Let's look again tonight to the letter of Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2 and beginning in verse 11 through the end of the chapter. Galatians 2. The title of the message is Crucified Yet Alive. crucified yet alive. 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 calm, 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 the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

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. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

These last 11 verses of this chapter that I've just read, they form the end or complete the section that began with verse 11 in chapter 1, where the apostle said, but I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me is not after man, For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Using the word which is here translated certify, I certify you brethren. Paul is calling upon these believers in the churches of Galatia and us tonight as well to remember this and hold this fast. What the false brethren were teaching them was not true. Number one, the gospel concerns the person and work of Christ alone. In 1 Corinthians 15, he used the same Greek word that is here translated certify. There, our translators use the word declare. I declare, same word that's translated here, certify.

I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. I certify, I declare unto you the gospel that I preached.

He doesn't mention the law, he doesn't mention baptism, the only thing that he tells us is the gospel that he preached is that Christ died for our sins. He died as a substitute. He died as a sacrifice according to the scriptures. All of the Old Testament scriptures had testified of one who would come and be that propitiation for the sins of God's people. how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried and rose again according to the scriptures.

There it is. I declare unto you, I certify unto you, brethren, that the gospel, the good tidings, the good news, it concerns Jesus Christ and his work of redemption. Secondly, That justification is by faith in Christ alone. By believing in Christ, trusting in Christ, justification, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God. We've all heard of the great reformation of the 1500s, 1600s.

We know that that's where it all began, when the monk, Martin Luther, was doing everything he could afflicting his body in every way he could, almost causing his death, trying to appease God, trying to reconcile himself to God by his sufferings, by his sacrifice that he was doing. And then, like a light, the truth came to him, the just shall live by faith. And the story is that he was in Rome at that time trying to make his way up those stairs on his knees, affliction, afflicting himself, his body. When that truth came home to his heart and power, the just, those who are just with God shall live by faith.

Justification is by faith alone. And the third thing that we see, Paul was equal. These are all things that are dealt with in this section, beginning with verse 11 of chapter one, going through all of chapter two here, that Paul was equal in every way with the other apostles. Tonight, in these last 11 verses, let's look at two subjects.

First of all, an incident in the church at Antioch. The Lord raised up a church in Antioch. You know, over the years I've had people ask me, who took the gospel to the people in Antioch? Well, I'm not sure that we're told who took the gospel there. But someone did, some of the believers from Jerusalem, no doubt. They were the ones who carried the gospel there to Antioch. It was the capital of Syria, a very prosperous city. And of course, the land of Canaan was under that jurisdiction of Syria. And several important things happened at Antioch.

Let me just show us a couple of things. Look back with me, if you will, to Acts chapter 11. This was a flourishing church here, Acts chapter 11 and verse 26. And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. That is, Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. Now notice, and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

You say, what were they called before this? People of the way. People of the way, that's what Saul of Tarsus, when he asked for letters to take to Damascus, he was seeking people of the way. Christ is the way. People who followed Christ, that's what Christians were called at first, people of the way.

But now here at Antioch, and until today, 2,000 years later plus, God's people are still called Christians. What does that mean? Well, people of the way were those who followed Christ, and Christian means to be like Christ. Now, obviously, many people use that term, use that name, go by that name that shouldn't, but that's what the name actually means, to be like Christ.

Something else that took place here I call our attention to in Acts 13. What is called the first missionary trip originated here in the church at Antioch. Chapter 13 of Acts, now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manan, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

The first great missionary enterprise began here at Antioch. Now what we're looking at tonight back in our text chapter 2, the Apostle Paul relates something else that happened here at Antioch. Remember, after the apostles had met in Jerusalem to deal with the question, we saw this last week that they went from Antioch to Jerusalem to deal with this question.

And we saw what the question was and is. The question was, what is the relation of believers to the law of Moses? That was the question. And we know they had their meeting there. Peter spoke. Paul spoke, James spoke, and the consensus was in the words of Peter when he said, why tempt you God? In other words, those men who wanted to say that these Gentile believers had to come under the law of Moses, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples? which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. Why would you do that?

And Peter makes a very profound statement there before he spoke those words when he said, we hope to be saved even as they. In other words, we Jews hope to be saved in the same way as the Gentiles, and that is by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

Well, after that meeting ended there, they wrote a letter And Paul and Barnabas, along with two prophets, the scripture says, Silas and Judas, this man named Judas, they came back to Antioch and they delivered the message there. And here was a message they brought back to the believers there.

