"Face to Face"

Here we have two giants of the faith coming together, the apostle, Peter and the apostle, Paul. Peter had been fellowshipping with saved gentiles, but when the Judaizers arrived, (these were religious leaders who believed that sinners were saved through Jesus, plus keeping the law of Moses) Peter would separate himself from the gentiles. Seeing this hypocrisy, Paul, in love and compassion, confronted Peter face to face for cowering down to the legalistic system that was powerless to change lives. He vigorously reminded Peter that grace leads to freedom from sin's slavery, and obedience to God. Having this type of courage with fellow Christians can be difficult, but it can produce and promote unity and purity. What Peter was doing had to do with the doctrine of Grace. This was no small issue. Unless corrected, it would lead to deeper problems. We can assume Peter corrected the error of his ways, and that he would go on to be the man God would greatly use. Here is the question - what would you do if you were either one of the two men? You would be surprised at how many people would react to that situation in today's churches.

August 13th, 2017

From Your Friend & Pastor,

James H. Baker, Proverbs 3: 5-6