DUPLICITY IN ANTIOCH (GAL 2:11-14)

SERIES: FREE AT LAST, PART 6

GCEFC: NOVEMBER 1, 2009

INTRODUCTION

1. I’ve been receiving feedback that in this series on Galatians there has been a larger than typical amount of information to process.

2. There has also been some concern that it seems like we’ve been heavy on content and light on application. I’d like to address these concerns.

a. The first thing I’ve done is include some background information on the sermon notes page. Some highlights on the Apostle Paul and on the Galatians letter itself.

b. Hopefully this will help keep us from losing our ball in the weeds. So I refer you to the sermon notes page.

c. Second, I want to remind you that each week, due to the faithful efforts of some folks in our church, the sermon is available online.

d. Just go to the church website and click on the sermon link. You can either listen to the immediately; you can download it as a podcast for a CD; or you can print out an extended outline of the sermon text itself.

e. This will help you retrieve what you may have missed on Sunday.

f. Third, I want to assure you that there will be plenty of application in this book—when we get to the part that’s more centered on application and less centered on theology.

g. Paul’s letters typically have an initial focus on the theological foundation behind the issue. Then he progresses toward practical application of that theological truth.

h. One of the common pitfalls of Bible study and sermons is that there is an attempt to apply the text before the text is fully understood.

i. There’s an old adage in the medical field that says: First diagnosis—then prescribe. We should first understand the problem before we offer a solution to it.

j. The same holds true for Bible application. First we must understand the theological foundation. Then we apply it to everyday life.

k. So if it seems we are a bit heavy on theology and light on application in the beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians—it’s because Paul is.

3. But soon enough the foundation will be firmly set, and he will move to the more everyday ramifications of the truth he has expounded on.

A. BACKGROUND

1. In the opening paragraphs of his letter, Paul is affirming his apostleship to the Galatians.

2. He explains that he’s independent of the other apostles. That he received the gospel through direct revelation of God.

3. That he consulted no one in order to understand what God had done in Christ. He also gives clear evidence for what he claims.

4. Then, when Paul goes to Jerusalem to engage in an important discussion about the true nature of the gospel, he shows that he is in harmony with the other Apostles.

5. This is very important because there’s only one gospel. Peter cannot be preaching a different gospel to the Jews than Paul is preaching to the Gentiles.

6. There’s only one true gospel for all people for all time. If I can make an analogy to science.

a. When a scientist announces a new discovery. Something that was not previously known by the world or scientific community—it isn’t accepted immediately.

b. The scientist publishes his or her findings and how they arrived at the conclusion.

c. Then other scientists perform experiments to test the assertion of the scientist.

d. Those experiments will either confirm the truth of what was claimed, or show that the assertion of the scientist is invalid.

e. Truth must be consistent. It must be verifiable. My watch says that it’s 10:15 am. But if all of your watches say that it’s 9:15, then either my watch is wrong or all of your watches are wrong. Both of our watches cannot be right if they contradict.

f. Likewise, the gospel must be consistent if it’s true. It cannot claim on the one hand that salvation is by grace alone through faith in the finished work of Christ.

g. While claiming on the other hand that salvation is by grace plus works.

h. These 2 gospels contradict each other. Either they are both false, or one of them is false. They cannot both be true because they make contradictory claims.

7. Paul said in his opening remarks that there is only one true gospel. That he received that gospel from God himself. This is the only true gospel there is—there is not another one.

8. In Jerusalem the false teachers tried to show that the gospel DOES REQUIRE adhering to the Law of Moses by circumcising Titus, who was a full blooded Greek Gentile—yet who also claimed to be a believer in Christ.

9. But he was not circumcised because it would have compromised the gospel. Contradicting that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

10. Finally, it was confirmed that both Peter and Paul were preaching the same gospel to different people groups.

a. Peter was preaching the gospel of grace primarily to Jewish unbelievers. Paul was preaching the gospel of grace primarily to Gentile unbelievers.

b. But it was the same gospel of grace they were preaching. This was confirmed at the Jerusalem Council early in the 1^st Century.

B. WHAT HAPPENED IN ANTIOCH

1. Now, with Paul back in Antioch, a very significant thing happens. V11: When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

2. If this event appeared in the local newspaper, here are some possible headlines:

a. Christian Titans Duke it Out in Antioch

b. Peter and Paul have Brawl in church hall

c. Paul instigates church conflict with Venerable Apostle

d. Paul cleans Peter’s clock in Antioch

3. So what happened? Peter comes to Antioch. Antioch you’ll recall was the central church of Gentile Christianity. The central church for Jewish Christianity was in Jerusalem.

4. And when he was there, the Apostle Paul had to confront him on a very important issue. He says that he opposed him to his face.

5. Which isn’t to say that he was in his face. By to his face he means that he confronted him in person and that he confronted him directly.

6. There’s a lesson for us right there. When there’s conflict in the church with another person, the correct response is to go to that person. Not everyone else but that person.

7. Wherever there are people, interpersonal conflict is inevitable. Whenever people work together, live together, or serve together—conflict is inescapable.

8. The question is how will the conflict be managed? Conflict is biblically and most effectively handled directly, honestly, and personally. Just as it was here.