We have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you. This is the message they sent. But we've heard that some who came from Jerusalem, They came out from us, have troubled you with words, subverting your soul, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law. To whom we gave no such commandment." In other words, they went out on their own and they took a message that they invented. It wasn't from the church, from the believers, from the apostles and the church in Jerusalem. Well, what Paul now relates, I believe, must have taken place after they came back to Antioch. Sometime after, we're not told exactly when, but Peter came to Antioch.

I think it would only be natural he would want to come there. And they were happy, no doubt, to see him because, remember, he was the apostle that God chose and sent to the first Gentile who was saved, Cornelius. Peter was. And so this church that was made up mainly of Gentiles and Antiochs, no doubt they were happy to see Peter and no doubt they had a wonderful time of fellowship there.

But Paul specifically says that Peter was eating with the Gentile believers. Now, to eat with them simply means he was mixing with them. He was mingling with them. And yes, he was eating with them. And we know that on that table, a Gentile table, there would be food which was prohibited for a Jew to eat, for anyone under the law of Moses T. And yet, Peter was there, had no scruples, no doubt about eating with the Gentiles.

And God had taught him before. Remember, before he went to the house of Cornelius, God let that sheet down and told Peter to eat. Remember, in that sheet were those unclean animals. And Peter said, I've never eaten anything unclean. God said, what I've cleansed. don't you call unclean, Peter.

So, no doubt, it was a good time, a good time. Believers love to get together, don't we? Believers are sheep, and sheep are animals that must be in a flock. And God's people, believers, we love to have fellowship, we love to break bread together, have fellowship together. around food many times. You don't have to have food to have fellowship, I understand that, but we do quite often. But then when some of the brethren, they were considered to be brethren, came down from Jerusalem, came down from James, and James evidently was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, Peter separated himself.

He withdrew from mangling and mixing and eating with these Gentiles. And you know Paul tells us here, let's read this again, verse 12, for before that certain came From James, he did eat with the Gentiles, but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing. Now, none of the writers that I read, none of the commentators, believe that Peter had any physical fear. He wasn't afraid they were gonna beat him up, stone him, or anything like that. But he was fearful.

He was, after all, it was recognized at that meeting there in Jerusalem that he was the apostle to the circumcision, that is the apostle to the Jews, even as Paul was especially the apostle to the Gentiles. And some suggest that he was fearful of what they would think of his conduct, that his character, he was not living up to his character. by eating with these Gentiles because he was, after all, the apostle to the Jews.

And then notice what Paul continues to say there. But when I saw, verse 13, and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him. In so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Others joined with Peter. That just reminds us again of our testimony and our influence that we have with other people. But he causes a dissimulation. that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

What does that word mean, dissimulation? Well, let me give you the definition that one very good writer on this letter gives, John Brown. A man dissembles when either by words, actions, or silence, or inaction, he gives others reason to think that his sentiments are different from what they really are. That's what it means to dissemble. When a man, by his words, his actions, or his inactions, his silence, he causes people to think that his sentiments, his beliefs, are different from what they really are, or in this case, what they really were.

And I thought we might say that there was no light, you know that's a term, there was no light between Paul and Peter in the gospel. They were one. There was no difference whatsoever. There was no light between Peter and Paul on a believer's relationship to the law.

He had made that clear at that conference there in Jerusalem. His appearance made it seem like there was some need to be subjected to the law of Moses, just his appearance, appearance of what he did, separating himself. So that's an incident that took place at Antioch.

You know, church, church fellowship and church harmony and church peace is such a blessing, isn't it? It really is. Sometimes a root of bitterness, as Paul calls it in Hebrews, comes up in a person's heart and over some minor thing, this wasn't a minor thing here, I'm not implying that, but I just have the desire to say this for all of our well-being, to be on our guard. Not to let some trivial thing, some minor thing, cause us in any way to have any division.

We're all agreed, I trust. We're all agreed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That men are saved by Christ and Christ alone. Received by faith and we believe in the sovereign grace of God and God has chosen a people from before the foundation of the world, and Christ has redeemed those people with his precious blood, and God the Holy Spirit is calling and revealing to those people the truth of their salvation in Christ. We believe that. I trust we all, I know we do. It'd be such a shame, wouldn't it, if we were to ever be guilty. of letting some minor thing cause some division, some friction among us believers.

This was an incident here in the church at Antioch. Now, my second point, Paul's action and testimony. Paul, first of all, in verse 14, the first part of verse 14, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, Paul saw that in Peter withdrawing from the Gentile believers and the others with him, he said they walked not uprightly. They walked not uprightly. Now this word which is here translated uprightly means straightly. They were not walking straightly.

