontiac, IL and Pontiac, Michigan). It had an arena and a library.
Paul and Barnabas used Antioch as their home base for their missionary journeys. It had become the “Gentile Jerusalem,” the center of Christianity outside of Judea. In fact, it was at Antioch where the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians.” This was meant as an insult - you guys are acting like little Christs but the believers embraced this term.
It was a mainly Greek city but about 10% of the 250,000 people that lived there were Jewish.
Can you imagine Peter arriving at Antioch? He must have been treated like a rock star! This is Peter, the first disciple called, one of Jesus’ best friends. He walked on water, saw the transfiguration, saw the empty tomb, and preached the first sermon where 3,000 people were born again, and news of his raising Tabitha from the dead must have spread like wildfire. They probably were eager to hear his stories and he settled in for an extended stay.
The Rebuke
Let’s look at the how Paul describes what happened next:
“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” (Gal 2:11)
Paul cuts right to the chase. When Peter, (Cephus is Aramaic for Peter), cam to Antioch, Paul confronted him to his face because whatever he was doing was worthy of condemnation from God. This phrase “opposed him to his face” means to stop someone in the the direction they are going. Paul stopped Peter in his tracks.
This is one of the most tense and dramatic episodes in all the Bible. Two apostles squaring off like Ali-Liston in the Thrilla in Manilla.
Paul was going to make it clear that he and Peter stood on equal ground and he had every right to assert his authority as a fellow apostle and take Peter to task.
These verses actually bothered the early church fathers and many of them would skip it in their commentaries or try to find a way around it. Several early commentators said that this was not Peter the apostle but another guy named Peter.
But this is that Peter. What had he done that was so bad that Paul had to confront him to his face in front of everyone?
The Reason
For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (v. 12-13)
Peter had made himself at home in Antioch and was in the regular habit of eating with his Gentile brothers and sisters. This would include regular dinners but also their “love feasts,” a meal that they shared together once a week and communion as well.
Now, that means very little to us. But to Jews, eating with someone was a big deal. It implied a relationship and acceptance. And for Jews, that was simply something you didn’t do with Gentiles.
God had instituted dietary laws intended to keep the Jewish people from intermingling with Gentiles and being corrupted by their idolatry and immorality.
There were certain foods that Jews could eat and certain foods that they couldn’t eat. And because Gentiles often ate food that they were prohibited from eating, Jewish people didn’t eat with Gentiles or even enter their homes to keep themselves from being defiled.
But while in Antioch, Peter was chowing down on ham sandwiches with his Gentile friends. To understand how he could do this, we need to look back at an amazing experience that Peter had in Acts 10-11.
There was a man named Cornelius in Caesarea who loved God and gave to the poor. He was a Roman centurion but was a “God-fearer.” That means he worship the God of the Jews and even could attend synagogue but because he hadn’t been circumcised he had to sit in the back and observe. He was praying one day when God sent an angel to him who said:
“Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” (Acts 10:5-6)
Cornelius immediate sent two of his servants and a devout soldier to Joppa to get Peter.
The next day, Peter was on the roof the house he was staying in at Joppa. He was staying with Simon the Tanner. This is important because a tanner was someone who handled dead animals and would have been considered unclean but Peter is staying there.
He was hungry and fell into a trance and saw:
“…heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.” (Acts 10:11-16)
If you have a red letter Bible, you will notice the “Get up and eat” are in red. This is Jesus speaking and, as usual, Peter wants to argue with Him!
Just then, the three men showed up at the house the house asking for Peter. The Spirit told Peter to go with them.
Some people from Joppa joined him and they arrived in Caesarea the next day. As he entered the house,
Cornelius fell at his feet in reverence but Peter told him to stand up - that he was a just a man.
The house was full of friends and relatives and Peter looked around and it dawned on him that the vision of the food wasn’t just about food:
“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” (Acts 10:34-36)
Peter began to share the Gospel and while we was still speaking the Holy Spirit fell on them and they begin to praise God and the Jewish believers with Peter couldn’t believe it.
Peter was overjoyed and said:
“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. (Acts 10:47-48)
So Peter had witnessed uncircumcised Gentiles, who knew nothing about the Mosaic Law, be born again and join the fellowship of Followers of Christ.
He had stayed in their house, eating at their table, and for several days after this incident.
When Peter returned to Jerusalem, the leaders were outraged:
“You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (Acts 11:3)
Jews hated Gentiles and were enraged that Peter had even entered his house.
Peter recounted the entire story to them, ending with:
“So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17)
The people were dumbfounded by joyful:
“When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18)
This is why Peter could so easily put aside kosher rules and eat ham sandwiches with his Gentile friends. He had the point driven home to him forcefully in the Acts 10-11 episode.
The Pharisees were constantly frustrated at Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners.
The food laws were over. Jesus had told him to not call anything unclean that He called clean.
