Living in Step With the Gospel
Tom Shrader works through Galatians 2:11-14, the public confrontation between Paul and Peter in Antioch, explaining how Peter's withdrawal from Gentile fellowship was driven not by theological confusion but by fear of man. Shrader connects this episode to the broader battle for the gospel running through Galatians, showing that the same grace that saves believers must also shape how they live and relate to one another. The practical application calls listeners to replace fear of man with fear of God, treating the gospel not as a beginner's lesson but as the ongoing answer to every area of life.
“Paul is showing us that we never get beyond the gospel in our Christian life into something that's more advanced — it's not just the ABCs, but the A to Z of Christianity.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Galatians: Fighting for Grace
Recorded: 2012 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 57 min
Themes: fear of man, gospel, hypocrisy, courage, grace, confrontation, peer pressure, integrity, struggling with people pleasing, navigating conflict, feeling pressured by peers, new believer, leader avoiding hard conversations, young adult, pastor, struggling with hypocrisy
Scripture: Galatians 1:17, Galatians 2:1-14, Acts 15:1-30, Romans 3, Romans 6:10-18
Theological Themes: justification by faith, sanctification, gospel-centered living, fear of God, galatians, biblical confrontation, imputed righteousness, pauline theology
Full Transcript
Introduction: The Passage and Its Context
Open your Bibles, please, to the Book of Galatians, chapter 2. If you don't have a Bible, raise your hand and we will make sure we get you one. If you receive a Bible from us, it is on page 631.
Our emphasis today is on chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. I want to read those verses first, then go back to the beginning of chapter 2 to provide some context, make sure we understand what is happening and the scope of the issue in front of us, and then pull out some practical applications.
In chapter 2, verse 11: "When Cephas" — that is Peter — "came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, Peter began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, and the result was that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy."
Make a note in verse 13 — underline it, circle it, however you do it — that the word "hypocrisy" appears twice. That becomes really important. Verse 14: "When I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of all" — this is a public confrontation — "If you being a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
The Overarching Theme: Fighting for Grace
This is a big issue, and it continues the one giant issue that runs through this entire study. You can catch it in the title: "Fighting for Grace." When we talk about grace in this context, we are talking about the gospel — the battle that is waged for the gospel. The event in front of us today, in verses 11 through 14, helps us get to the heart of all of this.
A Question of Chronology
There is an issue here that could potentially cause some confusion, and I want to address it so that our discussion of this passage is as rich as possible. The question concerns the timing of the confrontation we are looking at today — specifically, where it falls chronologically.
We know from the book of Acts that Paul made four trips to Jerusalem. The first we have already looked at — that is what we saw in chapter 1, verse 17, when Paul went to Jerusalem and met with Peter. This was not really a theological summit. It lasted fifteen days and was more a matter of comparing notes as colleagues. Paul goes out of his way to say this was not a time of formal training.
Then there is a second visit in which Paul brings an offering to the churches at Jerusalem. You can see a reference to this at the end of verse 10 of chapter 2: "They asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do." The churches in Jerusalem were very poor, and as the gospel spread — particularly among the Gentiles, who had more financial means — Paul was collecting funds for them.
Then, in Acts chapter 15, there is the first Council of Jerusalem. And finally, at the end of the book of Acts, Paul passes through Jerusalem on his way to Rome. It is that first Council of Jerusalem that raises the timing question. Specifically: did the incident we are examining today take place before or after the Council of Jerusalem — or is the event described here in chapter 2 actually the council itself?
In the broad scope of things, I do not believe it changes the core meaning dramatically, and scholars are genuinely divided on it. Where it becomes practically significant is in how we understand Paul's role in these events. If it is adding confusion rather than clarity, we can set that question aside — the main thing is to understand what Paul is confronting and why it matters.
Paul's Constant Problem: False Teachers
Paul has a constant problem in his ministry, and that is false teachers who —
The Judaizers and the Gospel at Stake
They seem to follow him wherever he goes. The minute Paul comes to a city and begins to preach, they follow, stir up people against him, and challenge his gospel message. We have seen this over the last two weeks. They challenge his authority. It is helpful to understand that this is not only an ongoing battle for Paul, but for us as well. These men are identified by the name Judaizers.
What the Judaizers would do is come in and undermine Paul, saying, "He claims to be an apostle, but he is not really of that caliber — not like James, Peter, or John." They also insisted he was preaching a different message. And since people in those days had no ability to Google, call, or verify claims, someone could say, "I came from James," and no one could check. So these men could cast doubt on Paul and his message freely.
