“Now when Peter had come
to Antioch, I [Paul] withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for
before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when
they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the
circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so
that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that
they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter
before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not
as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by
nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ” ― Galatians 2:11-16
Something that I have always
been dismayed by is the tendency for many Christians to put their natural
heritage, their ethnicity, ahead of their spiritual heritage. Paul confronted Peter over that. My ancestors are from Scotland – not Africa,
not Asia, not South or Central America. That determines what I look like on the
outside but it does not define who I am on the inside – if I am truly born
again and not merely religious that is. Paul was at the pinnacle of what it
meant to be a Jew when he met Jesus on the road. He was persecuting Christians – and the next
thing he knew, he was defending them. He got it.
“There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28
There is no room for racial
division in the Body of Christ. We
should not extend our natural self and demand acceptance of our flesh before we
extend our spiritual self in fellowship and unity.
“A new commandment I [Jesus]
give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love
one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love
for one another.” – John 15:34-35
Did you catch that? People
will know that we are Jesus disciples if we love one another – that love is a
love born out of our new nature – it comes from God. The world is full of division - the Body of
Christ is “supposed” to be united in love by the Spirit through faith in Jesus.
If I love you by the Spirit but you tolerate me in the flesh there is no
unity. What does the Spirit have to do
with the flesh. It is an uneven yoke and will be easily broken. John 17 is all about unity in the Body. If you have a problem loving your brother or
sister – no matter what the color of their skin is, what part of the country
they live in or how much money they have or don’t have – you have a love
problem – not with them – that is merely a reflection – a response. No, the problem is that you don’t love God
enough – pure and simple – like or not – believe it or not – I didn’t say it –
God did.
“We love Him because He
first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
And because we love Him, we
love others. There you have it. Perhaps
it is something to pray about.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
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