A Historic Gospel Rebuke

If you would open up your Bibles to Galatians chapter 2, we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 14 this morning,

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

which is essentially a historic gospel rebuke.

One apostle rebuking another apostle.

And it's for us in Scripture.

You know, anniversaries are special occasions.

It gives us time to pause and reflect and celebrate.

I mean, your birthday is kind of an anniversary.

Every year it rolls around.

And we're told in Psalm 90 to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

And so your birthday rolls around and gives you an opportunity to ask the question,

am I living my life for what matters most?

The days I have left, how am I going to live them?

Well, it kind of applies to kind of a wedding anniversary as well.

You know, your wedding anniversary rolls around.

And you've got to ask the question, am I being faithful to my vows that I made before God to this person?

And are we living out our marriage for the glory of God?

Is our marriage a blessing to those around us?

So it gives you time to pause and reflect.

For a church anniversary, it gives us a moment to pause and reflect.

Are we living for what matters most?

Are we, as a church, walking together according to the truth of the gospel?

So the question I want to ask this morning is, how are we doing?

How are we doing as a church in living for Jesus?

Now, Galatians 2 is going to help us with this.

And just, if you're new with us this morning, just to give you a little background on the book of Galatians generally,

the apostle Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.

And so he showed up in southern Galatia and started sharing the gospel in cities like Iconium and Lystra and Derbe.

And there was this response to the gospel of these Gentiles, these non-Jews.

And he planted churches in these churches in southern Galatia.

And so he established them on the truth that the gospel, Christ died for these Gentiles.

And the way you respond is by faith alone and God's grace alone and what Christ did on the cross alone.

And so after he leaves to go plant other churches, what followed was a bunch of false teachers.

And these false teachers started teaching these newly converted Gentiles

that in addition to believing in Jesus, they also had to be circumcised

and they also had to eat kosher foods, no pork for you.

They also had to start observing Jewish holy days.

And so in addition to their belief in Jesus,

they had to obey these particular commands from the Old Testament.

And when they would do both, then they would be declared righteous in God's sight.

They'd be accepted by God.

And so they were teaching a salvation by faith plus works equals you're okay with God.

Paul gets wind of this and he writes the letter to the Galatians.

It's what we have in our Bibles.

And he corrects these young Christians on what the gospel is and how to live according to the gospel,

to be living by faith in Jesus, not by the law.

And so what we're looking at this morning is essentially a rebuke.

The Apostle Paul rebukes the Apostle Peter for straying from the gospel.

And so for us this morning, I can sum up verses 11 through 14 in this sentence.

We as a church, on this anniversary Sunday, moving forward,

we must keep in step with the truth of the gospel.

Our freedom depends on it.

We must keep in step with the truth of the gospel.

We must not drift from the gospel.

We must be shaped by the gospel.

And so the way that we're going to walk through these verses is very straightforward.

I want you to see some things.

I want you to notice the calendar.

When this happened.

And then I want you to understand where on the map this is taking place.

And then we got to get down to the kind of what's the hubbub here?

What's the big deal?

The big deal is something that happens basically in a cafeteria in Antioch back in the mid to late 40s A.D.

Something happened there.

And it matters for us now.

And then I want to help you see why this matters.

It's about the gospel.

And so after I walk you through this passage,

I want to help you apply this passage in four ways.

Four lessons.

So let's now get into this passage.

Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14.

Galatians 2:11–14

Paula, thank you so much for reading this.

So let's walk through this.

Remember, this is about staying true to the gospel as a church.

We must not drift from the gospel.

We must stay true.

Keep in step with the truth of the gospel.

So notice when this takes place.

In verse 11, we read the two words,

But when?

When?

When does this take place?

Well, this is taking place after the historic handshake between Paul, Peter, James, and John,

which we just learned about last week in Galatians 2, 1 through 10.

And so there's this snapshot in verse 9.

Peter, or Paul, has laid out the gospel that he preaches,

that this gospel that Jesus gave himself up for our sins,

when received by faith, God declares that sinner righteous in his sight forever.

It's based nothing on what this sinner does.

