when the church began in Acts chapter 2. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the gospel being preached by the apostles of Jesus Christ, the church grew very quickly among the Jews. We're told in Scripture that about 3,000 souls were saved on that first day. As the once fearful, selfish Peter proclaimed the truth of Jesus Christ in the streets of Jerusalem, the religious leaders of Israel, some of the same ones who had just recently had Jesus put to death on the cross, they tried to stop Peter and the rest of the apostles. They used intimidation at first. They had Peter arrested, and John. They threatened them with what would happen if they didn't stop preaching about Jesus. But that wasn't going to stop them. Nothing would stop them, it seemed. Because the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was so important to these men. By Acts chapter 6, and by the way we're doing this a little quick survey through Acts, Just give us some background of what we're looking at here in Galatians chapter two. By Acts chapter six, there were some growing pains in the church. There were so many poor widows among these new believers, as some of them were being overlooked by the church in the distribution of the food that they needed to stay alive. There was already some division in the very early church. because it was the widows who were the Hellenistic Jews who were being overlooked. Now, I don't know that that was intentional. I'm assuming it wasn't, but it was the Jews who spoke Greek instead of Hebrew or Aramaic, had some different customs because they had lived somewhere else away from Jerusalem for some time and developed, adopted some of the customs of other nations. They were the ones being overlooked in the distribution of food. Now Peter and the other apostles, they wouldn't have that. That couldn't be. All believers needed to be cared for. All the widows needed to be provided for. And so they figured out a way to make sure it would happen. You can read about how they did that in Acts chapter 6. There's lots and lots of new believers. The church was growing so much in Jerusalem among the Jews. Well, eventually, severe persecution began, largely because of Saul, also known as Paul. Before he was saved, he became the author of the book of Galatians that we're looking at, but before he was saved, he was a persecutor of the church. That persecution turned out to be good in some ways, one of them being that it got the church to scatter beyond just Jerusalem. So the Gospel was being taken to new locations and being proclaimed beyond just Jerusalem. But initially, it was still pretty much just the Jews, even the new places where they went, until God sent a vision to a Gentile named Cornelius. And in this vision, Cornelius was to send for Peter. Now you remember, right, Peter was prepared for this meeting. In Acts chapter 10, it's a little too long to read all the details this morning, but as Cornelius' messengers were on their way to get Peter, Peter was on the roof of a house, praying. God gave him a vision. This sheet, lower down, with a bunch of animals on it, Animals that had been designated as unclean for the Jews in the Law of Moses. There was a voice from God telling Peter, get up, kill, and eat. And Peter refused. He's never eaten something unclean in his life. It happened again. Get up, Peter, kill and eat. God's message for Peter was what God has cleansed no longer consider unholy. Now a big part of the point of all of that was that the cross changes everything. They were now under the new covenant. The old covenant was done. There was a reason for it for those people at that time, but it's done. There was a reason for those dietary laws. Mostly It was just so God's chosen nation of Israel would keep themselves separated from the worldliness of the nations around them. But now, in Christ, while worldliness is still something to avoid, Gentiles are not. Gentiles also need Christ. Cornelius needed Christ. And so Peter was brought to Cornelius' home, where he had gathered all of his friends and relatives. In Acts chapter 10, verse 28, it says this. And he said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him. And yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. Now, under the law, the law of Moses, it was unlawful and probably the traditions added to it for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit them. But God had shown Peter, what he has cleansed, Peter should not call unclean. What God has made holy, Peter was not to call unholy. Now that was new. for the believing Jews. There was even some controversy about it when Peter got back to Jerusalem. He had to explain himself and explain how this is of God and God saved them the same way He saved us. You can read about that in Acts chapter 11. From there, from the scattering of the believing Jews, the number of Gentile believers exploded. The Gentiles getting saved. There were so many of them, especially in Antioch. We've been talking about Antioch some in the last few weeks. The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to help them with what was going on there. The Antioch church kept growing and Barnabas went to Tarsus, not Tarshish. If you were here Wednesday, we talked about Tarshish. Now we're talking about Tarsus. different places, but Paul had been at Tarsus. And so Barnabas went there to find him, to bring him back to Antioch to help. There are so many new believers needing to be taught and discipled. A while later, God sent Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. They went to the region of Galatia. They preached the gospel there. They started churches there. And we've been talking about that in the past weeks. Well, at some point, there was that meeting that happened back in Jerusalem. We talked about last week. Paul tells about it in Galatians 2, verses 1-10. And we saw that all the apostles agreed with Paul on the