The Purpose Driven Death

Rick Warren wrote the classic "The Purpose Driven Life." Here Paul writes of the ultimate Purpose Driven Death. God has given each of us a reason to live. That reason only comes through the most purposeful death in the history of the universe. Jesus' death on the cross.

Jesus died the Purpose Driven Death.

Paul is in the middle of making his impassioned plea to the Galatians to reject the counterfeit gospel that false teachers have brought to town. These so-called brothers infiltrated the churches of Galatia like a sleeper cell (Gal 2:4). Their perverted message has caused many to go spiritually AWOL (Gal 1:6).

The apostle tells his readers that this isn't the first time he's dealt with this issue. He actually had to get in Peter's grill once in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14). Yeah, THAT Peter. The Apostle Peter. 

Pete sided with "the circumcision party" and tried to rebuild ethnic walls that Jesus tore down. Paul insists that the one and only way anyone is made right with God is through the perfect life and death of Jesus. NOT through obedience to rules (Gal 2:15-21).

You see, Jesus died the Purpose Driven Death.

The Apostle Paul tells us, "I do not nullify the grace of God" (v21). "Nullify" is the Greek verb αθετεω/atheteo. It means to reject the validity of something, to declare it worthless, to set it aside and ultimately deny it. I love sports analogies. Two come to mind. 

The first is a blocked shot in basketball. The defender denies the shooter's chance to score by swatting his attempt away from the basket. Rejected! 

The other is the Heisman Trophy. The figure on the top of the award is giving the classic football stiff arm, shoving the would-be tackler away in order to keep running. That's where we get the phrase "giving the Heisman."

Paul is saying we swat away Christ’s grace like Bill Russell when we try to save ourselves. We give the Gospel of Jesus the Heisman when we try to make ourselves righteous through our own good works. In other words, it is possible to reject the grace of Jesus. Christ's offer of His completed work at Calvary can be denied.

Think about that for a moment. Jesus lived 33 sinless, God-pleasing years for you and me. At the cross, He bore the crushing weight of every sin ever committed, past, present and future. If that's not enough, He endured the absolute and utter rejection of His heavenly Dad who could not look on the sin He took on Himself. 

Jesus died a slow, brutal, bloody, painful, tortuous death. For you. For me. And now we're going to say "no thanks." We're good. We've got this. I appreciate it, Jesus, but I'm OK. Sorry you went to all the trouble.

Paul refuses to stiff arm the amazing free gift that we don't deserve. He embraces Jesus' Purpose Driven Death.

The apostle makes the hypothetical statement that embodies what the actions of Peter and the teaching of the false brothers conclude. "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose" (v21). 

He says let's just pretend for a second that it is possible to save ourselves. Let's just imagine we could successfully complete a self-salvation project. Well if THAT'S the case, then that bloody Friday outside the walls of Jerusalem was a colossal waste of God’s time. If THAT'S the case, then the cross is only a horrific case of divine child abuse.

But it's not. Perfect Jesus died the perfect death. For you. For me. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our sins. He was crushed for our iniquities. His cross brought us peace. His stripes brought us healing. God placed on His shoulders every ounce of our sin. 

Centuries before Jesus' death, Isaiah proclaimed the Purpose Driven Death (Is 53:4-6). In the decades following the cross, Paul wrote, "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2Cor 5:21). The apostle confirms Jesus' Purpose Driven Death.

Let's put it this way. The grace of Jesus is without any cost to us. There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING we can do to deserve it. It is free. Yet the cross of Christ cost Him everything. It's price is beyond any human comprehension.

Jesus' grace. Free.

Jesus' death. Priceless.

Jesus died the Purpose Driven Death.

©2012

Jay Jennings

Calvary's Fourth Cross

Did you know that there was a fourth cross a Calvary on that so-called Good Friday?

The Gospel writers repeatedly tell us that the Romans crucified Jesus and a pair of criminals at Golgotha.  But according the Paul there was another cross.  There was his cross.  In a very real way, every follower of Christ died at the Place of the Skull that dark day.