It is important to remember that early on, the gospel was preached by Jews to Jews. Now it was moving out into the Gentile world, and that is precisely where the Judaizers pressed their issue. They wanted Judaism plus Christianity. Their argument was this: for a Gentile to become a Christian, he must first undergo circumcision, just as a Gentile becoming a Jew would have done. Paul said no — that requirement no longer applies. We are not under the law anymore. Jesus fulfilled the law, and we are free.
We need to make sure we understand the gospel clearly. We are sinners, and as sinners we stand under the guilt and the punishment of the wrath of God — eternal separation from God. That is what we deserve. But Christ died to set us free from exactly that. The Judaizers came along and said: if you want to be a Christian, you must also become a Jew.
What the Judaizers Actually Taught
Keep your place in Galatians, but turn left to Acts chapter 15 — page 600 — and you will find the anthem of the Judaizers stated plainly. Acts chapter 15, verse 1: "Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren. Unless you are circumcised according to the customs of Moses, you cannot be saved." It could not be stated more directly than that.
In our study of the book of Galatians — this week, last week, next week, and the weeks after — we will be dealing again and again with this very same issue: what is the gospel? Paul has been absolutely clear. The gospel is salvation by grace through faith. Anything other than that is not merely a tweaking of the gospel, not the gospel with some minor adjustment. It is a different gospel. It is a false gospel.
To the Jewish people, circumcision was their heritage. It was their sacred mark. It was the command they had received directly from God. And in the past, when a Gentile became a Jew, circumcision was required — that is what the law demanded. But that is no longer the case within the Christian faith. That is the issue, and it is the issue we will return to again and again, because the gospel is at the very core of everything we preach, teach, and think. It becomes the answer and the solution to everything we face in life, and to what God has done for us.
Paul's Journey to Jerusalem
With that foundation in place, Paul begins to defend that gospel. Let us go back to Galatians chapter 2. "After an interval of fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem." Paul had made a prior trip there, but this is a different one. He takes with him Barnabas and Titus. "It was because of a revelation that I came up. And I submitted to them the gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain."
Paul tells us he traveled to Jerusalem with two companions. The first is Barnabas, a man who has played a significant role in Paul's life. When Paul was converted and began to preach, the Jews were deeply suspicious of him. Barnabas stepped in and smoothed the way, essentially saying, "No, no — this man is a new creature. People change. He has been redeemed." He is Barnabas, the son of encouragement.
The second companion is Titus, a Greek — an uncircumcised Greek. Titus is therefore the perfect illustration of the very issue at hand. He is a product of Paul's ministry, the very ministry the Judaizers are claiming is false or inaccurate. His presence in Jerusalem makes the question unavoidable.
The Pillars of the Church
Paul goes to Jerusalem to submit his gospel to the recognized leaders there. The word "submitted" means literally to lay something before others for their consideration. The "them" he is referring to is Peter, James, and John — specifically James, the half-brother of Jesus — along with others who may have been gathered. In verse 2, Paul calls them "those who were of reputation."
This phrase appears four times in this passage. In verse 2, they are those of reputation. In verse 6, they were of high reputation, and again at the end of verse 6, they were of reputation. In verse 9, they are identified as pillars — the core of the church. Four times Paul pauses to elevate these men. One possible explanation — and it is a favorite — is that Paul is being sarcastic. The accusation against him had been that James, Peter, and John were the real apostles, and he was not. So Paul may be responding with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment. At the very least, he is saying: I went and presented this gospel to the very men you say are the standard. These are the pillars of the church. These are the ones I brought it to.
Standing Firm on the Gospel
He comes to present the gospel to those who have the authority and are seen as the men in the church. It is the gospel he had preached and continued to preach. He comes not to validate the gospel, because he understands it is the gospel from God. Rather, he comes because what he wants to avoid is any sort of split in the church over this gospel issue. People are coming in and trying to drive a wedge between Paul and what he is teaching, Peter, James, and John, and the church in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15
To see the broader context, we turn to Acts chapter 15, which contains the account of the first council of Jerusalem. The circumstances there are very similar to what Paul describes in Galatians, though with some variation. You will see quickly why some scholars say the two passages are not describing the same event, while others argue they are.
