Stand Firm - The Man Who Died

Galatians 2:11-21 (NIV) 

[11] When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For 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. [13] The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. [14] When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “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? [15] “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles [16] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. [17] “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! [18] If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. [19] “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. [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, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.11-21.NIV)

As I write this, the dangers of division in our societies are painfully clear. Even while preparing this meditation, a news story popped up on my feed about appalling

race-related disturbances in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. While there may be underlying concerns fueling such fury, there is absolutely no place for violence as a solution. People who had nothing to do with the original offense were affected, simply due to the color of their skin. That is never right.

This brings us to one of the most challenging passages in Scripture. It describes a public confrontation between two titans of the early church: Peter and Paul. Many might be tempted to pit them against each other, particularly those who have an axe to grind with Paul.

However, those who do forget Peter's own words about Paul:

Peter's Endorsement of Paul

2 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV) 

[15] Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. [16] He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2pe.3.15-16.NIV )

There are two key points here: 1) Peter calls Paul a ‘dear brother’; and 2) Peter puts Paul’s pastoral letters—such as Galatians—on a par with ‘other Scriptures’, which would include the entire Old Testament, considered the very Word of God. So, let’s do away with any nonsense of a rivalry here between Paul and Peter. Something else must be happening.

Which is why we must ask ourselves: What is going on?

What Was Going On? Peter's Hypocrisy Exposed

Galatians 2:11-13 (NIV) 

[11] When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For 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. [13] The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.11-13.NIV )

During COVID, the 1990s song "What’s Up?" by Four Non Blondes constantly buzzed in my head. Its chorus line, "I said 'Hey! What’s going on?'", perfectly summed up what we all felt at the time. That might be your response when you see this passage. It is quite a jarring situation. It’s always alarming when leaders as important to the church as Peter, James, and Paul seemingly have a fall-out. So it’s important that we understand it correctly.

Firstly, we must absolutely understand the context. These events took place after Peter was called by God to meet with Cornelius, a Roman soldier (Acts 9 and 10), but before the Jerusalem Council where the Gentiles were formally welcomed into the church (Acts 15:1-35). This is important for two reasons:

1. Peter had already accepted the Gentiles as believers. His conduct in Galatians 2, therefore, had nothing to do with whether or not they could be followers of Jesus. That had already been settled. James was a key leader in the church, and he had not objected. In fact, the entire church leadership had already come up with this resolution:

   
   

   Acts 11:18 (NIV) 

[18] When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/act.11.18.NIV )

So, the Gentiles (that is, you and me, if you are not a Jew) had already been accepted into the church. Their conversion had been recognised. That issue is one hundred percent not in doubt or up for debate. It had already been settled.

2. It’s clear that some so-called believers did not agree with this resolution: 

   
   

   Acts 15:1 (NIV) 

[1] Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/act.15.1.NIV )

These people were not leaders, were not sent from leaders, and did not represent leaders. How do we know this? Because the decision of the leaders of the early church was precisely the opposite of what they intended. Even Paul does not give them any ring of authority at all:

Galatians 2:4 (NIV)

[4] This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.4.NIV )

They were fakes. They were not real. But they were influential: possibly among some former Jews in the church, and possibly also outside. It is this influence that appears to have spooked Peter.

Jews did not associate with Gentiles. They did not speak to them. They certainly did not eat with them. They absolutely would not receive hospitality from them. It took two visions to remove this prejudice from Peter (Acts 10:9-20). But it seems like these fake ‘brothers’ from Judea were trying to reverse that. Peter was afraid of their influence, so, although he freely ate with Gentiles before these dodgy ‘disciples’ showed up, as soon as they did, he withdrew from the Gentiles—remember: Galatia was a majority Gentile area.

That would have caused real problems, for two reasons:

• Firstly, because refusing hospitality in those days would have been quite a cultural insult. It would have been tantamount to publicising the existence of a two-tiered humanity: Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles. Now, this is clearly what the false disciples believed. There is no doubt about that. However, given that Peter was one of the main leaders of the church, it would have communicated that the Gentiles were in the ‘out crowd’, and to be in the ‘in crowd’ they would need to convert to Judaism.

  
  

• Secondly, it would have created a sharp division in the church between those who were circumcised and those who were not; those who were Jewish and those who were not. And that was not true. Not at all.

