Chapter 6
Free Justification
We now approach the heart of
this epistle, which, concise as it is, may be regarded as the keystone of the
New Testament, for it most conspicuously sets forth and defends the Biblical
answer to the fundamental question, “How shall a man be justified before God?”
The entire scope of Divine Revelation focuses on the answer: This gives Paul’s
reproof of Peter at Antioch very high significance. No issue could be more
vital, for on it was suspended the survival or the shipwreck of the early
church.
Paul was the man of the hour, specifically raised up by God to
meet the Galatian crisis. As in the case of Joseph, of Moses, of Samuel, of
David, of Elijah, and of Daniel, the crisis depended upon the work of one, one man
called, gifted, equipped, and sent of God to meet the need of his church at
this crucial time. That man was Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. God has
little use for committees and corporations. His greatest works in the history
of mankind have been wrought by single men, men single eyed and strong in the
Holy Spirit for the cause of truth. God “called Abraham alone and blessed him.”
So Paul was called alone. No capital was behind him; no society, or party was
behind him; no religious order was behind him. Even Barnabas had deserted his
cause. Like Luther, and Calvin, and Knox, he stood alone in the time of great
urgency.
What was it that Paul so boldly and singularly stood for on
this occasion? —Justification by Christ alone. Christ and Christ only, as over
against and in sharpest contrast to everything outside of Christ and/or in
addition to Christ for the justification of guilty sinners, was Paul’s subject.
Any other message is another gospel. It was either Christ or nothing. He is all
in all in the matter of salvation. There is no such thing as Christ doing his
part to save us and us doing our part. We have no part except that of a poor
beggar, who empty-handed receives a gratuitous gift of mercy and compassion.
In the verses before us Paul continues to prove the essential
independence, both of his gospel and of his apostolic position. That gospel
which had been so enthusiastically endorsed by those “pillars” at Jerusalem
was, when necessity demanded, asserted even in confrontation with one of those
“men of repute.” This episode in which Paul reproved Peter may well have
occurred during the interval between the Jerusalem conference and the beginning
of the second missionary journey. We are told in the book of Acts that it was
then that Paul and Barnabas stayed for some time in Antioch.
Sinners are justified before
God freely, by grace alone, upon the merits of Christ’s blood, apart from
anything done by them; and they receive this free-justification by faith. This
was Paul’s message. This is the message of the gospel (Rom. 3:19-26). This is
the doctrine of all true believers.
Peter’s Error
"But when Peter was
come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from
James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise
with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their
dissimulation. But when I saw that
they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If thou, being
a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why
compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" (Gal 2:11-14)
We are not told why Peter
visited Antioch at this time; but that is not important. The important fact is
that Peter committed an error of conduct so serious that Paul felt constrained
to oppose him to his face. Paul did not go about as a whisperer, backbiter, or talebearer.
He withstood Peter to his face as a brother trying to correct the error of
another brother. He handled the matter publicly, because Peter’s action was
public and caused great public harm.
This event does not, in any way, suggest that those things
Peter wrote under divine inspiration are lacking in authority, infallibility,
and inerrancy. The Word of God nowhere teaches that the men who were used of
God to pen the Scriptures were infallible. They were not. They were, like all
other believers, sinners saved by grace. The Scriptures they penned are
infallible, but not them. However, this single event does completely destroy
the Roman Catholic doctrine of the infallibility and supremacy of Peter, and of
the pope as Peter’s imagined successor.
Peter was to be blamed. His conduct was totally inexcusable.
His behavior was to be condemned. Why? Before the Jews came to Antioch, he had
been eating with his Gentile brethren. The reference here is probably to the
fellowship meals, or love feasts of the early Christians. It appears that the
Lord’s Supper was usually held at the conclusion of these feasts. There were
many abuses to which such social meals could lead, as is pointed out in 1
Corinthians 11:17-34. In Corinth there was a segregation according to wealth,
the rich separating from the poor. In Antioch the segregation that occurred was
of an ethnic character, the Jewish brethren separated from their Gentile
brothers in Christ.
