What does Galatians 2:14 mean?
Paul is describing an incident between himself and Peter, which supports his claims to apostolic authority. Paul knew what Peter believed, that Gentiles were fully accepted by God's grace through faith in Christ, that their sins were covered by Jesus' death on the cross. In fact, Peter believed that's how Jewish people were saved, as well. But Peter got scared when some men who still thought it was wrong to eat with Gentiles walked in and found him eating at a table with Gentiles. Peter got up and left the table, maybe not expecting all of the other Jewish people at the table to get up and follow his hypocritical example.Paul had seen enough. He confronted Peter right out in the open in front of everyone gathered together to eat. Paul didn't confront Peter out of a sense of outrage for his Gentile friends. He confronted Peter openly for the sake of the truth of the gospel. Peter's actions were teaching everyone present that Christians came in two flavors: Jewish and Gentile. That was not the gospel. Everyone is saved by trusting in God's grace to forgive sin through Jesus' death on the cross. Nobody is saved by following the Law.
Paul used a question to challenge Peter: You're a Jew, and you were living like a Gentile before these guys came in. How can you now force Gentiles to live according to Jewish Law and traditions in order to be seen as saved and equal with Jewish Christians before God?
Peter's response is not recorded, but it is not needed. God Himself had commanded Peter to overcome his attachment to the Law and the customs of Judaism in order to accept and receive the Gentiles (Acts 10). Often, our real-world actions lag behind our bedrock beliefs. We should be glad to have someone like Paul rebuke us to get us back on the right track.
Galatians 2:11–14 describes a difficult moment, when Paul was forced to confront another apostle for hypocritical behavior. Though Peter has declared his agreement that salvation is by faith in Christ and not the law, he seems hesitant to live out that truth if disapproving people are watching him. Peter's choice to step away from eating with Gentiles leads all the Jewish people in the room to do the same. For the sake of the true gospel, Paul opposes Peter to his face, calling out his hypocrisy. Peter had been ''living like a Gentile,'' by eating with them. How could he force any Gentile, then, to live under the law?
Paul holds a crucial meeting with the other apostles. Do they preach, as he does, that salvation can only be found through faith in Christ and not by following the law? He learns that they do, though ''false brothers'' in their midst are opposed to this gospel of God's grace. After receiving official approval from Peter and the others, Paul later opposes Peter for publicly trying to distance himself from Gentile Christians out of fear of how others might respond. Paul declares that justification comes only through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
