Daily Bread

Paul Opposes Cephas

¹¹ When Cephas^(A) came to Antioch,^(B) I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James,^(C) he used to eat with the Gentiles.^(D) But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.^{(E) 13} The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas^(F) was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,^(G) I said to Cephas^(H) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.^(I) How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?^(J)

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth^(K) and not sinful Gentiles^{(L) 16} know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,^(M) but by faith in Jesus Christ.^(N) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.^(O)

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^(P) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^{(Q) 18} If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law^(R) so that I might live for God.^{(S) 20} I have been crucified with Christ^(T) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(U) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^(V) who loved me^(W) and gave himself for me.^{(X) 21} I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^(Y) Christ died for nothing!”^[b]