It's only based upon their faith in what Christ has done.

And when Paul explains this, Peter, James, and John eventually extend him the right hand of unity,

fellowship.

They're saying, we're on board with that.

Yes and amen.

Amen.

And so what happens is, this took place in Jerusalem, that handshake,

and just days, weeks, months later,

there's this situation that arises in Antioch

that's really confusing.

So for you to understand, first of all,

Peter has already agreed to what the gospel is.

He himself has been saved by it.

Now I want you to notice where this takes place.

A few days, weeks, maybe even a month or two

after this historic handshake over the gospel

that took place in Jerusalem,

we read in verse 11,

but when Cephas, that's another name for Peter,

so when Peter came to Antioch,

this isn't happening in Jerusalem.

This whole hub-hub happens in Antioch.

Now Antioch was about 150 miles north of Jerusalem,

and where Jerusalem was this highly Jewish area,

Antioch was a highly Gentile area.

In fact, one writer believes that Antioch at this time

had a population of about 250,000 people.

It's two and a half times the size of our city.

And estimates say that a tenth of them,

25,000, were Jews.

And so Antioch was primarily a Gentile city.

And so Peter, the apostle to the Jews,

soon after the handshake of unity on the gospel,

finds himself down in Gentile land in Antioch.

And notice what they're doing.

Verse 12.

He was eating with the Gentiles.

We'll come back to that.

Here's what you need to know about Peter.

In Acts chapter 10,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

there's this guy.

His name is Cornelius.

He was a Gentile.

He was a centurion.

A position of great influence.

And God speaks to him.

And says,

He says,

Cornelius,

you got to send some guys to Joppa

to get this dude named Peter.

And so Cornelius,

the Gentile,

in Caesarea,

sends his dudes

to get Peter,

who's in Joppa.

And as they're on their way,

Peter has this vision in Joppa

of descending from heaven

was this huge sheet

filled with unclean animals.

And this voice from heaven said,

Rise, Peter.

Eat it up.

And Peter's like,

No, it's unclean.

I can't.

I'm going to break your law.

But God says,

Eat.

Three times God says eat.

So Peter comes out of the trance

and knocking on his door

are these guys sent from Cornelius

saying,

Come with us to Caesarea

to talk to Cornelius about the gospel.

So Peter's been given this vision

that all foods have been made clean.

He goes to Caesarea.

He walks into Cornelius' door

and he says this,

First thing he says,

You yourselves know how unlawful it is

for me to associate with

or visit anyone of another nation.

This is a Jew speaking to a Gentile.

But God has shown me

that I should not call any persons

common or unclean.

Peter walks into Cornelius' house.

He preaches the gospel to them.

They respond in faith.

The Holy Spirit is poured out on them.

And it is clear.

God is saving Gentiles

through the gospel.

Peter's already experienced this.

That happened before Paul's visit

14 years after his conversion to Jerusalem

in the right hand of fellowship.

So this Peter,

who had this vision,

who saw Gentiles

come to faith in Jesus,

he makes his way

from Jerusalem

to Antioch.

And now we get to

the whole hubbub.

I don't know if it was

in a cafeteria or not,

but it had to be somewhere

where a lot of people

were eating together.

Because Peter comes down,

and we read in verse 12,

for certain men came from James,

Peter was eating with the Gentiles.

Now if you're not familiar

with Jewish eating,

dietary regulations,

they were very strict.

There's certain only things

that Jews could eat

and they could not eat.

It was eating kosher.

And so when we read here

that Peter was eating

with the Gentiles,

there's two things going on.

Not only is he

with the Gentiles,

but he's eating

off of the Gentile menu.

He's not ordering

from the kosher menu.

What you need to know

about these dietary restrictions

was that they're kind of

like circumcision.

It was a way for Jews

to identify themselves

as being God's people.

It marked them

as being belonged to God.

And so one of the

Old Testament dietary laws

meant that Jews

could not eat pork.

So Jews couldn't eat bacon,

they couldn't have

a ham sandwich,

and they definitely

couldn't eat

a barbecued

pulled pork sandwich.

