Whom Shall I Fear?

Last week we read Galatians 1 and talked about the fear of man and people pleasing. In Galatians 2, we see a situation in which Paul is forced to confront the issue head-on.

Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.

Galatians 2:1-2 NIV

Notice here that Paul was ready to accept correction if the gospel he was preaching was falling short of the truth. He went in with humility, willing to be wrong. He found, however, that some of the Jewish leaders were preaching a gospel that was still under the Mosaic law, which Jesus came to fulfill.

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Galatians 2:3-5 NIV

The Jewish believers were still enforcing the Mosaic law as if they were superior Christians because they had been circumcised.

What are you elevating to the level of the gospel that is not prescribed to Christians in the Bible?

Paul was faced with a dilemma here. The people preaching this false gospel appeared to be very powerful or influential leaders in the Jewish church.

As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.

Galatians 2:6-8 NIV

Paul was not afraid of the Jewish leaders because he knew that God didn't care what kind of earthly power the leaders had because that power has no eternal value. God is the ultimate authority, and Paul chose to not let the fear of man overtake him but appealed to the authority of God.

Who are you elevating to a place of authority that is reserved only for Jesus?

Now, Peter had been charged with preaching to the Jews specifically, and he had begun to cave to the pressures of these Jewish leaders. When they had arrived, Peter had stopped eating with the Gentiles and only ate with the Jews because "he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group" (v.12).

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 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?

Galatians 2:13-14 NIV

Peter himself did not live like a Jew, the Enduring Word Bible commentary says,

"Paul first reminded Peter that he himself did not live under strict obedience to the Law of Moses. 'Peter, you eat bacon and ham and lobster. You don’t keep a kosher diet. Yet now, before these visitors, these certain men… from James, now you act as if you keep these laws all the time.'" 1

Peter acted out of fear of man. This does not mean he rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ that went "first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles" (Romans 1:16). Paul started acting as if the Gentile Christians were not Christian at all and exclusively had fellowship with the Jewish (Circumcised) Christians. He just acted against his own convictions to appease the Jewish Christians and keep the peace. However, he was still sinning in rejecting the true gospel and Paul was right to confront him publicly in this case because Peter was in a place of authority.

I often fear man just like Peter and I am strangely encouraged to know that one of the great heroes of the faith still had sin struggles that he had to battle his whole life. (Think back to his denial of Jesus, it was rooted in the same fear of man). These fears may never fully leave our lives, but we can battle the temptation to water down the gospel and compromise on the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. If I have a heart for the people I'm ministering to, I will not fear their judging reactions, only the final judgement they'll have to endure for all eternity if they don't know the true gospel!

Paul then goes on to emphasize that we are not free from any laws at all but are now under the law of Christ.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Galatians 2:19-21 NIV

And that's the gospel! The law does not save us, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, who died to cover our sins - every area in which we have failed to uphold the law. We are not righteous because of anything we do, but only because Christ's sacrifice wipes our slate clean. When I find myself trying to control my circumstances or earn this love that is freely given, I am trying to live under a false gospel based on what I do, but no amount of good can earn me love or worthiness.

It's time to stop performing to be seen by human leaders who cannot give us anything of eternal value. It's time to stop trying to prove my worth to God. It's time to start living out of the abundance of joy in my heart and live for God because of the grace that He has given us. The secret to a life that is free from people pleasing is a life that leans into the grace of God! May our strivings cease today!

1. Enduring word bible commentary galatians Chapter 2. Enduring Word. (2023c, March 16). https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/galatians-2/