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?" (Galatians 2:14 ESV)
I get nervous around conflict. Especially when I'm a witness to it. I freeze up. I'm not sure what to do or say. And the more public it is the more incapacitated I feel. So I can't imagine what it must have been like at this meeting between Paul and Peter. Maybe it was a bible study or a church service or a meal. But right there is Peter, the preacher of Pentecost, the friend of Jesus, the bold proclaimer of the gospel, being confronted out loud by Paul, the apostle, church planter, and missionary. What would you have done? It had to be a weird scene. What could have warranted such a display? It had to be something big.
It was. The gospel was at stake. Not just the preaching of it, but the truth of it lived out in the life of Peter and the rest of the church. Paul knew that the gospel had implications, important implications. And if they were ignored they would ultimately lead to the gospel being confused and distorted. So he acted quickly, loudly, and publicly. This message unpacks this passage to find out what endangered the gospel and how we might be guilty of the very same thing.
