Sermon – 2026/02/08

Posted on 02/09/2026 • Filed in: Sermon Notes • Gal, Galatians, Galatians2026

• What if your significant other made you a beautiful meal but halfway through said that they accidentally dropped poison in it. No big deal, right?
• Paul is going to show how dangerous error is in the life of Christians is not handled properly.

• “Religious hypocrisy is the worst kind of hypocrisy; it’s the most damaging because it’s the least expected and the hardest to get over.” Todd Wilson (Preaching the Word Commentary)
• “The Christian church cannot be what it is called to be when ritual, race, class, or other distinctions separate members from each other.” John MacArthur
• “We can think of hypocrisy as a virus. It needs human interaction to survive; indeed it spreads and thrives on contact. And when it finds the right environment, hypocrisy can go viral and infect a whole community. This is what happened in Antioch.” Todd Wilson
• “Faithfulness involves more than believing the right doctrine. Right doctrine without right behavior always produces hypocrisy.” John MacArthur
• Galatians 6:1–2 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

• “The problem with Cephas’s [Peter’s] withdrawal from table fellowship with non-Jews was what it communicated about the nature of the gospel. It implied that in addition to what God accomplished for sinful humanity through the atoning death of Christ, people had to contribute something to their own redemption before reconciliation with God was complete and fellowship with other, fully justified Christians was possible.” ESV, Commentary on Galatians
• Galatians 3:26, 28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

• It is hard confronting people. It’s uncomfortable and if not done well can lead to problems. But let’s be clear if error is left alone it can be damaging to more than just one person.
• As we walk this path, let’s make sure we do so humbly and conscious of the gospel’s message.
• Be in prayer as you go into the endeavor and seek the Lord’s wisdom as you do so.

1. Paul knew Peter (and Barnabas).
2. Paul addressed the error of the moment.
3. Paul redirected Peter to the Gospel message.