Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I have been reading Galatians to see precisely how Paul dealt with the Galatian churches, who had turned to another gospel, which was not a gospel at all.
I had not realized the above verse was born out of that struggle.
I did remember Paul withstood Peter to his face.
What I missed was that, earlier, Barnabas and Paul were given the right hand of fellowship by Peter, John, and James, the leaders of the Jewish church, as missionaries to the Gentiles.
Yet, on the matter of eating with Gentiles, Peter did it until men arrived from James. The issue was so controversial that even Barnabas was pulled over to Peter's side.
Wait! Of the five men who had been exchanging the right hand of fellowship, three were now opposing Paul, even his own partner? Wow! The incredible boldness of Paul to know he was right, by God's grace alone, and that such holy men were starting down a path that could result in another gospel . . .
Notice, I wrote this with the details of the passage, but no additional thoughts, conclusions, or applications.
Although I love to teach, in every aspect of life, lately I have been trying to use God’s Word in a way that makes others want to study it out for themselves or to ask their own pastor about it! :-)