Well, good morning, church. Open your Bibles with me, please, to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter two. We're gonna continue our study through this very pivotal letter of the Apostle Paul, and this morning we'll be looking at verses 11 through 14. Galatians chapter two, 11 through 14. As a reminder, in our passage last week, we saw Paul's unity with the Jerusalem apostles, of which Peter, of course, was one. And in our passage today, what we're going to see is Paul and Peter at odds with one another. We see the apostle to the Gentiles confront and rebuke the apostle to the Jews. And during this confrontation, the legitimacy of Paul's apostolic office and message are confirmed as he publicly corrects Peter with the authority of the gospel. Thus, Paul adds another weight to this ongoing argument that he's making to the Galatians regarding the divine nature of his apostleship and the divine nature of the gospel that he preaches. However, there is a theme so prevalent here in our texts that I think it will benefit us today to focus our attention there on that theme, and that theme is hypocrisy. So let me pray. Pray with me. Let us ask the Lord for his blessing, and then we will read our text. Father, we come to you this morning as your servants. We desire to worship you rightly. And we confess that we cannot do that without the mediation of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray that through his merits and his mediation, you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. That as I'm preaching, Lord, the word would be articulated clearly and accurately. And as your people hear, that the word would take its effect in their hearts, that it would pass, as our brother Jesse mentioned earlier this morning, that it would pass not only into their minds, but down into their hearts. Lord, would your spirit work in such a way? We pray that you would be glorified in all that we do this morning, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let us read our text. Galatians chapter two, verses 11 through 14. Hear the word of God. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. 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? Amen. Well, the title of this sermon is Confronting Gospel Hypocrisy. And guided by our text, I want us to explore three matters related to gospel hypocrisy. I want us to see the reason for gospel hypocrisy. I want us to see the repercussions of gospel hypocrisy. And I want us to see the only appropriate response to gospel hypocrisy. And I would like us to examine these three points so that, for the reason that We might not cloud the truth of the gospel by contradicting it with our actions, but that we might shine light on the truth of the gospel by living a life that is more consistent with the great truths that we profess. So once again, our three headings are, firstly, the reason for gospel hypocrisy, secondly, the repercussions of gospel hypocrisy, and finally, the response to gospel hypocrisy, beginning first with the reason. for gospel hypocrisy. Look again with me to verse 11. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. Paul begins this final section in defense of the divine nature of his gospel and apostleship by telling of a visit the apostle Peter made to Antioch. As a reminder, Antioch was Paul's home church, and they had sent him to southern Galatia along with Barnabas to plant the churches there on his first missionary journey. Paul begins this section by using the word, but. And he does so because he's contrasting his prior thought with a thought that he's about to introduce. If we look back to verse 9, we see how Peter, along with James and John, had given Paul the right hand of fellowship when he had visited Jerusalem for the second time. And in doing so, as we discussed last week, they had confirmed that there was apostolic unity regarding the doctrinal content of the gospel. Paul and the other apostles stood together on the truth that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, apart from any works of the law. What's more, the apostles stood together in unity regarding the practical outworking of the gospel in the case of Titus. And you'll remember the Judaizers would have forced Titus to be circumcised, but the apostles did not yield in submission to them even for a moment. So Paul's second trip to Jerusalem had certainly ended on a high note. It had ended with this great spirit of unity amongst the apostles, but As is often the case in our fallen world, the unity that the apostles enjoyed, specifically the unity that Paul and Peter enjoyed, did not go on uninterrupted. When Peter came to Antioch to visit the church there, he finds Paul not extending to him the right hand of fellowship, but rather he finds Paul opposing him to his face. Now, other translations say that Paul resisted, he stood up against, he withstood Peter. And Paul says that he opposed Peter to his face. He stood against Peter face to face. This was a public rebuke of the chief apostle. And Paul resisted Peter. He opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. Other translations say that Peter was blameworthy, that he was to be blamed, that Peter had clearly done