Shabbat Shalom everyone. Open your Bibles please to the book of Galatians. Our study today is in the book of Galatians. We continue with the second chapter. Galatians chapter chapter 2 today and verses 11 to verse 21. Galatians 2, verse 11 to 21. The Apostle Paul, Shaul Paul, is writing to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Galatia. He was very much concerned because there were those who came down from the city of Yerushalayim and told these Gentile believers, believers from among the Gentile world, and they said to them that they are really not saved except they will be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. And so the Apostle Paul was so concerned with the fact that the truth of salvation is only on the basis of the finished work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and not through any law-keeping, circumcision, baptism, speaking in tongues, any man-made rules.

Salvation is entirely on the basis of the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. So he wrote the whole letter that we know today as unto the Galatians. We finished chapter 1. We're already almost concluding now for today, for this ministry, the second chapter. And in chapter 1 and chapter 2, Shaul Paul presents before the Galatians his personal experience. You might say his own biography how he himself rejected Yeshua at first he became a believer and then how eventually he himself received a Revelation from the Lord concerning the truth of the gospel the besoah in Hebrew and so we are when we arrive to Galatians chapter 2 notice what he says in verse 11 but when Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed for before that certain came from James Yaakov he did it with the Gentiles which the goyim but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing them which were of their circumcision and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him inasmuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, Amitat HaBesorah in Hebrew, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, liveth after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews, we who are Yehudim, Jewish, by natural or by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua HaMashiach. Even we have believed in Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of the Messiah and not by the works of the law.

For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified but if while we seek to be justified by Mashiach by Christ by Messiah we ourselves also are found sinners is therefore the Messiah the minister of sin God forbid for if I build again the things which I destroy I make myself a transgressor for I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God I am crucified with Mashiach nevertheless I live yet not I but Mashiach liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law, then Mashiach, Christ, is dead in vain.

Now, beloved brothers and sisters, these are very, very strong words, but very clear words that Shaul Paul gave the brothers and sisters of the local assembly in Galatia when he wrote to them this very, very important letter, which is known to be as the letter to the Galatians. If you remember, in the first 10 verses which we have covered in our previous meeting, Shaul Paul said already to the Galatians there that he went to Jerusalem and he brought with him Titus and when he brought with him Titus the leaders in the city of Jerusalem did not demand from him to circumcise Titus he already had received the approval of their brothers and sisters i should say the the spiritual leaders of Israel of the messianic congregation in the city of Jerusalem he received from them already the approval that the message of the gospel that he is preaching to the goyim to the Gentile in Asia Minor was just the same as the message that Peter and James and John and Jude and all the other brethren Jewish believers preached to the Jewish people he didn't preach a different gospel a different besorah or different message of the grace of God it was the same message and they didn't ask from him to circumcise Titus because Titus was a Gentile believer in Yeshua the Messiah who was saved and forgiven by grace.

Through faith in the person of Yeshua the Messiah so some came down from Yerushalayim asking then the believers from among the Gentile world that they have to be circumcised and keep the law, otherwise they are not saved. And so Paul was very strong. And so now you notice that in these verses of chapter 2, he actually mentioned to them that the brethren in the city of Jerusalem understood that there is a message of the gospel to go on the one hand to the Jewish world and they were used by the Lord to preach the message of the gospel to the Jewish world and that God raised the Apostle Paul, Shaul Paul, to preach the very same gospel to the Goyim, to the Gentile world.

And all came in on the basis of the grace of God. Now it is so easy to know truth But it is so difficult to practice this truth on a day-by-day practice. And that's why now in these verses, these verses, we find out that the Apostle Paul confronts Peter with the truth of the gospel. He is confronting, imagine, Shaul Paul, confronting a man, this is Peter, Shimon Petros, whom God used to preach the message to the Jews in Acts chapter 2, to the Samaritan in Acts chapter 8, and to the goyim, to the Gentile, in Acts chapter 10. Imagine Peter that received the keys, you might say, the responsibility to open the doors to the Yehudim, to the Shomronim, and to the goyim, to the Jews, to the Samaritan, and to the Gentile.

And Peter, in practice, had a relapse. Peter, in practice, like you and I, in our walk with the Lord, many times we have, you might call it, we have a time in which we need to be corrected because we don't really live in the light of the truth of the gospel. So imagine now, in these verses of our chapter, Galatians 2.11-21, we have two major sections. The first section, of course, is verses 11, 12, and 13. We find out the relapse of Peter in the city of Antioch. Apparently, at some point of time, Peter came down from the city of Jerusalem and went to Antioch in Syria, where the apostle Paul was ministering, was sharing the word.