"I have been crucified with Christ" (v20).  You may not have seem him at the time, but Paul was there.  He uses the Greek term συσταυροω/sustauro'o.  It's a compound word meaning to crucify (ταυροω-/-tauro'o) with (συσ-/sus-).  A closer look at the root without the prefix describes not only crucifixion but literally to drive down stakes into the ground.  

This probably goes back to the pre-Roman form where the executioners would impale the victim on a large stake.  Historians describe crucifixion as one of the most brutal and cruel forms of execution in recorded history.  

Roman citizens viewed the cross with such shame that it simply wasn't talked about.  It was too vile.  Too mean.  Too nasty.  Too shameful.  Yet Paul embraced the fact that he also died with Christ.  We should hug that bloody Roman cross as the tree of life (Prov 3:18).

A closer look at the Greek grammar is important as well.  The apostle uses the perfect tense of the verb.  In the original language, the perfect tense indicates something that happened in the past that has an ongoing and never ending effect.  

Jesus died once for all people and all of their sin (Rom 6:10; Heb 7:27; 9:12; 10:10; 1Pet 3:18).  It's the same tense Christ uses when He screams, "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30).  It's over.  Done with.  No more.  End of discussion.  

He drove a stake through the heart of sin once and for all on Calvary.  Paul so identifies with Jesus' substitutionary death that he uses that very same perfect tense.

Most of the time the Bible talks of Christ's crucifixion in our place, it looks at it from God's perspective.  That's the view in Isaiah's great passage that paints the portrait of the Suffering Servant (Is 53).  

That's exactly the image Paul gives in his second letter to Corinth.  "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2Cor 5:21).  

But here, the apostle looks back at the cross from our perspective.  He was there.  We were there too.  Paul is describing how through Jesus' substitutionary death, we also drove a stake through our own sinful selves.

On second thought, there were only three crosses at Calvary.  That's because Paul died WITH Christ.  That's because we died WITH Christ.  We died on His cross.   

©2012

Jay Jennings

Living to Die, Dying to Live

Double jeopardy.  No, not the second round of the game show hosted by Alex Trebek.  It's the legal principle that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same charges after a legitimate acquittal or conviction.  In the US, the fifth amendment of the Constitution bars double jeopardy.  

According to Paul, God's law has a similar principle.  "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God" (v19).  The apostle uses the idea of double jeopardy to get his point across to the Galatians that we are now free in Jesus to live a life wide open for God.  

Dying to live.  Living to die.

Paul tells us that "through the law I died to the law."  When he holds God's perfect law up to his own life, it reveals just how horribly imperfect he is.  The glaring light of God's holy Word is like spiritual luminol that reveals every drop of sin in our lives.  The law makes it blatantly obvious that we are sinners.  Guilty.

As Matt Chandler uses a medical analogy to help us understand the law.  He sees the law as a diagnostic tool like an MRI, CT scan or x-ray.  Doctors use these machines to find out what's going on inside our bodies and see what's wrong.  The law and its impossible standard of perfection and behavior are means of diagnosing my sin sickness.

Back to the courtroom, we stand unquestionably guilty of a capital crime.  The judge hands down the only possible sentence.  Death.  "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).  Death.  I am a dead man walking.

But the executioner leads Someone else out of the courtroom in my place.  It's Jesus!  Sinless Jesus.  Spotless Jesus.  The perfect Lamb of God dies in my place.  He willingly takes the full brunt of God's wrath for my sin, your sin and every sin ever committed.  And as a result, the penalty for my crime is paid in full.  Case closed.

That's what Paul means when he tells us that through the law he has died to the law.  Once the court of heaven convicted and executed the guilty, the law has no further claim on him.  The apostle uses the analogy of a widow being free to remarry after the death of her husband (Rom 7:1-6).  The law no longer bars her from marrying another.  

Verdict delivered.  Sentence executed.  Justice satisfied.  Since Jesus died to the law in our place, double jeopardy is no long possible.  "Do you knot know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" (Rom 6:2).  We died when He died.  He died so that we could live.  The game has radically changed as a result.  "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" (Rom 6:14).    