Peter knew this because Jesus had already said it:
“Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” (Mark 7:14-15)
When the disciples asked him about this, Jesus clarified it for them:
“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:18-23)
Did you catch that? Jesus had declared all food clean in his teaching and then gives Peter a picture of the sheet to drive the point home.
But more than that, Jesus had broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. Paul put it this way in the letter to the church at Ephesus:
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Eph 2:14-18)
There was something new happening in Antioch - a multicultural, multiethnic fellowship of believers in Jesus. Jews and Gentiles were dancing to a new rhythm - the rhythm of grace, joy and freedom in the Gospel.
But then the James Gang showed up. These men believed that in order to be a Christian one first must become a Jew and be circumcised, follow the Jewish dietary rules, and the Mosaic Law. They claimed authority from James himself, although it becomes clear in Acts that he did not authorize their visit or their stance.
But they were powerful and Peter was scared of them. Peter could be courageous but he could also be a coward. He could walk on water but then sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus. He could say to Jesus, “Even if everyone abandons you, I will never deny you” and then call down curses on himself and he denied even knowing Jesus three times to a servant girl.
They may have said something like:
“Peter, you are the missionary to the Jews, remember? What are you doing here? You are a disgrace to your own race - eating with Gentiles, not keeping the Sabbath. Have you lost your mind? I think we might need to send a letter back to Jerusalem and tell them about your behavior.”
And with that, Peter pulled back. The tense of the verb indicates that he did this gradually. One night he doesn’t show up for the dinner at his friend’s house. Then he doesn’t attend the pig roast. Then he takes his fried chicken and sits on the other side of the church basement.
The Gentiles would have noticed this and would have been confused. They would have wondered what happened.
Then Peter’s pulling back went viral and other Jews joined him in what Paul calls “hypocrisy.” In Greek, this word means to “speak from under” and was the language of the theater. It was used when an actor would wear a mask to play a part. That’s what Peter was doing.
Had he abandoned the Gospel of grace? Did he really think that he had to separate himself from the Gentiles? Did he want to try to live under the law again?
No. Peter’s theology wasn’t the issue. It was his behavior. And when leaders sin it has consequences.
We can actually sense Paul’s hurt when he writes that “even Barnabas was led astray.” Barnabas, son of encouragement, his fellow partner in his missionary adventures who helped start the churches in Galatia was pulling back from table fellowship, Love Feasts, and communion with the Gentiles.
John Stott writes:
“Hypocrisy is hideous. What cancer is to the body, hypocrisy is to the church. It’s a killing agent. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is also addictive. And even though Jesus reserved His most severe words of condemnation for the hypocrite, we still seem to prefer that lifestyle to truth and authenticity.”
The Rationale
When Paul returned to Antioch, he literally couldn’t believe his eyes:
“When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” (Gal 2:14)
The phrase “acting in line with” is where we get our word orthodontics. It means to walk a straight line. In other words, Peter is out of sync with the truth of the Gospel.
Paul confronted him publicly. Now, let’s stop for a second. I’ve always been taught, “Praise in public, confront in private.” And doesn’t Matthew 18 teach that we should go to that person privately first? Yes it does.
But this sin was public and the consequences were spreading to others.
Near the end of Paul’s life, he wrote to his young protege Timothy:
“Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.” (I Tim 5:19-20)
This was a very public sin so Paul confronts him in the assembly of believers. He may have talked to him privately first but we don’t know.
Paul asks Peter a very pointed question. I love the way Ralph Keiper paraphrased this verse:
“Peter, I smell ham on your breath. You forgot your Certs. There was a time when you wouldn’t have eaten ham as part of your hope of salvation. Then after you trusted Christ, it didn’t matter if you ate ham. But now when the non-ham eaters have come from Jerusalem you’ve gone back to your Kosher ways. But the smell of ham still lingers on your breath. ?You’re most inconsistent. You’re compelling Gentile believers to observe Jewish law, which can never justify anyone.”
Peter was siding with the Judaizers in his behavior and Paul wasn’t standing for it for a minute.
Gentiles were former pagans who didn’t understand the dietary rules or the Mosaic law. All they knew was that they were sinners and were helpless and hopeless and headed for hell. But Jesus died on the cross, in their place, to pay the sin debt. He traded His righteousness for our sin and absorbed the Father’s wrath for sin in his body on the cross. And He rose again proving that the check cleared.
The Jewish believers were coming out from under the Law and beginning to understand that Jesus lived the Law perfectly for them when they couldn’t. They were learning about their freedom in Christ.
If Paul had allowed this separation to take place, it would have resulted in two churches a Jewish churches and Gentile churches. Gentiles would have felt like second-class Christians and would be pressured to conform to the Jewish rules and regulations to be accepted.
But there is not two Gospels, only one. And Jews and Gentiles are both sinners in need of a Savior. And they are both saved by the same Gospel - by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
That’s why Paul was so adamant that this had to stop. The very future of the church was at stake. Would it be just another Jewish sect or would it be a fellowship that welcomes all people, of all ethnicities, of all races, from every continent, of every color?