In Acts 15:1, some men came down and said, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." When Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas, along with some others, should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning the issue. So the church in Antioch tells them they need to go. Remember what Paul says in Galatians chapter 1, verse 2 — that he went as a result of revelation, that God revealed this to him. Perhaps God revealed it to him through the church and its leaders, but the direction was clear: go.
In verse 4, they arrive in Jerusalem, are received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and report all that God had done through them. Paul and Barnabas declare that they preached the gospel, describe what that gospel is, and recount how God confirmed it — signs, wonders, miracles, people being saved, and doors being opened. But some from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up and said it was necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to direct them to observe the law of Moses. There is the issue again.
The apostles and elders came together to look into the matter, and after much debate, Peter stood up and said: "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the hearts, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did us. And He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the necks of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the same way as they are." Notice what Peter does — he does not say the Gentiles are saved like us. He says we are saved like them.
All the people kept silent and listened as Barnabas and Paul related all the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. Then James stood up and delivered the verdict: salvation is by grace through faith, and nothing can be added to it. In verse 30, they sent Paul and Barnabas away to Antioch, where the church gathered and heard the letter from Jerusalem read aloud. They rejoiced, because the gospel stood complete — nothing needed to be added to it. Paul and Barnabas stayed on to teach. That is the story of the first Jerusalem council.
Back to Galatians 2: A Private Setting
Returning now to Galatians chapter 2, Paul and his companions have gone to Jerusalem and presented the gospel. One distinction worth noting is that in Acts 15 the setting appears to be very much public, whereas here in Galatians 2, verse 2, it was a private setting. Those two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive — what was discussed privately may well have preceded what was addressed publicly.
Verses 3 through 5 of Galatians 2 are, as one scholar writes, "a shipwreck of Greek grammar." Most scholars agree these verses are so convoluted they are very difficult to unpack. But the big idea is right there in verse 3: "But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." When the Jerusalem leaders listened to the gospel Paul preached — and presumably to the testimony of Barnabas and Titus as well — they found themselves in total agreement with it. Titus was the exhibit: a Greek, uncircumcised, and yet already a believer. There was nothing he needed to go through, nothing to be added.
One author captures the significance of this moment well: "Of course, this is a daring step of Paul to take Titus with him at all. To introduce a Gentile into the headquarters of the Jerusalem church could have been interpreted as a deliberate act of provocation. In a sense it probably was, although Paul's motive was not provocative. It was not in order to stir up strife that he brought Titus with him to Jerusalem, but in order to establish the truth of the gospel. The truth is that Jews and Gentiles are accepted by God on the same terms — namely, through faith in Jesus Christ — and must therefore be accepted by the church without discrimination between them."
Infiltrators and the Defense of Freedom
Paul then turns to the opposition he encountered. In verses 4 and 5 he explains that the pressure to circumcise Titus came from false brethren who had secretly come in — who had sneaked in to spy out the liberty which believers have in Christ Jesus.
Freedom in the Gospel
Not one of them intimated that Titus — because he was a Greek — ought to be circumcised. In fact, the suggestion would never have arisen but for the presence of some pseudo-Christians who wormed their way into our meeting to spy on the liberty we enjoy in Jesus Christ, and then attempted to tie us up with rules and regulations. These men secretly moved in, but we did not yield and subject ourselves to them even for an hour, so that — and here is the key — the truth of the gospel remained with you.
Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." In the gospel we do not find ourselves — to use J.B. Phillips's words — tied up in rules and regulations. We find ourselves set free.
Four Areas of Freedom in Christ
One of the things we talk about regularly here at Gilbert is the freedom we have in Christ, and we point to four specific areas. When we are placed in Christ — when we believe in Jesus, when we come to Him in repentance and faith — we are set free. If this is familiar to you, bear with me. If it is brand new, you are going to love it.
**The first freedom is freedom from the bondage of sin.** Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, verse 10: "For the death that Jesus died, He died to sin once and for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, alive to God. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust. Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present them to God." Then in verse 18: "Thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
Before we came to Christ in repentance and faith, all we could do was sin, because our heart was at war with God. Our deeds were filthy rags. Paul says in Romans 3, "No one does good, no, not one." We were in bondage to sin — all we could do was sin. But now in Christ, we have the ability to enslave ourselves to Christ rather than to sin. You cannot go around saying the devil made you do it and simply go along with that anymore. You are free from the bondage of sin.
