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Justified by Faith Alone: Paul Confronts Peter in Antioch (Galatians 2) | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the deep dive where we cut
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  through the noise and theological static to deliver
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  the knowledge and insight you need straight from the source.
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  OK, let's unpack this. Today we are undertaking a a
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  really critical deep dive into the very heart of the
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  Reformation's claims about salvation.
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  We're looking at key excerpts from John Calvin's commentaries
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  on Paul's letter to the Galatians.
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  And we're zeroing in on Chapter 2, the chapter's, you know,
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  incredibly high stakes. It's a sharp look at Apostolic
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  integrity, Christian liberty, and of course, the absolute
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  necessity of justification by faith alone.
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  Our source is Calvin's own words, which give us not just a
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  scholarly verse by verse explanation, but also a powerful
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  a very historically situated argument against legalism and
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  compromise doctrine. What's so fascinating here is
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  that Paul grounds his central doctrine not in some abstract
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  philosophy, but in concrete personal history.
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  He uses his own travel accounts and, well, the high stakes
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  confrontation he had with the chief of the apostles, Peter, to
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  establish the divine origin and purity of his gospel.
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  It's not just biography. I mean, it's a demonstration of
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  his theological certainty and it's designed to silence anyone
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  who questioned his standing or his message.
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  So our deep dive today will follow Paul's three critical
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  movements in this chapter. First, his confirmed authority
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  during the meeting in Jerusalem. Then the the necessary and very
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  public conflict with Peter and Antioch and finally the
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  resulting theological declaration that justification
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  is solely by the faith of Christ, which is really the
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  necessary take away from the whole affair, right so.
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  Let's start at the beginning of the chapter with the chronology.
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  This is something Calvin takes great pains to clarify.
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  Paul recounts a specific journey to Jerusalem 14 years after his
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  conversion. For you, the learner, the
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  timeline can be a bit tricky because Paul made several
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  visits. Calvin tackles this puzzle head
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  on. He does.
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  He suggests this visit is actually the second journey Paul
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  describes an Acts, the one where he brought relief funds to Judea
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  during the famine. We see that in Acts 12.
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  OK, so not the big Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.
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  No, and it's critical that Calvin places it before that
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  council. Why is that so important?
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  Well, that earlier dating is just essential to the logic of
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  the whole letter. If Paul had written this account
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  after the council decree in Acts 15, his opponents could have
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  just said he was complying with the church's official findings.
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  So it would have made his gospel look secondary derivative.
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  Exactly. But by placing this meeting
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  earlier, Paul supports his claim that his gospel was independent,
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  that he received it directly from God.
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  And you know, Calvin also reasons that if the whole
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  controversy over ceremonies had already been settled by that
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  official decree, then Peter would have hardly engaged in the
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  kind of dissimulation that hypocritical retreat from the
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  Gentiles that we see later in Antioch.
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  Right. His fear of offending the Jews
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  wouldn't make sense if the matter was already formally
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  decided. That's it.
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  It suggests the issue was still considered doubtful or
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  unsettled, which reinforces that earlier timeline.
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  OK, so that brings us to the why of the journey, Paul emphasizes.
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  He went up to Jerusalem, according to Revelation.
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  That phrase seems to define the entire visit.
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  It does. It means he didn't go to seek
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  permission or instruction or even validation from the other
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  apostles. He went because God told him to
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  go. For the purpose of having his
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  doctrine confirmed. Right.
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  And that distinction, you know, between seeking confirmation and
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  seeking authorization, That's what sets Paul's apostleship
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  apart. He communicated his gospel.
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  He didn't submit it for approval.
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  Precisely. He explained the doctrine he was
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  already preaching to those of reputation, the pillars, James,
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  Peter, and John. And Calvin is so clear on this.
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  They did not prescribe or add a single thing to what Paul should
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  teach. They just listened and expressed
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  concurrence. They acknowledged his
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  apostleship, they didn't create it.
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  Yes, and that immediately establishes his office as having
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  a divine origin, which cuts off any opponent who might claim his
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  message was second hand. OK, but hold on, let me stop you
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  there. If his gospel was truly from
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  God, why did he risk undermining it by needing human confirmation
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  at all? Isn't that?
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  I mean, isn't that a compromise? Why even bother?
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  As he says less by any means. I should run or had run in vain.
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  That's a great question, and Calvin addresses it directly.
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  Paul doesn't mean that God's word fails if people reject it.
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  He means his work might be rendered ineffectual to men.
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  It might not produce the proper spiritual building up the
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  edification in the wire church if his doctrine was seen as
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  conflicting with the original. Apostles.
