In this short section of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Galatians 2:11–21, he recounts to his audience the things he said when he confronted Peter about his hypocrisy regarding the law and non-Jews. Paul lays out the basics—we are justified by faith in Jesus and not by obeying a set of rules.

Previous Posts: Gal 1:1–10; Gal 1:11–2:10

Confrontation

Paul confronts Peter personally in Antioch because Peter is wrong (2:11). Where he used to eat and fellowship with non-Jews (Gentiles), now he has drawn back and separated himself “because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group” (2:12). This group taught, “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1.)¹ Peter’s hypocrisy (as Paul calls it) leads others astray, including Barnabas (2:13). Paul says that Peter is “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel” because he himself has discarded the Jewish laws and yet he is now forcing non-Jewish converts “to follow Jewish customs” (2:14).

Paul is reminding Peter of his own experience. Peter had a vision that God accepted Gentiles and it was okay to eat with them (Acts 10:28). And he has already refuted criticism about eating with uncircumcised men (Acts 11:2–3). Now this group of very outspoken Jews wants to impose their cultural norms (food laws and circumcision) onto new converts. And this time, when Peter is with non-Jews only, he acts one way, but when the circumcision group comes around, he acts a different way. Peter’s fault is that he preaches salvation is by faith in Jesus yet he refuses to eat with non-Jews, reinforcing the false teaching that obeying the Jewish laws is required for salvation.²

Peter has let fear override his faith. According to Timothy Keller, “Peter’s sin was basically the sin of nationalism. He insisted that Christians can’t be really pleasing to God unless they become Jewish.”³ We do the same today if we insist Christians must be “American,” or “republican,” or “baptist,” or “calvinists.” Whenever we bring class-ist, nationalistic, or racist attitudes into the church, we are hypocritical as Peter was.

When I require a certain set of words or behaviors to confirm someone’s salvation (such as walking the isle or “asking Jesus into their heart”), I too am being a hypocrite. I’m enjoying the freedoms of being in Christ yet restricting others from those freedoms.

When have you acted like a hypocrite out of fear? What cultural norms do you (subconsciously) require of new believers?

We are justified by faith

Paul continues his argument by reminding his Jewish readers that “a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (2:15–16: Rom 3:28).⁴ These Jewish Christians know that they were not declared righteous with God by keeping the law or else why did they need to believe in Jesus? Three times, Paul says we are justified “by faith in Christ Jesus,” not by keeping the law.

To be justified means “to be pronounced righteous and acceptable for fellowship with God.” Author Timothy Keller says, “We are not acceptable to God because we actually become righteous: we become actually righteous because we are acceptable to God.”⁵

I was justified when I realized as a small child that I needed Jesus to forgive me. Of course I did not understand much but I had faith and believed in Jesus.

Have you been declared right with God? Briefly tell of your experience.

Die to the law and live to God

Paul goes on to address the accusation that justification by faith leads to lawless behavior. (i.e. If we’re not obeying the law anymore, we’ll automatically become outlaws.) “Absolutely not,” Paul says, it “doesn’t mean Christ promotes sin” (2:17).⁶ Going back to trying to obey the law (“rebuild what I destroyed”) actually makes Paul “a lawbreaker” because it reveals his inability to keep the law perfectly (2:18).

Paul says he “died to the law so that he might live to God” (2:19; Rom 7:4–6). He rejects any notion that he can save himself by keeping the law, (i.e. getting circumcised or eating the right foods.) He no longer needs to obey the requirements of the law. Timothy Keller says, “The law itself showed me that I could never make myself acceptable through it. So I stopped “living to it”. I died to it as my savior. Though I obeyed God before, it was simply to get something from Him; it was, for my own sake. Now I obey Him simply to please Him. I now live for Him.”⁷

What requirements of the law might you still be trying to keep in order to be saved?

Living in line with the Gospel

Paul’s most familiar statement (Gal 2:20) instructs his readers how to live “in line with the gospel” (2:14) and how to live “to God” (2:19):

I have been crucified with Christ

Paul tells us in Rom 6:6–7 “our old self was crucified so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

It is I who no longer live.

Beth and Melissa Moore explain this phrase: “Paul does not say ‘I live [no longer] but ‘no longer I live.’”⁸ In other words, we are no longer the driving force in my life. We regularly remind our egos that they are no longer in charge; they are actually dead.

Christ lives in me

In this new life, after we “die,” we can then live (2 Tim 2:11; 2 Cor 4:10–11) because Christ dwells in us in the form of his Spirit. He never leaves us, we have instant access to him, and he guides us.

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God

This means that the life we live everyday in our physical bodies, “[We] live by faith in the Son of God.” We walk, not by sight or feeling (2 Cor 5:7: Prov 3:5–6), but dependent on Jesus (although he graciously gives us times of emotion and deep awareness as well).

Who loved me and gave himself for me

We can trust him because he loves us and sacrificed himself for our salvation (1 John 3:16) All we do is in response to his love. Keller expresses it like this, “Only when I see myself as completely loved, and holy in Christ will I have the power to repent with joy, conquer my fears, and obey the One who did all this for me.”⁹

I have a new love for this verse. It describes how to live. In my own words, it says, “Because I have been crucified with Christ (and declared right with God once and for all), my old self is dead and the Holy Spirit now lives in me. Therefore, I live every day by faith in (trusting and dependent on) Jesus who loves me and gave himself for me.”

How do you think God feels about you? What does it look like to live by faith day by day?

Conclusion

Paul wraps up this section by stating that he does “not set aside the grace of God.” He’s implying that Peter has done just this when he steps away from eating with non-Jews. Again, Paul reiterates that righteousness cannot be gained through the law. If it can, then “Christ died for nothing” (2:21). If we can save ourselves, Christ didn’t have to die.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving yourself for me. I want to live every day responding to your love by remembering that my old self is dead. Instead of following it, I trust you and allow your Spirit to live through me. I want to live each day with an awareness that I my old self is dead and I actively choose to depend on you, Lord.

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1. This happened after some men purportedly came from James without his authorization. Acts 15:24 ↩︎
2. This confrontation later resulted in an official resolution by The Jewish Council. They met and decided “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things (Acts 15:28–29). ↩︎
3. Timothy Keller, Galatians for You, 54 ↩︎
4. Paul calls the Gentiles “sinners” because Jews considered all Gentiles to be “sinners.” They didn’t have the law and sacrificial system by which to receive forgiveness (2:15). On the other hand, any Jew who transgressed was called a “lawbreaker” (2:18). ↩︎
5. Timothy Keller, 58. ↩︎
6. “But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not.” (Gal 2:17 NLT) ↩︎
7. Keller, 61. ↩︎
8. Beth Moore & Melissa Moore, Now That Faith Has Come: A Study of Galatians, 82. ↩︎
9. Keller, 62. ↩︎