Dying to live.  Living to die.

Paul goes on to say that as a result of dying to the law, he is now able to live to God.  Because of Jesus' substitutionary death in my place, I'm now able to put the pedal to the metal for the Lord.  I can live wide open for Him.  

The apostle states this idea in a slightly different way to his Roman posse.  "My brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God" (Rom 7:4).  Dead to the law. Living for God.

Dying to live.  Living to die.

God's Word is loaded with paradox.  Don't confuse this with contradiction.  Contradiction is when two things oppose each other in such a way that they can't exist together.  Paradox just SEEMS to be a contradiction.  Yet because of our Great God, these two apparent opposites coexist wonderfully and beautifully.  So it is with death and life.

Dying to live.  Living to die.

So what do we do with this?  How does that impact my life today?  This truth allows us to live with no fear of failure.  No concern about what others think of you.  No worries about tomorrow.  Jesus has died so that we could live.  Buckle up.  Pull your straps tight.  And hit the accelerator to live for God.

Dying to live.  Living to die.

©2012

Jay Jennings

Demolition Man

False teachers have infiltrated the Galatian church network and accused Paul of going rogue and failing to preach a complete Gospel (Gal 2:4).  They have perverted the true Good News with a counterfeit message of “do better through obedience to the rules” (Gal 1:6-7).  

The apostle insists that any self-salvation efforts by through good behavior by either Jew or non-Jew is actually no salvation at all.  It’s only when we place our faith in what Jesus has done for us what we could never do that we are made right in the eyes of God (Gal 2:15-16).

Paul has dedicated the past few years of his life preaching the Gospel Jesus personally gave Him (Gal 1:12).  Christ told Paul that His death on the cross demolished the barriers between Jew and Gentile.  The Good News puts the wrecking ball to ethnic walls.  

The big story: Gentiles can now come to faith in Messiah Jesus AS GENTILES!  No conversion to Judaism need.  No rituals necessary.  No circumcision required.  And the big wigs of the church gave Paul’s radical message their seal of approval (Gal 2:6).  

The apostle has spent all of his energy tearing down these walls as he travels.  He has just returned from his trip to Galatia with Barnabas where he was the Demolition Man (Acts 13:13-14:23).  They made two stops in the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe knocking down walls.

He’s the Demolition Man.  

That’s the scene when Paul writes, “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor” (v18).  The construction of the original Greek is more than a little awkward in English.  It could be something like, “For if the things I tore down I build again, I prove myself to be a violator.”  

The apostle describes his days as the Demolition Man.  He uses the verb καταλυω/kataluo.  It means to take something apart, tear down, abolish, demolish or destroy.  Paul has torn down and completely dismantled centuries old racial walls.  He’s dedicated himself to the destruction of ethnic barriers between Jews and Gentiles as they come to faith in Jesus.

He’s the Demolition Man.

Paul tells us that it would be ridiculous for him to rebuild what he worked so diligently to demolish.  And if he did, “I would prove myself to be a transgressor” (v18).  The Greek word for transgressor is παραβατης/parabates.  

It describes someone who illegally crosses a boundary or knowingly oversteps a line.  A trespasser.  An illegal alien.  The apostle says that if he went around trying to put back together all of the walls he’s worked hard to tear down, he would knowingly be violating what Jesus specifically commanded him to do.  

He’s the Demolition Man.

Jesus has called me to be a Demolition Man too.  Walls still exist.  Barriers between races.  Barriers between economic groups.  Barriers between neighborhoods.  Barriers between genders.  It’s time to get out the Gospel wrecking ball and get to work.  

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His heavenly Dad “that they may be one even as We are one.  I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly  one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” (Jn 17:22-23).  That only happens when we work hard to destroy the walls we’ve erected between us.

Let’s be Demolition Men.

©2012
Jay Jennings

Jesus, Deacon of Sin?

Paul explains to the Galatians that God doesn’t rule us as righteous based on our obedience, but through putting our faith in what Jesus has done for us (Gal 2:15-16).  It’s only because of His obedience to the law and trusting in what He has done on our behalf that we are justified (2Cor 5:21).  

