Sermon Tone Analysis

Galatians 2

We start with Paul saying he had been preaching was of God as confirmed by the believers in Jerusalem but also being wary because there are false believers among the fellowships.

Unfortunately this is true of almost every Church.

There are true and false believers.

And we have to make sure we stand, like Paul, for the freedom of the Gospel.

Poor Paul ...here he is travelling down the road to Damascus convinced he is doing God’s will by arresting people of the Way and then in a flash his world is turned upside down...and then through Barnabas he discovers that he is now to be sent to the Gentiles.

How can this be?

This is about as far removed for a Pharisaic Jew like Paul would be able to bear...if he hadn’t discovered that his whole belief system was not founded upon the truth.

Peter, one of the disciples who had been with Jesus from the very beginning, after the ascension of Jesus had his theological understanding challenged when he was invited to go and see the Gentile Cornelius in .

Before that happened he had seen a vision of so called unclean food coming down out of heaven three times and heard the command to kill and eat.

As we read through the Old Testament especially through Exodus to Deuteronomy we will come across unclean foods in relation to the law.

The upshot of it was that God had made the unclean clean.

Sometimes it does take something radical for us to give up false beliefs but none of us are without excuse these days…we have Bibles and we should make a habit of reading and studying.

There are still many today who question the authority of Paul – and even say that he is the founder of Christianity rather than Jesus.

Whilst it is very true that without Paul’s influence the Gospel would not have had the impact upon the world that it has had but even then God does not ever leave himself without a witness throughout this world.

Paul existed because of the Gospel not the Gospel existed because of Paul.

God called Paul to be an Apostle and through his ministry we also have his writings.

Peter in his 2nd letter speaks of Paul’s writings on the same level as the Old Testament.

If the authority of Paul is in question then we have to leave out 13 of his letters from the New Testament and possibly the book of Hebrews.

Peter had his theological understanding challenged when he was invited to go and see the Gentile Cornelius in .

He saw a vision of so called unclean food coming down out of heaven three times of which he heard the command to kill and eat.

God had made the unclean clean.

Sometimes it does take something radical for us to give up false beliefs but none of us are without excuse…we have Bibles and we should make a habit of reading and studying.

Peter also has his theological understanding challenged when he was invited to go and see the Gentile Cornelius in .

He saw a vision of so called unclean food coming down out of heaven three times of which he heard the command to kill and eat.

God had made the unclean clean.

Sometimes it does take something radical for us to give up false beliefs but none of us are without excuse…we have Bibles and we should make a habit of reading and studying.

And so here is Paul now convinced of the truth and he would not let anything to prevent it from being proclaimed or any lies or wrong action from contradicting it.

And so here is Paul now convinced of the truth and he would not let anything to prevent it from being proclaimed or any lies or wrong action from contradicting it.

In this passage we see that Paul deals with Peter.

One moment he is eating with the Gentiles and then in the next he disassociates himself from them and only eats with the Jews.

Something so seemingly small.

Yet think of the offence that the Gentile believers felt when they saw that they were suddenly second class…not even worthy of eating with anymore.

Peter knew he was allowed to be with and eat with the Gentiles as we have already mentioned with the vision from God in .

Then in Peter boldly asserted that Gentiles and Jews are both in Christ by faith.

So, why did he and the others suddenly act in such an abhorrent way?

Fear.

He was fearful.

He knew the doctrine, he knew the way to act, but he was afraid of the opinion of others.

Specifically he was afraid of the Jews.

Their opinion counted above the opinions of the Gentiles for he had already had to explain his actions to the Church in Jerusalem.

But he did not know that the outcome of his actions could have blighted the church to this day.

In this passage we see that Paul deals with Peter, the one that many say is the foundation of the Church.

One moment he is eating with the Gentiles and then in the next he disassociates himself from them and only eats with the Jews.

Something so seemingly small.

Yet think of the offence that the Gentile believers felt when they saw that they were suddenly second class…not even worthy of eating with anymore.