And so when we read

verse 13,

and the rest of the Jews

acted hypocritically,

what we're going to see

is Peter is doing something

that seems strange

to these men

who came from James.

So Peter comes

down to Antioch,

he's eating

with these Gentile Christians

in Antioch,

he's eating

all the barbecued

pulled pork sandwiches

he can get his hands on

because he's like,

I can't believe

that Jesus has made

all these clean.

This is so good.

You know what this means?

Peter's living

in some gospel convictions.

Peter's living out

the gospel.

This Jewish apostle

is eating pork

with Gentile believers

in Antioch.

And this is where

it gets messy.

Twelve,

for before certain men

came down from James.

Here's what was

probably going on.

Word has gotten back

to Jerusalem

that Peter

is behaving

rather Gentile-like.

And so James,

who was the Lord's brother

and one of the three

that shook

Paul's hand

in the right hand

of fellowship

over what

the true gospel is,

James hears

about this

and says,

okay guys,

you need to go

check this out.

And the question is,

why?

Why does it matter?

Well, one of the

possibilities is this.

Peter's conduct,

his behavior

was getting back

to non-believing Jews

in Jerusalem

and so is making

it difficult

for the Jerusalem church

to witness to them.

That's one possibility.

What we have here though

is these men

from James

come down

and something happens.

for before

certain men

came down

from James,

Peter was eating

with the Gentiles

but when they came,

he drew back

and separated himself

fearing the circumcision party.

There's a dramatic

change of behavior

in Peter

when these men

come down.

Before they come,

he's enjoying

pulled pork sandwiches

with his Gentile

brothers and sisters

but after they come,

he separates themselves

from them.

He's no longer

eating the food

nor is he being

spending time

with these Gentiles

over food.

And Paul said

he did it

out of fear

of the circumcision party.

Those people

who are making

a case

that

in order for

a Gentile

to be converted,

they also need

to be circumcised.

So it was this thinking

that you needed

to be obeying

the law

in addition

to believing

in Jesus

in order to be saved.

We don't know

the details

of how all that

stuff was working.

What we do know

is this.

Peter's action

were not born

of faith in God,

it was born

of fear of man.

And so when someone

acts out of the fear

of man,

it usually

doesn't

end well

and we see that

in verse 13.

And the rest

of the Jews

acted hypocritically

along with him

so that even

Barnabas,

a Jewish Christian,

was led astray

by their hypocrisy.

So apparently

there were other

Jewish Christians

here in this

cafeteria

eating pulled pork

sandwiches

with these Gentile

brothers and sisters

in Christ

and when Peter

withdraws himself

it's a domino effect

because there are

other Jewish Christians

that pull out

including Barnabas.

Barnabas

and he was a good

buddy

of Paul.

And this is why

we've got a problem.

This behavior

was resulting

in division.

Now what Paul

isn't saying here

is that

Peter is some kind

of a false teacher.

He doesn't condemn

Paul in the sense

of

may God's wrath

be upon you

like he says

in Galatians 1,

8,

and 9.

But what Peter

is doing

is he's being

false to the gospel.

His behavior

is inconsistent

with the truth

of the gospel.

Let me put it

this way.

If you were

a newly converted

Gentile Christian

in Antioch

who's been eating

pulled pork sandwiches

with Peter

and all of a sudden

he gets up

and leaves

and doesn't come back

and he brings

his Jewish Christian

buddies with him,

what are you

thinking?

Here's

what I would

be thinking

when I do

wrong.

This is

confusing.

The Jewish

apostle guy

isn't eating

pulled pork

with us anymore.

Do we need

to be eating

differently?

Is believing

in Jesus Christ

not enough?

Do I need

to give up

pork

in order to be

accepted by God?

Do I need

to believe

in Jesus

and

perform

in order

to be

made right

with God?

So you can

imagine how

this confusion

leads to fear.

Peter's

dining

habits

in

Antioch

were not

only confusing

the Gentile

Christians

there,

they were

so in

confusion

among the

Christian

Jews

there too.

Peter

definitely

isn't

connecting

the gospel

dots here.