In fact, Shaul Paul was commended to full-time ministry out of this assembly, local assembly in Antioch of Syria. And Peter came down, and Peter, you remember, Peter was the one that Paul was already visiting him earlier in chapter 15 of the book of Acts. Peter commended Shaul Paul. Peter gave him the right hand of fellowship to Shaul Paul. But now when he came to Antioch, the vast majority of the believers in the town, in the city of Antioch, were Gentiles. There were some Jewish believers, but the vast majority was from the Goyim. They were believers who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. So you notice in verse 11 and 12 and 13, we find out in Galatians chapter 2 he said but when Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed.

Apparently Peter when he came down to Antioch he now was sitting or living with the Gentile believers. Remember let me remind you brothers and sisters that Shimon Petos was from the Galil he was a Galilean, he was a Jewish man, he was walking with Yeshua in his three years, three and a half years of ministry, he actually was become one of those foundation apostles that Yeshua the Messiah called for the ministry, and now that he was used by the Lord to preach the message in Jerusalem him without fear from anybody he was even placed in prison because of the preaching of the message of the gospel but now when he came down to Antioch notice it says here in verse 11 he had to be withstood by Shaul Paul to the face because Peter had done something that he shouldn't have been.

Doing practically what he understood positionally in the truth of the gospel the Jew and Gentiles are united into one body entering into the body of Messiah on the same ground of faith in a Messiah but now what we find out that Peter had a relapse and the Apostle Paul had to confront him so you notice it says after verse 11 that Peter came to Antioch and Paul Shaul Paul had to confront him in verse 12 Peter have done something wrong and listen to what we read here in verse 12 for before that certain came from James this is Yaakov who was the half-brother of Yeshua the Messiah who was the leader one of the leaders in the city of Yerushalayim there was some who came from James.

It doesn't mean that James sent them. No, they came from Jerusalem. And notice that before certain came from James, he, that is Peter, did eat with the Gentiles. In other words, he was, he had, he sat down to enjoy a meal with the Gentiles. Now let me remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that before the gospel was going to the Gentile world our Jewish people the nation of Israel was called to be separated from the Gentile world not to intermarry with the going not to follow their mannerism in fact if you will notice in the book of Joshua before Joshua ended his life notice that Let me just read you a verse in Joshua chapter 23.

Joshua told the people of Israel in Joshua 23 and verse 11. He says, take good heed therefore unto yourselves. That ye love the Lord your God, else if ye do in any wise go back and cleave to the remnant of these nations. This is the leftover of the people in the land of Israel from among the Gentile world. He said, even these that remain among you and shall make marriage with them and go in unto them and they to you know for certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps unto you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God had given you.

He already told them when he gave them the law in Exodus chapter 34. He repeated it 40 years later in Deuteronomy chapter 7. And he's repeating it again when they enter into the land in Joshua chapter 23 as they were conquering the land of Canaan. Separate from the Gentile world, don't let them come in unto you, don't you go in unto them, because they will ultimately lead you to follow other gods. So there was the commandment from the God of Israel for the Jewish people not to mingle with the nations of the world but now Yeshua came Israel as a nation did not recognize that he was the Messiah the gospel went throughout all the nations of the world as Matthew chapter 28 said go ye preach the gospel unto all people baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to live a godly life.

Well, those apostles began, Jewish apostles began to preach the gospel. Many of the nations started to come in. They left their idols. They left all their manner of behavior in past and they turned their hearts to Yeshua, the Messiah. And as we say it today, they got saved gloriously saved but are they equal to us Jews are we coming in on the same ground are we able to fellowship with each other or should we have a Jewish assembly and a Gentile assembly and we're all going to live separately because after all we are Jewish and they are. Gentiles and Paul understood the truth of the gospel that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God that we all could not keep the law because the law condemned us because if we violated one command of the law we are guilty of death and the Messiah came and that he died so we will not need to die.

So the Gentiles receive it just like the early Jewish believers. So when Peter came to Antioch he sat and he ate with these Gentiles believers because he said, listen, we are brethren. We are part of the same body. And so, but what happened, listen to this. When, notice that verse 12b when they were come in other words those people who came from Jerusalem who they were Jews who some of them may have believed in Yeshua the Messiah but they were really not giving the understanding that the Jew and the Gentiles are now on the same ground are one body they are united together and that we are no longer to separate from these Gentiles believers we may eat things that are kosher if we want we may eat things that have been given to us by God if they have the liberty to eat other things that's fine but we are coming in on the same ground Peter had good time with them for a while but when those that came from this city of Jerusalem notice what he did here but when they were come he withdrew himself and he separated himself see what Peter did in practice what he did not believe in doctrinal teachings.

