WEBVTT

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Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join

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us in this verse -by -verse study through the

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Word of God. In this lesson, we'll be looking

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at Galatians 2. Let's begin in verse 1. Then

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fourteen years later, I went back to Jerusalem

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again, this time with Barnabas, and Titus came

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along too. We saw in chapter 1 that Paul described

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a trip he made to Jerusalem three years after

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Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. But now

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he describes a second trip to Jerusalem 14 years

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later. We see from the verse that Barnabas and

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Titus went with him. Barnabas, we know, was well

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-respected among the leadership in Jerusalem.

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This is found in Acts 4, verses 36 -37. And chapter

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11, verse 22. And Titus. And it's important to

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know that Titus was a Gentile convert. Only two

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visits to Jerusalem in 17 years shows that Paul

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did not sit at the feet of the disciples of Jesus

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to learn the gospel. Verse 2. I went there because

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God revealed to me that I should go. Here we

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see that Paul went to Jerusalem by the express

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direction of the Holy Spirit. He did not go because

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any man called him to come. It was because God

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told him to come. This trip to Jerusalem is most

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likely the one mentioned in Acts 11, 27 -30,

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when Paul brought the gifts from Christians to

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other cities to the Christians in Jerusalem.

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Continuing in verse 2, It's important to see

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that at this time, there was a little bit of

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contention rising over the place of the Gentiles

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in the church. And God used Peter to welcome

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Gentiles in the church in Acts 10. But most Christians

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from a Jewish background said that Gentiles could

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only be saved if they became Jews first and brought

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themselves under the law of Moses. Paul knew

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he had the true gospel, but he didn't know how

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everyone of reputation in Jerusalem would receive

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it. Perhaps some of the apostles themselves were

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wrong on this point and needed to be corrected.

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Continuing in verse 2, I wanted to make sure

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that we were in agreement for fear that all my

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efforts had been wasted and I was running the

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race for nothing. An unnecessary conflict with

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the leaders of the church in Jerusalem might

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damage Paul's reputation in ministry by validating

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the false teachers who taught that Gentiles had

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to convert to Judaism to become Christians. Verse

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3. And they supported me. and did not even demand

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that my companion Titus be circumcised, though

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he was a Gentile. It's important to realize that

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circumcision was the initiation into the Jewish

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faith and the Mosaic covenant. If Titus or any

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other Gentile man wanted to become a Jew, he

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would have to be circumcised. Verse 4. Even that

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question came up only because of some so -called

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Christians, false ones, really, who were secretly

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brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and

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to take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.

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They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow

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their Jewish regulations. Since they opposed

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and contradicted the gospel revealed to Paul

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by Jesus Christ, Paul's saying that they're really

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false brethren, that they're just so -called

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Christians here. Because grace salvation is received

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as a gift. And gift righteousness brings freedom.

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But this law salvation that they were trying

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to push is really unobtainable. Works righteousness

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brings bondage. false doctrine. Verse 5. But

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we refused to give in to them for a single moment.

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We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel

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message for you. Paul's saying that any false

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doctrine of mixing grace and law is dangerous

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to not only the Jew, but the Gentile. These secret

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spies probably had the best of intentions, but

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they were still promoting a very dangerous doctrine.

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that had to be confronted, as Paul is doing.

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People can be sincere, but sincerely wrong at

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the same time. Verse 6, And the leaders of the

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church had nothing to add to what I was preaching.

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By the way, their reputation as great leaders

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made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.

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You see, famous Christians did not overly impress

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or intimidate Paul. And his words were not a

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denial of their apostolic authority or even a

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mark of disrespect, but he is simply indicating

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that he is not overawed by them. Verse 7. Instead,

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they saw that God had given me the responsibility

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of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just

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as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching

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to the Jews. For the same God who worked through

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Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked

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through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In

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fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known

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as pillars of the church, recognized the gift

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God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas

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and me as their co -workers. Here we see that

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the leaders of the Jerusalem church, James, The

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brother of Jesus, Cephas, also known as Peter,

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and John accepted Paul and his ministry to the

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Gentiles. They approved it, knowing that Paul

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did not require the Gentiles to come under the

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Mosaic law to find favor with God. Verse 9, they

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encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles

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while they continued their work with the Jews.

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So Paul's main ministry was to the Gentiles,

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and Peter's main ministry was to the Jews. And

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these distinctions were not absolute, though,

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because we know that each ministered to both

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groups at different times. Verse 10, Their only

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suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor,

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which I have always been eager to do. And we

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see here that Paul remembered the poor in Jerusalem.

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He put a lot of effort towards gathering a contribution

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among the Gentile churches for the sake of the

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saints in Jerusalem. Picking up with verse 11.

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But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose

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him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.

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Now, Peter had approved and agreed with Paul's

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gospel message and his ministry when Paul was

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in Jerusalem. We see that in verse 9. And God

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used Peter himself to welcome Gentiles into Christianity

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without a precondition of becoming Jews. We see

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that in Acts chapter 11, verses 1 through 18.

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Going back to verse 12. When he first arrived,

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he ate with the Gentile Christians who were not

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circumcised. But afterward, When some friends

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of James came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles

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anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these

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people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.