So you

know who

does?

The

apostle

Paul.

Paul.

He's going

to connect

the gospel

dots

for Peter

and that

is why

he rebukes

him publicly.

This is a

public event

and there

were multiple

people led

astray and

confused by

this.

That's why

in verse 14

you read

about Paul

speaking to

Cephas

in front

of everyone.

Everyone

needed a

gospel

rebuke

here.

But

so we

get to

now the

why

of this

rebuke.

Here's

the number

of it.

What's at

stake here

is the

very gospel

itself.

How does

a sinner

get right

with God?

That's

what's at

stake.

Is it

a sinner

needs to

trust in

Jesus

plus

obey

laws

and

then

God

will

accept

them

based

upon

their

obedience

and

belief

in

Jesus

or

is it

trust

in

Christ

alone

plus

nothing

else

and

then

God

justifies

you?

Which one

is it?

Peter was

sending a

missed

message so

Paul's

going to

make it

clear.

And next

week you

will see

just how

clear Paul

makes it.

But what

Paul is

going to

say is

it's

just

trusting

in

Jesus

plus

nothing

else.

Then

God

justifies

you.

It's

based on

trusting

in

Christ's

finished

work

at the

cross.

And on

the basis

of that

work

God

justifies

you,

completely

forgives

you all

of your

sin,

and accepts

you fully

and totally

based on

the perfect

righteousness

of Jesus.

you're

accepted.

God

declares

you,

the judge

of all

time in

the courtroom

of all

time declares

you innocent

forever based

upon the

finished work

of Jesus.

That's what's

at stake

here.

You think

it's like,

okay,

come on,

just get

over the

food thing.

It's about

the gospel.

So Paul

he

confronts

Peter

and says

in verse

14,

he first

saw that

Peter and

the other

Jewish

Christians

conduct

was not

in step

with the

truth of

the gospel.

It is

this not

in step

with the

gospel,

in step

with the

gospel,

it's a

beautiful

word in

Greek.

It literally

is

ortho

walk.

Have you

heard of

an

orthodontist?

The guy

that makes

your teeth

straight?

ortho

walking

is

walking

straight.

Walking

in

accord

with

the

truth

of

the

gospel.

The

gospel

just

doesn't

justify

me.

The

gospel

shapes

the

way

I

live

my

life.

And

what

Paul

sees

here

is that

Peter's

dining

habits,

his

withdrawing

from

these

Gentiles,

that

is

not

ortho

walking,

it's

confuso

walking.

It's

distorting

the

gospel

of

grace.

So

Paul

says

to him,

Cephas,

what are

you

thinking?

He

says,

if you,

Peter,

though a

Jew,

live

like a

Gentile

eating

pulled

pork

sandwiches

and not

like a

Jew,

how can

you

force

the

Gentiles

to live

like Jews?

Being a

hypocrite,

Peter,

that word

force

shows up

earlier in

Galatians 2

when

Titus

did not

feel

forced

to be

circumcised.

Now we

have other

Gentiles

feeling

forced

that they

need to

eat

according to

Jewish

dietary

regulations

in order

to be

justified

in God's

sight.

And

Paul says

to Peter,

you're being

a hypocrite.

You

can't do

that.

You're

sending a

mixed

message.

I mean,

this is the

same Peter

who had

this vision

in Acts

10.

This is the

same Peter

who saw

the Holy

Spirit fall

upon Cornelius

in his

household.

They were

saved.

This is the

same Peter

who just

weeks earlier

shook

Paul's

hand over

what the

gospel is.

What

happened?

His fear

of man

eclipsed

his gospel

convictions.

Slipped.

Peter

should have

done.

Peter

should have

stood up

to these

men from

James and

he should

have said

something like

this to

them.

Hey guys,

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ has

changed

everything.

You guys

know that?

I have

been set

free by

the gospel

from living

under the

law to

perform for

God.

Jesus has

freed me

to enjoy

pulled pork

barbecue

sandwiches

with these

Gentile

brothers and

sisters in

this cafeteria

in Antioch.

We're all

justified by

faith.

Jew and

Gentile.