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  So it's less about his own certainty and more about the
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  peace and certainty of the new believers.
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  Exactly. He understood that sound
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  doctrine, when it's questioned or presented alongside
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  conflicting reports, is just a massive opportunity for the
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  devil to sow division and shake weak consciences.
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  So agreement among the teachers help stabilize the faith of the
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  flock. Yes, he wanted that unity of
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  message to remove all the unnecessary hindrances, even
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  though fundamentally the certainty of faith rests only on
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  the naked truth of God. It's not about checking his
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  facts, it's about removing stumbling blocks for other
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  people. That's it.
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  If the most respected authorities disagreed, the
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  fledgling church would have just fractured.
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  And Calvin saw this in his own time, right?
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  He did. He talked about the mournful
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  controversy over the Lord's Supper and how disagreement
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  among respected leaders can affect even strong believers.
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  So if that happens over the sacrament, just imagine the
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  chaos caused by disagreement over the very nature of
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  justification. Paul was trying to prevent the
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  scattering of the week. This brings us to the test case.
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  Who was right there in the room with them?
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  Titus Paul brought Totus, an uncircumcised Greek, and he
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  deliberately was not compelled to be circumcised.
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  This is where Paul drew his line in the sand.
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  Right. And to understand the tension,
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  we have to define the status of the ceremonial law at that time.
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  As Calvin reminds us, circumcision itself was a
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  diaphora, a matter of indifference, morally neutral.
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  Yeah, Paul could use it or not use it, depending on the
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  situation. He did.
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  He famously circumcised Timothy because Timothy's mother was
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  Jewish and he wanted to avoid sending weak Jews he was trying
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  to reach. But with Titus, he stood firm.
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  He says he refused to yield, not for an hour.
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  So what made the difference between Timothy's situation and
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  Titus's? The difference was the intention
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  and the demand. Paul saw the malignant intent of
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  the false brethren who weren't looking for edification of the
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  weak. They wanted to spy out our
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  liberty and bring everyone back into bondage.
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  So they weren't asking, they were demanding.
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  They were saying this was necessary for righteousness.
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  That's it. And if Paul had yielded to that
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  demand, if he'd circumcised Titus in that context, he would
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  have functionally affirmed their false teaching.
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  He would have confirmed that salvation required something in
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  addition to Christ. And that single action would
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  have crushed Christian liberty for every Gentile believer.
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  So the issue wasn't the surgery, it was the theological
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  surrender. Exactly.
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  The duty of loving our neighbor, which calls for mildness, should
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  never be injurious to faith. Faith and the truth of the
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  gospel have to be the priority, and Calvin uses this to
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  distinguish between two types of opponents, the weak brother who
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  you bear with in love, and the concealed foe who you must
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  vigorously resist. The goal, Paul says, was that
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  the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
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  And Calvin defines that truth as the genuine purity and entire
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  doctrine of Christ. He gives a stark warning.
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  Even the smallest departure from the simplicity that is in Christ
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  gives the gospel a false and disguised aspect.
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  Add 1 human tradition as a necessary component and you've
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  ruined the whole thing. And this is where Calvin applies
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  Paul's logic to his own time. Time, isn't it?
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  He critiques those who would compromise doctrine.
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  He does. He says simply retaining the
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  name of the gospel is not enough if it's solid.
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  Purity is lost by mixing in human inventions or works
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  righteousness. You have to remember this is
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  Calvin in the 16th century, using Paul's defense of purity
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  to critique the structure and practices of the Roman church as
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  he saw them. So for him, it wasn't just
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  ancient history, it was a current controversy.
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  Not at all. He argues that trying to find a
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  middle ground and doctrine as if it's a negotiation is
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  destructive. Pauls refusal to yield even for
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  an hour shows that if the gospel is not pure, it ceases to be the
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  true liberating gospel. OK, moving on, Paul now
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  addresses his standing relative to the established apostles.
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  He talks about those who seem to be somewhat James, Peter, John,
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  and he uses language that sounds almost boastful.
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  He says it maketh no matter to me.
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  God accepteth no man's person. Calvin calls this holy boasting,
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  and it was totally necessary for doctrinal stability.
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  How so? If Paul had admitted that he
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  learned his gospel from them, his opponents, the Judaizers,
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  would have immediately claimed his previous teaching was flawed
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  or secondary. Right.
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  It would have undermined his authority and the message
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  itself. So by saying God accepteth no
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  man's person, he rejects any prestige tied to their rank or
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  reputation. He's saying that in spiritual
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  matters, outward distinctions are irrelevant to God's calling.
