In Galatians 1, in the introduction to this letter by Paul, he tells us how he was brought to living faith in Christ Jesus by the working of God himself. Previously, Paul thought that God would view him as right because of Paul's 'working', or his actual obedience to the Old Testament commandments. But, when the Lord met with Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), Paul was transformed in his thinking. The message that he now preached was very simple. What you needed to be saved was something called faith. What else did you need? Nothing. If you believed that Jesus Christ had died for your sins, to save you, then you were saved (as Acts 16: 31). This message, that Paul preached, is referred to as the gospel message (Romans 16: 25, Colossians 1: 5) In Galatians 2: 5, Paul calls this 'the truth of the gospel'.
Now, though, truth was confronted by error. Some people had infiltrated the church at Galatia. These 'false believers' (Galatians 2: 4) had brought a new teaching. They were saying that, in order to be fully saved, you needed two things. You didn't just need faith. You also needed to keep some of the Old Testament commandments as well. Paul says that this teaching is 'a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all' (Galatians 1: 6-7). That is why Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian believers. Truth had been confronted by error. Paul writes his letter to confront that error with more truth.
I would like to look again at this incident of Paul's confronting of Peter. Paul details this in his letter because it was relevant to the present situation in Galatia. In this chapter, Galatians 2, Paul describes how he opposed Peter, or Cephas (v.11). Peter went against what he believed to be true because he feared men. Previously, Peter had embraced the freedom of the gospel. In verse 14, Paul reminds Peter that 'you live like a Gentile', which is a non-Jew. Peter must have, to a considerable extent, put aside his Jewish practices. Now, some apparently important visitors had arrived in Antioch from Jerusalem. They belonged to 'the circumcision group', we are told (v.12). They had a Jewish background. They seemed to place emphasis, and importance, on that Jewish background. Peter is unnerved. He worries that his usual practice, of sitting down and eating with Gentile Christians, will look bad. So he stops. In his fear, he drew back, and separated himself from them.
Paul knows this is wrong. This is so wrong that Paul doesn't just take Peter to one side to have a quiet word in his ear. No, this needs dealing with in the open. Other people are being 'led astray' (v.13) by this error. It has massive implications and it needs confronting.
Some of us find confrontation difficult. So, let's take a break and visit McDonald's! Over the years, I have made far too many trips to the 'Golden Arches' with my family. We often get a meal deal, in which you get several items for a lower price than if you paid for each item separately. Certain drinks are included in the meal deal, like tea, coffee and milkshakes. I encourage my family to get a tea, coffee or milkshake. Some members of my family opt, instead, for Mango and Pineapple Iced Fruit Smoothies. They like them because they are better. I don't like them because they are not included in the meal deal! The better flavours cost more. The better flavours are worth more.
I think that Peter's behaviour implied that there are two flavours of Christian. They have different backgrounds. One is made from Jewish ingredients and the other is made from non-Jewish ingredients. One is distinct from the other. It therefore stands to reason that one must have a higher value than the other. No, no, no, no, no! This will not do. The world's economics have no place in the Lord's Kingdom. In the following chapter, Galatians 3: 28, Paul writes one of the bible's most profound truths about the church, 'there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' There is one flavour of Christian and every Christian cost the same. Every Christian has been purchased by God at a huge cost. Paul's words, recorded in Acts 20: 28, talk of 'the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.'
To even imply that some Christians are better, that some are of more value, that some are distinct, that some cost a different price to others, is to be out of step with the bible.
Peter, and the others who followed his lead, were out of step with God's truth. Paul says as much in our text, 'When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel...'
If you are someone who likes to consider bible translations, to look at how different translators have strived to articulate the original meaning, this is one of those verses that you'll love, I think. Most versions seem to contain this five word phrase, 'the truth of the gospel' and most use the word, 'not'. Something is adrift from the truth.
The NIV has, 'they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.'
The NLT has, 'they were not following the truth...'
The AV has, 'they walked not uprightly according to the truth...'
The ESV has, 'their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.
The original is equally awesome. It's a Greek word that we should be able to understand from our knowledge of other words in our own language. The word is 'orthopodeō'. We can split this word into two parts. We get 'ortho' and 'podeō'. Some of you may have visited an orthodontist. Others may have visited a podiatrist. An orthodontist is someone who is qualified to treat irregularities in the teeth and jaws. Their main function is to straighten teeth. 'Ortho' means straight.
Similarly, a podiatrist is someone who is qualified to treat problems with feet and lower limbs. Because 'pod', like this word in the Greek, 'podeō', is referring to the foot. So, literally, 'orthopodeō' means 'straight foot.' Peter, and those others with Jewish backgrounds at Antioch, didn't have feet that were straight with the gospel.
Let's say that I'm in a vast open space. It could be a desert, for example. I set off towards a destination but I haven't checked my compass bearing accurately. I set my feet a few degrees out. I walk a few steps. Actually, at this point, my error is almost unnoticeable. But, what will happen in the end? Well, I won't reach my destination. I'll end up somewhere else.
Paul saw this problem and he saw what the end would be. Peter was in danger of wandering off course and others were following. Paul, by confronting this error, is shouting a danger warning. He points out the error and then he presents the solution.