That said, this is not the end of the struggle. Paul himself goes on to say the things he does he does not want to do, and the things he does not want to do, he does — and he goes on and on. So it is an ongoing struggle. But now you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you, and part of His work is to put in your heart the desire to please God and to belong to Him.
Freedom from the Agony of Death
**The second freedom is freedom from the agony of death** — specifically, freedom from the uncertainty of what happens after we die. We know Christians, people who love Jesus, some of whom die very quickly and some over an extended period of time. My father, for instance — he was on a Saturday night watching television, went upstairs, and died. The doctor said he likely did not even know what happened before he hit the ground. Others among us may die over an extended and painful period of time. But we know there is life after death, and it is that certainty which frees us from the agony of the unknown.
Freedom from the Curse of Eternal Destiny
**The third freedom is freedom from the curse — freedom in our eternal destiny.** We are freed from hell and welcomed into heaven. I think about this regularly, though not for very long, because I am not sure I can answer every question it raises. But here is what I know: right now, Susan is with Jesus. That is an amazing thought. I am absolutely certain of it. I am confident of it. I know she loved Him and gave her life to Him, and He responded and saved her. The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That is where she is right now.
Unless Jesus comes quickly, all of us are going to die. The statistics on death are impressive — one out of one people die. We know there is life after death, heaven or hell, but you can know today where you will spend eternity. If your answer is, "I'm not sure — probably, maybe," then I would say: when this service is over, come to the front and speak with the men and women who will be there. You can have that certainty today.
Freedom to Be Who God Created You to Be
**The fourth freedom is freedom to be the person God created you to be.** I add this as a fourth area because I think it is enormous. So often — and we will get there, trust me — when Peter goes awry and begins to act in a hypocritical way, what is motivating him is precisely the loss of this freedom.
The Freedom to Be Who God Called You to Be
There is this fear of man from which you are free. So much of our struggle comes from wanting to be what mom thought we should be, or what dad thought we should be. We carry some sort of jealousy, and we cannot accept that God gives gifts and deals with people differently.
The average size of a church in America — and you may not know this — is 75 people. So this morning there are guys preaching to churches of 10, 20, 75, 500, a thousand, two thousand, or ten thousand. It doesn't matter. We humanly begin to grade that and think one is better than the other, and a guy with a church of a thousand must be better than one with two thousand. That is a totally unhealthy way of thinking, and yet even the church is not removed from it. You find the same thing in business, in school, in athletics — this jealousy, this gift envy, this talent envy.
Just be the person God has called you to be. Some of you He has made very talented; some of us He has not. Some are very gifted; some are not. The point is this: you are free. You don't have to perform anymore. Just be you.
Paul's Gospel Confirmed by the Pillars of the Church
After all of that, here is what happens. Verse 6: "But from those who were of high reputation" — he adds parenthetically — "what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality" — "well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised — for He who effectively worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectively worked for me also to the Gentiles" — and then another parenthetical insert — "and they recognized the grace that had been given to me, James, Peter, and John, who were the pillars of the church, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised."
Here is what Paul is saying. When he uses the phrase in verse 6 that they "contributed nothing to me," he means that he presented them the gospel he preached and they didn't bring anything new to the conversation. They didn't tweak it, add to it, change it, edit it, or amend it. They simply said, "Yes, that is the gospel." They affirmed it. Their affirmation didn't make it the gospel — it was the gospel all along — but now what you have is a unified front as the gospel moves from the Jews to the Gentiles.
One Gospel, Many Contexts
When we speak of Paul's gospel, or Peter's gospel, or James' gospel, or John's gospel, we need to be clear: there are not four different gospels. It is the same gospel, but it may be preached in four different ways. You get this from the discussion itself. If you are preaching the gospel to Jews, circumcision is going to be an issue.
Right now, literally right now, we have 300 kids up at winter camp. Some of those kids know Christ; some do not. You are going to talk about all sorts of things, but you are going to present the gospel in a context that is a little different than sitting here on a Sunday morning. The issue is not that the gospel changed. The issue is that from person to person, the context of application changed.
This is not hard to understand. I am watching Haley and Tyler deal with Braden in particular when it comes to the gospel. Braden is six. You are not going to sit down and talk to a six-year-old the same way you would a 16-year-old or a 26-year-old. But the gospel doesn't change. That is exactly what Paul is saying.