Doctrinally, there is no longer that what is known to be as a separation and as a withdrawing from a Jew and a Gentile who truly belong to Yeshua, the Messiah. But in practice, Peter failed. And notice that Apostle Paul is not ashamed to say here in this passage he said I withstood him to the face as it says here because he was to be blamed for before that certain came from Jacob he did it with the Gentiles but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself fearing notice Peter now feared according to verse 12 at the end fearing them which were of the circumcision in other words what he was afraid and it and you can understand that brothers and sisters because you can't even imagine how embedded the truth of separation from the Gentile world for was for our own Jewish people for the Jewish people as far as God is concerned on the basis of Exodus 34, Deuteronomy chapter 7 and other passages, Joshua 23 and Nehemiah and Ezra mixing with the Gentile world and adapting their manner of life was unacceptable.

And it's still unacceptable to the Jewish conservative men and women today. But when they became believers, and you as a Jewish person became a believer, the truth is simply that, that we all come in on the same ground. We all came short of the glory of God. We are all deserved to die. And the fact that we became believers is because we fail to fulfill and to obey the law of God and that's why we needed the Mashiach and we have accepted him so Paul withstood him and Peter's blame was that he withdrew himself from the Gentile believers he separated himself from them and because of fear now I'm fascinated with this because it's amazing how we are.

Peter was not afraid to preach the message of the gospel by the power of the Spirit of God in the city of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2. He was not afraid to go to prison in Acts chapter 4. But he was afraid when some Jewish religious men from among the nation of Israel who came to force themselves on the Gentiles believers that they must be circumcised and they must keep the law of Moses otherwise they are not saved from them at this time of his life he was afraid of we are no different beloved brothers and sisters we know very well how many times we are maybe bolded or emboldened to preach certain the message of the.

Gospel in some time but other time when we have some family issues and circumstances with our background we all of a sudden shiver and we don't stand for the truth that we have learned in a practical way when situations arise and so here we find a Peter afraid because them which were of the circumcision I want to mention even though they came from James it doesn't mean that James sent them because in Acts chapter 15 he said we haven't sent those people those people that came they crept in they are forcing themselves on us and even on you there we haven't sent them but they are the one that seek to overlord or to Lord themselves over others and to expect from them to do certain things which were not given to us in Scripture so Paul is standing for the truth of the gospel and notice what he said in verse 13 now Peter's action influenced even other Jewish people and you know Peter was an apostle shaliach in Hebrew it says in verse 13 and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him.

Inasmuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation in other words with hypocrisy in other words even Peter's action influenced other believers Jewish believers if the apostle Peter is not anymore eating with those gentle believers I myself cannot do that because if Peter the apostle doesn't do it I should not do it even Barnabas according to verse 13 Paul is telling to us even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation and brothers and sisters this was practically wrong. Now, Paul doesn't say that anyone must eat this kind of food or that kind of food. No, because in fact, in Romans chapter 14, and I want to read you, turn with me to Romans chapter 14.

I want you to see that. In Romans chapter 14, Paul understands that we have liberties today as believers to eat certain food or not eat certain food, to keep certain day or not keep certain day. While we are not under the binding demands of the law, because we are under the law of the Messiah, we are still having liberties today that we must. Give room for one another to uphold. Notice, for example, in Romans chapter 14, it says in verse 1, him that is weak in the faith, receive. Receive ye, but not to doubtful disputation. For one believe that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs.

Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not. And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth. For God hath received him. If you notice a little bit further down, verse 5, he said, one man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind, he that regardeth the day regardeth unto the Lord, and he that he regardeth not a day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eateth eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

You should read Romans chapter 14, and you see that Paul was not careless in what he was saying but he did not want anyone to tell the believers in Galatia and to you and I as well today that our salvation dependence upon the keeping of the law or being circumcised or keeping a certain day or eating certain food or all sort of things being baptized or being speaking in tongues no our salvation entirely depended upon the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah the very fact that we believe in Yeshua the Messiah is because we fail to keep the demands of God and we deserve to die because of our sin and our failure so in verses 11 12 and 13 of.

Galatians chapter 2 Paul presents before us the relapse of Peter at Antioch and how he confronted him publicly because Shimon Petros was an apostle he was shaliach but he himself had failure in his life I'm sure Paul himself had failures in his life and I'm sure other apostles had failed in their life, and you and I had much failure in our lives, and God is gracious to restore us to himself. You notice later on when Peter wrote his epistle, he was writing about Paul, how the apostle Paul's writings were really divinely inspired. Peter, it seemed to be, took it to heart, and he understood that and he sought to be a continue to be a blessing to the people of God but now notice that from verse 14 Galatians 2 verse 14 all the way to the end of the chapter to verse 21 we find out that the rebuke of Peter by Paul in the city of Antioch he gives us now the manner whereby he rebuked Peter and by giving us this rebuke he really dealing not only with.