A trade.  An exchange.  Let’s face it, God’s getting the raw end of the deal on this one.  But He gets all of the glory in the end.

But what if Paul’s made a huge mistake?  What if he’s got it all wrong?  What if what he’s taught the Galatians about Jesus is a horrible miscalculation?  

Well, that’s we examines next.  “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?” (v17).  What would it mean if Paul’s desire to be put his trust in what Jesus did on our behalf only resulted in our being sinners?  That’s the question on the table.

Remember, this goes back to Jews and non-Jews hanging out together.  God had knocked down all of the ethnic and racial walls wherever the message of Jesus was preached.  The risen Christ revealed a marvelous and mysterious new revelation of His Gospel to Paul.  

Gentiles could come to faith in Him AS GENTILES!  There are no more boundaries.  No more requirements.  No more rituals.  No more laws.  No insiders.  No outsiders.  Just one church.  One kingdom.  One family.

However, something happened in Antioch that threatened this mind-bending new reality.  The Apostle Peter was actually eating meals with Gentiles, something any Jew is his right mind would never.  It’s the new kosher!  

But when some Christian Jews hit town from Jerusalem, Pete freaked out.  He suddenly ignored his non-Jewish friends and only ate kosher meals with the Jewish posse.  This caused Paul to put his finger in Pete’s chest and call him on his hypocrisy (Gal 2:11-14).

This is the context when Paul asks the Galatians the question in verse 17.  You see, he’s been eating with Gentiles.  Hanging out in their homes.  Jesus knocked down those walls and the apostle was taking full advantage.  

But wait a second.  If these false teachers and their perverted gospel are right, then “we too were found to be sinners.”  If that’s the case, they’ve made a horrible, horrible mistake.

There’s just one problem.  Jesus personally let Paul in on His Gospel to the non-Jews (Gal 1:11-12).  If Paul’s wrong then Jesus is wrong.  Or as the apostle writes, “Is Christ then a servant of sin?”  Since Jesus did everything to tear down these barriers between  Jew and Gentile then He MUST be a servant of sin, right?  

First of all, we need to remember that Christ began chipping away at Jewish dietary restrictions during His time on earth.  Our Savior said that it’s not what we eat that makes us unclean but the filth that’s in our hearts.  Mark adds the note, “Thus He declared all foods clean” (Mk 7:18-19).  No more kosher food rules.  Later God gave Peter a vision on a rooftop in Joppa that let him know that there were no longer any difference between ethnic groups (Acts 10:9-16, 28).

So if Jesus took a bulldozer to racial walls and this was wrong there’s only one conclusion.  He’s “a servant of sin.”  Paul uses the Greek noun διακονος/diakonos.  It means a servant, helper or minister.  It’s actually the word from which we get our term deacon.  

The apostle says that if the false teachers are on target then Jesus is a deacon of sin.  I have to admit that I’ve been around some deacons that were less than godly.  But I can’t say I would call any of them a deacon of sin.  Okay, maybe a couple of them.  

Paul says that’s the only conclusion you can reach regarding if Jesus and Paul are wrong.  If Paul is wrong then Jesus is wrong.

So what’s the answer?  The Apostle Paul leaves no room for confusion.  “Certainly not!” (v17).  

End of discussion.

©2012 

Jay Jennings

Justify

Paul has just described his confrontation with Peter in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14).  The man from Tarsus got in Pete’s grill when false teachers duped into buying a snake oil gospel of “do better.”  

This led to a hypocrisy that split the church down ethnic lines.  Paul warned the leader of the apostles that he wasn’t walking straight in terms of the Gospel.  These false teachers peddled a counterfeit message that said non-Jews had to first follow Jewish law in order to become true followers of Jesus.

Peter clearly repented of his sin after the “Antioch Incident.”  This only made his relationship with Paul stronger.  In 2Peter 3:15-17, Pete boldly proclaims his love for his “brother Paul” as well as his authority as an apostle.  In his own letter to believers, he warns us not to be suckered by false teachers as he was.  He cautions us not to allow “the ignorant and unstable to twist” God’s Word.