wrong. And the sense here is that Peter was demonstrably guilty of a grievous and public sin, so much so that the apostle Paul was forced to oppose him to his face. Now we can imagine the shock and the surprise amongst those Christians at Antioch. Peter, the apostle to the Jews, one of Christ's inner circle of friends, is opposed, and that publicly, by Paul, the former persecutor of the church, and now the great apostle to the Gentiles. This was certainly not the type of confrontation that would go unnoticed. Now looking to verse 12, we see what caused Paul to confront his fellow apostle as aggressively as he did. Verse 12, for before certain men came from James, he, that is Peter, was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. Now we need to understand something about Peter. Peter had been taught by God that the Gentiles were to be grafted into the people of God through faith. Peter had been shown, as we read in Acts chapter 10, that God shows no partiality and that he had made Gentile sinners clean through faith in Christ. Years before this visit to Antioch, where Paul would confront him over his hypocrisy, Peter was taught by God that the Gentiles were to be grafted into believing Israel. And in Acts chapter 10, Peter receives a vision. You'll remember that he received this vision three different times. There was a sheet being lowered from heaven and on that sheet were animals of all different kinds, animals that were unclean according to the ceremonial law. And Peter hears three times a voice from heaven saying to him, rise, Peter, kill, and eat. And Peter responds, by no means, Lord. Not normally a good way to respond when the Lord speaks to us, is it? By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice came to him again a second time, what God has made clean, do not call common. As one commentator puts it, God had shown Peter that there is no unclean food and that there are no unclean men. At the same time, God was sending Gentile men from the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, to find Peter. And these men bring Peter back with them to Cornelius' house, and Peter preaches the gospel to them. And as Peter was preaching to these uncircumcised Gentiles, we read this in Acts chapter 10, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? Peter acknowledges here what Paul had said in our verses from last week, that God indeed shows no partiality. Salvation in Christ is offered freely to both Jew and to Gentile. Well, we then read in Acts chapter 11 about Peter leaving Cornelius' house and he goes up to Jerusalem and he's excited to share with them all that has happened. And Peter gets there and is immediately confronted by guess who? the circumcision party. They had a problem regarding his eating and drinking and fellowshipping with the uncircumcised Gentiles at Cornelius's house. But instead of cowering in fear to these men, Peter explains to them the vision of animals that God had showed him, and he tells them how the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles at Cornelius's house as he was preaching to them. And the circumcised brothers that hear him give this explanation, they rejoice, they give glory to God, and they say this, then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life. So we need to understand that about Peter. He had been taught by God that the Gentiles were to receive Christ by faith and to be grafted in to the believing people of God. So when we come back to verse 12 of our text, Peter stood condemned because he feared these same men, the men of the circumcision party. Now we need to understand that when Peter first showed up to Antioch to visit the church there, he ate freely. He fellowshiped freely with the uncircumcised believers. Again, God had impressed upon Peter the truth that under the new covenant, neither Gentiles nor Gentile food is unclean. These distinctions having been removed by Christ. And Peter was living in light of this new reality that the gospel of Christ had broken down this dividing wall of hostility that had stood between Jew and Gentile. And he was living in that reality that Christ had made one new man out of the two. He was enjoying all the barbecue, all the bacon, all the ham that his heart could desire. And not only was he enjoying these foods, he was enjoying them with his Gentile brothers. Now, the word eating here in verse 12 is given to us in the imperfect tense, and this would imply to us that Peter was eating with the Gentiles not only at official church feasts, not only at the Lord's table, but also at every other meal that was going on during his trip to Antioch. And what an encouragement this must have been to the uncircumcised believers. The Apostle Peter was eating with them. He was having fellowship with them. What a great unifying force and a great unifying testimony to the power of the gospel. Peter's behavior was that demonstrated clearly to everyone in Antioch that the ground is truly level at the foot of the cross. All are welcome. There are no genetic barriers. There are no cultural barriers, no linguistic barriers that would prohibit sinners from coming to Christ. All who would turn from their sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are welcomed by him. And so we get this sense of a great peace and unity that exists in Antioch in the first half of verse 12. For before certain men came from James, Peter was eating, he was fellowshipping with the Gentiles. But the peace and unity did not last forever. Look again to verse 12. But when they came, the men of the circumcision party, he drew back and separated himself for fear of the circumcision party. Now, you know, Peter has a history of vacillating from one extreme to the other. It's part of his personality. And although Peter was made a new creation in Christ at his conversion, like you and me, Peter's old sinful patterns must be continually put to death. If not, what are they gonna do? They're gonna pop back up. They're gonna rear their ugly heads. And we remember about Peter that in just a matter of moments, he would go from confessing Jesus as the Christ of God to then trying to correct the Christ of God and keep him from going to the cross. Or the evening when Peter would boldly declare that even if all the other disciples abandoned him, Peter would never abandon Christ. And just a few short hours later, what was he doing? He was cowering in fear to a servant girl who was asking him, do you know him? Certainly, you know him. And what did Peter do? Three times he swore, I do not know the man. So this is Peter's personality. He tends to go from one extreme to the other. And we could also look at an example of his boldness. The same man who cowered to the servant girl, he would go on to preach Christ regardless of the consequences. We remember he would declare to the authorities that he must obey God rather than men. So this is Peter for us. He's either hot or cold, and he tends to go between the two very quickly. And brothers and sisters, I don't think I'm stretching this too far to say that we know something of what that is like to go from hot to cold and back to hot again. Peter's sanctification, just like our sanctification, it's not on a straight line upward. There are moments, there are even seasons when that trend is downward, when temptation springs up and we sin against the Lord, but we can give the Lord thanks in spite of that. that because of his grace, when we back up and we view our sanctification from a bit of a distance, the trajectory is indeed upwards. So let us give God thanks that even when we transgress against him, he is faithful to bring us to repentance once again. So here in Antioch, we see Peter going from one extreme to the other. He's going from eating and drinking with the Gentile believers to drawing back and separating himself entirely from them. And this change in behavior would hardly go unnoticed by the uncircumcised believers. And we need to notice also here that Paul doesn't say that Peter changed his beliefs, that his confession of faith changed. It didn't change. Peter, he still believed the things that he had believed. He still confessed the same gospel truths that led him to extending the right hand of fellowship to Paul just a few verses before this. Peter still believed that salvation was indeed by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, apart from any works of the law. Yet Peter stood condemned because his actions totally undermined his beliefs. What he did overshadowed what he said. Peter was, as we read in verse 13, acting hypocritically. Hypocrisy can be defined as acting in a way that is inconsistent with one's character, belief system, or speech. And once again, why does Peter act hypocritically here? Why does he act in a way that is inconsistent with his character, belief system, and speech? Well, the text tells us that it is out of fear, specifically for fear of the circumcision party that Peter draws back and separates himself. The fear of man is what causes Peter to commit gospel hypocrisy. And it's the fear of man that causes many professing Christians to do the same today. Now, the fear of man is driven by a desire to be approved by men first and foremost, even before being approved by God. And I would suggest to you as an example, the fear of man is what leads many so-called Christian politicians to say things like this. Well, I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, but I'm not going to legislate that way. I wouldn't want to impress or impose my beliefs on anyone. Now they know that if they took a stand on God's definition of marriage, they would lose, by and large, the approval of their peers, that they would be called scary names like bigot, or fundamentalist, or worst of all, Christian nationalist. And so out of fear of men, they act in a way that is inconsistent with their beliefs. But brothers and sisters, the fear of man can take many forms. Being fearful of disrupting relationships at home or with close family members can lead us to deny the gospel with our actions. Being fearful of offending a friend can lead us to deny the gospel with our actions. Being fearful of losing a job can deny us, or excuse me, can lead us to deny the gospel with our actions. Being fearful of what wicked men and women who hate God might do to us if they find out that we love God and we serve God, this can lead us to deny the gospel with