Practice but also with doctrine with teaching you know sometimes as I mentioned earlier believers in Yeshua the Messiah don't practice what they preach they don't live out including us we don't live out what we truly understand from Scripture and I noticed that because you and I today live at the end of 2019 when Paul wrote this letter that was almost 2,000 years ago when we look today in the body of Christ the body of Messiah we see the many many divisions among the professing church not Jewish people now among the Gentile believers in the world and everyone has his own ways and they hold on to their manners of practices, manners of beliefs and manners of the way they live.

They separate themselves for one reason or another, just the same as our own Jewish brethren have done it in the first century, some 2,000 years ago. So when we read this passage, make sure that you understand that in light of this, how does that. Apply to me today? How do I understand that in my life today? But these principles are important to hold. So notice when Paul rebuked Peter, he gives us an answer. He rebuked Peter and he gives us information upon some doctrinal truth that Peter, in a sense, did not exhibit by doing what he did. And notice the answer that Paul gives us here in the next verses.

Five points Paul is emphasizing in these remaining verses. First of all, verse 14, Paul based his rebuke of Peter upon the fact Peter denied by practice the unity of the body of Messiah. When we separate from each other, and we say, no, no, I'm not going to sit with the Gentiles, or I will not sit with this group of people, and I will not sit with this group of people, we really deny the unity of the body of Messiah. Notice in verse 14, he says, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly According to the truth of the gospel, the Besorah, the good news, that the Messiah hath died.

I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the murder of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Notice what he's really saying to Shimon Petrus. And by the way, he did it publicly because Peter was an apostle. He rebuked him before everyone. And he said to them, Peter, you're being Jewish. And you're not really walking because you're the one who's given the world the message of the gospel. But you are really not walking upright according to the truth of the gospel. What is the truth of the gospel?

The truth of the gospel that we all have sinned, all have sinned, Jew and Gentile alike. We all violated the law that God gave us. We have all coveted. We have all lusted. We have all dishonored our parents. We have all lied. We have all stalled. We have all done all the things that the law demanded. And if we fail it, we deserve to die. All of us Jew and Gentile alike so what shall we do when God says now because you are guilty the verdict is that you are guilty and you deserve to die I do something on your behalf I will send the Messiah and the Messiah died he paid the price that you Jew and Gentile alike you and I Jew and Gentile alike are deserve to die because we have failed to submit entirely to the law of God so the truth of the gospel that we all came in guilty but came in forgiven accepted in the beloved so now that we are in notice that as he continue here in this verse 14 he says really you didn't walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel the unity of the body of all believers in Yeshua the Messiah this is the truth of the gospel and then I said unto Peter before all if you've been Jewish and you live after the men of the Gentiles you were here in Antioch you enter into the house of Cornelius you told the Gentiles.

About the love of God you've been with them and been in their home even though it was very difficult for you being Jewish because we understand it but yet now you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews live in other words by separating yourself when the people who came from James the people who came and you all of a sudden didn't want anymore to sit with the Gentile believers what did you really say by this? That there is not really one body there is a body for the Jews and there is a body for the goyim, for the Gentiles and that really we are not united into one body we are simply two separate groups but that's not the truth of the gospel we all came in on the basis of the work of Yeshua the Messiah we all came in, you remember what Paul said elsewhere in 1st Corinthians 12 and verse 12 and verse 13 he said for as the body is one and as many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is the Messiah guf echad in Hebrew one body we don't have two assemblies Jewish assembly and Gentile assembly we have one single church ecclesia assembly called the body of the Mashiach Jew and Gentiles who believe on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah enter into this body in the same way notice verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 12 for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentile.

Whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit Jewish or Gentile bond that means slave or free we all came into this one body we don't stop to be Jews or stop to be Gentile in a practical way here in this world i come from a Jewish family others come from a Jewish family others come from a gentle family we don't stop to be what we are with our here and now here in this world but we all enter into that one body on the same basis and if we will start to separate each other and say no no no I don't sit with you for a meal and I don't sit with you for a meal what does they say maybe we should have a different meeting we'll start a meeting for the Jews in the morning earlier and then we'll have the meeting for the Gentiles a little bit later on see how how wrong it is because we have a head in heaven, the Mashiach all of us are members of this body.

All true believers and I'm emphasizing true believers are part of that one body now that does not mean that a Jew has to be a Gentile now and that a Gentile has to be a Jewish person now if you used to eat this kind of food fine we have been told we have been instructed by the law of Moses not to eat pork for example or we have been instructed not to let's say do certain things that the Gentile world are doing if it's not against the will of God if it's not violating the word of God there are liberties that we are to give that's why Romans 14 had been given to us but to say I'm not going to sit with you that is another a story.

