All One in the Body of Christ

Base Scripture: Galatians 1-3

If you’re following me on my journey through the Bible in its entirety, I’ve made it Galatians. The message of Paul’s Letter so far has captivated me with regards to the struggle that the early church had with unity. The church of Galatia seems to be turning back to their old ways before Christ, which was living by the law. They were being swayed into believing that faith in Christ alone was not enough for salvation. Paul makes it a point to describe how baffled he is that they have turned away so soon (Galatians 1:16, NLT). Paul reminds them that anyone who tried to tell you that faith in Christ is not enough for salvation is perverting the Gospel (Galatians 1:8-10, NLT). He proves this truth by explaining how the message of salvation was revealed to him by Christ Himself on his way to Damascus (Galatians 1:15-16, NLT). Then Paul received confirmation from the apostles, and they were in agreement with him spreading to the gentiles that faith in Christ alone is all that is required for salvation (Galatians 2:1-3, NLT)

Paul knew he was so right about the message that when false brethren tried to supplement faith in Christ with Jewish regulations, Paul didn’t even entertain them (Galatians 2:4-5, NLT). In his words, these false brethren were trying to enslave them. Paul defended the purity of the Message even when it came to confronting one of the pillars of the church. Peter, the apostle of the Jews, was being hypocritical by disassociating with the Gentiles when his Jewish believers came around (Galatians 2:11-12, NLT).

Due to Peter’s influence, others followed his lead of hypocrisy by separating themselves from the Gentiles (Galatians 2:13, NLT).

Jew and Gentile believers both believed that Christ is the Messiah and that salvation is made possible through Him. However, there still seemed to be separation between Jew and Gentile. The Jewish believers tended to look down on the Gentile believers because the Jews were God’s chosen people since the beginning (Romans 8:1-5, 11:2, NLT). They worshiped God first. He had covenants with them and they received His promises (Romans 9:4-5, NLT). They also followed all these regulations set by the Law of Moses, in all they thought they were better because they had the jump on everyone else. But I love how Paul explains that although Gentiles (most of us) are from a wild olive tree (originally not part of Abraham’s descendants), we are like branches grafted into Abraham’s tree. So now all believers (Jew and Gentile) share in Abraham’s blessing given by God (Romans 11:17-18, NLT).

We are all part of God’s special olive tree through Christ Jesus (Romans 11:17, NLT).

And if you truly believe that there is no difference in salvation between believers that feel the need to adhere to Jewish regulations and believers that have freedom from the law, then you should be able to fellowship with each other freely. Peter knew this to be true, and that’s why initially he was fellowshipping with the believers free from adherence to the Jewish regulations and customs. When it came to undergoing pressure from his Jewish peers, he folded to please man instead of God.

I have to explain the necessity of Paul confronting Peter. This is the same Peter that was in Jesus’s most inner circle. He was the first of the 12 to say that Jesus is the Messiah; the Son of God (Matthew 16:16, NLT). Peter was assigned to be apostle of the Jews. Peter was a pillar of the early church. He could’ve used that opportunity to unite all believers together and make a statement that whether you adhere to the law or find absolute freedom from it, if you have faith in Jesus Christ alone, we are one body. That certainly would have been the catalyst to fulfilling the prayer Christ prayed over His disciples that they need to be united so that unbelievers would believe in Jesus (John 17:20-22, NLT). Instead, bold Peter gave in to man’s pressure and tried (if even unintentional) to please man. As a result, other Jewish believers followed suit. Barnabas, a Jewish believer, disassociated with believers like one of his traveling companions; Titus, a gentile believer (Galatians 2:1, 13, NLT).

Can you imagine separating from a longtime friend and companion just because of some differences in conviction?

You both believe Jesus is the way, and that makes you both equally saved, but because one adheres to all these regulations and the other puts his trust solely in Jesus, you can’t be companions. Paul did not stand for such hypocrisy. He confronted Peter in front of all who were present and reminded him that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not be obeying the law (Galatians 2:16, NLT). THAT is doctrine, not conviction! Paul, formerly the most zealous in following Jewish regulations, said that the law condemned him so he stopped trying to meet all of its requirements in order to live for God (Galatians 2:19, NLT). He stated that it was no longer him who lives, but Christ who lives in him. So he trusted the Son of God and found the grace of God meaningful in doing so. If you had to adhere to the law in order to be a part of Christ’s body, then there would not have been a need for Christ to die (Galatians 2:21, NLT).

Let me be clear, Peter was not a false brother. He fully believed that salvation comes from faith in Christ Jesus alone. Peter and Paul were in agreement about that (Galatians 2:6-8, NLT). The issue Paul had with Peter is that his beliefs were not aligning with his actions. He was not promoting unity within the body of Christ but instead promoting superiority and partiality which God does not do (Galatians 2:6 & Acts 10:34-36, NLT). No person, Jew or gentile, was “more saved” than another. All who believed were made right with God by faith in Christ alone (Galatians 2:15-16, NLT). In Christ, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28, NLT), there is simply believer. And if Peter was not trying to please James’ friends, he would’ve not only continued fellowshipping with the Gentile believers, he could have promoted unity within the body of Christ by inviting James’ friends to join him with the Gentiles. Barnabus and Titus could have strengthened the resolve in their friendship as well. My heart flutters at the thought of it.

What a beautiful example that could have so perfectly illustrated the essence of what Christ wants for His body; unity.

Think about it this way, what if your hands only acted independently of each other, but never together? They’re both hands, they have the same purpose, simply one is right and the other is left. With one hand you’re limited. You may be able to pick something light like a pencil or shake a hand of a stranger. But if both of your hands work together, they can pick up a growing precious baby, demonstrate total surrender to Him in worship, embrace a friend that you haven't seen in a long time. In the same way, independent of each other we may accomplish some things, but we’re limited. Together, we can glorify God the way He intended us to. In the story of the Tower of Babel, the people were so united they tried ot build a tower to the heavens. God Himself said that nothing they set out to do will be impossible because they were united. He had to separate them through language (Genesis 11:1-9, NLT). What if we as believers all became united and this time with God’s blessing? Nothing would be impossible for us! We can fellowship together; we can learn from and embrace each other.

We would be unstoppable!

Being united with only people who believe the same things as you about everything is nice and makes things easier, but that doesn’t make you any different from the rest of the unbelieving world. Democrats’ associating with only Democrats is not fascinating. Black people associating with only black people isn’t intriguing. Americans associating with only Americans isn’t spellbinding. Presbyterians associating with only Presbyterians isn’t captivating. What would be a sight to see is witnessing Democrats unite with Republicans, all races intermingling in harmony, Americans allying across the border, or every believer regardless of denomination or conviction lifting up praises to our Most High God in unison. These things are rarely seen, some only in movies. But we are not of this world! Unlike them, we should have the love of God inside of us that gives us the ability to embrace our differences and unite together under the banner of Jesus Christ. If you can’t do that or it doesn't sound at all appealing, then in the words of Paul: the hypocrisy.

#april #love #unity #conviction