Galatians 2:14-21

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Galatians (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

Galatians 2
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.[1]
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14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

• 1) Circumcision 2) Food laws & 3) Calendar observances
• Paul is separating Peter’s personal convictions vs Truth of the Word.
• Suppose Peter and Barnabas had won the day and led the church into legalism? What might the results have been?
• Would Antioch have continued to be the great missionary church that sent out Paul and Barnabas? (Acts 13)
• Would they, instead, have sent out the “missionaries” of the circumcision party and either captured or divided the churches Paul had already founded?
• You can see that this problem was not a matter of personality or party; it was a question of “the truth of the Gospel.”
• And Paul was prepared to fight for it.[2]

 

• What was the purpose of Paul confronting Peter in front of everyone?
• Was there emotion involved?
• What is the difference in communicating truth with anger vs no emotion?
• The same message is communicated.
• It never says what Paul’s emotions are… we just assume.
• You realize your reaction to news/information or the correction given will impact future exchanges of a relationship.
• Between a husband and a wife
• Between a parent and a child
• Between a boss and an employer
• Between friends or even siblings.
  ​
  

15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,”

• They were “Gentile sinners” from birth because they were not given the Law like the Jews were.

16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.

• “How should [a] man be just with God?” (Job 9:2) was a vital question, because the answer determined eternal consequences.
• “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4) is God’s answer.
• Justification is not simply “forgiveness,” because a person could be forgiven and then go out and sin and become guilty.
• Once you have been “justified by faith” you can never be held guilty before God.
• Justification is also different from “pardon,” because a pardoned criminal still has a record.
• When the sinner is justified by faith, his past sins are remembered against him no more, and God no longer puts his sins on record.

 

• So important is this concept that three New Testament books explain it to us: Romans (see 1:17), Galatians (see 3:11), and Hebrews (see 10:38).
• Romans explains the meaning of “the just”;
• Galatians explains “shall live”;
• Hebrews explains “by faith.”[3]
• Christ died one time and based upon our belief in the Son of God, we were justified one time.
• Proven “not guilty”
• Double Jeopardy – Cannot be tried twice for the same crime.

17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God.

• If a man is justified by the works of the Law, then why did Jesus Christ die?
• What died?
• The Law demanded death for those who broke it, but Christ paid that death penalty for all sinners. [4]
• To go back to Moses is to return to the graveyard!
• We have been “raised to walk in newness of life”[5]

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,

• Paul does not refer here to physical death, but to the death of his former self (see Eph 4:22).
• The self-righteous, self-centered Saul died.
• Paul’s understanding of union with Christ begins with the cross of Christ.
• This enables Paul to endure shame, contempt, and false accusations like Jesus, God’s Suffering Servant (Col 1:24; Phil 1:29).
• Christ lives in me Refers to new life in Christ as well as the presence of God’s Spirit, which empowers obedience to the gospel (Gal 3:2; 4:6; 5:16–18, 22–25).
• the Son of God Faith in the Son of God transforms a person from a slave to a child of God.

who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Paul describes the sacrificial love of Christ in personal terms.
• Christ’s willingness to die on behalf of sinners brings deliverance from the power of sin for those believe in Him (1:4).
• Grace says, “There is no difference! All are sinners, and all can be saved through faith in Christ!”
• But Peter’s actions had said, “There is a difference! The grace of God is not sufficient; we also need the Law.”
• Returning to the Law nullifies the Cross: “If righteousness came by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21).
• Law says DO! Grace says DONE! “It is finished!” was Christ’s victory cry (John 19:30). “For by grace are ye saved through faith”[6]
• In essence Paul affirmed, “If He loved me enough to give Himself for me, then He loves me enough to live out His life in me.”[7]

21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.[8]

• Faith in the Son of God transforms a person from a slave of the Law to a child of God.
• Paul’s opponents had accused him of using God’s grace to justify unrighteous living.[9]
• We have no record of Peter’s reply to Paul’s rebuke, but Scripture would indicate that he admitted his sin and was restored to the fellowship once again.
• Certainly when you read his two letters (1 and 2 Peter) you detect no deviation from the Gospel of the grace of God.
• In fact, the theme of 1 Peter is “the true grace of God” (1 Peter 5:12); and the word grace is used in every chapter of the letter.
• Peter is careful to point out that he and Paul were in complete agreement, lest anyone try to “rob Peter to pay Paul”
  
  
• Ask yourself:
  1) Have I been saved by the grace of God?
  2) Am I trying to mix Law and grace?
  3) Am I rejoicing in the fact that I have been justified by faith in Christ Jesus?
  4) Am I walking in the freedom of grace?
  5) Am I walking by the Spirit (that aligns with the Truth of the Gospel)?
  6) Am I willing to walk by the Spirit in defense of the Gospel?

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 2:11–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 694). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 695). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 596). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 695). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 696). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 596). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 2:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 2:21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.