If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? As Paul continues with the presentation of his “credentials,” he recalls an incident that happened while he was on his second visit to Jerusalem. It is an incident that involved Peter, the presumed leader of the young church. It is an incident that Paul brings up in order to show that he has never shied away from correcting a wrong, no matter who was on the wrong (if he had corrected Peter of all people, who do these so-called super apostles think they are?) What was going on with peter? Why was he not living like a Jew?
The Good News of Jesus Christ is the grace that sets us free- free from anything that might hinder us from living free and full lives. In the old dispensation, not everybody had been set free to live full lives. Those outside the Jewish lineage were considered to be “outside” of God’s salvific reach. To be a recipient of God’s revelation, one had to, in essence become a Jew, observing all the cultural traditions of the Jewish people. Part of the Good News of Jesus Christ preached by the apostles was that God’s salvation had been offered to all, Jews and Gentiles alike. And even though the first Christian community was made up of members who were predominantly of Jewish background, those who were not of Jewish background but who wanted to become Christians were exempt from first becoming Jews. To promote this, the likes of Peter freely mingled with pagan Christians, eating with them as a sign of fellowship and acceptance of them. It was a practice that was rightly consistent with the message that they were preaching (we have all been made one in Christ [cf. Galatians 3:28]). Peter clearly understood this, and was doing it until some hardliners arrived from Jerusalem (where James the elder was the leader) and castigated Peter for being in fellowship with the uncircumcised. And Peter, out of pressure, submitted and withdrew his fellowship. This was wrong, and Paul did not shy away from addressing it.
Peter was “not living like a Jew” not because he was unable to, but because he wanted his actions to match the message he was preaching. If he was preaching grace and freedom from any and all things that do prevent us from joining in fellowship our brothers and sisters (including cultural practices), then he had to live that very message. If we believe the message that we preach to be life-giving, then we should not have any problem living it. This is what Peter was doing before he submitted to pressure from hardliners. And it is what Paul expects preachers of the Good News to do.