And by the way, brothers and sisters, we need to be sensitive. We need to be very sensitive. Some Jewish people are convicted about certain days that they want to keep in their life or certain foods that they want to eat or not eat. We need to be sensitive. To each other. And Paul was very sensitive. But when you are afraid from those Jewish believers and while you have already have enjoyed time with your fellow brethren and now you withdraw from them and you separate from them what you're really saying you're denying the truth of the body of Messiah in practice even though doctrinally you know it very well you also very well know how to teach that but how to live it, it's another story and so Paul said in verse 14 he based his rebuke of Peter's action upon doctrine of the truth of the gospel and the first one is by Peter's action Peter actually was saying that there is no unity in the body of Messiah now notice in the second thing you continue on and in verses 15 and 16 we are in Galatians 2 verses 15 and 16 again Paul based the rebuke of Peter's action upon the doctrine of the truth of the gospel and Peter by his action denied the justification is by faith in Yeshua the Messiah alone and not by any other means.

Notice that, verse 15 and 16. We who are Jewish by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus the Messiah, in Yeshua HaMashiach, that we might be justified by the faith of the Messiah, and not by the works of the law, for, listen to what he added at the end, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. How much can you keep in order to be saved or be justified? You know, the word justified is mentioned many times here in this chapter.

What does that mean to be justified? It means that God looks at you and declares you just as you've never sinned. But wait a minute. When you said that I should not covet, I coveted. When you said that I should not lust, I have lusted. When you say that I should not lie, I lied. When you say that I should honor my parents, my father and my mother, I have violated this God. And now you declare me just? You see, the problem is not that God's law is a problem. No, no, no, no. God's law is holy. God's law is perfect. God's law is upright.

The problem is not with God's law. The problem is right here. It's with our human nature. We have sinned. We have inherited a sinful nature and that nature will die because it failed to obey, to submit to the laws of God. And God said that's why it was necessary to bring someone who will be punished but he have never seen this someone the Mashiach himself and if you will only believe on him you will be justified. So Shaul Paul is saying to Peter Peter by your action you deny that justification is really only by faith in Yeshua the Messiah and that's why he said to them in verse 15 we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the gentleness you and I Peter you and I Barnabas you and I all the Jewish believers in Yeshua the Messiah the reason that we came to faith in Yeshua the Messiah because we violated the word of God the law of God we didn't keep the law of God we could not keep the law of God because of our sin nature that's why God has introduced the sacrificial system When we sinned, a lamb died.

When we sinned, a ram died. When we sinned, the goat died. He took our sins temporarily, covered them, made atonement for our sins temporarily until the Messiah came. And once the Messiah came, he died. He fulfilled all the types and the pictures that were given to our people of all, the people of Israel that pointed to the Mashiach, to the Messiah. You know what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31? He says, Behold, the day comes, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters. Verse 32 says, Not according to the covenant that I made with the fathers in the day that I took them by the hand and bring them out of the land of Egypt which, listen to this which my covenant they break and because we broke the law covenant we deserve to die and that's why the new covenant was necessary because somebody died but not you and I the Mashiach Yeshua who never sinned and he didn't die for his own sins he died for yours and mine he became a substitute and that's why God said already in the days of Jeremiah long before Yeshua came he said I'm going to make one day a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah I will make with them another covenant because this covenant they broke and by the way if you try to keep this covenant even by thinking that you're going to do it you already broke it we broke it we fail God we have a sin nature that does not mean we have to carelessly live Godless in this world.

No but with the help of the Mashiach we are able with his grace to live a life that is honoring to the Lord but justification is not on the basis of law-keeping and on the basis of the grace of God. And that's why he said, we Jews by nature. We are not Gentiles, sinners from the Gentiles. We are sinners, Jewish sinners. We know that a man cannot be justified by the work of the law, Paul is saying. We know it, Peter. We know it, Barnabas. We know it, we all know it, that we cannot be declared just by God on a basis of seeking to keep the law.

Because the law says if you violate it in one command, you have violated them all. And so he said, but by the faith of Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus the Messiah, even we have believed in Yeshua the Messiah that we might be justified by faith and by faith alone, brothers and sisters. No more. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. Paul said to Titus in chapter 3, and he said to the Ephesians, By grace are ye saved through faith, and that is not of yourself, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Notice this statement at the end of verse 16.

For by the works of the law shall no flesh, Jewish flesh or Gentile flesh, shall be justified. It just doesn't work. We will talk a little bit later why was the law given to our people Israel. The law was given to reveal our sinfulness. It was not given to improve our old nature I'll read it to you from Scripture from the word of the Lord this is not my thoughts these are clearly taught in Scripture so two things so far verse 14 by doing what he did he denied the unities of the body of the Messiah in verse 15 and 16 by separating himself from the Gentiles believers he really denied that justification is by faith in other words what he was really saying that those Gentiles are really not justified they are not quite in they are not quite declared just by God because I have to separate from them as those who came from Jerusalem who came and said that they are really not saved except they will be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.

