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The Amish Voice 3
2. Peter was walking a hypocritical path, living one way while
telling others to live another way. When the Judaizers were
not around to see him, he fellowshipped with the Gentiles;
but when the strict religionists arrived, he began to be more
strict and follow their strict life-style. Note: he even began to
compel the Gentiles to undergo the ritual of circumcision and
submit to the law of Moses in order to be accepted into the
true church of Christ.
APPLICATION:
The fact that Peter could be led astray is a strong warning to every
believer.
We must guard against an unrighteous walk, against not being
true to the gospel.
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and
fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive” (Ep.4:14).
We must guard against a hypocritical walk, against living one
way while telling others to live another way.
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy broth-
er’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own
eye?” (Mt.7:3).
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things
which I say?” (Lk.6:46).
ILLUSTRATION:
Are you an honest person? If you were given an “honesty
test,” would you pass or fail? The Lord gave Peter an honesty test in
the area of relationships...and he failed, proving to be hypocritical.
The Christian believer is charged to be honest in his relationships
with others.
In Moody Monthly...George Sweeting writes about the des-
perate need for honesty in our culture. He refers to Dr. Madison
Sarratt, who taught mathematics at Vanderbilt University for
many years. Before giving a test, the professor would admonish
his class something like this: “Today I am giving two examina-
tions, one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. I hope you
will pass them both. If you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There
are many good people in the world who can’t pass trig. But there
are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination
of honesty”
(Paul Lee Tan.
Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations:
Signs of the Times
, p.560.)
3.
A BELIEVER IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH ALONE (vv.15-16).
Note that Paul now identifies himself with the Jews, for he was a Jew
by
nature
, that is, by birth. Note also the reference to the Gentiles as
“sinners.” The meaning is
rank sinners
. The Jews considered them-
selves to be religionists and considered the Gentiles to be rank sin-
ners. What Paul was saying is this:
all Jews (religionists) who had
believed in Christ
had confessed the very same thing the rank sinners
had confessed: a person is justified by faith alone and not by the
works of the law.
By coming to Christ, the Jewish religionists were confessing
that their religion, ritual, works, and law were not able to save them.
They needed something more, much more; therefore, they had turned
to Christ. Note three crucial points.
1.
A person is not justified and made acceptable to God by
works nor by law.
Why? Because man is short of God’s glo-
ry; he is imperfect, incomplete, and less than what he should
be. Yet everything that lives in God’s presence must be per-
fect and complete, full to the ultimate degree, for God is the
very embodiment of perfection, completeness, and fullness.
Therefore man, who is imperfect and incomplete, cannot
stand or live in God’s presence.
However, a question needs to be asked: Is there a work that
man can do or a law that he can keep that will make him per-
fect? God says, “No!” For everything that an imperfect being
does is imperfect and incomplete. An imperfect being cannot
do anything perfectly good, and certainly not good enough to
make him perfect. An imperfect man is short of God’s perfec-
tion; therefore, no matter what man does, he is short of what
he should be. He could always be better and do better.
Hence, man is not saved by works nor by law. If our salva-
tion is dependent upon some works that we can do, then we
are hopelessly lost. For what work can we do that will make
us a perfect and eternal creature? No man can make us perfect
and eternal and cause us to live forever in a perfect and right-
eous world—and we know it. What can any person do to
make his loved one live forever—to be perfected and made
eternal? There is no work that we can do or law that we can
keep to save ourselves from unrighteousness and death. If we
are to be justified before God, accepted as perfect and com-
plete, it will not be by the works of the law.
“Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the
law is the knowledge of sin” (Ro.3:19-20).
What then is our hope? How can we become justi-
fied, made perfect and complete before God? God says there
is only one way. Note the middle of the verse: we must be-
lieve “in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith
of Christ” (v.16).
2.
A person is justified by the faith of Christ alone
(see A
CLOSER LOOK, Justification—discussed later in this study).
3.
No person is ever justified by works nor by law
(see A CLOS-
ER LOOK, Faith vs. Works—discussed later in this study).
QUESTIONS:
1. You have heard it said, “Don’t do as I do; do as I say.” What
expectations do you place on others that you refuse to apply to
your own life?
2. Can you identify any reasons why some believers act differ-
ently when they get around other people? Do you act different-
ly? Or is your life consistent no matter who you are around?
3. What are some ways you can keep from being hypocritical?