Lesson 5
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Peter’s Defection at Antioch

Galatians 2:11-21
11        But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
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 them which were of the circumcision.
13        And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with
their dissimulation.
14        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?
15        We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16        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.
17        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.
18        For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19        For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20        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.
21       I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

This passage suggests a number of interesting considerations. First of all we are rather astonished perhaps to find
Paul and Peter, both inspired men, both commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to go out into the world proclaiming
His gospel, both apostles, now sharply differing one from the other. It would suggest certainly that the apostle Peter
who is the one at fault is not the rock upon which the Church is built. What a wobbly kind of rock it would be if he
were, for here is the very man to whom the Father gave that wonderful revelation that Christ was the Son of the living
God, actually behaving in such a way at Antioch as to bring discredit upon the gospel of the grace of God. 

Peter came to Antioch, a Gentile city in which there was a large church composed mainly of Gentile believers,
where Paul and Barnabas had been laboring for a long time. I suppose he was welcomed with open arms. It must
have been a very joyous thing to have the apostle Paul to welcome Peter, and to be his fellow laborer in ministering
the Word of God to these people at Antioch. At first they had a wonderful happy time. Peter was once a rigid a Jew;
he could not even think of going into the house of a Gentile to have any fellowship whatsoever. Now both Jew and
Gentile were of the same body in Christ enjoying fellowship together. 

But unhappily some brethren came from Jerusalem who were of the rigid Pharisaic type, and although they called
themselves Christians, they had never been delivered from legalism. Peter realized that his reputation was at stake.
If they should find him eating with Gentile believers and go back to Jerusalem and report this, it might shut the door
on him there, and so prudently, as he might have thought, he withdrew from them, he no longer ate with them. 

Paul saw that our liberty in Christ actually hung upon the question of whether one would sit down at the dinner-table
or not with those who had come out from the Gentiles unto the name of our Lord Jesus, and so this controversy. 

“But when Peter was come to Antioch”, Paul says, “I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”
Paul realized that a divine authority was vested in him, and that he was free to call into question the behavior of Peter
himself though he was one of the original twelve. “For before that certain came from James” – James was the leader at
Jerusalem – “he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them
which were of the circumcision.” We read in the Old Testament, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth
his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). 

We now find Peter troubled by that same old problem that had brought him into difficulty before, afraid of what
others will say of him, and when he saw these legalists he forgot all about Pentecost, all about the blessing that had
come, all about the marvelous revelation that he had when the sheet was let down from heaven and the Lord said,
"What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). He forgot how he himself had stood in
Cornelius’ household and said, “Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company,
or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean”
(Acts 10:28). He forgot that at the council in Jerusalem it was he who stood before them all and after relating the
incidents in connection with his visit to Cornelius, explained, “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11). We might have expected him to say, “We believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ they shall be saved, even as we,” that is “these Gentiles may be saved, even as
we Jews are saved by grace.” This was a wonderful revelation of the grace of God. 

What made him forget all this? The scowling looks of these men from Jerusalem. They had heard that he had been
exercising a liberty in which they did not believe, and they had come to watch him. He may have thought, it would
never do for him to go into the houses of the Gentiles to eat while these men are around. So without thinking how
he would offend these simple Gentile Christians who had known the Lord only a short time, and in order to please
these Jerusalem legalists, he withdrew from the Gentiles as far as intimate fellowship was concerned.

He was not alone in this for he was man of influence and others followed him. “And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him.” It looked as though there might be two churches in Antioch very soon, one for the Jews and
another for the Gentiles, as though the middle wall of partition had not been broken down. What must have cut Paul
to the quick, his own intimate companion, his fellow-worker, the man who had understood so well from the beginning
the work that he should do, “Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.”

Barnabas who knew so much better, Barnabas who had seen how mightily God had wrought among the Gentiles,
and who knew that all this old legalistic system had fallen never to be raised again, even Barnabas was carried away
with their dissimulation. A better word would be their hypocrisy. They were hypocrites. A hypocrite is a person who
puts on a false appearance of virtue (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, p. 571). In the Greek, it means to “act
on the stage.” Peter might have said, “We are doing this to glorify God,” but it was nothing of the kind; it was
hypocrisy in the sight of God. 

It was too serious a matter to settle quietly with Peter in a corner, for it had been a public scandal, and it called in
question the liberty of Gentiles in Christ and so must be settled in a public way. One can imagine the feelings of Peter,
noble man of God that he was, and yet he had been carried away with this snare. Paul writes, “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?” Paul went on, “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.” 

Paul was saying, “We gave up all confidence in law-keeping as a means of salvation when we turned to Christ, and
now, Peter, would you by your behavior say to the Gentile brethren, ‘You should come under the bondage of
law-keeping, from which we have been delivered in order to be truly justified?’” Paul remind Peter, “ . . . for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” James gives us these words, “For whosoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). No kind or amount of works can save anyone.
Ephesians 2:8-9 states clearly, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” 

“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.”  Only those
who trust Him can speak like that. Can you say it from your heart? I hope so. Paul concludes this section with these
words, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in
vain.” Because righteousness could not be found through legality, through self-effort, Christ gave Himself in grace
for needy sinners, and He is Himself the righteousness of all who put their trust in Him. 

Lesson 5 Quiz on Galatians 2:11-21

 1. Who did Paul withstand to his face?
            A. Barnabas                      B. Peter    C. John            D. James 

2. Before the men from Jerusalem came down, Peter ate with
            A. Jews     B. Gentiles             C. Both            D. Brought his lunch

3. After the men from Jerusalem came down, Peter ate with
            A. Jews     B. Gentiles            C. Both            D. Whosoever bought               

4. Paul said that Peter lived after the manner of the ________________________ . 

5. Peter wanted the Gentiles to live like the ______________________ . 

6. A man is not ____________________ by the ________________ of the law. 

7. Man is justified by the ________________ of Christ. 

8. By the works of the law shall ______ flesh be justified. 

9. Paul says, “I am __________________________ with Christ.” 

10. “___________________ liveth in me” he continued. 

11. Peter is _________ the ___________ upon which the Church is built. 

12. Who came to visit Paul in Antioch?
            A. John            B. James            C. Peter            D. Titus 

13. The men from Jerusalem had never been delivered from
            A. Paganism            B. Idealism            C. Legalism            D. Nationalism 

14. ___________________ was the leader in Jerusalem. 

15. Whoso putteth his ______________ in the LORD shall be _____________ . Prov. 29:25 

16. Peter fell because he was afraid of what others would _________ of him and he
 ___________________ what God did for him. 

17. He forgot that he said at the council in Jerusalem after Cornelius’ conversion, “We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus ______ shall be saved, _________________________ .” 

18. Peter influenced others to follow him, one being __________________________ . 

19. Paul reminded his hearers, “We gave up all confidence in law-keeping as a means of salvation
when we ________________ to Christ.” 

20. No _______________ or ____________________ of __________________ can save anyone.

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