  
  

Peter’s gesture might have seemed harmless. After all, whoever we eat with or socialise with is our affair. But it really wasn’t. And that is why Paul intervened. This intervention led to one of the most famous verses in the Bible, with an extraordinary application.

So after seeing what had actually happened here, we now look at the fact that we are

Crucified with Christ.

Crucified with Christ: Death to the Old Self

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) 

[20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.20.NIV)

The story goes that a young twelve-year-old girl was signing a birthday card for her grandmother when she wrote ‘You’re a great grandmother.’ Her grandmother immediately had a shock, thinking her granddaughter had written ‘You’re a great-grandmother’, which would have implied the twelve-year-old was pregnant! Misunderstandings can be amusing.

This verse, however, has often either been misinterpreted or partially interpreted. Certainly, I haven’t yet, in almost forty-five years as a Christian, heard its full context preached. Let’s look at firstly what it does not mean.

It does not mean that Paul was literally physically crucified with Christ. He was not pinned to that cross beside Him. In fact, historians believe that Paul could well have been on the Sanhedrin at the same time Jesus was condemned to die. Paul, however, does not mention something as consequential as that, so it’s more than likely that, for some reason, he didn’t vote at the time. He did vote for some of Jesus’ followers to be sentenced to death, though (Acts 26:10).

So we need to look at what it does mean. Perhaps these verses help:

Romans 6:1-11 (NIV)

[1] What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? [2] By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? [3] Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. [5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— [7] because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. [8] Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. [11] In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.6.1-11.NIV )

Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)

[1]  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. [3] For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.1-4.NIV)

What it means is that because Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again, and because Paul trusted in His sacrifice for salvation, Paul’s previous life was dead and gone.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) 

[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.5.17.NIV )

Paul saw his old life as having been crucified and killed with Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, one of the themes of Galatians—and many of the pastoral letters of the New Testament—is what this actually means. Paul wrote this verse about being crucified with Christ in the context of how Peter was treating the Gentiles by separating himself from them. As Paul said to the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 5:14-16 (NIV) 

[14] For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. [16] So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.5.14-16.NIV ¹³¹)

That is, the way we think about other people and the way we feel about other people and the way we act towards other people must change. This must include people who are different to us. It especially includes those who are different to us but confess the same Savior and Lord. That is why Paul argued with Peter:

Galatians 2:14 (NIV) 

[14] When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.14.NIV )

What Peter was doing was the ultimate example of a clique. He was tacitly siding with people who considered the Gentiles as lesser people than the Jews. Paul’s point is that we cannot do this. We just cannot. Because we believe in Jesus Christ and our old way was put to death.

Do you want to know why?

Romans 3:21-24 (NIV) 

[21] But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. [22] This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.3.21-24.NIV)

Before God, our race, our ethnicity, our wealth, our lifestyles, our education, our pet theologies, our taste in music, clothes or even Bible version, are all meaningless. Every last one of them. The only index that counts is that of our sin. And all of us have it. All of us. One is not further from God than the other. That is why Paul wrote this later in Galatians:

Galatians 3:26-28 (NIV)

[26] So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, [27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.3.26-28.NIV)

All stand equal before God. All sinned. All need grace. All are saved only by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So there is no justification for a ‘two tier church’, for division or segregation or any such evil. There is no excuse for it. All have sinned. All need grace. That’s how it is.

Apart from being crucified with Christ, we also see that we should Live by Faith.

Live by Faith: The Secret to the Christian Life

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) 

[20] The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.20.NIV)

They say that only three people in the world know the secret recipe for legendary Scottish soft drink Irn Bru. The recipe is so secret that the chairman used to personally mix it in a locked room, and apparently still continued to do so after he retired. The third person who knows this recipe apparently does not ever travel together for security reasons. So-called ‘secret recipes’ abound, particularly in Asian or Italian restaurants. They are part of the mystique of the food, used to lure customers in, when, in all likelihood, there is nothing particularly unique or special about them.

Here we see the ‘secret recipe’ for the Christian life: what genuinely makes it unique. Part one of it is to consider your old life as crucified—irretrievably dead. In most cultures, the dead stay dead and buried. We don’t take them out and play with them. What Paul is saying is that this is how we should consider the habits and attitudes of our old lives. They should be like lifeless corpses that we bury, we do not mourn or miss, and that stay dead.

