Get 30 FREE sermons.

STANDING AGAINST HYPOCRISY (5)

by Robert Dawson

Scripture: Galatians 2:11-16
This content is part of a series.


Standing Against Hypocrisy (5)
Series: Galatians
Robert Dawson
Galatians 2:11-16


Years ago, back in the mid 90's, Atlantic Monthly did and interview with superstar tenors Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciono Pavorotti. They were to perform together in Los Angeles. The reporter, as they often do to get a story or make a story a little juicier, tried to pry into their relationship to see if there was any animosity or competitiveness among them. Placido Domingo said, ''You have to put all your concentration into opening your heart to music. You can't be rivals when you are making music together.

Paul was faced with the difficult challenge of helping maintain harmony and unity between the Jews and Gentiles in the churches of Southern Galatia, churches at Pisidian Antioch, Antioch, Lystra, Derbe and Iconium.

It had been settled early on that the Gentiles could be saved and that the message of salvation should be preached to them but there were still some internal debates over what conditions needed to be met by the Gentiles in order to share in fellowship with the Jewish Christians. Some felt they should become more Jewish in their culture and anatomy (acceptance of circumcision).

Jesus had brought both believing Jews and Gentiles into the same band, but they were not ready to make music together. Galatians is not only a battle for doctrinal purity in the church but unity in the church as well.

Paul continues to use personal stories to help bring clarity and defuse tension. The story he uses is one of the more interesting in the NT. He tells us about a public confrontation he had with Peter over the issue unity, unity of fellowship and unity of message. (This would have been all over the religious tabloids of the day. It would have been Twitter and Facebook fodder).

Galatians 2.11-16 - But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to e ...

There are 13122 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.

Price:  $5.99 or 1 credit
Start a Free Trial