Get The Point!
Paul Opposes Peter
11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
17 "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Bee's Thoughts:
Often we hear complains that some Christians behave just like non-Christians or even worse. Just like my previous boss, who claimed to be a Pastor, was more unscrupulous in his business dealings and with his employees than any non-Christians bosses I had before. It brought shame to Christ because of such people. I heard that recently he had to close some of his businesses because of debts. People who do such things will never escape the consequences of their wrong doings.
Yes, Christians are to live by faith; they are judged by faith in Christ, not by the law (do this or do that). Yet Jesus said "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15.16) A good tree will bear good fruits; a rotten tree will bear rotten fruits. Therefore, a person who behaves like the devil, we will know who his 'father' is. So when a person claims to be a Christian, we shouldn't just believe but to look for his 'fruits' of Christ-likeness.
All things said, there are Christians who are weak because they are new, or because they don't read the bible and remain as babes in Christ for many years. Yet even if they do read the bible and are growing spiritually, it's still a process of growth, and there might be many truths they have not learnt yet, like in the above case of Peter (v14 & 15). The difference for a growing Christian is the attitude of willingness to learn and change.
It took so many trials in life for Paul to come to a stage of full surrender to Christ where he proclaimed, ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (v20). I understand the meaning of this verse better now after my brush with death... "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me". I am ready to go anytime I feel... perhaps what holds me back is the salvation of people I know?
Dear Lord,
Why didn't I go and meet You yesterday? I always long to see Your face... to see the only One who loves me so much. What is it that You want me to do before I can meet You? To share Your gospel to those who do not know You? Let me live for You then. Let me share Your love around. Amen.
Tommy's Thoughts:
It took me quite sometime to understand the meaning of Christianity’s “salvation by faith” and not through “work or effort” to be good like in all the other religions. I used to criticize and joke about how weak, lazy and absurd Christianity is to base everything solely on faith alone. I thought it was the reason for some bad Christians I met before, to act in improper ways. I was proud of the so-called far superior, strict rules and laws in my old religion. My self-sufficiency blinded me from seeing how helpless and broken a person I was.
It’s only through all the bad experiences I went through, I realized the truth that without faith in Christ, it’s impossible for us to be good; to break free from the chain of sins, wrongful desires and attitudes in our lives. No matter how smart or knowledgeable we are about the laws, it will never keep us from continue to do wrongs. No matter how hard we try to stay or making our self good, we will still fall back to sin. On the surface, we might appear to be good, nice, helpful and charitable, but internally we are filled with flaws and hypocrisy.
But, our loving God provided a way, a perfect way to set us free and make us whole. He sends His Only Son to die for us. When we believe in Him, our sins and old self died together with Christ, we are no longer condemned. We were given a new life with Christ living in us when He rose from the dead. It’s only through this, we’ll gain His power, strength, freedom and hope to change and be transformed, inside out.
Dear Lord, thank You for Christ’s resurrection power that fuels me everyday to fight sin. Help me Lord to regularly and continually crucify any sinful desires I might have that keep me from following Christ. Lord, thank You also for living in me, being my power of living and hope for my future. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
.......the devotion of Bee and Tommy
