Sermon Tone Analysis

· Today, we continue making our way through chapter 2 of Galatians…

· And today’s text is going to continue where Paul left off last week.

· Paul, as we know by now – has been REMINDING the Galatians of how he EARLIER had handled the GOSPEL…

· FOR THEIR benefit!

How IN THE PAST – when he and Titus had come back to Jerusalem, they didn’t GIVE IN to Titus getting physically circumcised.

· AND THEN – How Paul had OPPOSED Peter – to his face…

· BECAUSE – Peter – when he came to Antioch…

· Had found - OPEN-TABLE eating between Jew and Greek…and INITIALLY…he joined in!

But THEN – when more Jews came – Peter BACKED away…

· He DREW back – and SEPARATED himself…FROM the Gentiles.

· And what we saw last week – was that PETER DID exactly the opposite of what God had done for Paul!

· God had SEPARATED Paul – out from the world and called him into ministry – And not just ANY ministry…

· BUT the ministry TO THE GENTILES!!

· Peter comes along – STARTS OUT ministering to the Gentiles…in how he handles eating with them…

· BUT THEN – SEPARATES Himself – FROM the Gentiles…due to …

The FEAR of Man…

And so Peter had gone from –

· Living out the Gospel…

· To

· Fearing Man

He went from OFFERING Grace…to offering – Law…!

· Where Christ had – TORN DOWN the dividing wall of Hostility BETWEEN Jew and Greek…

· Peter decided to REBUILD THAT dividing wall…

Paul sees this – and PUBLICLY opposes Peter…BECAUSE Peter’s actions had TAUGHT those around him WATCHING this – a False Gospel!

· Our passage last week let us know the RESULT of that TEACHING…by Peter

· This tells us that the same Jews who had been LIVING OUT the Gospel in dining with the Gentiles BEFORE Peter showed up – had been PERSUADED to TURN from the true Gospel to EMBRACE the false gospel that Peter taught them by his actions!

And so Paul – takes his own action

· He opposes Peter to his face…

· Let’s read that text, and then flow RIGHT INTO our text for today…

· There’s CERTAINLY a lot here today –

but I want us to see the entire picture here

as opposed to zooming in on a grouping of pixels

– where we lose sight of the context of Paul’s argument (the picture)

So Peter’s ERROR – lead to Paul RE-teaching Peter (reminding) – about the Gospel…

· And our text today is Paul COMBATTING Peter’s false gospel!

· And he BEGINS by CONNECTING himself to Peter…

· Paul had just asked Peter – If you live like a Gentile (which Peter was doing prior to separating himself), how then can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?

{point to verse} - WE OURSELVES (Peter) are JEWS by birth and not like Gentile Sinners...

So Paul here wants to PUT Peter - who is IN ERROR - on the same playing field as HIMSELF!!

BECAUSE - Paul wants to WALK Peter down the road that THEY’RE TRULY ON...

Paul KNOWS that PETER intellectually KNOWS the true GOSPEL!!

BUT

Peter’s ACTIONS are putting a FALSE GOSPEL on display…!

**Ever been in the car with your kids - when - they’re singing to some Christian music...

WHILE AT THE SAME TIME - arguing with each other about...

Whose TOY that is...

And whose it’s not...

And trying to ANNOY each other to get the other one upset...

(THAT’S MINE!! - - DON’T TOUCH IT!!) - ( He’s got the whole world, in His hands…)

How do we ADDRESS that with the kids?

I’ll use a lot of “WE” in my response...

You know - When WE sing to Jesus… When WE sing songs ABOUT Jesus...

We should really THINK about the words we’re singing - instead of arguing with each other!

Paul uses that same approach here!

Paul wants Peter to REMEMBER that they both are in the same boat - BOTH JEWS...

BECAUSE - Paul wants Peter to APPROACH this situation how HE HIMSELF would approach it - AS A JEW!!

And Paul KNOWS - we talked about it a couple weeks ago...

SLIDE:

Where there is a distortion of the Gospel, there is a distortion of the law.

Paul KNOWS this…and he KNOWS that Peter - in his actions - has DISTORTED the law...

SO Paul addresses him appropriately!

Back to v15

You guys know what a Palindrome is...

A word that is spelled the same forward or backwards...

HANNAH

This verse here (16) is a Theological Palindrome… EXPLAIN

And it just HAMMERS the point home - FROM ALL angles - for Peter!

· Paul makes it very clear to Peter that Justification (Salvation) – comes by FAITH ALONE…APART from works of the Law!!

And we’re just REMINDED AGAIN- of how the Bible makes a CLEAR distinction between –

SLIDE:

JUSTIFICATION & SANCTIFICATION

Justification: Being the BASIS for WHY you are declared SAVED by God…

- Why you are declared RIGHTEOUS by God.

Sanctification: The process of growing in holiness through life, after being JUSTIFIED!

So since we know that Salvation – according to the Bible is by…

SLIDE:

Salvation by...

Faith Alone / Apart from Works of the Law

We can ALSO SAY THEN – that Salvation – according to the Bible is by…

SLIDE:

Salvation by...

Justification (Faith Alone) / Apart from Sanctification (Works of the Law)

And so Justification comes BEFORE sanctification…at least according to the Bible…

· We need to know that every other religion on the planet…

· EITHER reverses this order or mingles the 2…

· AS THE BASIS of salvation!

Some religions say – WORK your way to God

Others say – Believe AND WORK your way to God (mingling the two)

In either case – a FALSE Gospel is preached…

And just so we’re clear…

There are no levels of deadness…

A lost soul IS a lost soul…

· One lost soul is not closer to God than another lost soul!!

· The Unbelieving serial rapist in prison is no FURTHER from God than the unbelieving RELIGIOUS person that lives next door to you.

Paul knew this to be true….which is why he confronts – Who?

· …the Apostle Peter…

· Even the apostle Peter was susceptible to teaching a FALSE Gospel…

Even Peter was susceptible to being a Religious UNbeliever!

Where does Paul go next?

Let’s read the whole argument – and then proceed…it’s gonna help…