But the second part is to live by faith in the Son of God. What does this mean? This does not mean that we simply believe that Jesus exists. James made this forceful argument that we will examine in more detail in another post:

James 2:18-20 (NIV) 

[18] But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. [19] You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. [20] You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.18-20.NIV)

Belief in the existence of God is not enough. Hebrews says this:

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) 

[6] And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.11.6.NIV)

This seeking means not just to look for Him as if He is out of sight and you need to find Him. It means to investigate God for the purpose of becoming like Him. It means to learn and obey His ways, His commands, His teaching. Having faith in God is not about believing that He is there, it is also about seeking to obey Him, to trust in what He says, to believe it and to follow it. That is why Paul told Peter this:

Galatians 2:17-19 (NIV) 

[17] “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! [18] If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. [19] “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.17-19.NIV)

Because when we live by faith in Jesus Christ, the way we treat others has to change. Again, as Paul said to Peter:

Galatians 2:14 (NIV) 

[14] When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.14.NIV)

As I have noted time and again this year in my posts, and will continue to note, the Christian life ought to be dominated by love: for God, other people and ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). We simply cannot love someone and consider them to be lesser than us.

We cannot love someone and discriminate against them. We cannot love someone and be violent towards them because of their race. Or their gender. Or their culture. Or their theological mores. We can’t wait for them to be like us, or even to like us at all. We are Christians. We must love.

1 John 4:7-12 (NIV) 

[7] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. [10] This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. [11] Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1jn.4.7-12.NIV )

And again, from Galatians:

Galatians 5:6 (NIV) 

[6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.5.6.NIV)

If we live by faith in the Son of God, we must love. Why? Because that is His command:

John 13:34-35 (NIV) 

[34] “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.13.34-35.NIV)

But why should we obey? Why should we love? Why should we live in faith in the Son of God? Paul gives us two reasons.

Firstly, because He loved us. When you teach a child anything, you must demonstrate it first. If you don’t, they won’t learn. That’s why children with either parents or siblings who spend time with them learn quickly, and those who do not, learn slower. Because they have no-one to demonstrate things to them.

God demonstrated His love. He showed us how:

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) 

[6]  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.5.6-8.NIV)

He demonstrated His love, and then told His followers to ‘go and do likewise’. He loved. We have faith in Him because He loved. We obey Him because He loved. So we love.

But the second reason we obey Him because He gave Himself for us. 

John 10:11, 14-15, 17-18 (NIV) 

[11]  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  

[14]  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.  

[17] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”  

 (Read the full passage at:https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.11-18.NIV)

There is no-one in all of history that has done this. No-one else in all of history has given their life to save people who do not even give them the time of day, or worse, are persecuting them. But that is what Jesus did for us.

John 15:13 (NIV) 

[13] Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.15.13.NIV )

But Jesus did it for His enemies:

Romans 5:8 (NIV) 

[8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.5.8.NIV )

So if Paul considered himself to be dead to his old life, who was he living for? The answer is Jesus. And why was Paul living for Him? Because Jesus loved Him and gave His life to save him. That is why Paul could later write these words:

Philippians 3:7-9 (NIV) 

[7] But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.3.7-9.NIV)

And why he could also write this:

Romans 6:8-14 (NIV) 

[8] Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. [11] In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [12] Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [13] Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. [14] For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.6.8-14.NIV )

In Paul’s old life, Gentiles were viewed as scum. They were unclean idol worshippers who were fundamentally opposed to the Jews and their God. Given their history before Jesus was born—the battles they had fought and the sacrilege that invading armies had carried out in the Temple—we could almost understand where this came from. It was, of course, irrational. Unthinking. Short-sighted. Ignorant. All forms of xenophobia always are, no matter what excuses them.

God had always intended for His glory to fill all the earth (Numbers 14:21; Isaiah 6:3; Habakkuk 2:14). God had also intended for the Gentiles to hear and respond to His Word:

Isaiah 42:6-8 (NIV) 

[6] “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, [7] to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. [8] “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.42.6-8.NIV )

Isaiah 49:5-6 (NIV) 

[5] And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength— [6] he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.49.5-6.NIV)

Malachi 1:11 (NIV) 

[11] My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mal.1.11.NIV)

So under the new life, Paul, the xenophobic Jewish scholar is transformed and becomes the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Galatians 2:9). Paul stopped hating the Gentiles. Instead he loved them. He held out the way of life to them. So the very fact that they should feel in any way excluded from the Christian community is anathema to him.