our actions. John Bunyan wrote this, the fear of man is the fear of losing man's favor, love, goodwill, help, and friendship. It's an idol of approval. And like any sin, if it's indulged, if it's not intentionally put to death, it will suck you into its vortex and have you leading the most ineffective, the most miserable, the most awful example of a Christian life that there is. So brothers and sisters, do you fear man? Have you compromised the truth of the gospel because you're afraid of losing man's favor, love, goodwill, help, or friendship? Now the truth is all of us to varying degrees are guilty of this. And I would submit to you that the principal reason for this, the primary cause that we tend to fear man is because we have a low view of God. We fear men because we have forgotten God. Now friends, we must hear and heed the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what he says from Matthew chapter 10. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Friends, the most powerful men on the planet, the most influential men in all the world, they are but pawns in the hands of our God. Well, after Jesus gives this warning, he continues in Matthew 10, he says this, are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Brothers and sisters, far better is it for us to acknowledge Christ here on earth with our affections, with our words, with our actions. Far better is it for us to walk in step with the truth of the gospel here on earth and be rejected by men but received by God. Far better is it for us to do this than to deny Christ and to deny his gospel before men by our hypocrisy. So may God give us grace not only to believe the right things. We tend to be really good at that in the reform world. We're really good at believing the right things. But may God give us grace to not just believe them, not just to say them or post about them on Facebook or Twitter, but to actually do them because he is worthy of that. Well, so we've seen under this first heading, the reason for gospel hypocrisy. Next, let us see the repercussions of gospel hypocrisy. Look with me please to verse 13. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. like leaven permeating an entire loaf of bread or a drop of poison contaminating an entire glass of water, Peter's sin spreads to the other Jewish believers in Antioch. They looked at the spokesman for the apostles and they said, well, he's the rock, isn't he? He was one of Christ's closest friends. We ought to do what he's doing. So they imitated his behavior. Now, no doubt, these men had heard Peter's preaching. They weren't wondering what Peter believed about justification or the sufficiency of Christ alone to save. They had heard him preach and defend those truths before. But you've heard the saying, if you really wanna see what a man values, look at his bank account. And in this case, Peter's spending did not line up with his budget. Peter's actions totally betrayed his confession of faith. And the Jewish believers in Antioch, they were more influenced by what Peter did than by what Peter said. Brothers and sisters, your children, your family members, your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers, they are 10 times, they are 100 times more influenced by what they see you do than by what you say to them. That is just the truth of the matter. The majority of lessons are caught, not taught. And that is exactly what we see happening here in Antioch. Paul says, the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him. Now this word translated here as acted hypocritically, it's a verb that literally means to commit hypocrisy with, or to pretend together. Other translations say the Jewish believers played the hypocrite along with Peter, that they acted insincerely along with Peter. And what made their behavior insincere? It was the fact that their outward actions were contrary to their inner convictions. They were hiding their real beliefs through their behavior. They were playing the hypocrite. And it's not just the immature Jewish believers, the babes in Christ that are drawn into hypocrisy by Peter's actions, even Barnabas. was led astray by their hypocrisy. Barnabas is one of the pastors at the church in Antioch. He is a tried and true Christian. Barnabas was the son of encouragement. If anyone would stand up for the Gentile believers in the midst of their being abandoned and treated as unclean, it would have been Barnabas. But no, even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. Other translations say that Barnabas was carried away And this, I think, better captures the force of what Paul is saying. Peter's behavior, followed by the rest of the Jewish believers, it was like this powerful riptide that pulled with amazing power even Barnabas along with them. He was carried away by their hypocrisy. If you've ever set up dominoes before, I know my children do that from time to time. You know that all you have to do to knock all of them down is to what? Just tap that first one. And then there is this chain reaction that occurs. And that's what's happening here. The men of the circumcision party, they show up, they intimidate Peter into fear. Peter falls and the rest of the Jewish