So he is writing to this church — remember the context — a church that has been infiltrated by men who are saying Paul is not an apostle, he is not genuine, he is not real, and he is preaching a gospel other than the one true gospel. He writes back and says, that is not the case. Just to be clear, though it wasn't necessary, I went and met with Peter, James, John, and others. I told them what had happened. I told them the gospel. And when they sat and listened, their conclusion was that it is indeed the gospel.
Remembering the Poor
Verse 10: "Then they only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." They dropped in the practical aspect of this. Martin Luther wrote, "Next to the proclamation of the gospel, it is the task of a good pastor to be mindful of the poor." A commentator adds that a gospel-preaching church does not forget the poor — especially suffering Christians around the world — but remembers to take care of them. When it came to the poor, the apostle set a good example.
Now, when we talk about the poor, we are talking about people who need things. Frankly, being a middle-class, white, conservative, evangelical, the problem with people in that category is they can fall into a mindset that says, "Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps." Let me be clear: there are a whole lot of people who have no bootstraps to grab. There are people who, simply because of the stage of life they are in and where they find themselves, need help. Some of them are fellow believers, and Paul is saying to us: help them.
This should be a special place, a safe place. Needy people — poor in spirit, poor relationally, poor in material things — should be able to come here. The poorest among us are all around us. And let me tell you something else Paul says: he does not say to check their green card.
Peter and Paul at Antioch
Before you give them a basket of food — it is the Good Samaritan. He said, you have a brother, a neighbor in need, you meet the need. Other than the proclamation of the gospel, it is the task of a good pastor to be mindful of the poor, the poor in our community, the poor in our area.
Let us look at verses 11 through 14. One author writes that this is without a doubt one of the most tense and dramatic episodes in the New Testament. Here, two leading apostles of Jesus Christ came face to face in complete and open conflict.
These men were both Christians, both men of God, both forgiven of their sin through Christ, both filled with the Holy Spirit, both apostles, both called, both commissioned, both invested with authority by Him, and both honored by the churches for their leadership. Another author writes that it was an awkward moment, to say the least. It is always embarrassing when a fight breaks out at a church, but this one was a real doozy.
For one thing, it took place at a church potluck, where everyone is supposed to be having a good time. For another thing, the combatants were pillars of the church — it was Peter against Paul, two apostles in a face-to-face, knock-down, drag-out showdown. The battle was completely unexpected, since the two men had been friends ever since they got acquainted in Jerusalem.
The last time they were together, Peter had given Paul the right hand of fellowship — that affirmation we discussed before — but this time Paul is opposing Peter right to his face. When we get to verse 11, the scene changes from Jerusalem to Antioch. Peter had come down — perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps to see his old friend, perhaps to see how things were going — but the reason does not really matter. He came down.
What Peter Did and Why
When Peter came down, Paul says in verse 11 that he stood condemned. That word does not mean he lost his salvation, but that he was guilty of a sin by taking a position and an action he knew was wrong. That is why it is called, in verse 11, hypocrisy. It is not like the Judaizers in the gospel. They came along teaching a false gospel. Peter came along knowing what to do — he simply decided not to do it.
What Peter did, we see in verse 12, is that he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came — the men from James, the Judaizers — he began to withdraw from them for fear of the party of the circumcision. What had happened in Peter's life is that he had shaken off the remnants of Judaism and the idea that he would somehow be unclean or contaminated by eating with the Gentiles.
There is a wonderful movie called Peter and Paul — primarily made for television — and it is remarkably scripturally accurate. Paul is played by Anthony Hopkins. There is a scene depicting this very moment where Peter is eating and feasting, just celebrating with the Gentiles, rejoicing and singing with them, not only at the Lord's Supper but simply eating together. And then all of a sudden the Judaizers arrive, and Peter begins — notice the language — he used to eat with them, past tense, but now he began to withdraw from them.
The word translated "withdraw" means to forcibly, cautiously, timidly shrink away. He did not simply announce he was leaving. Because it is hypocrisy and he knows it and it is embarrassing, it comes out more like: tonight is not a good night, I have other things going on, I cannot make it. Over a period of time, he withdraws from them.
Why did he do this? He did it because he was afraid. This is not a theological issue — it is the fear of man driving him away. And the result is catastrophic. Verse 13 tells us that even Barnabas was carried away with it. That is what Peter did, why he did it, and what came of it.
