Or, crucified with Christ
Paul had no problem confronting people who distorted the truth of the gospel. Our society’s current emphasis on “tolerance” contributes to the rarity of confronting others with truth. How is this dangerous?
(Excerpt from the MacArthur study Bible.)
Galatians 2:11-21
Verse 11:
Antioch – the location of the first Gentile church. The capital city of their regional secular government.
Peter was to be blamed – abettor translation “stood condemned”; 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.
Verse 12:
certain men … .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.
fearing those… of the circumcision – The true motivation behind Peter’s defection was that he was afraid of losing popularity with the legalistic, Judaizing segment of people in the church.
Verse 13:
The rest of the Jews – the Jewish believers in Antioch
hypocrite – This Greek word refers to an actor who would wear a mask to depict a mood or certain character.
Verse 14:
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.
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 Gentiles to live as Jews – By his Judaizing mandate, Peter was declaring that theirs was the right way.
verse 15:
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.
Verse 16:
works … .faith – Three times this verse declares that salvation is only through faith in Christ and not by law.
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 person’s sin to the sinless Savior for punishment.
works of the law (v. 16)-Keeping the law is not a means of salvation because the root of sinfulness is in the fallenness of a person’s heart, not his or her actions. The law served as a mirror to reveal sin, not a cure for it.
verse 17:
we … . are found sinners – If the Judaizers’ doctrine was correct, then Paul, Peter, Barnabas, and the other Jewish believers had fallen back into the category of sinners because they had been eating and fellowshipping with Gentiles.
minister of sin – If the Judaizers were right, then Christ was wrong and had been teaching people to sin. Because He taught that food could not contaminate a person.
Verse 20:
I have been crucified with Christ – A person who trusts in Christ for salvation spiritually Participates with the Lord in His crucifixion and victory over sin and death.
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me – The believer’s old self is dead, having been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:3, 5).
gave Himself for me – the manifestation of Christ’s love for the believer through His sacrificial death on the cross
Verse 21: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Christ died in vain – This can be better translated, “Christ died needlessly.” Those who insist that they can earn salvation by their own efforts undermine the foundation of Christianity and render unnecessary the death of Christ.
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