“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 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 Peter 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? “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:11–16)

How do you react when someone tries to correct you? It probably depends on the situation. If you are learning something new and trust the person speaking to you, most likely you will readily listen and take the correction to heart. However, if you are confident in what you are doing and someone calls you out on it, you might get defensive and try to justify what you are doing.

Would it make any difference if the person offering correction was doing so on the basis of God’s Word? I’d like to think it would in my life, but I also know how pigheaded I can be sometimes.

Paul mentions a time he had to call out Peter. Peter ate with the Gentile Christians as long as the Jewish Christians were not around, but would not do so when the Jewish Christians came for fear they would not approve of it. Some of them thought Gentiles should “become Jews” before becoming Christian by being circumcised. They were putting a legalistic requirement on being a follower of Jesus, one He never imposed. That is why Paul called Peter out.

He did so on the basis of the message they both heard and knew and believed and proclaimed:  …a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

 Peter’s behavior would send the message that the Gentile believers were not truly or fully Christian, which was not the case. All it takes is faith in Jesus. Our deeds, our efforts, our actions do not contribute to our salvation. Jesus did everything necessary for us to be saved. He lived perfectly. He died in our place as our substitute. He conquered the grave for us. And He gives that freely to anyone who believes He is who He says He is. Peter’s actions were implying otherwise, so Paul tries to correct him.

Of course, once we are saved, we strive to live our lives according to God’s will, what He has revealed to us in His Word. This is a response to knowing we are already saved, not the cause of our forgiveness. That is an important distinction to maintain, which Peter failed to do here.

Lord, help me to be open and receptive to the correction your Word gives me in my life. Thank you for the assurance that I am forgiven and redeemed for Jesus’ sake.