Paul’s Confrontation with Peter

Jewish Law is absolute From the days of the exodus from Egypt, the Jews had lived under the Mosaic Law. Their children were born into the Law, circumcised on the eighth day according to the Law, and publicly pronounced "sons of the Law" when they reached manhood. They lived and worked and died under the Law. The Law even regulated the form of their burial. The Law affected every part of life for the Jew. It was much more than just the Ten Commandments. Laws were included as to what kind of clothing the Jew was to wear, what types of food he was allowed to eat and how it was to be prepared, how he was to plow his field and how his animals were to be fastened to the plow, how to plant and harvest his field, how to treat his family and servants, and how to worship. His entire life was patterned and ruled by the Law.

Jesus and his Apostles The disciples of Jesus were brought up under the Law. From an early age they had been rooted in its influences. When they came to Jesus, they saw in Him the fulfillment of that Law. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

Jesus was… The only man who ever lived a perfect life. He was the perfect lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.

Apostles preached to…? The ministry of Jesus was initially directed toward the nation of Israel to only the Jewish. When He first commissioned His twelve apostles, He asked them to go "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6). It was only after Israel had rejected Him as a nation that He had instructed His disciples to "make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19). This means… Jesus and his apostles now spread the word of Christ to not only Jews but Gentiles also

The Apostle Peter… It was revealed to Peter in a vision that the gospel (word of Christ) was to be freely given to the Gentiles. God had to tell Peter three times that it was permitted for him to enter a Gentile home and freely give the gospel to Gentiles.

Why 3 times?? This would have been a very difficult thing for Peter to accept. As a Jew, he had been brought up to believe that it was forbidden for him to have close fellowship with a Gentile or for him to eat a meal in a Gentile home. Peter had always eaten kosher food. But, in spite of his cultural upbringing, Peter obeyed the instructions of the Lord and he entered the home of Cornelius and lead him and his family to the word of the Lord.

An issue arose… At the Council in Jerusalem Peter was speaking about his first successful conversion of Cornelious and his family when… The question arose: Could Gentiles still be saved by God if they didn’t follow Jewish Law and weren’t circumcised?

Peter reminded the council… And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. "And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith." (Acts 15:7-9).

The result… All eventually came to understand that the Gentiles were to be admitted into the church in the same way that the Jews were admitted — through faith alone.

To catch you up… Gentiles (non-Jews) were not required to follow Jewish law in order to be saved by Christ. They simply needed faith in the word of Jesus. Christian Jews could still observe Jewish Law in private in conjunction to faith in Christ.

However…another issue arose It was a problem with Jews who were still keeping the Law. It specifically dealt with the dietary regulations. It had been agreed that Gentiles were now free to come into the church and fellowship with Jewish believers. However, the Jews who were still keeping the elements of the Law were prohibited from going into Gentile homes and eating meals that had been prepared by Gentiles and were therefore not kosher. The problem came to a head when Peter came to Antioch for a visit. It was here that Paul confronted Peter after he found out that Peter had sided with the Jewish Christians still observing Jewish law.

Paul confronted Peter! During Peter's visit to Antioch, Paul found it necessary to rebuke him. This was not an easy task. It would have been very easy for Paul to ignore Peter's misconduct. But Paul did not do this. Instead, he confronted Peter face to face. He stood up for the good of all.

Paul reminded Peter that… God had revealed to him 3 times to preach to the Gentiles – this command came directly from God He had previously been conversing and sharing meals with Gentiles – so what changed? And…

Paul reminded Peter that… God did not plan to have two separate groups who are His people. He does not have a Jewish Church and a Gentile Church. He has taken both groups and made them into a united ‘one’.