So really, what we are really saying, oh, I got to separate from them. I cannot be with them because they are not justified. They are still in a sinful state. I am okay, but not they. See, that's how Paul is very doctrinally accurate. Now look at the third thing that Paul, Shaul, is mentioning there to the Galatians in Acts chapter 2. Now notice verses 17 and 18, he is continuing to base his rebuke of Peter's action upon the doctrine of the truth of the gospel. And now thirdly, he's saying that Peter's action was a Revelation of the denial of the freedom that we have from the condemnation of the law.

See, the law is so holy that every time you violate it, it condemns you. Every time we violated the law, even driving today, one kilometer beyond the allotted kilometers that was given to us by the law of the land, you violated the law and you are condemned. And I as well. Even if you thought in your mind something that was not right, even if you were jealous or envious, Even if you are proud or something that you have done, the law is given to show us the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. And so in verses 17 and 18, by separating themselves from the gentle believers, what we really say is that we deny the freedom that we have from the condemnation that we deserve from a holy law.

Notice it says in verse 17, Paul points out to the fact that if on one hand we are going to the law for justification, and on the other hand we are going to the Messiah for justification, then really what we are really saying, what we are really saying, notice in verse 17 but if while we seek to be justified by the Messiah and then on the other hand we and he doesn't say it here but we are separating from those Gentiles believers he says we ourselves also are found sinners is therefore Christ the minister of sin God forbid notice what he's really saying see because by his action Peter what he did he separated from the Gentile believers because actually as far as he was concerned by his action that is they were really not justified.

So in another word what he was saying oh I better go back with those people who came from Jerusalem who demanded circumcision I got to go back and be with them as in other words as being with those people who demand you to keep the law. In other words what you're saying you are going back to the law trying to be justified by the law and then you are going to Jesus the Messiah and try to be justified by him. What at the end is remaining that you are still a sinner if the law couldn't help you that's why you went to Yeshua and now if you are with Yeshua you believe in Yeshua and the Messiah but then you are abstaining from those Gentiles because they are not quite saved you are really saying that it's not really only Yeshua and the Messiah but we need to keep the law to be circumcised what you are really saying that neither this nor that avail you for your justification and you are really still condemned you see at the end of verse 17 he says really he says then Christ or the Messiah is minister of sin as it says here but then he said God forbid you mean if i believed in Yeshua the Messiah and then i'm going back now to try to be as if it were by my action saying that i need to be justified on the basis of law keeping or being circumcised what you are really saying that.

Yeshua caused you to leave the law and therefore Yeshua became a minister of sin says God forbid the only reason that we came to Yeshua the Messiah by faith is because we violated the law and we are no longer condemned when we have trusted in the Messiah because the law condemned us but the Lord Jesus who died and paid for our sins he liberated us and you remember what Paul says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1 he said therefore there is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus in the Messiah Yeshua he repeated in verse 3 for what the law could not do that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

In other words brothers and sisters this is amazing you know what the law condemned us but when we came to faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah who. Died and paid for our sins. There is no longer condemnation in the believer. So you see what happened? By Peter's action, which he naturally did because of fear, separating himself from the Gentiles believers, his action have given the indication or the impression that really We are still condemned and we haven't been freed from the condemnation that we deserve because we violated the law. So what's the point? If I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and I am completely forgiven and being justified by Him and there is no more condemnation for those that are in the Messiah, Why then, in a practical way, we do certain things we should not do as believers in the Lord Yeshua, such as separating ourselves from other people, especially in this context, assuming, wait a minute, they are not quite there.

I am okay, but they are not quite there. That's why he says, listen, what we are really saying that Christ, that the Mashiach, is minister of sin. Is Yeshua a minister of sin? He died for your sin, for my sin. He is not a servant for sin. Shall we continue in sin? Romans 6, that grace may abound. God forbid, the Lord will not want us to continue to live a sinful life, but positionally He had freed us from the condemnation that we deserve because we violated the law of God. And so, verse 14, his practice or Peter's action was a denial of the unity of the body of Messiah.

Verse 15 and 16, his action was a denial of the fact that justification is by faith alone in Yeshua the Messiah. Thirdly, verses 17 and 18, his action was a denial of the freedom that we have from the condemnation that we deserve from the law because we fail to submit to the law. Now notice this, number four, in verses 19 and 20, continues to emphasize the fact that Peter's action, or by his action, he gave the impression of the denial of the truth that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Hebrew Scriptures. You see, brothers and sisters, God had predicted long before Yeshua came that at a certain point of time he will send to Israel the promised Messiah.