gospel. They believed the same gospel. They taught the same gospel. A gospel of grace and not of works. A gospel of grace and not of keeping the law. And so they all agreed. The Titus, the Gentile who was there with them, there's no reason for him to be circumcised. It was not required for salvation. Keeping the law was not required for Titus to be saved. They all agreed on that. And then at some point, Peter visited Antioch. Now that background of things that led up to Peter coming to Antioch is good and helpful information to understand what comes now in Galatians chapter 2. So we're in Galatians this morning, chapter two, we begin in verse 11. Paul says, but when Cephas, who's also Peter, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. In several different ways, we have seen in Galatians that Paul has been defending his appointment as an apostle by Jesus. The Judaizers, who were misleading and deceiving the churches of Galatia, were making claims that Paul was not a real apostle. And that the real apostles in Jerusalem, like Peter, also sometimes known as Cephas, they agreed with the Judaizers, the Judaizers claimed, and not with Paul. We saw last week that those Judaizers considered the apostles in Jerusalem to be something like celebrities. Because of their fame and their status, they should be more highly regarded than Paul. Don't listen to Paul, listen to us, because the big guys in Jerusalem, they agree with us, is what the Judaizers were saying. But Paul is showing in these verses that we're looking at this morning, that truth triumphs over personality. and that the status of the speaker is not proof of the dependability of the words they speak. Even if Peter was an apostle of Jesus, which he was, that doesn't mean he was never wrong or above being corrected. Now, when Peter penned inspired words of God, as he did in 1 and 2 Peter, for example, there was no error in what he wrote. But that was because of the purity of the Word of God, not that Peter was a perfect man. Peter was not a perfect man. There was this case, as an example, while Peter was in Antioch, that he was very wrong, and he was in need of correction. For the good of the Church, and for the continuation of the Gospel, it was that important that Peter needed to be corrected. We can notice the way that Paul handled this, verse 11. It wasn't that he went around whispering behind his back. It wasn't through gossip. He didn't go from house to house to stir up support for his position against Peter. Peter was wrong. Peter was misleading the church by his actions. He was sinning. And so Paul went to Peter. Paul got up in his grill, as the kids say, or used to say. I don't know if it's still a thing, but they used to say that. And he put a stop to it. This does not go on, Peter. This stops here. The people of the churches of Galatia needed to know that even if it was Peter who was misrepresenting the gospel, Paul had a responsibility to correct it. And so he did. Let's see how this came about. He tells us in verse 11 that Peter was a problem. Then he tells us what the problem was in verse 12. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. I'll stop there for just a little bit. Now remember, big things are happening in Antioch. Lots of people are getting saved. The church is growing. It was started by believing Jews who had fled from Jerusalem because of persecution. But this was a Gentile area. And so the people that were being added to that church were predominantly Gentiles. Now Peter comes to see with his own eyes what he's been hearing about. All these Gentiles getting saved, putting their trust in Jesus Christ. And when he gets there, it's great. He loves what he sees. He dives right in to be a part of it. And when Paul says that Peter would eat with the Gentiles, that's significant. Remember what Peter said to Cornelius and all of Cornelius' people. You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him. That's how it had been under the law. Eating with the Gentiles took it even a step further. To sit down and share a meal with someone Even more so in that culture and the thinking of the Jews probably than is the case for us today, but it's to be a part of their life. You're taking part in what they're doing. You're making yourself vulnerable and just taking a part in the life of that person. I remember the Pharisees had a big problem with some of the people that Jesus was willing to sit down and eat with. That was worse than just talking to them, worse than just associating with them. You sit down and eat with them, that's something even more. Eating with them is associating with them more than just associating with them. Sometimes we joke that you can't have fellowship if there isn't food involved. Sometimes we say that we're going to have some fellowship. What that means is we're going to eat. But, you know, eating together does add to the fellowship. And Peter was all in favor of it in Antioch at the start. Something else to keep in mind is that eating with the Gentiles meant that Peter was probably also eating what they ate, which was significant because Gentiles didn't always eat the same as the Jews ate. They were probably having bacon cheeseburgers. They were probably having the occasional ham sandwich, biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast, the kinds of things that you could not get at any restaurant in Jerusalem. Gentiles were saying to Peter, come on, Peter, you've got to try this. You've never had this before. And he loved it. But then the rest of verse 12, but when they came, meaning these certain men from James, He began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision." Who were these guys? They were Jews. They came from Jerusalem. They were apparently some representatives of the church in Jerusalem. James, the brother of Jesus, was one of the leaders. Sent to check things out, see what's going on there, report