Bible students are not sure just where Paul’s conversation with Peter ends and where his letter to the Galatians continues in the passage. It does not really matter, since the entire section deals with the same topic: our liberty in Jesus Christ. We will assume that the entire section represents Paul’s rebuke of Peter. It is interesting to note that Paul builds the entire rebuke on doctrine. There are five basic Christian doctrines that were being denied by Peter because of his separation from the Gentiles.
The unity of the church (v. 14). Peter was a Jew, but through his faith in Christ he had become a Christian. Because he was a Christian, he was part of the church, and in the church there are no racial distinctions (Gal. 3:28). We have seen how the Lord taught Peter this important lesson, first in the house of Cornelius and then at the Jerusalem Conference.
Paul’s words must have stung Peter: “You are a Jew, yet you have been living like a Gentile. Now you want the Gentiles to live like Jews. What kind of inconsistency is that?”
Peter himself had stated at the Jerusalem Conference that God had “put no difference between us and them” (Acts 15:9). But now Peter was putting a difference. God’s people are one people, even though they may be divided into various groups. Any practice on our part that violates the Scripture and separates brother from brother is a denial of the unity of the body of Christ.
Justification by faith (vv. 15–16). This is the first appearance of the important word justification in this letter, and probably in Paul’s writings (if, as we believe, Galatians was the first letter he wrote). “Justification by faith” was the watchword of the Reformation, and it is important that we understand this doctrine.
“How should [a] man be just with God?” (Job 9:2) was a vital question, because the answer determined eternal consequences. “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4) is God’s answer; and it was this truth that liberated Martin Luther from religious bondage and fear. So important is this concept that three New Testament books explain it to us: Romans (see 1:17), Galatians (see 3:11), and Hebrews (see 10:38). Romans explains the meaning of “the just”; Galatians explains “shall live”; and Hebrews explains “by faith.”
But what is justification? Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ. Every word of this definition is important. Justification is an act and not a process. No Christian is “more justified” than another Christian. “Having therefore been once-and-for-all justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 5:1, literal translation). 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.
Furthermore, justification is an act of God; it is not the result of man’s character or works. “It is God that justifieth” (Rom. 8:33). It is not by doing the “works of the law” that the sinner gets a right standing before God, but by putting his faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul will explain later in this letter, the law was given to reveal sin and not to redeem from sin (see Rom. 3:20). God in His grace has put our sins on Christ—and Christ’s righteousness has been put to our account (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
In justification, God declares the believing sinner righteous; He does not make him righteous. (Of course, real justification leads to a changed life, which is what James 2 is all about.) Before the sinner trusts Christ, he stands guilty before God; but the moment he trusts Christ, he is declared not guilty, and he can never be called guilty again!
Justification is not simply “forgiveness,” because a person could be forgiven and then go out and sin and become guilty. Once you have been “justified by faith” you can never be held guilty before God.
Justification is also different from “pardon,” because a pardoned criminal still has a record. When the sinner is justified by faith, his past sins are remembered against him no more, and God no longer puts his sins on record (see Ps. 32:1–2; Rom. 4:1–8).
Finally, God justifies sinners, not “good people.” Paul declared that God justifies “the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). The reason most sinners are not justified is because they will not admit they are sinners! And sinners are the only kind of people Jesus Christ can save (Matt. 9:9–13; Luke 18:9–14).
When Peter separated himself from the Gentiles, he was denying the truth of justification by faith, because he was saying, “We Jews are different from—and better than—the Gentiles.” Yet both Jews and Gentiles are sinners (Rom. 3:22–23) and can be saved only by faith in Christ.
Freedom from the law (vv. 17–18). At the Jerusalem Conference, Peter had compared the Mosaic law to a burdensome yoke (Acts 15:10; see Gal. 5:1). Now he had put himself under that impossible yoke.
Paul’s argument went like this: “Peter, you and I did not find salvation through the law; we found it through faith in Christ. But now, after being saved, you go back into the law! This means that Christ alone did not save you; otherwise you would not have needed the law. So, Christ actually made you a sinner!
“Furthermore, you have preached the gospel of God’s grace to Jews and Gentiles, and have told them they are saved by faith and not by keeping the law. By going back into legal-ism, you are building up what you tore down! This means that you sinned by tearing it down to begin with!”
In other words, Paul was arguing from Peter’s own experience of the grace of God. To go back to Moses is to deny everything that God had done for him and through him.
The very gospel itself (vv. 19–20). If a man is justified by the works of the law, then why did Jesus Christ die? His death, burial, and resurrection are the key truths of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1–8). We are saved by faith in Christ (He died for us), and we live by faith in Christ (He lives in us). Furthermore, we are so identified with Christ by the Spirit that we died with Him (see Rom. 6). This means that we are dead to the law. To go back to Moses is to return to the graveyard! We have been “raised to walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4); and since we live by His resurrection power, we do not need the “help” of the law.
