The Justification of Hypocritical Sinners

The Justification of Hypocritical Sinners

Galatians 2:11-21

This morning as we continue our series in Galatians, we come to the second half of chapter 2, where Paul brings his narrative to a tense climax. In Gal. 2:11-14, we read about a public confrontation between Paul and Peter, but before we get into the text, I want to draw your attention to the screen for just a moment. This is a Peanuts comic strip that Donna Edinger shared with me several months ago, and it often brings me joy to look at it. We see Lucy and Linus watching some torrential rain through the window, and Lucy says, “Boy, look at it rain....What if it floods the whole world?” In the next frame, Linus responds, “It will never do that....In the ninth chapter of Genesis, God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of the promise is the rainbow.” Then, Lucy tells him, “You’ve taken a great load off my mind.” And Linus replies, “Sound theology has a way of doing that!”

Linus is right and he’s very nearly stating one of the main points we can draw out of Gal. 2:11-14. Sound theology has a way of helping us rest easy, giving us comfort, easing our anxiety. But, a little more broadly, this confrontation between Paul and Peter reminds us that theology should affect the way we live our lives. I once heard John MacArthur say, “I don’t like anything without theology!” I concur. Theology should never be abstract, it should always be practical; what we believe about God really does shape the way we engage with life, the way we respond to our circumstances.

But, sometimes we don’t act in ways that fit with what we say we believe. Perhaps you’ve heard people say that the reason they’re not interested in Christianity or church is because, they say, “The church is just full of a bunch of hypocrites!” If you’re a Christian, how do you respond to that statement? Maybe you think if you can try hard to avoid hypocrisy, they’ll see the consistency of your life and realize that not everybody is a hypocrite who goes to church. But, what if their statement is basically true? What if we admit that, yes, in fact, the church is full of hypocrites?

In fact, in our passage this morning, we find that one of the premiere apostles, one of Jesus’ closest friends, one of the earliest church leaders, is guilty of hypocrisy. A man who spent almost every day walking around with Jesus for nearly 3 years, hearing him teach, watching him perform miracles, getting to ask him direct questions, and have him explain the mysteries of the universe; Peter was one of the 3 apostles who were on the mountain with Jesus when he was transfigured; Peter was especially on Jesus’ mind after he rose from the dead, and he sent the women to tell Peter, as well as the other disciples, that he was alive; Peter preached sermons and watched as God used his preaching to transform thousands of Jews into Christians; Peter received a special vision from God making it clear to him that non-Jewish people were okay to hang out with and should be treated as equals when they become Christians; Peter, in our passage this morning, is going to receive a public rebuke from Paul for hypocrisy!

Let’s look at it. Follow along with me in your Bibles as I read Gal. 2:11-14: But when Cephas (that’s another name for Peter) came to Antioch, I (Paul) opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles (non-Jewish folk); but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Remember: earlier in chapter 2, we learned that Paul had met with Peter, James, and John in Jerusalem, and they all agreed that they had believed and were preaching the same gospel message. Peter was one of the leaders of the believers in Jerusalem, most of whom were Jewish. Here’s the really important part of that meeting to set up our verses this morning: see Gal. 2:9--...and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” They had agreed that they were all preaching the same gospel; it was the same God who had commissioned all of them; and Peter, James, and John would focus on preaching to Jews while Paul would focus on preaching to Gentiles. John Stott summarizes the turn in this chapter nicely: “When Paul visited Jerusalem, Peter...gave him the right hand of fellowship....When Peter visited Antioch, Paul opposed him to the face.”[1]

We don’t know exactly how much time passed after this meeting before Peter travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch, but enough time has passed for Peter to have developed a bad habit. When Paul finds out about what Peter’s doing, he confronts him openly, directly, and publicly. In verse 12, we see that some time after Peter had arrived in Antioch, some men “from James” came to him. That seems to indicate that these men came from Jerusalem, which means we can assume that these are Jewish Christians.

Also, from verse 12, we learn that Peter had been eating comfortably and regularly with Gentile Christians. Now, the book of Acts reminds us that Peter had some difficulty at first accepting the reality that, within Christianity, he was free to eat with Gentiles without risking becoming ceremonially unclean. The Old Testament Law contained certain stipulations about eating certain foods or touching certain things or going certain places that would make a Jewish person ceremonially unclean, which would mean they could not enter the Temple and couldn’t interact with other Jewish people because uncleanness was contagious; you could transmit uncleanness the way we think of transmitting a cold.

But, in Acts 10, God reveals to Peter a vision that shows him that he doesn’t need to think that way anymore. People are not unclean because of their race or ethnicity, and neither are certain foods to be considered unclean any longer. But, even as he received this vision, Peter was hesitant. Nevertheless, God’s grace overcame his resistance and he marched on over to a Gentile’s house, went inside, preached to the family of Cornelius the Roman centurion, and marveled at God’s salvation of this family. So, from this point on, Peter began spending time preaching to and eating with Gentiles without any qualms.

But, after some time in Antioch, a region more Gentile than Jewish, some men show up from Jerusalem. Their arrival upset Peter in some way; he stopped eating with the Gentiles. Try to put yourself in the situation of one of those Gentiles: you have a friend that you have breakfast with at least once a week. You seem to be getting along very well; y’all pray together, talk about the struggles of life together, and call each other throughout the week. One day, when you call this friend doesn’t answer and doesn’t return your phone call. Several weeks go by without breakfast or phone calls with this friend, and you begin to wonder if you did something wrong. You chalk it up to their busyness and think they surely have a good reason for not calling. Then, you run into this friend at Walmart, and he just gives you a nervous nod, glances over his shoulder a couple of times, and scurries away. How would you feel if you found out that your friend had been avoiding you because he thought hanging out with you would make him look bad to a certain group of people because of the color of your skin? Or because you drive a certain kind of car? Or because you live in a certain neighborhood? You’d be pretty hurt, wouldn’t you? Peter has done a terrible thing here.