back. Peter's been gone for a while. Let's see what Peter's doing. Report back to us how things are going in Antioch. Now back in verse 4, Paul had referred to some false brethren, which were people who claimed to be Christians. They tried to make themselves a part of the church, but they weren't actually saved. They were false. They weren't actually brethren. because they didn't believe in the gospel of grace. They believed in a different gospel, a gospel of works. They were trying to work their way into heaven through the law. Now here, Paul doesn't say these guys were false brethren. They may have been actual believers, and it may not have been their intent to stir up trouble. They just came to see. But they were Jews, and they were from Jerusalem, And the Jewish ways were probably all they knew. Because of where they grew up, where they were from. Now when Jews got saved, especially if they were still in or near Jerusalem, they didn't necessarily just instantly start eating bacon. Partly because you couldn't buy pork in Jerusalem. It's not what they were used to. Sometimes people like to stick with what they're used to. It's comfortable. It's familiar. Eating things like pork, that was very different. That was strange to them. If they had lived their whole lives on a kosher diet, it would be a big change to start eating things that they had been taught their whole lives were unclean and they shouldn't eat. Now, that's not necessarily a problem. They didn't have to eat things like pork, even if the Gentiles were. They didn't have to eat it. If Peter, or any of these guys from Jerusalem, if they just weren't ready for that, if they were just kind of uncomfortable with it, if they thought the idea of eating a pig seemed kind of gross, that's fine. It's sad, but it's fine. They didn't have to eat something that they... And we know that's okay. God has cleansed it. We know it's okay, but... It's kind of a hard time with it. That's not necessarily a problem. The problem was that Peter began to withdraw and hold himself aloof. That's not just not eating some of their food. This is Peter starting to withdraw from the fellowship with those Gentiles. This is taking a step back and thinking, or at least giving the appearance of thinking, maybe I shouldn't be quite as closely associated with these people. Now why would Peter do such a thing? Why would he pull himself back from these Gentiles? Well, Paul tells us, fearing the party of the circumcision. Or, what will my friends think? What will people think if they see me with them? Now, why do you suppose Peter was concerned about that? Well, they were of the circumcision. They were people who were probably still, in a lot of ways, following the law because that's what they knew. As long as they weren't depending on the law for their salvation. Again, that is not necessarily wrong. It wasn't necessarily a problem. But whether or not Peter thought it was true, his actions at least gave the impression that he thought it was true. That those who are of the circumcision are maybe just a little better than those who weren't. Maybe just a little more holy. maybe just a little closer to God than these lowly Gentiles. And it made them out to be second-class Christians. The good Christians are the Jews. Gentiles, not quite as good. This was sin on Peter's part. And as is often the case, Peter's sin didn't stay just Peter's sin. If you look at verse 13, Paul says, the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. And so Peter and the rest of the Jews who had been at Antioch for, I don't know how long, they'd been there for a while. They'd been enjoying each other's fellowship, Jews and Gentiles together. recognizing their unity in Christ, knowing that they should not consider these believing Gentiles as unclean. God told Peter, don't do that. And so he wasn't at first. But once Peter started pulling away, the rest of the Jews who were there did too. And what really got to Paul was that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. Barnabas had been such a faithful servant. He'd been such a big help in the work that was going on in Antioch. Barnabas was the man who was responsible for bringing Paul there to help, to be a part of it. But because of Peter's influence, even Barnabas started to think, or at least act, like the Jews were better and more holy than the Gentiles. that their fellowship should be separate. Something else to keep in mind, especially in the early church, which is what we're talking about here, eating together usually included taking communion together. So when Peter and all these Jews pulled away from the Gentiles, didn't eat with them anymore, they didn't have communion with them either, most likely. So instead, The Jews were fellowshipping and taking communion together in one place. The Gentiles were fellowshipping and taking communion in another place. It was becoming two separate churches. Because the Jews didn't think they could fellowship with the Gentiles. Now we should see lots of problems with that. But the fundamental issue comes out in verse 14. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. Now stop there. Paul is saying that this wasn't just a matter of preferences. This is a gospel issue. By their actions, even if they didn't say anything, by the Jews pulling away from the Gentiles and no longer having fellowship with them, they were saying, because you are different from us, because you do some things differently than how we do them, and you have some different customs than we have, the gospel has failed to make you as holy as it has made us. Maybe the gospel is sufficient to save you. Maybe you will go to heaven someday. Maybe you're good enough for God, but you're not good enough for us. This is legalism. That was maybe a little bit different than the legalism that says you have to do these things to be saved. This legalism says you have to do these things or be this way to be as holy as I am. Now, to be clear, we're not talking about things the Gentiles were doing that were sin or believing or teaching false doctrine. That's not what this is about. The Gentiles were not living in unrepentant sin. They weren't teaching a false gospel, teaching false doctrine. There's nothing in here that says anything of the sort. These Jews were just separating themselves from the Gentiles because of who they were. We're Jews. You're Gentiles. You have a different background from us. You have different customs from us. You have different preferences, different opinions. We can't fellowship with you. Now when Christians divide and are not willing to fellowship with other Christians because of those kinds of things, it's legalism. And it's obscuring the truth of the gospel. So things like not being willing to fellowship with other Christians because of their ethnicity. That's what was going on here at Antioch. If there is a certain church for a certain group of people because of the language they speak, maybe that's different because it's pretty important to be able to understand what's being said. But to have a separate church Just because of the color of skin, or because of where someone comes from, there are problems with that. I can't fellowship with you because you're different from me. That's legalism. Or because of the Bible translation someone uses. The gospel is not sufficient to make you as holy as it makes me if you don't use the translation that I use. That's legalism. how dressed up they do or don't get to go to church, preferences and styles of music, if they decide to mow their grass on a Sunday afternoon, if we can't fellowship with someone who's a believer because of those things, it's legalism. Or dare I poke at the elephant in the room, the way parents decide to educate their children. If we can't fellowship with other Christians, because they don't make the same decisions that I make, or have all the same preferences that I have. I've made myself the standard of holiness. And maybe you're a believer. Maybe you're saved. Maybe you're good enough for God. But you're not good enough for me. And I can't fellowship with you. It's legalism. It's sin. and it tells lies about the gospel. That's how significant, important this is. It's saying the gospel is not enough to make you as holy as it has made me because I have something extra. It takes something more than the gospel to make you holy. You've got to do these things as I am doing them. And there are so many Christians who divide over these kinds of secondary issues. Some of these things are not even worthy of being called secondary that Christians will divide over. So many times people will sit and listen to any kind of doctrine, whatever, don't care. But if you disagree with my opinions, I'm not going to fellowship with you. It happens so often. We're not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel when we decide who we fellowship with based on our opinions, our preferences. We're taking it upon ourselves to call unclean something that God has called clean. It's serious. Paul thought this was serious. If you look at the rest of verse 14, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, if you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews? And before those Jews came from Jerusalem, Peter was fine doing what the Gentiles did, because it wasn't wrong. But now, it was just because of who was watching him. He was acting like the Gentiles needed to be like the Jews in all of their preferences for them to be good enough, for them to be holy enough. So, Peter was being a hypocrite. He moved into legalism because he feared man more than he feared God. So, because Peter's sin was affecting the whole church, Paul confronted him in the presence of the whole church. Paul wouldn't have done that if this was not a big deal. This was a big deal. Legalism is a big deal because it tells lies about the gospel. So Peter was showing by his actions that the gospel was not enough to make the Gentiles as holy as the Jews. He was saying by his actions, these Gentiles need the help of the law. They need to have the same opinions, the same preferences as the Jews to be as holy as the Jews. Paul confronted that head on and said that stops here. Now it's fine to pick who your friends are. That's not what this is about. That's not what Paul is correcting Peter for. But to decide which believers you are willing to have fellowship with based on opinions, preferences, that are not matters of sin, that are not things clearly taught in God's Word, is to make ourselves the standard of holiness. Just to say that the gospel is not enough, and that is a serious problem. We all have opinions. We all have preferences. about how we think things should be. As long as they are not sinful opinions or preferences, you're welcome to have them. We are not welcome to judge others by our opinions or our preferences. We are not welcome to try to force our opinions or preferences on other people. We are not welcome to decide which Christians are worthy of our fellowship based on our opinions our preferences. It's legalism. It's sin. It obscures the truth of the gospel. It's a serious problem. Paul is saying in this passage, the truth of the gospel is at stake in this. Peter had to stop. From what we know from history, he did. We don't know how long it took. We don't know how he responded exactly, but years later he considered Paul to be a faithful minister of the gospel. They worked and served together, so Peter responded. But Paul has more that needs to be said about this. It's such an important issue. He has more he's going to say. We'll look into it, Lord willing, next week. As always, feel free to read ahead. We should test ourselves. Are there ways that we may be like Peter? Or are we living in grace as the Apostle Paul? Test ourselves. We'll look more at this next week.