Slices
Prepare
Pray: ‘Lord, help me to know when to speak out for your truth and when to keep silent.’
Bible passage
Paul opposes Cephas
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 ‘We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
17 ‘But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a law-breaker.
19 ‘For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!’
Explore
Perhaps, like me, you dislike confrontation. Yet, as Paul focuses on the true gospel and its future, we see that sometimes the courage to disagree is important for unity. The issue at stake here is fundamental: the completeness of God’s free gift of salvation in Jesus.
We can understand the feelings of some of those Christian Jews, arising from their tradition: they didn’t eat with Gentiles because they didn’t keep Old Testament laws (vs 12,13). The two-edged problem was that, in behaving like that, they were saying Christ’s work was not enough – and, painfully, their actions excluded Gentile believers from the fellowship of Christ’s body. Paul accused Peter (Cephas) of hypocrisy! He should have known better after his experience at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10).
We have a choice. Either we hang on to rules and discover quickly that we can’t do it! Or we accept God’s gift of salvation in Christ and live in him, as he lives in us (v 20). To say that keeping the rules is important too for achieving right relationship with God is to deny the efficacy of Christ’s death on the cross (v 21). Does our insistence on rule-keeping sometimes exclude other Christians from our fellowship?
Respond
Talk with God about any areas in your life where – to be honest – you are not living in line with the truth of the gospel.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Leviticus 4,5; Psalm 19
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for mission partner Hope Pembrokeshire’s upcoming programme of events including Lego club, family arts and crafts, family services and after school clubs. Pray that through these events, and through their support of the Brownies group and Army Cadets children, young people and families might encounter Jesus.