Rev. Don Campbell
Acts 15-16
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019
“INSPIRED PREACHING MAY NOT TRANSLATE INTO INSPIRED ACTION”
In trying to prevent believers from falling from grace by seeking salvation by law and its covenant sign, circumcision, Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). The Jerusalem conference which is recorded in Acts 15 should have ended the debate over circumcision and keeping the law—and, in one sense it did. The truth was firmly established, but, as is often the case, practice often lags far behind. Speaking by inspiration, Peter took the lead against binding circumcision and the law on Gentiles (Acts 15:1-11). However, he failed to practice what he preached: “But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy” (Galatians 2:11-13, NLT).
There are three lessons to glean: First, preachers do not always practice what they preach. This does not make them hypocrites necessarily. It may simply mean that they are human, and like Paul sometimes do what they don’t want to do and fail to do what they want to do (Romans 7:19-20).
Second, when one does act hypocritically, as did Peter, one should be called out: “When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, ‘Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?’” (Galatians 2:11-14, NLT).
For the third lesson, we must go to Peter’s second epistle: When a brother calls us out, we should love him for it, not strike back in bitterness. Hear Peter: “This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction” (2 Peter 3:15-16, NLT). Note that Paul is “our beloved brother” and his inspired teachings are Scripture.
CONNECTIONS
1. How would you describe the difference between inconsistency and hypocrisy?
2. Are you ever inconsistent? If you say, “No,” you just might be a hypocrite.