In verse 16, Paul drops a nuke on the idea of self-salvation through our own good works.  Three times he detonates the “J Bomb” of justification by faith in Jesus.  He begins by saying “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”  

This is a powerful statement that applies to any person.  The apostle takes it a step further and makes it personal.  “So we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.”  He finishes his triple play by concluding with the absolute that “by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Let’s review...

• Not justified by works.
• Justified through faith in Jesus.
• Justified by faith in Christ.
• Not justified by works of the law
• By works of the law no one will be justified.

Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Three times Paul uses the Greek verb δικαιοω/dikaioo.  This is a legal term that describes how a judge declares the defendant not guilty and innocent of any charges.  When Jesus saves us, God rules that we are fully and immediately innocent of our sin and rebellion against Him.  Despite our sinful flesh that He must still sanctify, He pounds the cosmic gavel in our favor.  Not guilty!

Three times Paul uses this word.  Notice a couple of things.  First of all, each time it is passive.  In other words, we have nothing to do with the declaration.  This is God’s ruling from the bench.  We have provided no defense worthy of His verdict.  

Second, each time the apostle uses the verb, he uses a different tense.  The first time its in the past (the Greek aorist tense), “justified...through faith in Jesus Christ.”  The second time its in the present tense, “we believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith.”  Finally, he uses the future tense in warning that “by works of the law no one will be justified.”

• Past.
• Present.
• Future.

Get it?  Got it?  Good.

While Paul uses the legal language, a medical image helps me understand what's going on here.  Think of the law as CT scan, an MRI or an X-ray.  These are tools that doctors use to diagnose illness and disease.  These do nothing to treat us.  They simply tell physicians what's wrong with us.  That's exactly what the law does.  God provides it to us as a diagnostic tool.  But it doesn't heal.

When we put our faith in what Jesus has done for us, that's the cure.  Trusting in the truth that Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn't live.  Trusting that Jesus died the perfect death we should have died.  Trusting that Jesus rose to a heaven we don't deserve.  It's not about what we do.  It's not about obeying the law.  

Just like getting more and more CT scans won't cure us without treatment, trying to obey the law won't save us.  That's exactly what Paul means when he writes to his Roman buddies.  "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Rom 3:20).

The law is the diagnostic. Faith in Jesus is the cure.  Only putting our faith in the Great Physician provides ultimate healing.

Some of the great minds of our faith call this imputation.  That's a fancy way of saying we get Jesus' perfect righteousness and obedience while He takes our sin and disobedience.  

Not exactly a fair trade, is it?  Luther calls it the Great Exchange.  Paul describes it in one of his letters to the Corinthian crew.  "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2Cor 5:21).

That's the same message Paul also preached at the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.  "By Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39).  Instead of using legal or medical images, the apostle uses prison language.  Only Jesus can bust us out of the joint.

The apostle grabs Peter, the Galatians and us by the shoulders and gives us a hard shake.  He wants us to remember the amazing truth of our justification in Jesus.  

©2012

Jay Jennings

Walk Straight

In this letter, Paul is working quickly to put out the heretical fire that has sparked in the Galatian churches.  False teachers called Judaizers have rolled into the region just after he and Barnabas hit the road on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:13-14:23).  

These men have infiltrated the Galatians and perverted the Gospel of grace, telling those who are not ethnically Jewish that they must first become Jews in order to follow Jesus (Gal 1:6-7; 2:4).

But Paul tells the Galatians that he's seen this before.  And you'll never guess who it was.  Peter.  Yup, THAT Peter.  The Apostle Peter.  It happened at the church in Antioch, Syria.  

This is the church that God used to send Paul and Barnabas on that very first missionary expedition (Acts 13:2-3).  This is also the same place where Jesus' followers earned the nickname "Christians" (Acts 11:26).

The "Gentile Problem" first happened here because the church was made up of both Jews and non-Jews.  Persecution that followed Stephen's murder forced the Jewish followers of Christ to leave Jerusalem and move to places like Antioch (Acts 11:19).  

