The Law’s Proper Place – Gal. 2:11-21
Our last study in Gal. 2 focused on Paul’s visit to Jerusalem after 14 years of working solo in Syria and along the SE Mediterranean cost. We didn’t get into the details of that visit; we will today. We did talk about Paul having to present himself to the Jerusalem church — and the early church leaders, too — as being on the same team. He was not their enemy just because he worked solo. He was also not someone they needed to fear.
Today’s study shifts gears a bit. It will cover an incident during which Paul had to correct one of his peers: Peter to be exact. Peter was tasked by Jesus to “strengthen your brethren” upon his conversion. Despite being one of the top dogs among the apostles, even Peter got it wrong at times. We’ll see in chapter. 2 that Paul felt it was his job to correct Peter on one such occasion. His correction provides a great lesson for us relating to both the Jewish law and Gentile attempts to save oneself through adherence to a moral law.