believers, even Barnabas, fall along with him. And Peter's gospel hypocrisy started this chain reaction in Antioch, largely because of his reputation as a leader in the church and as an apostle of Christ. As a teacher of God's word, Peter not only carried a greater responsibility before God, he carried greater influence before men. And in this instance, his influence was used for evil rather than for good. Those who once followed Peter's good example of sharing unbroken fellowship with the Gentile believers now follow his evil example of withdrawing from them and working to undo the work of Jesus Christ who had made one new man out of the two. This is a real life tragedy. My friends, imagine if Certain men came to our church from Pastor Kurt Smith's church, and I'm not meaning to pick on Pastor Kurt, we love him. But imagine if certain men came to us from his church and that these men were extremely zealous for things indifferent, for matters of Christian liberty. As we established last week in the New Covenant, circumcision is a matter of Christian liberty. But these men, imagine, come to us, they're extremely zealous about alcohol. And they show up here and they say to us that if we wanna have fellowship with them, if we wanna be true Christians like they are, then we need to sign a pledge that we will never let a drop of alcohol touch our lips. Now imagine if Pastor Jerry and I signed that pledge and followed along after them. Think of the damage that that would do to the Church of Christ here at Berean. And even this illustration does not adequately capture the gut punch that the Gentile believers in Antioch would have felt. They had been grafted in. They had been adopted into God's family by grace. They had been made into one body with the believing Jews. That long-standing dividing wall of hostility that had separated Jew and Gentile had been removed. And they were now one in Christ with their Jewish brothers. And Peter had greatly encouraged them and befriended them as he first arrived at Antioch, eating with them and fellowshipping with them, treating them as true brothers and sisters in Christ. And then one day, all of that changes. This group of men show up, men who wouldn't extend the right hand of fellowship to the Gentile believers, but they made a beeline to Peter. And after they talked, well, Peter, he seemed, he seemed different. He seemed troubled. When it was time for dinner, Peter was nowhere to be found. Maybe he's not feeling great tonight. Maybe he's tired. He just needed some rest. Breakfast the next morning, still no Peter. Where is he? As a matter of fact, some of the other brothers who were used to eating with, they're not here either. What's going on? Lunch comes around. Where's Barnabas at? Has anybody seen Barnabas? And they look around and they notice something. Everyone sitting at the meal is uncircumcised. Everyone sitting at the meal is a Gentile. The joy of being one in Christ with their Jewish brothers, for the Gentiles, this joy was replaced with the sadness of being treated like unclean men, like outsiders in the kingdom of God. Friends, there are repercussions for living in hypocrisy, for professing the truths of Christianity with our lips, yet denying them with our actions. And at least two of the repercussions as seen here in Antioch is one, leading astray other believers, especially when the one living in hypocrisy is a leader or someone with influence within the church. And the other repercussion we see is the placing once again of the yoke of the law onto the necks of men and women who had been set free by Christ. Gospel hypocrisy has great repercussions that extend far beyond the one who is acting hypocritically. I appreciate the words of one Swiss reformer who comments on this passage. He says that it teaches us how harmful the examples of great men can be if what they do is not carefully determined by the rule of God's Word. I'm gonna pause the quote here because this week, to say that it is intimidating, to be reading this text and thinking about hypocrisy, especially as a leader in the church, to say that that is intimidating and daunting is an understatement. Because I can see in my life so many things that need to be corrected, that need to be put in step with the truth of the gospel. So don't, I'm not coming at this from some ivory tower where I have it all figured out, but when I read this, that it teaches us how harmful the examples of great men can be if what they do is not carefully determined by the rule of God's word. I cannot help but think men, husbands, fathers, we set the tone in our houses. What we do, how we love our wives, how we care for our children, this must be ruled by the word of God. This means that there must be discipline in the home, but there must be love and tenderness and gentleness and patience in the home. Again, I don't have this all figured out, but the Spirit of God, I trust, is working in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And so, men, what you do in your house must be ruled by God's word. And this commentator continues, human beings are naturally more inclined to follow examples rather than teachings. And because they're evil by nature, they're