Peter knew that the distinction of meats was now laid aside, as
well as the distinction of Jew and Gentile, and that nothing, meats or men, was
common or unclean of itself (Acts 10:28-48; 15:8-11). The Lord had taught him
plainly that we are not under the law, but under grace in this gospel age,
because Christ has fulfilled the law. He knew that even Jewish believers were
no longer obliged to keep the law. Certainly, then the Gentiles, who were never
given the law, were not obliged to keep the law.
In spite of Peter’s clear understanding of these things, when
some men came from the church at Jerusalem, of which James was the pastor,
Peter ceased to eat with the Gentiles, who were also believers. It may seem to
some that Peter did nothing so terribly wrong. After all, all he did was this:
When he saw his Jewish friends coming, Peter simply got up from the table and
stepped away from the Gentile brethren, hoping that none of the Jewish brethren
would smell the pork chops on his breath. But his action was horrible in its
implication. Behaving as he did, Peter hypocritically implied that there is
still a distinction between meat and drinks, clean and unclean, and between Jew
and Gentile. He acted out of cowardice, fearing the wrath of the Jews (The
wrath of Jewish believers!). When Peter got up from the table and walked away
from the Gentile brethren, though he apparently said nothing orally, he spoke
loudly by example and led others in his error, even Barnabas (v. 13).
There are some obvious
lessons we ought to learn from this. First, the Word of God shows us again and
again that the best of men are only men at best, sinful, weak, inconsistent,
and full of faults. When left to ourselves, even briefly, there is nothing we
would not do and justify ourselves in doing. A noble Noah may be found in a
drunken stupor. A faithful Abraham may be found asking his wife to lie and play
the harlot because of fear. A righteous Lot may be found choosing to dwell in
Sodom. A devoted David may be found committing adultery and murder to cover it.
Peter was no exception. Neither is the one writing or the one reading these
lines. Let us ever recognize this fact. It will help to make us behave
graciously toward our fallen brethren and help to keep us from being severe in
our judgment concerning one another.
Second, we need to be aware of the fact that if we seek to
please men, we will fail in obedience to our God (Pro. 29:25). It is impossible
to serve two masters. If we are ruled by the will and glory of God, we cannot
be ruled by either the fear of men’s frowns or the hope of their favor. If we
are ruled by the fear of men, we cannot be ruled by the fear of God.
Third, we must constantly be aware of the great influence of
our behavior upon others. The common proverb, “Actions speak louder than
words,” is as true as it is common. We are responsible for the influence we
have upon others by our example. None of us, I am confident, have any idea how
powerful our example is in its influence over others, especially when the
example is evil. Parents, teachers, and pastors must be constantly aware of this
fact. None of us live as an island. Everything we do influences those around
us. The world’s politicians, for the most part, have forgotten this, and have
by their displays of greed and moral bankruptcy led the people under their
power to lives of utter debauchery. Sadly, I fear, the same must be said of
parents, teachers, and preachers around the world in this dark, dark age. Let
all who fear God mark the trend of the day and resolve to lead all who are
influenced by us by example as well as by word, for Christ’s sake.
Paul saw immediately what
Peter was doing. And saw that his implications were intentional. His
implications were that the law is still the rule of life for believers and that
God’s saints are to be compelled to live by it (v. 14). This was totally contrary
to the true gospel of the grace of God (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:4; 10:4; Col. 2:16-23).
There is no room in the kingdom of grace for the bondmen of the law. There is
no place in the household of faith for the whip of the law. Believers are
motivated and ruled by the constraint of Christ’s love, gratitude for his
grace, faith in Christ, and the glory of God (2 Cor. 5:14; 8:8-9; 1 John 3:23;
1 Cor. 10:31). In the gospel there are no prohibitions about eating and
drinking (1 Tim. 4:4-5). In the church of God there is no such thing as Jew and
Gentile (Eph. 2:13-22; Gal. 3:28). Peter had lived like the Gentiles; but now
he was, by his action, saying that the Gentiles should live like the Jews. This
was inconsistent and obvious to all. Therefore Paul rebuked him publicly (1
Tim. 5:20).
Matthew Henry wrote, “Paul
having thus established his character and office, and sufficiently shown that
he is not inferior to any of the apostles, no, not to Peter himself, from the
account of the reproof he gave him he takes occasion to speak of that great
fundamental doctrine of the gospel – that justification is only by faith in
Christ, and not by the works of the law.”
