Galatians 2:11
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;
Truth to Learn
Standing firm in support of the truth of God is important no matter who you have to stand against.
Behind the Words
Paul tells us in this verse that he withstood him (Peter). The Greek word translated “withstood” is “antesten” which means “to stand against.” Literally what Paul says is that he “stood against him to his face.” That is, Paul “faced him down.” In other words, there was a significant disagreement between Paul and Peter and Paul did not back down but took a firm stand against Peter.
The expression “he was to be blamed” is translated from the Greek words kategnōsmenos ēn. The word kategnōsmenos is made up of kata, meaning “against” and a form of ginōskō, meaning “to know.” It, therefore, refers to something being known against someone. By implication it is something bad that is known, so this word can be interpreted as “he is wrong.” The word ēn in this verse is the imperfect tense of the verb of being. Hence it means “he was.” The implication of this tense is that the condition existed for a period of time, not just on one occasion. Hence, Paul is saying that Peter “was being wrong.”
Meaning Explained
Now that Paul has demonstrated to the Christians in the churches of Galatia that he is, indeed, the apostle to the Gentiles and that he received his message directly from God, he will show them that the type of issues they are facing are not unique. The problem, you will recall, is the fact that some teachers in the churches in Galatia were teaching that a Christian must keep the requirements of the Mosaic Law, in addition to faith in Christ, in order to be saved. Paul’s teaching is that there are no requirements for salvation, either in the Law or in any church teaching or tradition, beyond simple faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Paul has recounted his salvation experience, the receiving of his commission and message from Christ, and the circumstances of the apostolic leaders of the Jerusalem church confirming his commission and message. Now he will show that even some of those who were pillars of the church in Jerusalem (specifically, the apostle Peter) sometimes had difficulties shaking themselves loose from the bindings of the Law.
As we will see in the following verses, Peter was behaving in a manner that either was, or at least appeared, hypocritical. Peter was more concerned with what other Jews thought of his actions than what God thought of his actions. As a result, though he said that adherence to the law was not required, he acted as though it was required. It was because of this behavior that Paul stood against him face to face, because Peter was wrong! Once again it is apparent that Peter was not anointed the first Pope, otherwise Paul would not have gotten away with his position against him because Peter was clearly wrong.
Application
There are many Christians today who say that it is wrong to argue in church. In most cases this is true, but when the disagreement is in regard to a doctrinal issue it is important to stand firm on what the Bible teaches as truth.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to: