Will our pastors make mistakes? Indeed! They are human, after-all.

And we will error as well, Sisters!

So what do we do when a fellow brother or sister in Christ needs correction? Galatians 2 really speaks to this important inquiry for all of us.

You see, if Peter, a man who walked and talked with God in the flesh (Jesus), would need corrected by another brother (Paul),…we most certainly will too at various times in our lives.

As demonstrated for us in Galatians 2, Peter needed a lovingly bold correction. It’s necessary to reiterate that this will be the case for all of us…whether providing the correction respectfully, or receiving it, as Peter did, humbly.

How should we correct one another?

Jesus viewed the Scriptures as the Word of God, assigning authority to the Scriptures (Mt 5:17-18; 22:29; Lk 24:44; Jn 545-47). And therefore as Christians, we need to have the same view of the Scriptures. To downplay the authority of Scripture is placing too much authority into human hands, allowing for the heart tendency to pleasing man to supersede the preaching of the Word (2 Tim 4:2).

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Without Correction and Repentance…

Without providing loving correction when needed, with repentance as a fruitful response, both syncretism of other worldview practices could gain prominence. Holding fast to the teachings of Jesus as shared through all of the Scriptures is Paul’s plea in Galatians 2, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, and 1 Thessalonians 5:21. If we don’t hold fast to God’s Words to us, we will hold fast to…and prioritize…the words of the culture.

To quote pastor Grant Castleberry: “The world is secularizing so quickly. The churches and religious institutions that feel the need to also secularize in order to win the world and “meet the needs of the day” will actually do the opposite. They will become theologically and morally irreverent. They will become spiritual wastelands, from which Christ removes His lamp stand. They will become religious shadows from which only God’s judgment echoes.

The world doesn’t need a Christianized version of itself. It needs an authentic Christianity that proclaims the truth without apology. An Unashamed Gospel. A Christ that loves sinners and calls them to repentance. A community of saints who are willing to follow Christ despite the world’s reproach. That’s the Christianity the world needs. Because it is true Christianity.”

Both giving and receiving correction is an inevitable part of our walk as Christians. We are all sinners saved by the Grace of God alone… to hold fast to this reality is important (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Galatians 2

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. ² I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. ³ But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. ⁵ But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.

⁶ Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, ⁸ since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. ⁹ When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They asked only that we would remember the poor,which I had made every effort to do.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

Paul (v 2:20-21)

Freedom from the Law

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. ¹² For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. ¹³ Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to livelike Jews?” ¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” ¹⁶ and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the lawbut by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. ¹⁷ But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing