[2:11-21] Peter went to Antioch and Paul had to oppose Peter face-to-face. “Peter, a prominent church leader, had gone from eating with Gentiles in Christian fellowship to denying their fellowship by not eating with them – conveniently, right at the time that certain Christians from Jerusalem who were zealous for circumcision had arrived. Soon after, others followed Peter’s example. Peter was a leader, and others saw him as buying into a different gospel. Paul spoke directly to what he saw. He rebuked the hypocrisy in Peter. He knew that Peter didn’t believe that it was wrong to eat with Gentiles or that circumcision was necessary. Why act out of fear? Paul was fighting for the Galatians’ freedom, and he wanted them to know he was maintaining the same gospel message he had started with.”[i]
Mankind is made right [justified] with God by faith in Jesus Christ; not by obeying the law. Even the Jews believed that Jesus Christ is the only way to be made right [justified]
with God. The law made mankind guilty and condemned mankind. Jesus Christ offers freedom from the law. Jesus Christ has given mankind everything they need in this life for salvation. It is Jesus Christ’s righteousness that declares repentant man: righteous. The old man is crucified with Christ [because the law condemned & killed mankind]. Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection made believers alive in Christ [Romans 6]. Christ offers life to sinful man by way of faith in Jesus. Jesus loved mankind so much that He gave Himself for mankind. God’s grace is not meaningless; mankind couldn’t be made right with God without it! Otherwise, there would have been no need for Christ to die [1 Corinthians 12].
[i] Swindoll, Charles R. The Swindoll Study Bible. (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale Publishing House, 2017) 1462.
