When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
For 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. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 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?

As I listen to the beginning of this account Paul writes regarding his disagreement with Peter over the treatment of the Gentile Christians, I imagine he writes it with tears in his eyes. Paul cared so much for both Jews and Gentiles that these types of decisions must have been incredibly painful for him.

More than a technical or philosophical difference, this retreat to the Jewish laws that divided them from the Gentiles caused serious spiritual and relational harm to the Gentile believers. As hard as it was, God’s Word and his Spirit inside Paul demanded he stand for the truth of the gospel and against this heresy.

I find it interesting that he started out his challenge with a question? His question was direct towards Cephas (the Apostle Peter) and called out the hypocrisy he saw. In essence he questions, “How can you say you value Gentiles, eat with them and allow for them to have some of their own customs, treating them as equal Brothers/Sisters in Christ, and then require them to observe the old law of Jewish society? (We will get into his other points in subsequent devotionals.)

So Paul lists many “pillars of the faith” in the early church: Peter, James (the brother of Jesus), and Barnabas (his prior mentor in the faith and fellow minister). I think this is important for us to understand. No one, no matter the past good deeds they have done in the name of Christ, our friendship with them, or the present position, is given a pass when it comes to a teaching that is contrary to the truth of the gospel.

Finally, we find that Paul cared enough to show up and have this conversation in person. Why is this important? Because our body language and other communications can be expressed, as well. It is important to have hard conversations in person, to insure our hearts and motives are not misunderstood.

Lord, thank you for the model from Paul of the importance of confronting heresy in the church and the model of how to be effective at it. May I follow in his footsteps by: 1) knowing and studying your Word in order to become an expert in it, 2) checking those who preach and teach to make sure their message is consistent with the context of Biblical teachings, and 3) where needed, rebuke in love when heresy slithers its way into our churches.