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  The rank of the man doesn't change the truth of the message.
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  And the practical outcome was confirmation, not contribution.
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  He stresses that the pillars added nothing to his doctrine.
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  Right. They heard his gospel, they
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  agreed it was the same message they held, and they had nothing
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  to add to it. And this leads directly to the
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  acknowledged division of Labor. In verses 7 through 9.
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  The Pillars saw the grace given to Paul and acknowledged that
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  the gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed to him.
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  Just as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter,
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  right? And Paul proves his ministry was
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  sealed by his effectiveness. He shows his province.
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  The Gentiles was his own because God wrought effectually in him.
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  That manifestation of divine energy was the sign that his
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  office was sanctioned by God. And this division of Labor is
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  precisely why they extended the right hands of fellowship to
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  Paul and Barnabas. It confirmed a partnership, not
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  a hierarchical submission. Paul was their equal.
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  And Calvin, of course, saw this as a direct challenge to the
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  later Roman claim of Peter's universal primacy.
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  Absolutely. He argues that if Peter's
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  apostleship had a primary reference to the Jews, the
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  circumcision, that any successor claiming primacy from Peter
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  should logically exercise it over the Jews, not claim
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  universal jurisdiction over the Gentiles, which Paul was
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  explicitly given. It sets them up as equals with
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  different jurisdictions. It does.
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  That brings us to the surprisingly simple final
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  request from the Pillars in verse 10.
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  After all that, the only thing they asked was that Paul should
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  remember the poor in Judea. Which he was already eager to
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  do, right? It's a beautiful moment.
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  Their only concern was practical Christian charity, showing that
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  true Christian liberty flows naturally into love and concern
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  for others. It doesn't get trapped in
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  doctrinal control or imposing new burdens.
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  Yeah, it ends the meeting on a note of genuine brotherly love
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  after all the hard lines were drawn.
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  OK, so now the mood shifts entirely.
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  We go from mutual confirmation in Jerusalem to outright public
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  confrontation in Antioch. Paul declare is when Peter was
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  come to Antioch, I was stood into the face because he was to
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  be blamed. A huge moment and we have to
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  stick with Kelvin's timeline here.
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  This had to have happened before the Acts 15°.
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  Right, because if the decree was already published, Peter would
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  have had no reason to fear offending the men who came from
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  James by eating with gentiles. None at all.
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  It places the fault squarely on Peter's individual fear and his
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  lack of resolution. So let's breakdown Peter's
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  behavior when he first got to Antioch.
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  Everything was fine. Yes, he was living in full
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  Christian liberty, eating freely, openly with the
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  Gentiles, acknowledging their equal standing.
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  That was correct Christian practice.
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  But then the Jewish visitors arrived.
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  And his fear got the better of him, he withdrew and separate
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  himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
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  This wasn't just bad manners. This was the sin of
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  dissimulation, hypocrisy. He was basically signalling with
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  his lunch choices that the Gentile believers were somehow
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  unclean or incomplete. That's it was imposing an unjust
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  condition, the yoke of the Law on them to restore fellowship.
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  His fear of the Jews led him to functionally deny the liberty of
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  the Gospel. And the scandal immediately
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  became systemic. Yes, Calvin highlights that
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  destructive ripple effect. The other Jews dissembled
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  likewise with him. Peter's hypocrisy swept away
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  even Barnabas, Paul's longtime partner.
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  It just shows how quickly poor leadership and the fear of man
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  can corrupt an entire community and threatened to split the
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  church along legalistic cultural lines.
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  It was a genuine crisis. That seems incredibly harsh,
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  though. Chastising the most senior
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  apostle in public? Was there no gentler way?
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  Well, Calvin is very firm that Paul's action teaches A vital
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  lesson about accountability. He chastised Peter publicly
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  before them all precisely because the offense was public
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  and was demonstrably dangerous. The integrity of the gospel
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  itself is at stake. Exactly.
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  The most dangerous scandal was the potential tearing a part of
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  the church, the threat to Christian liberty, and the
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  practical overturning of the doctrine of grace.
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  When that's on the line, public sin requires public correction.
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  And this also works as an argument against Peter's
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  supposed infallibility or untouchable primacy.
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  A massive 1 Peter, the chief apostle of the circumcision,
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  submissively bowed to the chastisement from Paul, his
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  equal in ministry. So what was Paul's actual
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  reproof? The logic he used is just
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  magnificent. It is he says to him, If thou
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  being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as
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  do the Jews, Jews, why compel us, thou the Gentiles, to live
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  as do the Jews? The hypocrisy couldn't be clear.
