- Performance can never produce peace
Galatians 2:11-21 // 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!”
- Gospel = Good News
- The Gospel changes how we behave
Galatians 2:14 // “When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel…”
- ὀρθοποδέω
- orthopodeō
- To walk straight, to walk correctly, to keep in step
- The Gospel is not only something we believe, it’s something we walk in.
- The Gospel has the final word.
Galatians 2:16 // "A person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ."
- Justified: Declared righteous. Accepted. Acquitted. Made right before God.
- Religion Says: Obey first, then maybe you'll be accepted.
- Gospel Says: Accepted by God, so now I obey.
- Religion works from the outside in. The Gospel works from the inside out.
- Does obedience even matter?
- Obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the cause.
- Christianity is not about behavior modification. It’s about death to life.
Galatians 2:20 // "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."
Galatians 2:21 // "If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