He will be born of the virgin Miriam. He will live in the city of Nazareth. He will minister among the people of Israel in the land of Israel, in Galilee and in the city of Jerusalem. He will die a substitutionary death and he will be buried and he will be risen again. You have Scripture upon Scripture that are teaching to us long before the Brita Hadashah, the new covenant was given to us, that the Messiah will come in order to fulfill the law which Israel and the world failed to fulfill. And so he says now in these next verses, in 19 and 20, notice, for I, listen to what he says here, beautiful, amazing.

This is doctrine, this is teaching. This is not feelings. This is not emotion and human opinion. These are facts that are taught to us by the word of God, by the living word of God. These are divinely inspired word of God. He says, for I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. Wait a minute, Paul. What do you mean, I through the law am dead to the law? He says, look, God gave us the law. We violated the law, therefore we died. Do you know what happened, beloved brothers and sisters? Because of our sin nature, because of our failure to rise up, because of God's perfect holiness, our failure to rise up to His expectation, the law kills us.

That's what the Bible says. That if we violated one law, one command of God, we deserve to die. And as far as God is concerned, you remember what Paul said in Ephesians 2, you were dead in trespasses and sins. So we, because of the law, we have been declared the verdict is guilty. And when we died, because we are guilty, we have to be punished and die. That's why an unsaved person, or unforgiven person, whether it is Jewish or Gentile, who rejected the Gospel message, was maybe circumcised, sought the best to keep the Shabbat day, was very much keeping kosher in his own home, never eating pork, was keeping all the holidays, the feasts that God had appointed, and yet rejected the Messiah, God will declare that person dead because why?

Somewhere along he violated the word of God. He didn't quite make it. So that's why the Messiah had to come. So the Messiah will pay for the sin of this person who didn't do it, whether Jewish or non-Jewish. I, through the law, am dead to the law. The law, violated by men, killed the violator. You remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 10 about our own people, the Jewish people? He said in Romans chapter 10, Brethren, verse 1, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel that they might be saved for listen to this for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge for they've been ignorant of God's righteousness God's justification and going about to establish their own righteousness notice this they're going about to establish their own justification their own righteousness listen God I don't need you and what you provide for me through the Messiah I'll do my best to achieve righteousness and you notice what it says at the end of verse 3 have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God for the Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes the Messiah was the goal the Messiah Yeshua was the aim the law was given to us to direct our attention to the fact that we have sinned and the Messiah will be the one that will fulfill for us the law of God which we couldn't fulfill and so Paul says I through the law am dead.

To the law what happened is that if a person violated the law of God he deserved to be killed now let's assume that he died and he rose again and to continue to live his life the law cannot do anything against him because he's already died he paid the penalty for sin he died the wages of Sin is death. So what now coming? He says, now that I might live unto God. But how can I live unto God? Because I have turned my heart and commissioned myself to the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who died on my behalf. He paid for my sins when I violated the law of not lying.

I deserve to die. He never lied. When I was violating God's law, when the law says that I should not covet and I deserve to die, He never coveted. I deserve to die, but He died instead. I deserve to be punished, but He was punished on my behalf. He fulfilled the law which I failed to fulfill. And therefore, for I, through the law, Paul is saying, am dead to the law in order that I might live unto God. And now notice in verse 20, this is an amazing verse. I don't think many of us grasp it because we are so far away from the manner whereby Shaul Paul lived his life.

I was thinking when I was preparing for the message today, you know, sometimes somebody say to us, get lost. Paul, Shaul really got lost meaning that he got lost in Christ in the Messiah it's no longer I it's no longer me it's only him it's only Yeshua the Messiah notice what he says in verse 20 of Galatians 2.20 I am crucified with Christ I have died with the Mashiach nevertheless I live yet not I but the Messiah lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me see here's doctrine beloved brothers and sisters I think I'm honestly saying we are so far from understanding this I am crucified I am dead with Christ with the Messiah as far as God is concerned every true believer positionally have died when Yeshua died God does not look yours and my flesh and old nature anymore he knows it is deserved to die and to be punished so when Yeshua died we died when Jesus the Messiah died I died Paul is saying I died with the Messiah when Yeshua died.

On the cross some 2000 years ago you know what happened you and i died with him when we have accepted him we are really identified with his death i know we don't realize it in our mind we don't really understand it no no it's not him it's me i gotta do my own thing no i am crucified with the Mashiach with the Messiah Paul is saying and then he says though I've died with the Messiah nevertheless I live but wait a minute Paul you just said that you died with the Messiah how come nevertheless you are still alive you're living he says listen Yeshua did not only die and pay for the sin but he rose again and he's alive and therefore I live because of him oh yes my old nature deserves to be separated from God but yet God is declaring me alive in the Messiah.

