Paul mentioned the incident in which he reproved Peter, the Judaizers' favorite apostle, to further establish his own apostolic authority and to emphasize the truth of his gospel.
2:11 Peter had shaken hands with Paul in Jerusalem (v. 9). However when Peter came to Antioch (of Syria) Paul opposed him. Luke did not record this later event in Acts, and we cannot date it exactly. It may have happened shortly after Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem to Antioch or, less likely, after the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15:30).61
2:12-13 Peter ate with the Christians at Antioch, who were both Jews and Gentiles, until some Jewish visitors came from Jerusalem (cf. Acts 10:28; 11:3). They were from the group that believed Gentiles needed to undergo circumcision before they could become Christians. They were not "from James"in the sense that James endorsed their views; he did not (v. 9). Perhaps they came from the same church as James. When these men--Paul did not call them brethren--came, they intimidated Peter. He gradually separated from the Gentile Christians, evidently to avoid conflict. The other Jews living in Antioch followed Peter's example, as did Barnabas. They were being hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another. Peter had a tendency to compromise his convictions when he was under pressure (cf. Matt. 16:16-23; 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27).
"It is perhaps curious that nobody seems to have recalled that Jesus ate with publicans and sinners', which can scarcely mean that he conformed to strict Jewish practice [cf. Mark 7:19]."62
2:14 Why did Paul not follow the procedure for dealing with an erring brother that Jesus had specified (Matt. 18:15)? He obviously knew about it (cf. 6:1). He may have done so before rebuking Peter publicly, but since the offense was public the rebuke also needed to be public. In ministry it is frequently difficult to know whether to follow Matthew 18:15 or 1 Timothy 5:20 in dealing with people who need correction. Normally we should start with a private rebuke (Matt. 18:15) and then, if unsuccessful, we should proceed to public confrontation (Matt. 18:16-17).
Paul probably rebuked Peter publicly because Peter's behavior had influenced many other people. He criticized Peter for inconsistency. Peter had also cast doubt on the truth that God accepts Jews and Gentiles equally thus playing into the hands of the Judaizers. In addition, he was insulting his Gentile brethren and acting contrary to his own convictions.
The weaker brethren in Jerusalem may have concerned Peter. The Gentile brethren in Antioch whom Peter made to look and feel like second-class Christians by his behavior concerned Paul. Peter and Barnabas may have felt they needed to become all things to all men to win some (1 Cor. 9:22). Paul saw that their behavior was implying a difference between Jewish and Gentile Christianity. This was as much a threat to Gentile liberty as the intrusion of the false brethren (v. 4).
Peter and Paul both acknowledged the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church (cf. Acts 11:17). However it evidently took Peter longer to see the practical implications of this truth and to apply them to his conduct.
2:15-16 Some interpreters believe Paul's words to Peter continue through the end of chapter 2 (e.g., NIV, NKJV, New Scofield Reference Bible note). Others believe they end with verse 14 (e.g., NASB, RSV, NRSV, NET). It seems more likely to me that they end with verse 14.
"This verse [15] and the next form a single, overloaded sentence in the Greek; they have been aptly described as Paul's doctrine of justification in a nutshell' . . ."63
Unsaved Jews regarded Gentiles as "sinners."Paul ironically referred to them as that since Peter was discriminating against them by behaving as he had.
"This characterization at once focuses attention on the sharp distinction between Jew and Gentile, for what made the Gentiles sinners in the estimation of the Jews was not only that they did not observe the law but also that they did not even possess it and consequently lacked the possibility of obtaining righteousness through it."64
Paul went on to remind Peter that both of them knew that God does not justify people (declare them righteous) because they keep the Mosaic Law, part of which involved dietary regulations.
". . . Paul's recital of his address to Peter in Antioch is progressively colored by polemic against his Galatian detractors and, as it were, gradually shades into a theological discussion with his readers."65
". . . Paul intends by the phrase works of the law' the Jewish way of life, described in 2:14 by the word iodaikos[like a Jew], characterized by exclusiveness and epitomized by the murder of Christ and the persecution of his followers, and argues that to return to that way of life would be to make Christ a servant of sin."66
Justification comes by believing in Christ, period. Paul, Peter, and the other believers assembled had simply believed in Christ (cf. Job 9:1-2). Paul stated as a maxim that obedience to the Law never justified anybody (Rom. 3:20).67
"This [v. 16] is one of the most important verses in the Epistle. . . .
"The threefold repetition of the doctrine of justification by faith in this one verse is important, because it shows the importance the apostle gives to the doctrine. Besides, the three phrases increase in emphasis."68
"Justification should not be confused with forgiveness, which is the fruit of justification, nor with atonement, which is the basis of justification. Rather it is the favorable verdict of God, the righteous Judge, that one who formerly stood condemned has now been granted a new status at the bar of divine justice."69
"To be justified means to be declared righteous before God, that is, to enjoy a status or standing of being in a right relationship with God, of being accepted by him."70
In verses 15-21 Paul was evidently answering charges that his critics had leveled against him. It would be easier for us to interpret these verses if we knew what those charges were. As it is we can only infer what they were from Paul's answers.
