Gospel Truth
Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:1-10
At first reading, one might think Paul was inconsistent, bordering on hypocritical, when it came to following Jewish tradition. Sometimes he went along, sometimes he adamantly opposed it. What gives?
Paul explained his guiding principle for making these decisions in this text. In verse five we read, “To them, we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.”
Paul decided what to do based on how that decision would impact the clear presentation and preservation of the gospel of grace. This principle is what moved him to confront Peter as well. In verse 14 he explains, “When I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?’”
Some issues are not things that can be decided by hard and fast rules. They are not issues of morality, or right and wrong, or good and bad. Instead, we have to step back and ask ourselves whether our choices in the matter are going to confuse people about the truth of the gospel or make the gospel clearer to them. Will we preserve and promote the gospel or distort and hinder it?