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  Not at all. Peter, a Jew, was enjoying the
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  freedom of the gospel himself, eating Gentile food.
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  But then he used the hammer of social exclusion to pressure the
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  Gentiles to Judaeus. And that word compellest is the
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  key. It's the whole crux of it.
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  He was using social and emotional pressure to impose the
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  law, and in doing so he was robbing believers of the very
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  liberty the gospel provides. His fear led him to choose
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  social comfort over doctrinal truth.
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  It shows that gospel purity isn't just about what you say,
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  it's about what you do. Yes, their conduct was a
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  practical denial of the doctrine they confessed.
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  To bind the consciences of godly men through social pressure was
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  to buy temporary unity at the price of freedom and truth.
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  So Paul didn't just tell Peter off.
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  He turned this public confrontation into the
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  definitive statement on salvation.
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  He uses it as a launching pad. That's the pivot.
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  The confrontation immediately transitions into Paul's formal,
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  powerful declaration of justification by faith alone.
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  He moves from Peter's failure and conduct to the foundation of
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  the Christian life. It starts in verse 15.
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  Yes, and he starts by speaking from that privileged Jewish
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  perspective. Quote, we who are Jews by
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  nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.
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  Right. The Jews had the covenant
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  advantage. They were considered holy by
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  nature. And then Paul uses this supposed
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  advantage to build his strongest conclusion.
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  Which is if even we, with all our inherited advantages, were
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  forced to seek salvation through Christ, how much more must the
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  Gentiles rely entirely on faith alone?
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  It just leveled the playing field.
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  It does, and that brings us to the core theological statement.
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  We, being Jews, have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
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  justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law.
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  For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
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  OK, let's spend some time here. This is the cornerstone of
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  Reformed thinking. What did Paul mean by works of
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  the law? Because the false apostles were
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  only arguing about ceremonies like circumcision.
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  Right, but Paul's response is comprehensive.
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  Calvin completely rejects the view that this only means
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  ceremonies of you. Some earlier figures held.
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  So the moral law has to be included.
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  Why? Because Paul is contrasting to
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  complete, mutually exclusive systems of justification, the
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  righteousness from law versus the righteousness from faith.
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  To be justified by the law, any law, moral or ceremonial,
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  requires one thing, absolute, uninterrupted perfection.
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  Which is impossible. For any mortal, yes, the law
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  demands perfect obedience to every part, and since we have 0
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  balance in our account of merit, seeking justification through
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  the law is completely futile. So works of the law includes any
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  human effort to achieve a right standing with God.
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  Correct. And that comprehensive scope is
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  what forces us entirely into the arms of Christ's free
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  acceptance. That clarity is what gives the
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  statement its exclusive nature, justification not by works, but
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  by the faith of Christ alone. And that's the absolute point of
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  conflict. That statement admits no
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  exception. The false apostles didn't reject
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  Christ, they just demanded that works be joined with Christ.
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  And if Paul had conceded that, the controversy would have
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  stopped. It would have stopped, but the
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  gospel would have been ruined. This is why Calvin totally
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  rejects any idea of half justification where faith and
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  works share the glory. It can't be both.
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  It can't. For us to seek the righteousness
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  of Christ, we first have to see ourselves as poor, destitute,
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  and stripped of any righteousness of our own.
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  The doctrine of justification by faith alone leaves no room for
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  human boasting. But Paul knew his opponents
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  would have a counter charge. In verse 17, they basically say
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  if faith makes Jews sinners just like Gentiles, doesn't that make
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  Christ the minister of sin? Right.
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  Doesn't Christ just take away our righteousness and strengthen
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  sins power? And Paul rejects this with utter
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  abhorrence. God forbid.
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  So how does he answer? It He clarifies that Christ
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  didn't bring sin, He merely unveiled the sin that was
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  already concealed under the false disguise of Jewish
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  holiness. The grace of Christ just levels
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  the playing field. Christ came to destroy the works
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  of the devil, not build them up or give sin a new license.
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  And the direct reply is in verse 19, where he shifts the blame
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  back to the law itself. For I through the law, am dead
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  to the law, that I might live unto God.
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  How does the law kill us? It kills our self-reliance.
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  When you truly perceive the law, when you see that it demands
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  flawless obedience and condemns the smallest imperfection, it
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  just leaves you in despair. It drives you away from trusting
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  in it. So that's its proper function to
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  kill the sinners confidence in their own merit.
