Why did Paul confront Peter to his face?

In Galatians 2:11-21, the Apostle Paul publicly corrects the Apostle Peter. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explains why Paul did it — and why it was about far more than a shared meal.

In the city of Antioch, Peter had been eating with Gentile, or non-Jewish, Christians as equals. But when a group of strict Jewish visitors arrived, Peter pulled back and stopped eating with them, afraid of what they would think. Even Barnabas followed his example. Paul saw that this was not just bad manners — it was a denial of the gospel itself, treating some believers as second-class. So Paul corrected Peter in front of everyone, because a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus, not by keeping rules.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did Peter stop eating with Gentile Christians? Peter gave in to peer pressure. When strict visitors arrived, he was afraid of their disapproval, so he separated himself from the Gentile believers he had treated as equals.

2. Was this really worth a public rebuke? Yes. Paul saw that Peter’s actions sent the message that faith in Jesus was not enough, and that Gentiles were second-class. That is an attack on the gospel, so Paul addressed it openly.

3. How is a person made right with God? Only by faith in Jesus Christ, never by keeping the law. As Paul says, if we could be made right by our own law-keeping, then Christ died for nothing.

“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” — Galatians 2:21 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This is Part 4 of the ten-part Galatians study. Find the whole series, along with verse-by-verse studies of other books of the Bible, at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.