Law vs grace: Peter cf Paul

[tonychanyt]

Peter spent three years living with Jesus as his inner circle with James and John. Paul met Jesus only after the crucifixion while on his way to Damascus. Peter was an uneducated fisherman, while Paul was a student of the famous Pharisee Gamaliel. Their brains worked quite differently.

Ga 1:

16 [God] was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Paul met Jesus on his way to Damascus. Three years later, he went to Jerusalem and met Peter.

Ga 2:

6 From those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.

Paul did not learn doctrines from Peter et al.

7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.

This difference in mission and focus led to disagreements about how to integrate Gentiles into the Jewish faith.

9 When James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

A decade later, the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (Ac 11:26). When Jerusalem and Judean believers needed assistance, Barnabas and Paul delivered a gift from Antioch to Jerusalem (Ac 11:30).

Two years later, a question arose about circumcision. Paul visited Jerusalem again for the famous Jerusalem Council. In the end, they reached a compromise: no need to circumcise the Gentile Christians but they should not eat blood.

Some days later, Ga 2:

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

Paul and Peter had a face-to-face confrontation.

12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

The circumcision party was the Judaizers. Peter behaved differently when he was Gentiles and with the Judaizers.

13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

The Jerusalem Council did not resolve all the issues between the Jewish and Gentile believers.

Peter likely sided with James 2:

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.

These were the transition years from the Torah-observant stance.

A decade later, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

A few years later, before Peter died, he wrote in 2P 3:

15 Count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

Peter formally acknowledged Paul's inspired wisdom.

16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Paul was not a lawless person.

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

In the end, Peter stressed grace.

Peter had a different personal experience with Jesus compared to Paul's. Further, Peter focused on Jews, while Paul targeted the Gentiles. Paul did not consult any humans for his understanding of the gospel. Initially, the nascent church was dominated by Jews and Judaizers. Paul worked with them, people like Barnabus. They had different ideas about how to incorporate the Gentile Christians. There were different opinions, but they tried to reconcile. James, Peter, Paul, and others tried to present a uniform official position. Decades later, the Gentile Christians outnumbered the Jews. Paul's epistles came to prominence. In the end, their stances were unified before they were martyred, as shown by Peter's last words.

 

[DennisF]

Peter spent three years living with Jesus as his inner circle with James and John. Paul met Jesus only after the crucifixion while on his way to Damascus. Peter was an uneducated fisherman, while Paul was a student of the famous Pharisee Gamaliel. Their brains worked quite differently.

Ga 1:


Paul met Jesus on his way to Damascus. Three years later, he went to Jerusalem and met Peter.

Ga 2:


Paul did not learn doctrines from Peter et al.


This difference in mission and focus led to disagreements about how to integrate Gentiles into the Jewish faith.


A decade later, the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (Ac 11:26). When Jerusalem and Judean believers needed assistance, Barnabas and Paul delivered a gift from Antioch to Jerusalem (Ac 11:30).

Two years later, a question arose about circumcision. Paul visited Jerusalem again for the famous Jerusalem Council. In the end, they reached a compromise: no need to circumcise the Gentile Christians but they should not eat blood.

Some days later, Ga 2:


Paul and Peter had a face-to-face confrontation.


The circumcision party was the Judaizers. Peter behaved differently when he was Gentiles and with the Judaizers.


The Jerusalem Council did not resolve all the issues between the Jewish and Gentile believers.

Peter likely sided with James 2:


These were the transition years from the Torah-observant stance.

A decade later, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:


A few years later, before Peter died, he wrote in 2P 3:


Peter formally acknowledged Paul's inspired wisdom.


Paul was not a lawless person.


In the end, Peter stressed grace.

Peter had a different personal experience with Jesus compared to Paul's. Further, Peter focused on Jews, while Paul targeted the Gentiles. Paul did not consult any humans for his understanding of the gospel. Initially, the nascent church was dominated by Jews and Judaizers. Paul worked with them, people like Barnabus. They had different ideas about how to incorporate the Gentile Christians. There were different opinions, but they tried to reconcile. James, Peter, Paul, and others tried to present a uniform official position. Decades later, the Gentile Christians outnumbered the Jews. Paul's epistles came to prominence. In the end, their stances were unified before they were martyred, as shown by Peter's last words.

Interesting personality comparison. Jesus & Co. made Capernaum in Galilee their home. It was a cultural center of the region and had the amenities of Roman culture such as an amphitheater and library. It was not unusual in Hebrew culture for intellectuals to have a manual-labor job such as fishing, and the disciples as fishermen could also be knowledgeable. The Greek philosophers, with their matter-soul dualism, would be appalled to work at manual labor, but the Hebrew outlook connected mind and the physical world more harmoniously because both were a part of Creation. Peter and the other apostles would likely have been literate as Jesus was. His letters from Babylon were written in the dialect of that area. In contrast, Paul apparently did not write some of his letters because at the end of them he names who penned it.
Corrected: 8NOV24: Caperaum, not Caesarea.

 

[tonychanyt]

Interesting personality comparison. Jesus & Co. made Cesarea in Galilee their home.

Caesarea was not in Galilee.

 

[DennisF]

Caesarea was not in Galilee.

You're right; thanks. I was thinking Capernaum and wrote Caesarea. It was at the intersection of important trade routes. The amphitheater was naturally formed, lending itself to rhetorical events.