I live, he says. But then he continues and he says in the same verse 20, yet not I, not the old man, the old sinful nature, but Christ, the Mashiach, lives in me. Do you know that the life of, it is an exchange. What happened here when we became believers in reality? There was an exchange that happened. You and I gave our sins. Yeshua gave his life. You and I gave our guilt. Yeshua gave his love for us willing to be penalized on our behalf. You and I received the punishment that we deserve but not us because he took it upon himself when he died on our behalf.

So when he died we died and now we are not dead because he is alive because of him we are also alive as he said yet nevertheless I live and then notice but he says yet not I but the Mashiach Christ lives in me in other words really the only life that we have is the life of Christ the life of the old nature beloved brothers and sisters doesn't matter what you're going to do with it. It will not avail for your salvation because somebody for our salvation because somebody have already died on our behalf. Now notice what he says now. He continues says in verse 20b and the life which I now live in the flesh in other words God have allowed me to stick around he didn't take me right away to heaven because I deserve to go to heaven because Yeshua finished the work for me on the tree, but now the Lord has allowed me to live here in the flesh where we struggle, where we fail, where we stumble, where we have all this that has happened to us in our life.

He says, notice, and the life which I now live in the flesh, look how I'm going to live it. I live by the faith of the Son of God, Ben Elohim, Emunat Ben Elohim. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. What he's really saying is that, you know what, brothers and sisters of the Galatians? Now that I'm living this new life because of Yeshua, the Messiah, I really live it by the faith, on the basis of the faith of the Son of God. You see, on the one hand, he used the word Mashiach here twice.

On the other hand, he used the word the Son of God. The Mashiach of Israel, the Savior of this world, is much more than just an ordinary man. He is the eternal Son of God. He came from heaven. He was born to the Virgin Miriam. He lived a perfect life. He became that anointed, the Mashiach, when he died and finished for us the work on the cross. So now when I'm going to live my life, Paul is saying, I don't live my own life. I'm not trying to please myself. I'm not trying to work out to gain salvation. I'm already saved. I'm already justified. I'm already no condemnation because the law has no power over me in condemning me because the law is holy.

I'm sinful. Messiah paid for that. But now I'm going to live my life by the faith of the Son of God. And you notice this last expression, and Paul always was moved, who loved me. You know, every one of us can say today, not only like John 3.16, for God to love the world. Not only like Israel said or was told by God, I have loved you, Israel, with an everlasting love. Not like the body of Christ, the body of Messiah who can say for Christ loved the assembly, loved the church. The Messiah loved the church and gave himself for it. But every one of us can say individually, me, me, I, Gideon, you and your name, the son of God who loved me.

And he gave himself for me. Oh yes, for the world. Oh yes, for Israel. Oh yes, for the body of Messiah. Assembly but also for me he loved me and he gave himself for me I don't deserve to experience this love because of all what I am by nature and what have I done in my own life with all the sin that I have committed I can't even imagine why the son of God loved me so much Paul is saying and you and I can say the same thing what do you think he found in you and in me that he loved us so much to die for us what is it, is it anything good in us just think about it beloved brothers and sisters whenever you think that you and I are someone or somebody whenever a pride rise in your hearts and mind just look back and recognize how much the Lord loved you a sinner a rebellious person and he was willing to give his life for you this is amazing grace sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me and so Paul concludes now with the fifth fact that he mentioned that he based the rebuke of Peter's action.

Upon the doctrine of the truth of the gospel and in verse 21 Paul said Peter's action is a denial of the grace that God had provided for men and notice this last verse and I'm reading just this last verse in verse 21 notice what he says I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness comes by the law then the Messiah is dead in vain see what Paul is saying when we separate thinking that they are not justified and I'm justified and they are not quiet, they haven't been circumcised, they haven't kept the law, they haven't been baptized, they haven't spoken in tongue, they haven't had man-made rules they fulfilled, and therefore I'm okay and they're okay.

What we are really saying by this, that we deny the grace of God and in that sense what we are saying, that Yeshua the Messiah died for nothing. Because after all, we are not quite there. We haven't quite achieved what we're supposed to achieve in order to be saved and justified and reconciled. We've got to do something, otherwise God will not accept that person. What we are really saying, that Yeshua died for nothing. Because after all, the grace of God is not sufficient. We need grace, but we also need the law. We need grace, but we also need circumcision. We need grace, but we also need baptism or man-made works.

And Shaul Paul says, no, this is a denial of the truth of the grace of God. By grace are ye saved through faith. That's the way we were saved. Not a works, lest anyone will boast. It is entirely the work of Yeshua, the Messiah. Otherwise, the Messiah died in vain. But praise God, he didn't die in vain because many have turned their hearts to him and millions over the generation have turned to him and became part of the body of the Messiah. And praise God for that. He's going to come soon to take us to be with him in glory. Can we say Amen to that?