What Paul Did and Why
Here is what Paul did. In verse 11, he opposed Peter to his face and stood right before him. I am sure there were people urging Paul to be measured, to be careful, warning him not to let this go any further. But he did it publicly, because we see in verse 14 that he did it before all.
If Paul had wanted to handle it privately, why did he not simply pull Peter aside? Paul's answer is clear: the offense was public, and so it had to be dealt with publicly. If it had been a private matter, he would have handled it that way, and perhaps — here we are two thousand years later — we would never have known about it at all. But he confronts Peter openly.
Why did Paul do it? Because the stakes were enormous.
The Fear of Man
Peter did not confront the Judaizers out of mere contentiousness. He did it, as verse 14 states, for the truth of the gospel — the gospel and the ramifications of it in our lives. He did it to break down the barriers that kept reappearing, to say, "Listen, Jesus came and shattered all of these things, and yet we keep putting them back." Paul's argument would be that we cannot say we are all equal and then refuse to eat together.
We do not know the explicit result of that confrontation. But consider the timing. If the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 had already taken place, then Peter looks even more condemned. He was the one who stood up and said, "Wait a minute — they are like us. There are no second-class citizens in the body of Christ." In terms of entering the body and being treated within it, there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, black or white, young or old. If this incident in Antioch came after that council, it carried enormous ramifications.
What this episode shows us is that anybody can fall into this — even a powerful man, a pillar of the church like Peter. And consider Barnabas. Barnabas had worked side by side with Paul throughout their ministry together. Yet by the end of this passage, he is pulling away as well. That reveals not just the power of sin in general, but the power of one particular sin.
That sin is named in verse 12: the fear of man. Peter began to withdraw from the Gentiles because of the fear of man. He withdrew and held himself aloof. And yet the men who had come down from James had no real authority over Peter. They could not beat him, stone him, or imprison him. All they could do was apply a little social pressure and humiliate him.
As John MacArthur writes, "The most the Judaizers could have done against Peter is ridicule him and malign him in Jerusalem, as their fellow Judaizers would later malign Paul." Peter was afraid of losing popularity and prestige with a group of self-righteous hypocrites whose doctrine was heretical and whose tactics were deceitful. When he capitulated in Antioch, he played directly into the hands of the Judaizers, who must have been elated to have drawn this great apostle into their camp — not by persuading his convictions, but by shaping his practice.
Peter's Pattern — and Ours
This fear of man appears to have been Peter's particular flinch. We see it earlier when he denied the Lord three times — "I never knew Him, I never knew Him, I never knew Him." Peter was not unlike most Christians in finding it difficult to maintain consistency in spiritual commitment. He would show great courage and conviction, and then stumble. He would staunchly defend the faith, and then succumb to compromise.
It is fashionable at this point to keep beating Peter up, so let us not do that. Let us instead consider ourselves, because fear of man is what motivates most of us as well.
Here is a principle worth grasping firmly. This past week I had a television with sound, working menus, full digital display — but no picture. Now, I am not a newcomer to televisions. I could have called the cable company, waited on hold, and listened to someone try to sell me an upgraded package while the current one was not even working. I could have walked through every troubleshooting step with a customer service representative. Or I could simply walk over, unplug the box, count to fifteen, and plug it back in. That fixes it ninety-nine times out of a hundred. So I unplugged it, counted to fifteen, plugged it back in, went and got a cup of coffee, moved some things around, read for a bit, came back — and there was a picture. Every time.
So what does that have to do with any of this? Here it is: your particular flinch may be the fear of man. When you feel that fear, unplug. Count to fifteen. And instead of plugging back into fear of man, plug into the fear of God. That is the antidote, every time.
Everything We Need Is in the Gospel
Everything Peter needed, he already had in the gospel. And the same is true for us. What exactly are we afraid of when we fear man? Jesus Himself asked why we would fear someone who can harm the body but has no authority beyond that. Every time I act out of fear of man, I am saying to God, "I do not trust You."
This is not naivety. It is not a denial that the world is frightening, or that suffering is real, or that pain does not hurt. All of that is real, and it must be acknowledged. But we do not need to be afraid, because He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus, and He will somehow redeem that suffering. Even when we cannot understand why — perhaps never fully understand why — the answer is the same: plug back in. Our ultimate good is His glory.
Perhaps you are sitting here today and the fear of man is your own particular flinch. If so, the gospel is where you return.
