Together 4 the gospel, by Pastor Patrick Ramsey, Galatians 2:11-14
Sermon text:
Galatians 2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 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. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 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?”
Sermon HIGHLIGHTS [bracketed statements are mine]:
- [Initial 4 minutes were setting context]
- In the above text, the apostle Paul was defending his apostleship; he was under attack from the Judaizers, who were preaching a ‘different’ gospel [not biblical]
- Then, as now, the gospel must be defended precisely where it is being attacked…
- MAJOR POINT: there is only one true gospel message; not one gospel for the Jews and one for Gentiles; not one for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament
- Anyone who was ever saved was saved by having faith in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ
- It was never [what is commonly heard in the church] Jews were saved by keeping the Law of Moses and Christians are saved by faith in and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
- But the Lord Jesus Christ died to save us and also to save those of the Old Testament: Abraham, the father of the faithful was saved by faith [relevant scriptures inserted below mp3 sermon]
- Peter ate with Gentiles in Galatia before those Jews sent by James arrived
- Paul confronted Peter for being a hypocrite – definition of hypocrisy is that one pretends to be something he is not
- Peter’s actions stated that he believed the gospel preached by the Judaizers, that one had to be a Jew before being a Christian if he wanted to be saved
- It is unclear how these men sent by James moved Peter to act hypocritically
- Paul could have possible been accusing Peter of being a coward or of people pleasing
- Peter was confronted about his interactions with the Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11, when he went to the home of Cornelius per his vision; therein, Peter stated that the Gentiles had also been given repentance by faith – that is, he stood his ground defending the gospel in that it is for Jews and Gentiles
- [See Acts 10 and 11 to learn more about Peter’s interactions with Gentiles, Cornelius and others; and Peter’s vision from God that he could eat food with Gentiles]
- [Mark 7:15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [Said Jesus]]
- One thing that is clear from the above, amid all the speculation surrounding the motives and actions of the Judaizers and Peter, is that relationships between Christian Jews and Gentiles were difficult to navigate
- Paul later states that circumcision or uncircumcision are meaningless for salvation, but one is saved via faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
- LESSONS TO GLEAN FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED:
- Firstly: we communicate by what we do, not just by what we say. For example, if a parent spoke highly of the value of attending church to his children, then that parent did not attend, or did not attend regularly, his actions would not align with his words. He would be sending a double message and his children would at least be confused, and would likely disregard his teaching, following his actions
- Secondly: what we do has the power to influence others. That is especially true for those in positions of authority: parents, school administrators, police, politicians…
- We need to be careful to NOT follow people who go astray from following Christ
- Thirdly: the importance of rebuking leaders in the church as Paul did Peter herein.
- Paul’s rebuke clearly stated that Peter was not conducting himself in line with the true gospel
- Those who are rebuked should repent, turn back to the right way
- Lastly: Great saints still wrestle with sin this side of glory
- Peter was discussed, his conduct before and after Pentecost
- The above states clearly that we cannot be saved by following the law
The link below is to Patrick Ramsey sermons at Sermon Audio:
The following scriptures have been used by me to explain how it is that the only true gospel has been the way of salvation since the beginning; Abraham was the beginning of the Christian religion, he believed by faith:
Genesis 15:5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. [One would get a much better understanding of these things by reading Genesis 12-22 minimally.]
The apostle Paul used the above text about Abraham in Romans and Galatians:
Romans 4:9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. [Study Romans 1-5 for a much better understanding.]
Galatians 3:6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
[Romans 3 states the above very clearly and also states God’s purposes for giving the law; one of those was to show us our sinfulness. It was never a way of salvation, except for the Lord Jesus Christ.]
[If one wants to earn his own righteousness by keeping the law, only one sin damns him to hell – that is one reason why NO ONE but the Lord Jesus Christ has ever kept the law of Moses to earn a righteousness from God. Those who believe by faith in Christ, receive His righteousness, it is imputed to them by God the Father….]
[Read Galatians 1-5 for a much better understanding, or at least chapter 3.]
WHY DO SO MANY BELIEVE THAT THE ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH ARE DIFFERENT ENTITIES?
- Part of that answer is in the book of Galatians, in the matter of this sermon
- Part, as far as Christians are concerned, can be attributed to false interpretations of scripture as in the dispensationalists, who hold that difference as a major tenet of their system.
- When I wrote an essay against the Baha’i Faith, I went through the Bible via it’s covenants to show Baha’is that Abraham, Moses and Christ are linked via covenants. [Bahai’s system of ‘progressive revelation’ states that those three are prophets of different world religions, not so!] If you read the Bible with that in mind, you can see that Christ is first spoken of in Genesis 3; God made covenants with Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David, by grace. These were to be fulfilled in the New Covenant with His Son.
- There are pictures throughout the Bible, types, that indicate the above: the ark was a type in that via God’s grace only is one saved from His judgment; the Passover pictured that the blood of the Passover lamb saved from God’s wrath; the sacrificial system in Leviticus pointed to Christ, the final sacrifice
- That is from memory and study of the entire Bible. I am a student of the Bible, not a theologian. But I have heard plenty of biblical preachers talk on these subjects and have read commentaries….
- The essay I wrote against the Baha’i Faith, a one-hour read, is linked below. It uses sections of scripture to show how the covenants of the Bible found their fulfillment in the New Covenant ratified in Christ’s blood [also see the book of Hebrews for lots on connections between Moses and Christ]
- Essay: Covenant with Bible refs.pdf 4.2.20