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  Yes, but this death is not mortal, it's the cause of a
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  better life to live unto God. To be dead to the law is to
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  renounce its dominion as a covenant of works.
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  We're free to live for God, governed by gratitude, not fear.
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  Exactly. And this leads into that
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  magnificent paradox in verse 20. I am crucified with Christ.
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  Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
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  By being engrafted into Christ's death, we derive a secret
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  spiritual energy. The entire bill of guilt, the
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  curse of the law, is nailed to His cross.
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  We are delivered from the law's yoke only by becoming one with
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  Him. And yet he says I live.
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  Right, the paradox. Our bodily life continues.
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  We live in the flesh. We still eat, drink and work,
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  but the true animating life is hidden.
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  It's animated by the secret spiritual power of Christ,
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  enjoyed inwardly by the faith of the Son of God.
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  So Calvin makes it clear Christ lives in us in two ways,
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  governing us by his Spirit for regeneration and making us
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  partakers of his righteousness for justification.
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  Yes, and faith grants this life because it rests entirely on
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  Christ's action, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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  This is the foundation of the believer security.
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  That sequence he loved us and gave himself for us shows it's
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  all free grace. His death had no other reason
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  than unconditional love. And those last two words for me
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  are so emphatic, so essential. It's not enough to view Christ
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  as dying for the world generally.
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  Paul makes it personal. The individual believer has to
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  claim it. You have to atonement,
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  cleansing, satisfaction, all the benefits are represented in this
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  unique personal gift of himself. The doctrine is only truly
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  understood when that personal claim is grasped.
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  And then Paul brings the whole argument to a thunderous close
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  in verse 21. The charge of ingratitude.
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  I do not frustrate the grace of God.
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  To frustrate the grace of God means to make it void, to make
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  it useless, and to seek other aids for salvation.
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  Like works is exactly what does that I mean?
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  If Christ has offered such invaluable grace at such an
• 20:01
  immense cost, how dreadful is the ingratitude in despising it
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  by trying to add our own supplements?
• 20:08
  Which brings us to the final crushing argument.
• 20:11
  For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in
• 20:14
  vain. It's a perfect piece of logic
• 20:16
  that forces a choice. If we could produce even one
• 20:19
  drop of righteousness of our own, then Christ suffered
• 20:21
  unnecessarily. You can't be a captive who also
• 20:24
  simultaneously freed yourself. Exactly.
• 20:27
  This argument is aimed right at those who tried to unite the
• 20:29
  grace of Christ with works. He knew they didn't fully reject
• 20:32
  Christ, but by adding human effort, they fundamentally
• 20:34
  corrupted the grace He offered. Logic is conclusive.
• 20:38
  If justification is by the law, Christ is dead in vain.
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  It is. Paul's justification has to be
• 20:44
  absolutely perfect. He can't allow works any claim
• 20:46
  at all, not one drop of contribution.
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  And that is the ultimate lesson he derives from that public
• 20:52
  confrontation with Peter. Doctrinal purity is paramount
• 20:55
  and tolerates no compromise. So what does this all mean for
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  us today? Paul's confrontation with the
• 21:01
  pillars and especially his public correction of Peter.
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  It shows us the doctrinal purity is paramount.
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  The integrity of the gospel has to be maintained, even if it
• 21:10
  means publicly correcting the most senior figures in the
• 21:13
  church. For you, the learner, the key
• 21:16
  here is the absolute certainty of justification by faith alone.
• 21:20
  Calvin assures us that the law itself plays its role by driving
• 21:23
  us to Christ, stripping us of any boast in our own works.
• 21:27
  Our true life is now hidden with Christ, animated by his secret
• 21:30
  power and sustained by his love for us specifically.
• 21:33
  And this deep dive really reveals that true Christian
• 21:36
  liberty in Christ is defined by what we are not bound to do.
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  We aren't bound by the law as a means of earning righteousness.
• 21:44
  And that freedom is what enables us to fulfill the only command
• 21:47
  the pillars gave to remember the poor.
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  A concern that flows from spontaneous love and gratitude,
• 21:53
  not from legal necessity. Right now, here's something to
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  think about. Consider the nature of
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  dissimulation in our own context.
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  If Peter, an acknowledged pillar, could be carried away by
• 22:04
  the fear of men to compromise the truth in his everyday
• 22:06
  conduct, you know, signaling that some people are less
• 22:09
  accepted than others based on external behavior, where might
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  we in our own lives or communities be tempted to choose
• 22:15
  social comfort or cultural tradition over the pure and
• 22:17
  entire doctrine of the Gospel? Something for you to Mull over.