more likely to be influenced by bad examples than by good ones. If bad examples are backed up by the authority of a famous person, or a father, or a mother, or someone with influence, then chances are that many people will think that they can get away with them too. Nothing more absurd can be imagined than the sight of uninformed and ignorant people who think that they can get away with anything because they've seen those with whom they honor and revere as demigods doing the same thing. And those of those of you who joined us this past Wednesday, you heard it in the lectures on assurance that we've been watching together, one of the most dangerous things that we can do as Christians is to base our theology on our experience, or in this case, on the experience or actions of some other person in the church, even a respected leader like Peter. Yes, our practice must be guided by our theology, but our theology must be drawn from the word of God, not from watching and imitating the sinful actions of other fallen men and women in the church, lest we be led astray, lest we be carried away by their hypocrisy. Well, so we've seen so far the reason for gospel hypocrisy and the repercussions of gospel hypocrisy. Under our final heading, let's see the only appropriate response to gospel hypocrisy. Look with me to verse 14. 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? Paul sees their conduct. He's observing what is happening. He sees how quickly all of this has happened. The men from the circumcision party, they show up in Antioch, they pull Peter away with them, and just like that row of dominoes, the other Jewish believers, even Barnabas, are led astray. They're all carried away. Paul sees this and he recognizes that this behavior, the segregating of Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians, he sees that this behavior is not in step with the truth of the gospel. Other translations say that the hypocrites were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. And there are important parallels here with what we looked at last week. So just look up a few verses with me here to verse five. Paul concludes that when the Judaizers slipped into his private meeting with the Jerusalem apostles and tried to force Titus to be circumcised, he states adamantly, to them, we did not yield in submission, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. That same phrase, truth of the gospel, it's the same exact phrase in verse 14. but when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel." And Paul is drawing a parallel between the Judaizers wanting to force Titus to be circumcised and the genuine Jewish believers in Antioch separating themselves from the Gentile believers. Now, this may seem a bit extreme to us. to compare the actions of the Judaizers, the false brothers, with the actions of the chief apostle Peter. But that's exactly what Paul does. By drawing back and separating themselves, by refusing to have table fellowship with their Gentile brothers, the Jewish Christians in Antioch were participating in the work of Satan himself. They were siding with the Judaizers, not by their theology, but by their actions. By their behaviors, they endorsed the false gospel of the Judaizers, and they were claiming, again, through their behaviors, that something needed to be added to the finished work of Christ for salvation, for reconciliation vertically to God, but that's not all. by separating themselves from their brothers in Christ, they were also saying that something must be added to the finished work of Christ for reconciliation horizontally, one man to another. The finished work of Christ wasn't good enough for that either, and there needed to be circumcision added to it. Turn with me in your Bibles, please, to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. I want us to look at this together. Ephesians chapter two, starting at verse 11. The apostle says this. Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace. and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and he preached peace to you who are far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Through Christ. the Gentiles, the ones who were, as Paul says, without God. Through Christ, they were reconciled to God. But Paul goes on to say that not only did the gospel of Christ reconcile them vertically with God, it reconciled them horizontally to their fellow believers. Paul says the Gentile believers were once alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. They were once on the outside of God's family looking in, but all of that changed when Christ, who Paul says is himself our peace, that all changed when Christ made both Jew and Gentile alike into one new people, a people united to him by faith. Now to be clear, The gospel did not and does not erase ethnic distinctions. The gospel did not and does not change the fact that Jews were Jews and Gentiles were Gentiles. The gospel did not and does not take away the natural affections that one has for his own people according to the flesh. but the gospel did and does destroy the hostility between the two groups, both of them now being reconciled through a common faith in Christ. This is a statement of fact