We actually aren’t told how this turned out. If Paul had won the day, he probably would have included that in these verses to the Galatians. But we know that Peter was one of the Gentiles biggest advocates at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 so it seemed that he had taken Paul’s words to heart.
Paul is going to continue his appeal to Peter in verses 15-21, including one of the most famous verses in the Bible, and we will look at that next week.
But let’s see what we can apply this week:
Applications
Fear of men
Why did Peter act this way? Because of fear. Specifically, fear of the James gang that came from Jerusalem.
When Peter’s eyes were fixed on Jesus and on the Gospel mission he could be as brave and courageous as anyone. But when he took his eyes off of Jesus and started worrying about his reputation and his standing with other, he could be fearful and hypocritical.
Peter had put his foot in his mouth so many times that maybe he feared making another huge mistake.
So he backed away from his Gentile friends, causing them to feel “less than” and even leading other Jews in the charade.
Paul wrote to Timothy that God has not given us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim 1:7, ESV)
And Peter would have surely have known Proverbs 29:25:
“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Prov 29:25)
Fear can make us a hypocrite and drive us toward legalism.
But, I have to admit that I’m a lot like Peter sometimes.
When I was in college, I was saved through a outreach ministry. On Friday nights, I would go to eat with about 20+ of my new friends at a local restaurant. I was a baby Christian and invited my friend Martin to eat with us one night.
Martin wasn’t a believer but several of the girls thought he was cute so he fit in pretty quickly. That was until he ordered a beer with his meal. Martin was 21 and he didn’t know 2 Homonomees 6:7-9 that says that you can’t have a beer with your meal. (By the way, I made all of that up)
One of of the leaders of this group came to me and wanted me to talk to Martin about drinking beer when he was with us.
As a new Christian, I wanted to know what was the problem with Martin, my non-Christian friend having a beer with pizza. None of them could really tell me but made it pretty clear that I needed to talk to Martin.
I remember being so confused. On one hand, I was mad that this group was trying to impose their own beliefs on Martin as a prerequisite for him hanging out with us.
On the other hand, I was so thankful for this group and didn’t want to do anything to mess top my standing with them.
So I caved and mentioned to Martin that his beer drinking made some of the group uncomfortable. And with that, Martin never came back to a Friday night dinner.
I felt incredibly disappointment in myself that apparently being accepted by the group was more important than my friendship with Martin.
I decided that if another situation came up like that I would be brave and stand up to the “God Squad.”
How have I done over the last 30 years? Sometimes I have been brave and other times a coward.
We need to remind ourselves the Gospel 1,000 times a day. It is not “I obey therefore I’m accepted.” It’s “I’m accepted therefore I obey.”
And If the the God of the universe accepts us, then who should we fear?
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
As John Piper has said, “Believe the great gospel and fear no man.”
2. Accountability
Chuck Swindoll writes:
“We are accountable to other Christians for what we say and do. And our words and actions have consequences beyond ourselves.”
I learned that the hard way one night after youth group.
Ashley and Audrey asked to see me in my office. As we sat down, I realized something was very wrong because Ashley’s eyes were filled with tears. I asked her what was going on but I wasn’t prepared for her response.
With tears and much love and gentleness, this 16 year old student opposed me to my face. During my talk that night, I had offhandedly talked about a TV pastor that I don’t agree with and made fun of him.
Ashley said, “I know you don’t agree with him, but did I just witness my pastor making fun of another pastor in front of a whole room of students? My parents love that pastor and have been blessed by his ministry. It was just so…she searched for the word…unnecessary.
I was devastated. What I had done was sin. She was 100% right and had every right to confront me, even though she was the “student” and I was the student pastor.
We will come to this verse in chapter 6 of Galatians:
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Gal 6:1)
Ashley did this with humility, gentleness, and love for me. And I’m thankful she did.
Is there anyone you need to talk to about sin that you see in their lives? Is fear keeping you back?
3. There is hope for us
Martin Luther actually viewed this episode in Peter’s life as a great comfort to believers:
“For it is a great comfort for us to hear that even great saints sin…Samson, David, and many other celebrated men who were full of the Holy ?Spirit fell into huge sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth. Elijah and Jonah grew tired of life and prayed for death. Such errors and sins of the saints are set forth in order that those who are troubled and desperate may find comfort and those that are proud may be afraid. No man has ever fallen so grievously that he could not have stood again. On the other hand, no one has such a sure footing that he cannot fall. If Peter fell, I too, may fall; if he stood up again, so can I.”
Many people say that the church is full of hypocrites and they are right. But they miss something. Everyone is a hypocrite. None of us live exactly what we say we believe all the time. So you can either proudly stand outside the church and throw rocks at us hypocrites or come in and join us, admitting that we are frail and feeble, that we are prone to wander, and that our only hope is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
