“Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed…”
With this verse, the location changes from Jerusalem to Antioch of Syria. Paul continues in this section to prove the validity and independence of his apostleship by telling how he rebuked Peter in Antioch. Paul’s message of grace is independent of the church in general and the apostles in particular.
Now when Peter had come to Antioch,
Antioch was the capital of Syria situated on the river Orontes and founded by Seleucus Nicanor in 300 B.C. Seleucus named the city after his father, Antiochus. Many Jews lived in this city. The followers of Christ were first called Christians there. Antioch was the largest city in Syria. Paul ministered there (Acts 13:1; 14:26; 15:22ff; 18:22). Peter came to Paul’s stomping grounds.
I withstood him to his face,
Paul “withstood” Peter to the “face.” The word “withstood” means to set against. Peter attacked the grace principle by withdrawing from grace believers and aligning himself with legalistic believers (2:12-21). Paul opposed Peter’s legalism. Peter’s concession to legalism endangered the essence of the gospel, so Paul confronted him face to face. The two apostles came to a head-on collision.
Principle:
It is not enough to believe in the principle of grace, but we must also practice the principle of grace.
Application:
Legalism stifles the dynamics of any church. Many Christians grow up in legalistic homes. From early childhood, they learn certain things are taboo, and they have difficulty separating these beliefs from true Christianity. As a result, they never learn how to walk in the Spirit or serve the Lord with grace. As Paul stood against legalism, so must we. Are you willing to take a stand for grace?
Thank you Grant for the above clarification. I read other Bible commentaries that suggest that it was not apostle Peter but another inferior apostle ‘Cephas” that Paul could not have used such a ashed word on Peter.
But if it was Peter the apostle that Paul was addressing, then he was wrong and ‘arrogant’ of him. He could have chosen his word carefully even though peter was too legalistic, hypocritical and unstable.
Olawale, I think it was because Peter was the other major missionary on the world. He held very high standing in the Christian world. For him to distort the doctrine of grace the way he did after agreeing to the the principle in the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15 showed that he was hypocritical (two-faced). He took other leaders with him into this “hypocrisy” (Ga 2:13). The entire argument of Galatians is how to live the Christian live. Do we do it under the grace principle or under the principle of legalism, to which Peter gave the appearance that legalism was valid by his actions. Peter and others had fallen from the grace principle to a legalistic principle. It is a serious thing for Christians to live legalistically when God through Christ has met every demand of God. We cannot placate God by our works when Christ already appeased God’s holy demands.
Grant, if that is the case, why are we being legalistic about 1) Payment of tithe since we are under the dispensation of grace. 2) When Paul said in 1 Core 14:33-35 that women should keep silence in the church, why did we ignore the command/instruction and allow women to still preach in the church as against Paul’s warning. 3) is Paul not being legalistic by his writing in 1 core 14:33 above?
Dear Grant, you have not supplied any answer to my above question, hope you receive it?
Olawale, the Bible does not teach tithing in the New Testament: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/doctrine/biblical-giving/
Regarding the 1 Corinthians 14 passages, see my studies there.
Dr Grant,
Can you please explain 1 John 5:16-17
Olawale, I have done 24 books of the Bible verse-by-verse. If you use a computer, go to the right column then 1. hit book, then after a popup occurs 2. choose the verse that you want. If you use a smartphone, go to the bottom of the page and then hit 1. book then 2. then verse. Here is the study you asked for: https://versebyversecommentary.com/1-john/1-john-516/ There are a number of studies for the 2 verses of which you ask. To go to the next study, just click on the next verse like 1 John 5:16b and proceed until you have worked your way through verse 17.
Thanks Dr Grant, I will visit the link and actually go through the book verse by verse.