Justified by

faith alone

and God's

grace alone

in Christ

alone.

Do you

guys want a

pork sandwich?

I can

imagine if

Peter stood

his ground,

he should

have said,

hey, you

can go back

and tell

James that,

hey, I

understand things

may be confusing

and difficult

in Jerusalem

because of

what the

gospel has

freed us to

do here,

but you

know what?

You've got to

deal with

it.

But I'm

not going

to send

a mixed

message to

my brothers

and sisters

in Christ

here.

what we

see going

on here

is Peter's

fear of

man overruled

his gospel

convictions.

And all of

us in the

room know

what that's

like.

And so

because of

that, Paul

confronts

him that

his conduct

was not

shaped by

the gospel

and it

was distorting

the gospel.

It was

misleading Jews

and confusing

Gentiles and

it required

public

rebuke.

And Paul

does just

that.

Why?

Why would

Paul do

this?

Why does

Paul care?

Why would

Paul get up

in Antioch

in front of

all these

people and

rebuke

Peter like

this?

Why would

he do

that?

In a

word,

love.

Paul loved

Peter.

And Paul

did not

want Peter

to live

under the

slavery of

the law

when he

in fact

was freed

by Christ

to live

for God.

Paul loved

the Gentiles

in Antioch

and Paul

didn't want

them living

under

slavery

to the

law

but he

wanted them

to live

in the

freedom

of the

truth

of the

gospel

that they

have been

justified

by faith

alone in

Christ's

law.

But it

doesn't stop

there

because this

account

of what

happened in

Antioch

is an

account

in a

letter

written to

a bunch

of

Gentile

Christians

in

Galatia.

So obviously

this situation

would happen

in Antioch

has a lot

of bearing

what's going

on in

Galatia.

And so

Paul is

using this

story

in order

to love

the Gentiles

in Galatia

and say

to them

do not

be misled

by this

false

gospel.

It's not

faith in

Jesus plus

your works

that make

you right

with God.

It's

faith in

Jesus alone

that makes

you right

with God.

But it

doesn't end

with the

Gentiles

in Galatia

because here

we are

Gentiles

in

Kenosha.

You see

God

moved

through

Paul

to rebuke

Peter

and

Paul

God

moved

through

Paul

in order

to love

those

Gentiles

in

Antioch

and

God

was

moving

through

Paul

through

this

letter

to love

the Gentiles

in Galatia

and God

is moving

through this

letter

to love

us

Gentiles

today

here in

Kenosha

to clarify

for us

that this

same

gospel

is by

faith alone

in God's

grace alone

in Christ

alone.