2:17-18 Paul refuted the charge of the Judaizers that justification by faith led to lawless behavior. He said this made Christ, in effect, a promoter of sin. This could never be. If a Christian puts himself or herself back under the Law, the Law will show him or her to be a sinner since no one can keep the Law perfectly. These verses are a strong testimony that Christians are free from the requirements of the Mosaic Law.
What did Paul mean when he said that "while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners"(v. 17)?
"Here he [Paul] may simply mean that when law-abiding Jews like Peter and himself cease to look to the law as the basis of their justification before God and find that justification in Christ instead, they put themselves effectively on a level with sinners of the gentiles': they have, in that sense, been found sinners'--they themselves (kai autoi) as much as lesser breeds without the law. But this applies to all Jewish Christians, even to those who have not appreciated the law-free character of the gospel: by yielding faith to Christ they have in logic, if not in consciousness, abandoned faith in the law, and have had to take their place as sinners, utterly in need of God's justifying grace."71
". . . Paul is arguing that although it is true that in order to be justified in Christ it is necessary to abandon faith in the law as a means of salvation (premise 1) and hence to become sinners in the sense of being reduced to the level of the Gentiles and sinners' of v. 15 (premise 2), the conclusion does not follow that Christ thereby becomes an agent of sin (in the sense of a promoter of actual wrongdoing), support for this statement being given in vv. 18-20."72
The "For"at the beginning of verse 18 is probably coordinate with the "For"at the beginning of verse 19. Both verses give reasons why "it must never be"(v. 17). Verse 18 gives the hypothetical negative proof: actual transgression inevitably follows when the law becomes the authority in the believer's life. Verse 19 gives the actual positive proof.
2:19 This verse means that the Law condemns or kills everyone. If someone is dead, he has no more responsibility to what killed him. He is in that sense free. He can from then on devote his energy as a resurrected person not to pleasing the Law but to pleasing God.
"By virtue of his incorporation into Christ (cf. v. 17) and participation in Christ's death Paul has undergone a death whereby his relation to the law has been decisively severed and the law has ceased to have any claim on him (cf. Rom. 7:4, 6). But since the vicarious death of Christ for sinners was exacted by the law (cf. Gal. 3:13) and was first an affirmation of [the law's] verdict,' Paul's death to the law through participation in Christ's death can be said to be through [Gr. instrumental dia] the law."This death through the law . . . to the law' means not only that the law as a false way of righteousness has been set aside but also that the believer is set free from the dominion of the law (under which there is transgression, Rom. 4:15) for a life of consecration to God (cf. Rom. 7:6)."73
2:20 "As a result of his participation in Christ's death on the cross, Paul now explains . . ., the life he now lives is not lived by him--by the I' of v. 19, the self-righteous Pharisee who based his hope for righteousness and salvation on strict observance of the law--but by Christ, the risen and exalted One, who dwells in him."74
When a person trusts Christ, God identifies him or her with Christ not only in the present and future but also in the past. The believer did what Christ did. When Christ died, I died. When Christ arose from the grave, I arose to newness of life. My old self-centered life died when I died with Christ. His Spirit-directed life began in me when I arose with Christ. Therefore in this sense the Christian's life is really the life of Christ.75
We can also live by faith daily just as we became Christians by faith (v. 16). Faith in both cases means trust in Christ. We can trust Him because He loved us and gave Himself up as a sacrifice for us.
In this verse Paul's use of "crucified"instead of "put to death"or "died"stresses our sinfulness. Only the worst criminals suffered crucifixion in Paul's day. His reference to "the flesh"here is literal. It means our physical bodies. We can see Paul's great appreciation of God's love for him. He said Christ loved "me"and gave Himself for "me."
"The whole of Christian life is a response to the love exhibited in the death of the Son of God for men."76
May we ever grow in our appreciation of the fact that He loved "me!"
"The man on the cross is facing in only one direction. He is not going back, and he has no further plans of his own."77
2:21 Paul concluded by affirming that he did not set aside the grace of God, as Peter had done by his behavior. Peter had nullified God's grace by implying that it was not enough. He did this by putting himself back under the Law, saying in effect that obedience must accompany grace to make it sufficient. If that is true, Paul ended, Christ died needlessly. It is then really obedience that saves, not Christ.78
The final verses of this section (vv. 18-21) form a bridge from Paul's personal experience to his doctrinal explanation. In chapters 3 and 4 he continued his defense of faith alone as the only method of salvation.