Verse 12 also tells us that he withdrew from the Gentile Christians because he was afraid of “the circumcision party” or as the NKJV translates the phrase, “those who were of the circumcision.” This phrase could mean that these men were non-Christian Jews, but I think it’s more likely that in this verse he is referring to Jewish Christians, particularly the Jewish Christians “from James.” This would mean that these men were of the persuasion that Gentile men must be circumcised in order to become Christians. If so, then they would not have approved of the great Peter, Jewish Christian that he was, fraternizing with these uncircumcised Gentiles in Antioch. If we view them in the best light possible, they may have been concerned that Peter was jeopardizing his commission to preach the gospel to the Jews; that is to say, if non-Christian Jews saw Peter eating with Gentiles, they might be less likely to give Peter a hearing when he preaches.[2]

Now, this raises a question about James: should we conclude that James also was advocating circumcision for Gentile converts? I don’t think so. It seems like, if that were the case, Paul would have some things to say about James as the source of the problem. Rather, these men may have claimed that James sent them to try to add authority to their message.[3]

However they came, they spooked Peter. Their influence must have been quite intimidating, but what was Peter afraid of? He may have been afraid that James really had sent them and there had been some kind of shift in the way things were done in Jerusalem. He may have been afraid that these men could influence other Jewish Christians in Antioch to challenge and overcome Peter. He may even have been afraid that these Jewish Christians could rally support from the non-Christian Jews in the area to increase persecution on any so-called Jew who would spend so much time with Gentiles.[4] The text doesn’t tell us what shook Peter so, but he went back to what he knew from his early days as a Jewish Christian in Jerusalem: let’s maintain some Jewish distinction.

Peter apparently carried on avoiding much contact with the Gentile Christians in Antioch for quite some time because his behavior influenced the other Jewish Christians there. Even Barnabas, who, from what the book of Acts tells us, was a an example of virtue and godliness, was led astray. It’s interesting that Paul would highlight Barnabas’s being deceived here. Remember that it was Barnabas who commended Paul to the other Christians who were afraid of the former Christian-killer.

Verse 13 tells us that Peter, Barnabas, and the rest of the Jewish Christians in Antioch were acting hypocritically. Peter and Barnabas. A leading member of the original Twelve apostles and a shining example of faithfulness in the early church. Hypocrites. When people say the church is full of hypocrites, they aren’t necessarily far from the mark.

So, why does Paul rebuke Peter publicly here? Two specific reasons are given in our passage. First, at the end of verse 11, Peter “stood condemned.” That is to say, Peter was guilty. What Peter had done was sinful. Wicked. Peter was guilty. Second, look at verse 14: But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.... Jewish Christians refusing to eat with Gentile Christians is “not in step with the truth of the gospel.” That kind of behavior doesn’t fit with the gospel message.

Friends, we must remember that the gospel is a message of good news, heavenly news, news from God. It’s the news that the divine Son of God became a human being, lived a genuinely human life that was fully pleasing to God, which means he trusted his Father completely in all that he did, and “he gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age” (remember that from Gal. 1:4?), that is to say, he sacrificed himself on the cross, dying for sins he did not commit, dying for sins that we do commit, dying the death we deserve, dying our death, dying in our place, and he rose from the dead, displaying to the universe that he did not die for his own sins, that he has overcome death, and that the Father accepted his sacrifice in our place. That’s the news of Christianity. But, news is announced to elicit a response; when you hear the news of Christianity, God is saying, “Look what I’ve done! Look what I’ve done for you! Believe it! Trust my Son! He’s given everything for you, and he will give everything to you. Follow him wherever he leads! Where he leads is really good.”

The gospel entails a certain kind of life, certain kind of behavior, and excluding people because of their ethnicity doesn’t fit! So, what does Paul say to Peter? Look at the end of verse 14: Paul said to Peter publicly, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” That’s a puzzling statement. What’s he saying? Paul’s saying, “Peter, you remember how you were acting after you received that vision from God? You remember the white sheet, don’t you? The unclean animals? You remember; God told you not to treat as unclean what he determines as clean. These Gentile Christians have been cleansed by Jesus’ blood. Even though you’re a Jew, you were living free, like a Gentile, in that you weren’t separating yourself from Gentiles. Why did you stop?!? How can you put these Gentile Christians in a position where they have to eat by themselves, segregated like second-class citizens? By refusing to eat with them, you’re making them live enslaved like Jews in the worst way possible. You’re isolating them. That, dear sir, does not fit with the gospel you and I both preach!”

Now, your Bible translation may continue the quote all the way to the end of the chapter, but the ESV and other versions have Paul’s quotation of what he actually said to Peter ending with verse 14, and I think that’s correct. Remember that there are no quotation marks in the Greek New Testament, so sometimes translations and commentators will disagree as to where a direct quote ends. But, I do think verses 15-21 represent the content of a longer conversation that Paul had with Peter. It’s interesting that Paul doesn’t tell us here how Peter responded. But, if this conversation took place before what’s called the Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15, and I think it did, then we have good evidence that Peter took Paul’s rebuke well and repented. I say that because in that meeting with the leaders of the Jerusalem Christians, the debate was about whether Gentiles needed to become Jewish before becoming Christians, and the end of the matter is, “No, they most certainly do not.” But, what’s great to see is that it’s Peter who is the first one to stand up to defend Paul’s position (Acts 15:7-11)!