"We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners
of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith
of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. But if, while
we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?
God forbid. For if I build again the
things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto
God." (Gal 2:15-19)
The verb “justify” is in the passive voice, thus, literally, it
is “to be justified.” It occurs here for the first time in Paul’s epistles, and
no less than three times in one verse (v. 16). Justification is not something
we do. It is something done for us and given to us freely. It is the gracious
act of God, whereby, on the basis solely of Christ’s accomplished mediatorial
work, he declares the sinner just. The work was done by the decree of God in
eternity (Rom. 8:29-30). Yes, all God’s elect were in the purpose of God
justified from eternity, by the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the
world. Our justification was obtained by Christ when he died at Calvary as our
Substitute. He was delivered unto death by the sword of divine justice because
of our sins imputed to him, and raised again by the glory of God because of our
justification accomplished by his sacrifice (Rom. 4:25). Faith in Christ does
not accomplish justification, but receives it as the free grace gift of God
(Rom. 5:1, 10-11; 8:1, 30, 33; Tit. 3:7). Faith in Christ is not a condition
upon which justification is granted, but one of the many, blessed fruits of
justification accomplished. It is not our faith that justifies us, but Christ
who is the Object of our faith.
Justification is a judicial act of God. It does not come as the
result of man’s effort (Rom. 3:20, 28; Gal. 3:11; 5:4). It is not even the
result of faith (Eph. 2:8). It took place when Christ satisfied the demands of
the law as a Substitute for his elect (Rom. 3:24; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:7). Man
can never earn it. He only receives it by faith. And even the faith by which we
receive it is the gift of God’s grace (Eph. 2:8). “Man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.”
Because we are justified by Christ alone,
(by the faithful obedience of Christ unto death as our Substitute), we have no
obligation to the law. We are dead to the law. This is not a license to sin
(17; Rom. 6:1-2, 15; 7:7). It is the blessed liberty of grace. We dare not
return to the law, as Peter did by his abhorrent symbolic behavior. To do so is
to return to its curse and condemnation (v. 18).
The law of God can never give life. It
only deals out death. It can never produce holiness. It only stirs up sin. The
law brings the knowledge of sin, and condemns it (Rom. 7:7-9). The law was our
schoolmaster unto Christ. Once we have come to Christ in faith, the law has no
power or authority over us (Gal. 3:24).
I
have a very good friend in North Carolina, Robert Spencer. He and I became good
friends just a few years ago, after I ran into him and his wife (Lib) in an
elevator. He was then President of the International Lions Club, on his way to
one of their meetings. I was on my way to fulfill a preaching engagement in the
same town. I had known Bob many years earlier as “Mr. Spencer.” He was my sixth
grade school teacher. I was a young rebel, constantly in trouble. Mr. Spencer,
on many occasions, with the complete authority of the State (and of my
parents), inflicted pain on my posterior because it was his job to do so, to
bring me to maturity. In those days I dreaded his presence and feared his
wrath. Now, he is my friend. I look forward to seeing him and always enjoy his
presence. Even if he thought about whipping me today, he would not dare. He no
longer has any authority or the power to do so. So it is with the law. Once the
sinner has come to Christ, the law has no more dominion over him (Rom. 6:14-15;
7:4; 10:4).
"I through the law am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Gal. 2:19; Rom. 6:7; 7:4; 2
Cor. 5:15). We are not dead to the law that we might live unto ourselves, but
unto our God, for his glory. And if we would live unto God, we cannot live unto
the law. We must never return to it in any way, to any degree, for any reason;
not even to appease and win the favor of weaker brethren, as Peter did at
Antioch (Rom. 7:1-4). We trust Christ alone for salvation (Rom. 10:1-4). He
alone is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). To return to the works of the law is
to deny him altogether (Gal. 5:1-4).
Thy
works, not mine, O Christ,
Speak
gladness to this heart;
They
tell me all is done;
They
bid my fear depart.
What
Jesus is, and that alone,
Is
faith’s delightful plea;
It
never deals with sinful self
Nor
righteous self, in me.