God

that's

why I

got to

tell you

we

can't

drift

from

this

our

freedom

in

Christ

is at

stake

we

must

live

lives

shaped

by the

gospel

gospel

we

must

not

lose

our

gospel

way

we

must

keep in

step

with the

truth of

the gospel

in other

words

we must

live

out

of God's

gracious

work

in us

to justify

us

now I've

got four

lessons for

you

here they

are

this is

sobering

if the

apostle

Peter

can lose

his

gospel

bearings

after

visions

and

dramatic

holy

spirit

experiences

and

picturesque

right hand

of fellowship

meetings

if the

apostle

Peter

can lose

his

gospel

bearings

what does

that mean

for us

we can

lose our

gospel

bearings

too

we can

stray

from the

truth

of the

gospel

we are

prone

to

wander

this is

kind of a

drift

let's call it

gospel

drift

where we

drift

from the

gospel

how do

we

counter

gospel

drift

we

counter

gospel

drift

by

gospel

intentionality

we are

very

purposed

to remind

ourselves

frequently

of what

the gospel

is

and so

let me

give you

a suggestion

of how

you can

start

doing

that

today

you start

memorizing

gospel

Galatians

2

20

Billy's

going to

preach on

this next

week

Paul says

I've been

crucified

with Christ

it's no longer

I who live

but Christ

lives in me

in the life

I now live

in the flesh

I live by

faith in the

son of God

who

gospel

who loved

me and gave

himself up

for me

I don't live

for Christ

in order to

earn Christ's

love

Christ loved

me and so

now I live

for Christ

and it's

this

gospel

centrality

this

gospel

in the

middle

of who

we are

and all

that we

do

that forms

us

personally

it forms

our

life

groups

it forms

our

Sunday

morning

gatherings

we can't

drift

we can't

afford

to drift

because

if we

forget

the gospel

we will

drift

from the

gospel

and when

we drift

from the

gospel

we'll

either

replace

the

gospel

with

something

else

or

add

to

the

gospel

and when

you do

that

you've

got

something

other

than

the

gospel

and

then

you're

enslaved

we can't

afford

drifting

the

gospel

is our

emancipation

proclamation

we've

got to

live with

it

in

hand

like

Christian

and dangerous

journey

on the

way

to

the

celestial

city

Peter

can

lose

his

gospel

bearing

so

can

we

but

God's

given

us

the

gospel

it's

our

compass

that

keeps

us

on

line

with

the

gospel

second

Christian

leadership

is all

about

the

gospel

Christian

leadership

is all

about

the

gospel

Christian

leadership

essentially

amounts

to this

we keep

saying

things like

this is

what the

gospel

is

Christ

gave

himself

up

for

our

sins

and

when

you

believe

that

it

changes

who

you

are

it

changes

your

very

identity

and

so

we

say

to

people

the

gospel

changes

who

you

are

and

so

you

live

out

of

that

you

live

out

of

that

freedom

you

live

for

God

now

we

see

two

examples

of

leadership

in

this

passage

Peter

fear

of

man

exercising

his

leadership

whether

he

realized

it

or

not

and

it

resulted

in

division

confusion

and

fear

but

Paul

gospel

minded

Paul

exercised

his

leadership

with

a

rebuke

resulting

in

unity

clarity

and

peace

because

it's

the

same

Peter

who

speaks

of

Paul

in

2

Peter

3

15

as

our

beloved

brother

Paul

so

here's

what that

means

elders

associate

pastors

deacons

life

group

leaders

moms

and dads

leading

in your

homes

we keep

pointing

people

back

to the

gospel

and what

God

has done

in his

grace

in

sinners

lives

and

we keep

on

making

those

connections

next

week

Peter

is

going

to

preach

on

verses

15

through

21

it's

the

correction

to

this

rebuke

and

Paul

aims

these

Jewish

Christians

at

who

they

are

in

Christ

so

let's

say

that

you're

a

life

group

leader

and

someone

in

your

life

group

is

looking

at

pornography

you know

what you

tell

them

the

gospel

brother

sister

you've

been

changed

by the

gospel

that

doesn't

rule

your

life

anymore

Jesus

does

we

point

them

to

living

life

shaped

by the

gospel

so in

order to

live for

Christ

you've

got to

give

that

up

the

third

lesson

is

right

from

a

text

sometimes

the

most

loving

thing

you

can

do

for

someone

is

to

rebuke

them

out

in

front

of

the

church

is

8th

Avenue

all

around

library

square

is

a

one

way

loop

every

week

I

see

a

car

or

two

driving

the

wrong

direction

and I

go out

and I

say

you're

going

the

wrong

way

that's

a

rebuke

stop

what

you're

doing

lives

are

in

jeopardy

a

Christian

rebuke

is a

loving

rebuke

because

it

aims

us

back

at

the

freedom

in

the

gospel

and

so

when

Paul

rebukes

Peter

he's

saying

Peter

be

free

when

he

rebukes

the

Jewish

Christians

with

them

he's

saying

be

free

and

when

the

Gentiles

in

Antioch

heard

all

this

he's

saying

be

free

the

Gentiles

in

Galatia

be

free

and

for

us

thousands

of

years

later

this

gospel

rebuke

is

a

be

free

from

living

under

the

law

this

is

an

encouragement

we

live

in

close

proximity

with

one

another

let

me

just

strengthen

your

hand

if

you're

seeing

something

in

someone

else's

life

and

it

is

out

of

step

with

the

gospel

it's

confuso

walking

not

ortho

walking

love

them

point

them

to