by Paul. The gospel of Christ reconciles men to God, and it reconciles men to men through faith in Christ alone, not through faith in Christ plus circumcision or any other work of the law. Friends, the basis of all true Christian fellowship and unity is the law-free gospel of Jesus Christ. And this was being denied in Antioch by those Jewish believers who following Peter separated themselves from the Gentile believers. Their behavior was not in step with the truth of the gospel. By their behavior, they were not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel. So Paul responds in the only way that he could. Verse 14, 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? And note that Paul confronts Peter before them all, before the entire church. Peter's sin was a public sin, therefore his rebuke is a public rebuke. Calvin comments here, those who have sinned publicly must be chastised publicly so that their unpunished sin will not harm the church by its example. And this is one of the principles that undergirds Christ's command to his church to exercise discipline. And Paul explains it this way in 1 Timothy 5, as for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear. And this is exactly Paul's purpose in publicly rebuking Peter. It's not a matter of Paul's ego or temper, far from it. In fact, this is the most loving thing that Paul can do, and not just for the victimized Gentile believers, but for Peter and the other hypocritical Jewish believers. So Paul corrects Peter. He points out his gospel hypocrisy. If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? Peter is a Jew, but he lived like a Gentile. He enjoyed the company of Gentile believers. He enjoyed Gentile food. Yet despite this, when he reacted in fear of the circumcision party and withdrew himself from his Gentile brothers and sisters, he was telling them loud and clear with his actions, again, you aren't good enough for me. I can't be associated with you. If you wanna eat with me, if you wanna fellowship with me, then you need to live like a Jew. You need to be circumcised. You need to observe the feast days. You need to observe the dietary laws. Friends, this is the insanity of hypocrisy. One minute, Peter is enjoying the Gentile fellowship that Christ had purchased with his own blood, and the next, he's shrinking away, claiming that the Gentiles must become Jews if they are to fellowship with him. Peter is acting in a way that is contrary to his beliefs. He's acting in a way that's contrary to his own preaching. John Stott says this, Peter knew perfectly well that faith in Jesus was the only condition on which God will have fellowship with sinners. But he added circumcision as an extra condition on which he was prepared to have fellowship with them. thus contradicting the gospel. Peter knew what made sinners right with God. And he said, that's a good start, but they need something else to be made right with me. And Paul confronts him publicly for acting contrary to his beliefs. Notice the word force at the end of verse 14. Some translations say compel here. Regardless, it's the same word that we see back in verse three. Again, there's a parallel, so just look up to verse three, if you will. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. When the Judaizers burst into Paul's private meeting with the Jerusalem apostles, demanding that Titus take on the sign of the Old Covenant, he was not forced to be circumcised. walking in step with the truth of the gospel. The Apostle Paul with Peter right beside him, remind you. stood firm against the Judaizers and would not yield to their demands, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved. That Peter, the one who did not yield, the one who stood firm against the Judaizers as they would try to force Titus to be circumcised, this same Peter arrives at Antioch, he cowers in fear to certain men of the circumcision party, and he, by his actions, seeks to force his Gentile brothers to live like Jews. The Peter in Jerusalem walked in step with the truth of the gospel. He acted consistently with the doctrine he professed and preached, but the Peter in Antioch acted hypocritically. He walked out of step with the truth of the gospel, and Paul finds himself here once again standing firm, not yielding in submission even for a moment to Peter, his co-labor, his co-apostle, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved. And in fact, Paul's public rebuke of Peter is an example of Paul walking in step with the truth of the gospel. To not rebuke Peter would be for Paul to commit gospel hypocrisy himself. And certainly Paul must have been tempted to cowardice. Remember, Peter gave him the right hand of fellowship. Peter had endorsed Paul as an apostle called and commissioned by Christ. So you can certainly see Paul wondering, maybe I should let this one slide. Maybe, maybe I'll just talk to Peter later on the side in private. We can work it out behind closed doors. Maybe I don't have to challenge him publicly in front of everybody. Maybe we can just deal with this quietly. You can certainly see Paul considering that. Honestly, I would have been tempted to take that approach. As Pastor Jerry has said here, it's not my