The grace of God (v. 21). The Judaizers wanted to mix law and grace, but Paul told us that this is impossible. To go back to the law means to “set aside” the grace of God.
Peter had experienced God’s grace in his own salvation, and he had proclaimed God’s grace in his own ministry. But when he withdrew from the Gentile Christian fellowship, he openly denied the grace of God.
Grace says, “There is no difference! All are sinners, and all can be saved through faith in Christ!”
But Peter’s actions had said, “There is a difference! The grace of God is not sufficient; we also need the law.”
Returning to the law nullifies the cross: “If righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). Law says do! Grace says done! “It is finished!” was Christ’s victory cry (John 19:30). “For by grace are ye saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8).
We have no record of Peter’s reply to Paul’s rebuke, but Scripture would indicate that he admitted his sin and was restored to the fellowship once again. Certainly when you read his two letters (1 and 2 Peter) you detect no deviation from the gospel of the grace of God. In fact, the theme of 1 Peter is “the true grace of God” (1 Peter 5:12); and the word grace is used in every chapter of the letter. Peter is careful to point out that he and Paul were in complete agreement, lest anyone try to “rob Peter to pay Paul” (2 Peter 3:15–16).
So end the two acts of this exciting drama. But the curtain has not come down yet, for there is a third act, which involves you and me.
The Believer’s Response We know what Peter’s response was when he was challenged to live up to the truth of the gospel: fear and failure. And we know what Paul’s response was when he saw the truth of the gospel being diluted: courage and defense. But the important question today is, what is my response to the “truth of the gospel”? Perhaps this is a good place to take inventory of ourselves before we proceed into the doctrinal chapters of this letter. Let me suggest some questions for each of us to answer.
Have I been saved by the grace of God? The only gospel that saves is the gospel of the grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Any other gospel is a false gospel and is under a curse (Gal. 1:6–9). Am I trusting in myself for salvation—my morality, my good works, even my religion? If so, then I am not a Christian, for a true Christian is one who has trusted Christ alone. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).
Am I trying to mix law and grace? Law means I must do something to please God, while grace means that God has finished the work for me and all I need do is believe on Christ. Salvation is not by faith in Christ plus something; it is by faith in Christ alone. While church membership and religious activities are good in their place as expressions of faith in Christ, they can never be added to faith in Christ in order to secure eternal life. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Rom. 11:6).
Am I rejoicing in the fact that I am justified by faith in Christ? It has often been said that “justified” means “just as if I’d never sinned,” and this is correct. It brings great peace to the heart to know that one has a right standing before God (Rom. 5:1). Just think: the righteousness of Christ has been put to our account! God has not only declared that we are righteous in Christ, but He deals with us as though we had never sinned at all! We need never fear judgment because our sins have already been judged in Christ on the cross (Rom. 8:1).
Am I walking in the liberty of grace? Liberty does not mean license; rather, it means the freedom in Christ to enjoy Him and to become what He has determined for us to become (Eph. 2:10). It is not only “freedom to do” but also “freedom not to do.” We are no longer in bondage to sin and the law. As Paul will explain in the practical section of this letter (Gal. 5— 6), we obey God because of love and not because of law. Christians enjoy a wonderful liberty in Christ. Am I enjoying it?
Am I willing to defend the truth of the gospel? This does not mean that we become evangelical detectives investigating every church and Sunday school class in town. But it does mean that we do not fear men when they deny the truths that have brought us eternal life in Christ. “Do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).
Many people with whom we come in contact actually believe that people are saved by faith in Christ plus “doing good works … keeping the Ten Commandments … obeying the Sermon on the Mount,” and any number of other “religious plusses.” We may not have the same apostolic authority that Paul exercised, but we do have the Word of God to proclaim; and it is our obligation to share the truth.
Am I “walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel”? The best way to defend the truth is to live the truth. My verbal defense of the gospel will accomplish very little if my life contradicts what I say. Paul is going to explain to us how to live in liberty by the grace of God, and it is important that we obey what he says.
A new employee was instructed how to measure valve parts to make sure they were ready for the final assembly. But after a few hours, his foreman was receiving complaints that the parts he was approving were faulty. “What are you doing?” the foreman asked. “I showed you how to use that micrometer. You’re sending through parts that are oversize!”
The employee replied, “Oh, most of the parts I was measuring were too large, so I opened up the micrometer a bit.”
Changing the standards will never make for success, either in manufacturing or ministry. Paul maintained the standards of “the truth of the gospel”—and so should we.