Luke tells us that thanks to God's use of men like Barnabas in telling folks about Jesus, a boatload of Gentiles also came to faith (Acts 11:21, 24).  The First Church of Antioch was a marvelous mixed up mess of people from all ethnic groups.  

It's this context that provides fertile ground for racial discrimination.

This is the scene in Antioch when Pete hits town.  At first things are great.  He's hanging out with anyone and everyone in the church.  Paul tells us that Peter was living "like a Gentile" despite being ethnically Jewish (v14).  The walls have come down.  

But things change when "certain men came from James" (Gal 2:11).  When they showed up, Pete freaked out and became very worried about his reputation (Gal 2:12).  

He suddenly ditched his Gentile friends and only hung with the boys from Jerusalem (Gal 2:13).  If this wasn't bad enough, Pete's behavior impacted everybody else, including Barnabas.

At some point, Paul puts his foot down.  "I opposed him (Peter) to his face" (Gal 2:11).  He got up in Pete's grill.  He didn't try to work through his friends behind the scenes.  He confronted him directly and lovingly.  Face to face.

The Apostle Paul "saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the Gospel" (v14).  The ESV does a solid job translating the original text, but there's an interesting nuance in the Greek.  

Paul uses the verb ορθοποδεω/orthopodeo.  Looks familiar, doesn't it?  It's where we get our term "orthopedic."  It's a compound word meaning "straight" (ορθο-/ortho-) "walking” (-ποδεω/-podeo).  

Paul saw that Pete and those he influenced were no longer walking straight in regard to the Gospel.  They had veered off course.  They needed a course correction.  

You could say that they had begun to limp badly in their walk with Christ.  They needed orthopedic surgery.  God prompts Paul to provide the treatment needed so they could walk straight once again.

This results in a showdown between the two apostles.  Paul confronts "Cephas before them all" (v14).  Chances are he had tried to talk to him privately, following Jesus' instructions in Matthew 18:15-20.  

Paul most certainly followed that up by taking a couple of witnesses with him for a second private meeting.  These guys knew each other.  They had spent two weeks together at some point (Gal 1:18).  

Here he describes the resulting confrontation before the entire church.  This is the kind of meeting Paul tells Timothy about.  "As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear" (1Tim 5:20).  

Calvin wrote that private sin should be dealt with privately and public sin rebuked publicly.  That's exactly what happened here.  

Because Pete's sin became such a divisive cancer in the First Community Church of Antioch, Paul needed to handle it very publicly.  That way everyone would know this was wrong.

In front of the entire church, Paul cuts the chase with Peter.  "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" (v14).  Dude, you're Jewish.  You clearly understand the truth of the Gospel and the freedom you have in Jesus by living like a non-Jew.  

That's because Pete understood that Jesus completely fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law.  Yet, once the boys hit town from Jerusalem, he was forcing "Gentiles to live like Jews."  What's up with that?!?!

This is a reminder of a couple of incredibly important points.  First of all, walking straight according to the truth of Jesus' Gospel is NOT about keeping a list of rules and forcing others to do the same.  

It's interesting that, in essence, Paul is rebuking Peter for breaking the rule of establishing unnecessary rules.  Here's the deal, Jesus kept the rules that we couldn’t and wouldn't keep.

Second, this demonstrates the importance of protecting the purity of Christ's Gospel of grace.  He did the work.  He did the heavy lifting.  

Because of what He did in His life and on the Cross, we have access to His righteousness.  He takes our sin.  We get His sinless perfection.  

Luther called it the Great Exchange (2Cor 5:21).  To try an add our own good works to the formula ruins the math.  As Tullian Tchividjian consistently says, "Jesus plus nothing equals everything."  Paul knew that Pete's expectation of Jewish rule-following by Gentile believers was bad math.

Finally, we see godly and loving confrontation.  Paul would have loved nothing better than to avoid such a nasty scene in front of the entire church.  But it was vitally necessary.  

His friend needed correction.  He did this out of his love for Pete.  He did this out of love for God.

When it comes to the Gospel, we are to walk straight.

©2012

Jay Jennings