Fear of Man at the Root of Everything
Greed, at its core, comes down to wanting more. And why do you want more? So that people will think better of you. Consider this: you are brand new to Redemption Church, and someone ventures out and invites you and your kids to their home for dinner. As you are driving over, you stop at the corner and deliver the speech. You know the one. "I am going to tell you one time. You know how to act." But ask yourself why you do that. It is not for the kids' own good. If it were about the kids, you would be consistent about it. You would not need to stop at the corner — you would simply say, "Hey, guys, let's behave." The truth is, you are petrified that these people are going to see your kids misbehave and think less of you.
That is at the core of almost everything. When you unpack the heart, most of the time what you find underneath is fear of man. Consider dating. You are in the process of getting to know someone, and you really like them. Rather than letting them see who you really are, you withhold. Because if they see who you really are, you know pretty confidently they will want nothing to do with you. So you take all those attributes that might be acceptable and you make them great, and you take all those things that are absolutely terrible and you minimize them.
The Gospel Is Never Left Behind
Is this repetitious? Yes. Do I say this nearly every Sunday? I do, and I do not even apologize for it anymore. When I come to God, I do not need to play that game. I do not need to say, "God, look at this — I am in church. It is Sunday. He is droning on for the third week in a row about salvation by grace through faith. I will be here next Sunday and the next Sunday. See, God? I am a great guy." He knows you are not. He knows all of those secrets. You do not have to perform for Him. I have everything in Him.
When all is said and done, I want my kids to love me and respect me. I really do. I want you to like me. I do not want to be thought of poorly. But ultimately — and not in a cavalier sense — the only one who really matters is what does God think. And that is not a license to be a jerk.
It is always the gospel. Keller writes this in the study guide, which was particularly good this week: "Paul is showing us that we are changed by the power of God when we bring the gospel truth to bear in every area of our life." Second, "Paul is showing that we never get beyond the gospel in our Christian life into something that is more advanced. It is not just the ABCs, but the A to Z of Christianity." It is always the same answer. When you unpack the heart, it is fear of man. And God is saying, "I care."
Racism, Judgment, and the Church's Blind Spots
What is happening in this passage also has a little bit of racism in it, and a little bit of judgmentalism. Every year during February I will read a biography of Malcolm X. I was also looking at a biography of Martin Luther King Jr. written by Stephen Oates — the same author who wrote *With Malice Toward None* on Lincoln, which I loved. As a middle-class white guy from Davenport, Iowa, I might plead ignorance, but I am not sure that is entirely fair. Here is what I do know: you cannot read that biography of King and not be ashamed of the way the white community in this country treated the black community.
When they say the most segregated hour in the South was on Sunday morning, that only adds weight to the very thing Peter is doing in this passage. We look around us, and in the church I am not sure we have not elevated certain things way out of proportion. Evangelical Christianity has become so tied together with the Republican Party that you can barely separate them. I will have people ask me seriously — and this is exactly the kind of issue this passage applies to — "Do you think you could be a Democrat and be a Christian?" I know the differences between the parties. I have earned my stripes. I am a free-market, capital-whatever. I have got it. But this whole situation has gotten genuinely confused, and I am not sure how healthy it is.
The Gospel, Not Politics, Is the Ultimate Answer
Think about it this way. Let us say we lock down the border. Let us say we balance the budget — none of this is actually going to happen, not even close. Let us say we retool education. Let us say we do all of that. We still have a nation full of people who do not know Jesus. I want those of you who are called to be in the political arena to be there, wherever God calls you. But our ultimate answer is not found there.
Living in Step with the Gospel
The issue here is to be really careful, because we are dividing over things like politics — a balanced budget amendment, what God's view is on a ballot measure. What do you think God's view on a balanced budget is? I mean, I can come up with something, and it's probably in favor of it, but am I going to divide over that? That is what Peter was doing. These guys came along and said, "Wait a minute — those are Gentiles. Be careful. Watch out." Peter ran out of fear of man.
So by application — and we have to go by application — what are those things in your life that are like that? Because that is our flinch. That is always going to be our flinch: fear of man rather than fear of God. The solution is always at the gospel, and at the core of the gospel is the cross.
Father, thank You for this amazing truth. Put it in our life. Give us the courage to live in a way that is pleasing and honoring to You, God. Thank You for the gospel. Let our flinch be not fear of man, but fear of You — respect and honor. We pray that in Christ's name. Amen.