9. So why was this necessary? The background is in V12: Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

10. We know that Peter was Jewish. And that he had assumed that the gospel was meant for Jews only—God’s chosen and redeemed people.

11. It didn’t occur to him that God loved Gentiles too, and desired to save them too.

a. But then in ACTS 10 Peter had a vision. You’ll recall that he was praying at noon.

b. While praying he had a vision where a large sheet was let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of animals that Jews were forbidden by the Law to eat.

c. But a voice said to Peter: Get up, Peter. Kill and eat. Peter responded: Surely not, Lord. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. It was repeated 2 more times.

d. Then Peter heard a knock at the door and some men were there and asked him to go with them to visit a man named Cornelius, who was a Gentile.

e. Cornelius heard the gospel and received Christ as Savior.

f. Then, when Peter went to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him for going to the house of a Gentile and eating with him. This was despicable for a Jew.

g. But Peter explained the experience to them. So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God? When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’

12. From then on Peter understood that the gospel was for Jews and Gentiles. That through the gospel, God would reach those from every nation, tribe, people, and language. And that what God had made clean, we should not consider unclean.

13. So when Peter first came to Antioch, he fellowshipped with the Gentile Christians there. Remember, Antioch was mostly Gentile Christians.

14. He talked with them, worshipped with them, engaged with them—and he ate with them.

15. Eating with people in those days was a big deal. It meant acceptance. It meant fellowship.

16. This is one reason Jesus was attacked for eating with Gentiles. It was considered a serious breech of ceremonial, religious, and social protocol.

17. Peter understood that this no longer applied to those who were fellow believers in Christ. Jew or Gentile—it no longer mattered. True believers were true brothers and sisters.

C. THE RAMIFICATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED

1. So why did Peter violate his own conscience here? He knew that it violated the spirit of the gospel. He knew that it offended and hurt his fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

2. So what led him to such compromise? It’s in a word found in V12—FEAR. It says that Peter was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

3. That is, conservative Jews who wanted no part of a gospel of grace alone. They wanted to include the Jewish customs, ceremonies, and Law.

4. Paul points out even Barnabus had joined in the hypocrisy. But why call it hypocrisy?

5. Because they were being two-faced. They were pretending to be one thing when they knew in their hearts that they were something else.

6. So what was Peter afraid of? The same thing he was afraid of when he denied Jesus 3 times on the night he was betrayed.

7. The same thing he was afraid of when he told Jesus that he must never go to Jerusalem to be betrayed and put to death.

8. Peter was afraid of what people might think or do. Can you relate? Of course you can. We all can.

9. Paul says to Peter in V14: You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

10. Peter had been living like a man free from the burden of the Law of Moses. He was now free in Christ. Free to live by grace rather than by law.

11. But now in Antioch, by not eating with Gentiles, he was saying that they should be living under the Law—as he had been doing.

12. This was hypocritical. It was insulting. It was cruel. It was ungodly. It was unchristian. It created disunity. It hurt relationships. It was wrong. And it needed to stop immediately.

D. CONCLUSION

1. There are many practical applications to this passage. We have time for 4.

2. First, it’s a reminder to us that no one is immune to sin.

a. Not even spiritual giants like the Apostle Peter are immune.

b. And Paul reminds us in ROM 7 that there were times when he did the very thing he wanted to avoid. And times when he failed to do the very thing he wanted to do.

c. 1 COR 10 warns us that if we think we stand firm, we should take heed, lest we fall.

3. Second, there is safety and wisdom in numbers.

a. The Church is a community of believers. With different kinds of people and different kinds of gifts and abilities.

b. In Antioch, though Peter clearly had key spiritual gifts—he was blindsided on this one. But something he missed, Paul saw as clear as crystal.

c. We should recognize that though we may be strong in some areas—in other areas we are weak and need support. All of us.

4. Third, be aware of your own personality vulnerabilities.

a. Remember, Peter was an impulsive man. And a man very concerned about what other people thought. We see this in the gospel record.

b. In some ways this made Peter more susceptible to overreaction. We don’t know exactly why he fell for this deception.

c. But the fact that he was impulsive and fearful was probably a factor.

d. And Barnabus. Remember his name meant: Son of Encouragement. He was very sensitive to how people felt. Remember when he stood up for Paul in the early days?

e. This may have led Barnabus to adjust his preferences to suit those who were complaining about what Peter had been doing.

f. In his efforts to maintain peace, he apparently compromised on the larger issue. Peace is a good thing and we should work for it. But peace must always bow to truth.

5. And fourth, conflict can be a road to growth.

a. I don’t like conflict. You probably don’t either. In fact, I tend to avoid people who like it.

b. But though the Word of God encourages us to avoid conflict when we can. It also commands us not to run from it when we’re confronted by it.

c. In fact, if we removed all the New Testament books that were written to address church conflict—there would be very few left.

d. The Book of Galatians was written in response to conflict and the desire to resolve it. We are among the countless generations who have benefited from this conflict.

e. The biblical injunction regarding conflict is:

a. Deal with it, don’t run from it.

b. Deal with it personally, not through agents.

c. Deal in facts, not conjecture.

d. Always seek reconciliation and restoration.

e. Forgive and move on.