Since the time of Cain and Abel, (Genesis 4:2-5) there have only been two types of sacrifices
offered up to God by sinful mankind throughout the ages. One is “Works” in
which mankind tries to appease God for his guilt by his own labour. This
sacrifice inevitably falls short because God is perfectly holy and our works
cannot meet God’s perfect standard. (Isaiah
64:6) The other type of sacrifice that is acceptable to God is “Faith”
because faith is trusting Jesus Christ to do what we are incapable of doing
ourselves. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
11 Now when [a]Peter had come to Antioch,
I [b]withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain
men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came,
he withdrew and separated himself, fearing [c]those who were of the
circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also
played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with
their hypocrisy.14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to
Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in
the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, [d]why do you compel Gentiles
to live as [e]Jews? 15 We who
are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not [f]justified by the works of the
law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the
law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.17 “But if, while we
seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ
therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For
if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. 19 For I through the
law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God;
for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ
died [g]in vain.”
11 Now when [a]Peter had come to Antioch,
I [b]withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain
men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came,
he withdrew and separated himself, fearing [c]those who were of the
circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also
played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with
their hypocrisy.
The men from James were Judaizers who had come from Jerusalem
who claimed apostolic authority from James (Jesus’ half brother and an apostle
of the prominent church in Jerusalem) but were teaching a distorted / false
Gospel. Their Gospel was a hybrid message of faith plus works in which people
needed faith in Jesus Christ plus adherence to Jewish law to achieve salvation.
This distorted gospel was a clear violation of the Gospel of grace through
faith that had been taught by Jesus’ apostles. (Acts 2:22-24, 38, Acts 15:10-11) Apparently; Peter was led away
into sin by their deception and misled Barnabas and some other Jews were led
away in legalistic hypocrisy as well.
14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to
Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in
the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, [d]why do you compel Gentiles
to live as [e]Jews? 15 We who
are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not [f]justified by the works of the
law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the
law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Paul had to
confront Peter in order to safeguard the Gospel that a person is justified
before God by grace through faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ apart from
keeping legalistic works religion, which is unable to save anyone from their
sins. Paul knew that if Peter was allowed to continue to teach works-righteousness,
the true Gospel message would be would be undermined and it would fracture the
universal church.
17 “But if, while we seek to be
justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ
therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For
if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. 19 For I through the
law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God;
for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ
died [g]in vain.”
If in fact
the Judaizers were correct in saying people had to observe the Jewish law to be
saved; then all the Jewish Christians had sinned by eating with the gentile
Christians because gentiles do not observe Jewish dietary laws. That would be
absurd since God pronounced all foods clean and poured out his Holy Spirit on
Gentiles alike! (Acts 2:1-21, Acts
10:13) The point that Paul makes so emphatically is that once a person has
died to the law and been made alive in grace; they should never again becomes
slaves of the law (Romans 7:1-2,4)
or put another way; once a person has died with Jesus Christ; they become alive
in Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:1-14)
Discernment: Research the following
“works salvation religions” and see how they compare with the New Testament’s
grace through faith Gospel message.
Roman Catholicism
Islam
Judaism
Buddhism
Hinduism
Conclusion: Don’t trust in your own
works… Salvation was bought by Jesus Christ
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus Christ
is God in the flesh and paid for your sin debt by dying on a cross. He proved
he was God by rising from the dead. Turn away (repent) from your sins and ask
Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior!
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