idea of fun to take a stick and ram it into a hornet's nest. But confronting sin in this manner, it can be exactly like that. You know you're going to get stung. That's not the question. The question is how many times before it's over. But again, Peter's sin is public, and it demands a public rebuke. And more than that, it was an opportunity for Paul to once again preach the true gospel of grace to a mixed congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers, to remind them all, once again, that by works of the law, no man will be justified before God. Now, we won't get to it today, but Paul's public rebuke and correction of Peter's gospel hypocrisy, it actually extends to the end of chapter two. Now, depending on the translation that you have, the quotation of what Paul says will end in verse 14. Other translations will carry it through to the end of the chapter. I believe that all of this is a summary of what Paul is saying to Peter in that situation. And Lord willing, I'll get to preach those verses to you soon. But what we see when we get to those verses, 15 through the end of the chapter, is that Paul's argumentation moves as he's defending the divine nature of his apostleship and gospel, it moves from that to a theological defense of justification by faith. And even though we're not gonna get there today, I want us to see now the reason for Peter's behavior in Antioch, excuse me, I want us to see the reason that it's hypocritical. And Paul's gonna point that out to him as he continues through the end of chapter two. And the reason is because Peter, again, knows better. Peter knows better. Look quickly to verses 15 and 16. Paul will say this to Peter. We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. Paul reminds Peter, We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Christ. Paul reminds Peter, we also have believed in Christ Jesus. Peter, we know, we also have believed. Peter, you yourself are justified by faith and not by works of the law. To force the Gentiles to observe the law plainly contradicts the gospel that saved you. "'the one that saved you freely, "'apart from any works of the law, "'to force Gentiles to live like Jews "'is to walk out of step with the truth of the gospel.'" That will be Paul's continued argument to Peter in the following verses. Well, so we've seen this morning the reason for gospel hypocrisy, the repercussions of gospel hypocrisy, and the only appropriate response to gospel hypocrisy. I have one final application for you. Brothers and sisters, strive to walk in step with the truth of the gospel. We are all hypocrites to one degree or another. And the truth is that none of us lives up to the standard of what we profess to believe. That standard is too high, amazingly high, so high that only one person ever lived up to it. So the truth is, is that we are all hypocrites to one degree or another. And so what we need to do is to be honest before the Lord, we need to seek his illumination as we take inventory of our lives and look for those areas where we are walking out of step with the truth of the gospel and where we see gospel hypocrisy in our lives. Brothers and sisters, what do we do with that? What do we do with sin as Christians? We repent. We repent. We continually trust in, continually rest in the perfect righteousness of Christ, and we turn from our sin. And we turn to him who never acted hypocritically even once in his entire life. And by the grace of God working in us, may we strive to walk in step with the truth of the gospel. And I'll just add for the unbelievers here, do not use the excuse of hypocrisy that so-called hypocrisy that you see in professing Christians lives as a reason for your unbelief. There is no excuse for your unbelief. There has only been, as I said, one perfect man to walk this earth, and his name is Jesus Christ. And he offers to take from you your sinfulness, your wickedness in the sight of God, and give you in its place his perfect life of obedience. And he offers this to you freely because he loves sinners, because he's merciful towards sinners. The only question is, will you receive it from him? Or will you stare at it and say, no, I'm not interested. I'd rather stand over here and point out how people are acting hypocritically. Receive from him this gift of righteousness. Turn to him in repentance and faith. Do not die in your sins as you stand around pointing out the hypocrisy of others. Let us pray. Father, bless your word to us, we pray. We confess that we all have acted hypocritically. Help us to see those areas in our lives where we are walking out of step with the truth of the gospel. Help us to see these areas in our lives and to genuinely repent of these things. Lord, we desire to live a life that glorifies you. So help us to do that, we pray. Thank you for the gift of Christ. Lord Jesus, thank you for your condescension. Thank you for your perfect obedience. Thank you for your sacrificial death for sinners, for those who would trust in you, that we might be saved from the consequences of our hypocrisy. We ask as we move to observe the Lord's Supper, that you would meet with us in a great way. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.