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Although Peter had been in full agreement with

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welcoming Gentiles into the church without bringing

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them under the law of Moses, when Peter came

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to Antioch, Paul's home church, it was another

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story. He refused to associate with Gentile Christians

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once certain Jewish believers from Jerusalem

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arrived. Peter knew God did not require Gentiles

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to come under the law of Moses for salvation.

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I mean, he learned this himself from a vision

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from God, and we see that in Acts chapter 10,

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verses 9 through 15. He also learned this from

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The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles

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who believed, apart from being circumcised, in

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Acts 10, verses 22 through 48. And he learned

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it in another place, right? He learned this by

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the agreement of the other leaders of the church

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in Acts chapter 11, verses 1 through 18. But

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now Peter turns back on all that he knew about...

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the place of the gentiles in the church and he

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treats uncircumcised gentiles as if they were

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not saved at all peter knew that the visitors

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from jerusalem would be offended by his fellowship

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with gentiles who had not come under the law

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of moses verse 13 as a result other jewish christians

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followed peter's hypocrisy And even Barnabas

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was led astray by their hypocrisy. See, sadly,

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others followed Peter's lead. You know, Peter

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took the lead, then other Jewish Christians followed

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him, and now Barnabas is following Peter's lead,

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not wanting to have anything to do with the Gentiles.

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And this shows us something, the sins of a teacher.

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become the teachers of sin see they were being

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hypocritical they were play acting that's what

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that greek word translated hypocrisy means these

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are play acting when they're they're putting

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on one mask and then they're taking it off and

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putting on another mask and they were going back

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and forth saying at one time they believed one

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thing and then acting like they believe something

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contrary to what they were saying. Pick up with

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verse 14. When I saw that they were not following

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the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter

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in front of all the others, Since you, a Jew

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by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and

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are living like a Gentile, Why are you now trying

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to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

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See, the matter was so serious that Paul boldly

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confronted Peter in front of everyone involved.

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And you got to remember, Peter was the most prominent

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of all the disciples of Jesus. Peter was the

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spokesman for the apostles. He was probably the

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most prominent Christian in the whole world at

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that time. But Peter was instigating a division

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of believers at the table of the Lord. Peter

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acted against what he knew was right out of fear

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of rejection. And I guess we all know what it

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feels like when social pressure pushes us towards

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compromising. in one way or another. Barnabas,

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he even caved in to the pressure too. And it's

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possible that this event could have played a

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part in the ultimate separation of Paul and Barnabas.

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Verse 15. You and I are Jews by birth, not sinners

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like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person

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is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ,

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not by obeying the law. Now, this was a serious

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matter about the truth of the gospel. They're

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talking about how a person can be right with

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God. And we know that that's not through works

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or following rules or following the law. It's

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by faith that a person is made right with God.

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Picking back up in verse 16. And we have believed

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in Christ Jesus so that we may be made right

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with God because of our faith in Christ, not

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because we've obeyed the law, for no one will

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ever be made right with God by obeying the law.

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Now, this is Paul's first use of the Greek word

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dikio, and it means justified or declared righteous.

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And it's the first time he used it was in his

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letter to the Galatians. And it presents a legal

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concept. The person who has been justified or

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declared righteous is the one who gets the not

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guilty verdict. in a court of law. And Paul reminds

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Peter that they are justified before God by the

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work of Jesus, not by keeping the law. Paul knew

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that even a strictly observant Jew could never

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be considered right before God by what they did

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under the law of Moses. We need to remember that

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Christ is not a lawgiver. He's a life giver.

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He's the forgiver of sins. Verse 17. But suppose

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we seek to be made right with God through faith

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in Christ, and then we are found guilty because

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we have abandoned the law. Would that mean that

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Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not. Rather,

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I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of

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law I already tore down. Here we see the great

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tragedy of legalism. While trying to be more

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right with God by keeping a set of rules, people

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actually end up being less right with God. Verse

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19. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned

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me. So I died to the law. I stopped trying to

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meet all its requirements so that I might live

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for God. Wow, what a powerful statement. The

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law reflects the holy heart and the character

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of God. There's nothing wrong with the law. And

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here Paul is saying it isn't the law that died,

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it's Paul that died to the law. To die to the

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law is to renounce it, to be freed from its dominion,

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and to place no confidence in it. Then the law

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no longer holds us captive under a yoke of slavery.

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As a result, we are set free from guilt, shame,

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and condemnation. Verse 20. My old self has been

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crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who

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live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this

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earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who

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loved me and gave himself for me. You want to

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know when I died to the law? I died to the law

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when Jesus died on the cross. We were crucified

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with Christ. So we can live our lives saying,

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Mr. Law, go ahead and accuse me as much as you

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like. I know I have committed many sins and I

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may continue to sin every day. But that doesn't

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bother me. You've got to shout louder, Mr. Law.

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I am dead, you know. Talk as much as you like.

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I am dead to you. Because I am now one with Christ.

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And Christ's righteousness is mine. Christ's

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victory is mine. Christ's life is mine. Verse

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21. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless.

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For if keeping the law can make us right with

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God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

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What does this show us? If work salvation was

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so impossible to accomplish that Jesus had to

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take on flesh and die on a cross to make the

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gift of salvation possible, Why do people think

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they can earn his million -dollar gift of grace

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with their penny's worth of obedience? Thank

00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.839
you for joining us for Life Group. Allow God's

00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.859
Word to build your faith and transform your life.