JUSTIFIED
BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST (Galatians 2:11-16)
Now when Peter had come
to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for
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. And the rest of the Jews
also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with
their hypocrisy. 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? We who are Jews by nature, and not
sinners of the Gentiles, knowing 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 (Galatians
2:11-16)
Withstood him to his face -
Peter was guilty of sin by aligning himself with men he knew to be in error and
because of the harm and confusion he caused his Gentile brethren.
Certain men came from James - Peter, knowing the decision the Jerusalem Council had made
(Acts 15:7–29), had been in Antioch for some time, eating with Gentiles. When
Judaizers came, pretending to be sent by James, they lied, giving false claims
of support from the apostles. Peter had already given up all Mosaic ceremony
(Acts 10:9–22) and James had at times held only to some of it (Acts 21:18–26). Withdrew
- The Greek term refers to strategic military withdrawal. The verb’s form
may imply that Peter’s withdrawal was gradual and deceptive. To eat with the
Judaizers and decline invitations to eat with the Gentiles, which he had
previously done, meant that Peter was affirming the very dietary restrictions
he knew God had abolished (Acts 10:15) and thus striking a blow at the gospel
of grace. Fearing those who were of the circumcision - The true
motivation behind Peter’s defection. He was afraid of losing popularity with
the legalistic, Judaizing segment of people in the church, even though they
were self-righteous hypocrites promoting a heretical doctrine.
Hypocrisy
- The Greek word “hypocrite” refers
to an actor who wore a mask to depict a mood or certain character. In the
spiritual sense, it refers to someone who masks his true character by
pretending to be something he is not (cf. Matthew 6:1–6). They were committed
to the gospel of grace, but pretended to accept Jewish legalism.
Straightforward -
Literally to walk “straight” or “uprightly.” By withdrawing from the Gentile
Christians, Peter and the other Jewish believers were not walking in line with
God’s Word. Truth of the gospel – Galatians
2:5. Live in the manner of Gentiles - Before his gradual
withdrawal, Peter regularly had fellowship and ate with the Gentiles, thus
modeling the ideal of Christian love and liberty between Jew and Gentile. Compel
the Gentiles to live as Jews - By his Judaizing mandate, he was declaring
theirs was the right way.
Paul’s
rebuke of Peter serves as one of the most dynamic statements in the New Testament
on the absolute and unwavering necessity of the doctrine of justification by
grace through faith (Romans 3:24).
Peter’s apparent repentance acknowledged Paul’s apostolic authority and his own
submission to the truth (2 Peter 3:15, 16).
Sinners of the Gentiles -
This is used in the legal sense since Gentiles were sinners by nature because
they had no revealed divine written law to guide them toward salvation or
living righteously.
Works … faith -
Three times in this verse Paul declares that salvation is only through faith in
Christ and not by law. The first is general, “a man is not justified”;
the second is personal, “we might be justified”; and the third is
universal, “no flesh shall be justified.” Justified - This basic
forensic Greek word describes a judge declaring an accused person not guilty
and therefore innocent before the law. Throughout Scripture it refers to God’s
declaring a sinner not guilty and fully righteous before Him by imputing to him
the divine righteousness of Christ and imputing the man’s sin to his sinless
Savior for punishment, (Romans 3:24;
Philippians 3:8, 9). Works of the Law - Keeping the law is a
totally unacceptable means of salvation because the root of sinfulness is in
the fallenness of man’s heart, not his actions. The law served as a mirror to
reveal sin, not a cure for it (Galatians
3:22–24; Romans 7:7–13; 1 Timothy 1:8–11).
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