But now we move on from being crucified with Christ and living in faith to Not Dying In Vain.

Not Dying in Vain: The Sufficiency of Grace

Galatians 2:21 (NIV) 

[21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.21.NIV)

I am writing these lines on Father’s Day. As a father, I can say that there is nothing that strips your dignity and pride from you any quicker than being unable to provide for your family. If you can’t find work, or are unable to work due to sickness, it hurts. It really hurts. You feel like you have one function—one single function—and you can’t do it. That’s why men who are long term unemployed often struggle with depression, loss of identity and have anger issues. The longer they are unemployed, the worse it gets. This is why unemployed men in particular often spiral into drug and alcohol abuse. I get it. I understand it. I have walked the unemployment path. Thankfully never for long. I know how much it hurts.

Yet here is what Paul is arguing. Jesus’ sole purpose was to come to earth to die on the cross for our sins (John 12:23-33). That much is clear. The payment for sins on the cross was total and complete (John 19:30). The circumcision group were teaching that Christ’s sacrifice was not enough: that Gentile believers had to become Jews first. Paul strongly disagreed. Firstly, because circumcision was a sign of submission to Jewish law to achieve salvation, and this had never worked, as we saw earlier:

Galatians 2:15-16 (NIV) 

[15] “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles [16] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.15-16.NIV )

Secondly, because by teaching that salvation could be achieved, not received as a free gift, these false believers were saying that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was in vain ; that somehow all the blood and the tears and the pain was a waste of time because salvation had to be earned. These people were not just pushing aside the grace of God, they were saying that it was of no consequence, that it was irrelevant, a complete waste. They were ripping from Jesus the dignity of having provided salvation for His people in His blood. That ought to shock us. It ought to scandalise us.

But what is worse is that it is still happening. Centuries after these words were first written, millions still reject the grace of God. They replace it with empty religion, fruitless works, pointless donations for prayers or rituals, mindless devotion to niche theologians, all to achieve salvation. But salvation cannot be achieved! It is purely by the grace of God! Neither can we add to what Jesus Christ has done. To believe so is theologically absurd. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is all sufficient. His grace is all sufficient. We need nothing more.

But there is another way that we set aside the grace of God. And never has this been more relevant than nowadays. To see it, we need to roll this teaching back. We are saved through the grace of God, not by our own works. This means that our new life has begun, in which Christ lives through us, as if we were His hands and feet. Our new life lives because our old life died: it was crucified with Christ.

But where does this teaching apply? To how we treat other people. Specifically, those who are not part of our normal social or cultural group. It applies to how we treat outsiders on the fringe of our societies.

Why? Because we are saved by grace. We stand before God on the same ground as them. We are all sinners. We all needed to be rescued by God. When it comes to the single most important metric in all society, we have all failed. We needed help. We received it through Jesus. And so any claim that we are better—or worse—than someone else is sheer folly. It is stupid. It is wrong. When we do this, we are setting aside the grace of God and measuring people on human terms. This is something we cannot do any longer (2 Corinthians 5:16). We should not do so any longer. Because the grace of God is our standard.

Before the cross, all stand equal. And all have the same requirement to obey God by loving God, our neighbor and ourselves. None of us are different in any way.

That is Paul’s argument against the circumcision group. Now, I do not believe for one second that either Peter or James were part of this group. However, we know that Peter was still struggling with the idea of the Gentiles becoming believers. We know this because it later took two visions within a short space of time before he got the message about what God was doing. We also know from James’ letter that he was very big on faith expressing itself in action. And he was right about that. It would be relatively straightforward for someone to twist his theological stance into one where we are saved by obedience to the Law—which is not what James taught. So what we see here is absolutely not a split in the church with acceptance of Gentiles as its subject. What is happening here is that Paul is arguing against even the appearance that Gentiles are some form of second-class citizens. That is something we should pay very close attention to nowadays. Because similar conversations still need to be had.

Conclusion

Galatians 2:20-21 (NIV) 

[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, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.2.20-21.NIV)

Consider also:

Ephesians 2:14-18 (NIV) 

[14] For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, [16] and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.2.14-18.NIV)

Glasgow is a very unique city, with one of the oldest underground railway systems in the world. However, unlike every other older city with a light rail system, it hasn’t been expanded at all. All the stations are in a circle. There are two routes: the inner circle and the outer circle. The trains go through exactly the same stations, but as the two routes are separated, they never meet.

