The phrase “he would eat with the Gentiles” in Galatians 2:11-13 is in the imperfect tense in the Greek showing that Peter’s eating with the Gentiles was a regular practice. Peter’s withdrawal was from a habit of having always done so. When a Jew refused to eat with a Gentile, he did this in obedience to Jewish rituals. Peter no longer kept a strict observance of the Law of Moses for himself, but by his actions, he implies that Gentiles believers must keep the law – when he himself does not! They were good enough to enter the church but not good enough for Peter! Peter knew that these men would be offended by his fellowshipping with the Gentiles so he treated them as the Judaizers did as second class Christians. And he did this with full knowledge of:
•Of what he had learned in 3 ½ years of observing Jesus who ate and drank with sinners
•Of what he had been told by the Lord not to call unclean that which God has made clean
•Of having witnessed firsthand the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius before he had even finished the message
“The sins of teachers become the teachers of sin!” and Paul wouldn’t stand for this so he publically confronted him in his hypocrisy. Peter’s actions were based upon “fear” but what did he have to fear from those Judaizers from Jerusalem? It seems that Peter’s fear led him to compromise so as to not lose his position of power! But that being the case: “Who was in power and leading the Church in Jerusalem, Peter or the Judaizers?” Clearly Paul had to address this hypocrisy or the outcome would have led to two classes of Christians. Some of the Jewish believers viewed the outcome of the Jerusalem council as the creation of two groups:
•Jews: Who could go on living like Jews keeping the law and maintaining their traditions.
•Gentiles: Who were free circumcision and the law but were no the less 2nd class citizens.
These observations reveal to us that the old Peter was still present in Peter and even the baptism of the Holy Spirit hadn’t washed away its stench. Oh dear ones we cannot tame the flesh, bathe it even in Holy Water, no it must die daily, moment by moment! That is why Paul said in Romans 6:11 that we must “also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Martin Luther said, “No man’s standing is so secure that he may not fall. If Peter fell, I may fall.” Why even Barnabas fell under their influences and the “man of encouragement” became the man of “discouragement” and his name at the moment was “Bummer” instead of “Barnabas”!
Here again was a man who according to Acts 11:24 was characterized as a “good man FULL of the Holy Spirit.” Dear ones, that is why “one death” won’t suffice and neither will “one filling”. I need to die daily and be continually under the spout where the Holy Spirit comes out! Let these two (Peter and Barnabas) serve as a reminder that we must repeat the above process moment by moment! What responsibility and accountability those who are leaders have, be that in the home, on the job or in the church.