There are lessons here for us all. The Christian life calls for constant re-alignment. I mentioned last time that Peter evidently knew the truth of the gospel. This is shown in the accounts of Acts 10 & 11 where Peter fully understands that 'God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him' (Acts 10: 34-35). At Antioch, Peter had been moved from what he knew. Peter felt uncomfortable due to the presence of these visitors. Because of his feelings, his emotion, he drifted away from what he knew to be correct. Peter adopted a pattern of behaviour that he felt would preserve him from condemnation by this 'circumcision group'. Self preservation controlled his actions.
There are many pressures in the Christian life. There are many things that are brought to bear, to force us to go against what we know to be right. It is an intense struggle at times. In Ephesians 6, Paul develops his well known theme of 'the full armour of God' which every Christian must 'put on'. Why the need? Because 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against ... the spiritual forces of evil...' Ours is a spiritual battle. It is a fight against sin and against the powerful influence of Satan. To stand firm requires truth. 'Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist...with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace' (Ephesians 6: 14-15). This will help us in the gospel walk. This will align our feet. Wearing proper shoes fashioned from gospel leather. This is where Peter was so wrong. He was taking off his gospel shoes. He was taking them off because they seemed unfashionable in the present company. It was as if he'd gone to the Jewish Museum of the Old Covenant and was putting on some mouldy old sandals that were way past their use by date. No wonder his feet weren't aligned and he wasn't walking in a straight line!
I was convicted of my own misalignment to God's truth this week. God's truth is about love. Not the self preservation, or self love, of Peter at Antioch, which reflects what we want, but a self-sacrificial love which reflects Jesus and speaks to others about what our Lord wants. It has been very pressured for me at work this week. This has made it difficult for me to exercise patience towards others. One of the daily texts on the biblegateway website was from 1 John 4: 16, '… God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.' It was very convicting. Do I live in love? No, I'm often misaligned in this regard. I'm adrift from what I know to be true. Thankfully, this challenging word cut across my pathway. In the Christian life we will need the word of God to cut across us. Part of the 'full armour of God' is 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.' If we aren't willing to pick up this sword then we will struggle in the fight.
The word of the truth of the gospel is Paul's solution for Peter's error. Peter was reaching out for a system of rules because they made him feel more comfortable. In verses 15-16 of Galatians 2, Paul reminds Peter of what 'we...know', 'that a person is not justified (or made right in the sight of God) by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.' Then in verses 17-18 he condemns the old covenant law to the scrapheap for ever. 'If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a law-breaker'. Paul is saying that his message to the church has been clear. The law has been undone. The law no longer applies under the new terms of the new covenant. It is like we find in Colossians 2: 13-14. 'When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.'
The claim of the law, our debt to the law, our condemnation by that law, has all been taken away and nailed to the cross of Jesus. It's been taken away. It's been put away, and that forever. Why, says Paul, would I ever want to 'rebuild' it. Frankly, that would be absurd.
Colossians 2 continues with verses 16-17 which, in the NIV, has the wonderful heading, 'freedom from human rules'. They read like this, 'Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.'
They are a shadow. In its shadows, the old covenant pointed towards the coming of Jesus. Peter moved on from his error at Antioch. Peter went on to write about these predictions found in the Old Testament. In 1 Peter 1: 9-12 he has the church's destination clearly in view, when he writes, 'the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.' He says, 'Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.' He goes on to say, 'Even angels long to look into these things.'
Why did the prophets search the Old Testament scriptures intently and with great care? Why did even angels long to understand? Because, under the old covenant, things weren't in the sharpest focus. These pointers to Christ were a bit blurry. But the coming of Jesus has made everything clear.
Have you ever been to the seaside where they have those binoculars on metal stands? For some reason they always cost 20p to use! If you look through them without paying then everything is in shadows. It's blurry, you cannot make out the finer detail. But, if you put 20p in, then the view suddenly becomes clear for a few minutes before the timer runs out. You can make out ships in the distance and even read their names on the side of the vessel. Say you went to the seaside with me and we saw one of these binoculars. You put 20p in and took a look and were impressed with the things before your eyes. Then you moved over and said to me, 'take a look, it's amazing what you can make out'. What if I said, 'No thanks, I'll wait until the timer has run out. I prefer it when it's blurry'? You would think I had gone mad. Who would want blurry when they could have clear and sharply focussed vision.
But this is exactly what Peter was doing at Antioch. Jesus Christ had brought the truth sharply into focus for Peter. But he had buckled under pressure and was choosing blurry once again. It's exactly what we do when we create systems of rules for ourselves, and for each other, that don't align with the full freedom that is found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The solution is always to align, and to constantly strive to re-align, ourselves with Jesus. The most wonderful Sunday evening imaginable is described to us in Luke 24. Jesus has risen from the dead that very morning and now he is on the road to Emmaus with two of his followers. Verse 32 contains the expression of their heart-felt joy that Jesus had 'opened the Scriptures' to them. Verse 27 tells us that, 'beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.'
Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks the word of God. He is the one who can truly open the truth of the scriptures to us.
I would like to finish with Isaiah 35. The idea of straight feet, that we considered earlier, reminded me of Hebrews 12: 13, where believers are instructed to 'make level paths for your feet'. The previous verse tells us to 'strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees'. This seems to borrow the language of Isaiah 35 and verse 3. Isaiah 35 is a wonderful pointer to Jesus Christ. It predicts this in verse 8, 'And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way.' This 'Way' is Jesus, who told us, '‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14: 6).
Jesus is the 'Way' to God. Jesus is the only way. If we are on that way then we are on the right way. We are on the bible's way and we have a gloriously promised destination in view. Isaiah 35 finishes with these words and, likewise, I will finish with these words, 'They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.'
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