It has nothing to do with their motives. He's not saying anything about their motives, but he does say that they We're not walking straightly according to the truth of the gospel. The truth of the gospel is that we're all one. Those of us who are saved by the grace of God, we're all the children of God, one family. And there's no distinction between races and sexes and all these things as far as our relationship to God is concerned. That's all past. That's all behind us, isn't it? Should be.

They walk not straightly. Their conduct, Peter's conduct, and those with him tended to obscure the true gospel, that men are saved entirely by faith through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. It seemed to imply when they got up, I don't think it happened exactly like this, but when they were all sitting at the table and those brethren from Jerusalem came in from James, Peter, and the other Jewish believers, even Barnabas, they just got up and moved over to another table. The implication, they walk not straightly according to the truth of the gospel, that we are not under the law of Moses.

Second, Paul confronted Peter publicly. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but he told Timothy to rebuke a person publicly. And the reason Paul rebuked, if we can call it a rebuke, Paul confronted Peter publicly because what he did was public. What he did by separating himself, he did that publicly. Everyone saw what took place there. Why would Paul mention this in this letter? Why would he bring this up?

Well, remember one of those three things, that salvation is entirely in the person and work of Christ received by faith, and number three, that Paul in some way was not on the same level as the other apostles. Well, here he tells us that he confronted one of those other apostles, and he did it publicly, and he was not rebuked. He was an equal. He was an equal with the apostle Peter. We can only imagine what was Peter's reaction. What would have been my reaction if someone came up to me He said, you're not walking straightly according to the truth of the gospel. What would be my reaction? What would be your reaction?

Well, I know this, that Psalmist David, what he said about something like this. He said, let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness. And let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil. We're not told Peter's reaction, but we do read years later when Peter wrote the second letter of Peter. This is what he said concerning Paul. He wrote there, an account that the long suffering of the Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also. according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. But the remainder of this chapter, I believe, I've put it down as Paul's personal testimony.

Notice how many times he uses the word I, beginning with verse 18. I counted 11 times in these verses, I, I, I, I. In verse 18, he states what he saw Peter's conduct to be, but he declares it as though it was himself, I. This is what he saw what Peter was doing.

If I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. Peter, if you build again the things which you've destroyed, you make yourself a transgressor. But he didn't say Peter, he said I. I. Yes. And someone said that it was inconsistent. It was like a man building with this hand and then with this hand he's tearing down what he's building. With one hand, Peter said, Why put this yoke of bondage upon these Gentiles but then with this hand he's separating himself as though the Gentile believers were subject to that law.

Verse 19, Paul, he states in these concluding verses his determination to be consistent. His determination to be consistent. Verse 19, for I through the law am dead to the law. You want to know what my relationship to the law of Moses is? I'm dead to it. I'm dead to it. That I might live under God. Well, how did you become dead to the law, Paul?

He tells us that in Romans chapter 7 and verse 4, doesn't he? By the body of Christ. That all believers, every one of God's elect were chosen in Christ. We are mystically part of his body. He's the head and we are members. And when he died, we died. He died under the curse of the law. And we died with him. Yeah. Paul said, this is my testimony. I'm dead to that law. That, in order that, I might live unto God. Yeah.

Verse 20, I'm crucified with Christ. You know the scriptures teach us that union, that mystical union which exists between you and Jesus Christ today if you're one of his children. You died with him, you were crucified with him, you were buried with him, you were raised with him, and you are seated in the heavenlies in Christ tonight. So that's kind of difficult to understand. It may be, but it's the truth. It's what the scriptures teach of the union which exists between Christ and his body. Just like my head, all these other members, there's a union. There's a union. It's an eternal union too. It's an eternal union.

Verse 20, I like this. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. John Brown said, I live devoted to him who died devoted for me.

It is the faith of this truth that Jesus Christ so loved me as to give himself for me. that makes it impossible for me to build again the things I have destroyed. The faith of this truth keeps me from seeking justification anywhere but in Him and doing anything which would lead others to seek justification anywhere else but in Him. And then he closed, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain. Those who seek justification in any way by works, in any way other than through Jesus Christ alone, frustrate or despise the grace of God.

When the Lord think about this, I think about this. This settles the matter for me a long time ago. When the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane prayed to his father, Father, if thou wilt, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as I will. The cup did not pass from him. He drank the cup. He drank it dry. That tells me there was no other, there is no other way for God to forgive a sinner except through the death of his dear son. I'm convinced, aren't you? I'm convinced. There is no other way. May the Lord bless this word to us here this evening. We're going to sing another hymn before we're dismissed and see what it's going to be.