That’s how some Christians might see church. In older churches in Europe, there are balconies above the ground floor. These balconies used to be where the rich people worshipped, while the poor people worshipped in the stalls below. Church became like a theatre; religion like a performance. In this tragic parody of real worship, rich and poor were kept apart. They were segregated. They mingled only as they went in and out. They were in separate worlds outside of church. They remained in separate worlds inside church.

But this is not church at all. Not even close. That was how some people wanted to ‘do’ church in the first century. They weren’t particularly happy about those ‘sinful’ Gentiles claiming to follow Jesus. But the prospect of them converting to become Jews like them made them feel a little better. It is telling who it was who were behind this movement:

Acts 15:5 (NIV) 

[5] Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/act.15.5.NIV )

It was Pharisees: from the same party to which Paul once belonged. It was also the same party against which Jesus had argued. It was the same party that had condemned Him to death. And now they were seeking to impose their hypocritical religious stance on the infant church.

Let’s not pretend for even a second that people like this don’t exist nowadays. When I was young, little kids would sometimes come out to play with a ball. They would invite you to play with them. But it was always a case of ‘My ball, my rules’. Things would be going fine while they were winning. But as soon as they started to lose, they would fix the rules so they would win. If anyone pointed out that the rules were unfair, they would grab the ball, throw an epic tantrum and run home to their parents.

That is what some religious people are like nowadays. They say ‘My church, my rules’. They fix the rules of the game. They fix the Bible version, the music, the dress code, the pet theologies, even the decor. They fix the language and the culture so they are incomprehensibly weird for outsiders. They have a fixed idea of what a ‘good Christian’ is. They do that because it’s the only way they could ever be a ‘good Christian’. But if you don’t meet that idea, if you push back against their rules, then you are not a ‘good Christian’ and you are shown the door. Such people set aside the grace of God.

Salvation is not achieved—is never achieved—by tick-box rule keeping. That is not how it works. That was never how it works. Because salvation is about God’s works, not our works, but we are saved to work. That is why Paul’s argument against Peter—against just the appearance that faith in Christ is not enough—is so strong. Because we must live a life where our past life was crucified with Christ and our present life is lived by faith in Him. That must have a huge impact on how we treat other people. Particularly those who are outside of our social circle. Especially those whom our society condemns as outcasts. Because if we set aside the grace of Christ that saved us, then Christ died in vain.

One of the most challenging parables in Scripture is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. There we see the very basis on which this argument rests. The unforgiving servant is forgiven a vast debt he could never pay off, but attempts to crush a fellow servant who owns very little. We have been forgiven much. We ought to love much (Luke 7:47). The two ought to be symbiotic. That is why being reconciled to God has to mean that we are reconciled to other people (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). The two go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. It is impossible.

Obedience to God means loving God, our neighbours and ourselves. And who is our neighbour? Those who naturally are our very worst enemies (Luke 10:25-37). So, you see, then, why Peter’s actions were so wrong. They gave the impression of the exact opposite of Jesus’ teaching, and the precise opposite of His actions. Did He not dine with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:11)?

So we see, then where we should rightly apply the wonderful verses about being crucified with Christ, living by faith in Christ, and not living as if Christ is in vain. These are famous words. But their application goes very, very deep. Allow me to spell it out for you:

• If you categorise people by race, gender, culture or language to belittle them and dismiss them, then you are not living by faith, you are living as if Christ died in vain.

  
  

• If you bear a grudge towards anyone, then you are not living by faith, you are living as if Christ died in vain.

  
  

• If you cannot accept someone as a believer unless they are exactly like you, then you are not living by faith, you are living as if Christ died in vain.

  
  

Brothers, sisters, friends, this world has had enough of petty, insecure, divisive leaders. They have made the world a mess. They are the problem. If we choose to not set aside the grace of God, if we choose to live by faith in the Son of God, if our old life has truly been crucified with Christ, then we are the solution. I know which I would rather be.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I will not set aside the grace of God. I know this will mean changes in the way I relate to other people. Challenge me in this. Show me where I need to crucify my old life and truly live by faith in You. Amen.

Questions for Reflection

• What did Peter do that was so wrong? Why was it so wrong?

  
  

• What is Paul’s argument against it?

  
  

• How does this apply to your life? What do you need to change?