Peter knew he was allowed to be with and eat with the Gentiles as we have already mentioned with the vision from God in .

In Peter boldly asserted that Gentiles and Jews are both in Christ by faith.

So, why did he and the others suddenly act in such an abhorrent way?

Fear.

He was fearful.

He knew the doctrine, he knew the way to act, but he was afraid of the opinion of others but we can easily forget that the opinion that matters most is God’s.

Specifically he was afraid of the Jews.

Their opinion counted above the opinions of the Gentiles.

But what he did not know was that the outcome of his actions could have blighted the church to this day.

Paul understood.

It would be easy to be harsh on Peter for he was acting the hypocrite…a hypocrite is someone who says you should do a particular thing in a particular way but then does not do it themselves.

Jesus had his hardest words for hypocritical leaders.

We have heard it said that the excuse many give for not coming to Church is that it is full of hypocrites – and rightly so, but there is always room for one more!

Robert Redford was walking one day through a hotel lobby.

A woman saw him and followed him to the elevator.

“Are you the real Robert Redford?” she asked him with great excitement.

As the doors of the elevator closed, he replied, “Only when I am alone!”

But Peter was being Peter as he always was: he was very impulsive, he would say one thing such as I would never deny you and then he denied Jesus 3 times; he could act in boldness such as walking on the water and in the next moment sinking into the waves for fear.

Peter was pretty much set upon his emotions and becoming a Christian had not changed that.

But Peter knew the truth either way and knew that his actions were wrong but he did not have the courage of his convictions…I suspect he did not know that it could be catastrophic for the Church, and to be frank, who here is perfect and why should we expect Peter to always be right or perfect?

Which, by the way, is why leaders are not above reproach…when it is called for.

We put much merit in the opinion of others for in the counsel of many is wisdom….

Paul had a strenuous work ethic – woe betides me if I do not preach the Gospel, he once declared – this was a man at work – and his zeal as a Pharisee was now transferred to his zeal for the Gospel.

This is now all-important.

So, what things do we do for God and what things do we do just because we like doing them?

Or because someone else is doing them?

Or because someone else said we should be doing them?

I make no judgement of anyone for how can I judge each person’s motives?

We all need to evaluate where God is leading us…and we need to hear God for that.

We can be swayed by our emotions or by our will or our impulsiveness or by someone else but unless it is founded upon what God wants confirmed through prayer and his Word then it is not going to be beneficial for us or anyone else and certainly not honouring to God.

Paul has returned from wherever he has been back to Antioch and sees what is going on – how a schism is in effect – and because Paul knows the truth he deals with it very effectively with the truth.

Anything that gets in the way of the freedom we have in Christ makes the work of the cross have no value and Paul knew this.

Paul knew that this was no small thing to be glossed over.

It does not take much to cause a schism – a division in a fellowship – and it can simply be a decision by one person to do something that is a personal choice.

But a personal choice can and often leads others to follow us into it like Barnabas, someone who really should have known better .

We really need to make sure that the things we do are not about people-pleasing but God-pleasing.

We are not called to please ourselves either but God.

The unity of the church is very important and we cannot go off and just do our own thing – as a Church we decide what is good and right in the sight of God with prayer.

We are the body of Christ and together we stand or fall.

When we are in unity loving one another in the truth of the Gospel then outsiders take note.

With unity we are blessed by God.

This is what Paul is fighting for.

It seems to be a contradiction to fight for unity but sometimes it is an absolute necessity.

What is this freedom we have in Christ that Paul wants to address with Peter?

It is called ‘justification by faith’.

This begs the question then: What is justification?

Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ.

Justification is an act and not a process.

No Christian is “more justified” than another Christian.

Since we are justified by faith, it is an instant and immediate transaction between the believing sinner and God.

“Having therefore been once-and-for-all justified by faith, we have peace with God” ().

Since we are justified by faith, it is an instant and immediate transaction between the believing sinner and God.

If we were justified by works, then it would have to be a gradual process.

Justification is an act of God; it is not the result of our character or works.