What we need to hear next Sunday and the Sunday after that and try to at least do my little part in this part of our life to move us step by step through this process.

So we have been grappling with the issue of public confessions and how public people need to be about their remorse or the discipline that they have.

So what I want to do is develop a biblical rationale for the kinds of things that are going to be happening tonight, and I'm sure they aren't the only ones.

And the text I'm going to start with is Galatians chapter 2.

If you want to look at it with me you can, although I'll leave it behind and jump to a bunch of other texts.

But we can start together there if you'd like.

The situation here is that Paul is in Antioch and Peter is there and Peter, the other name

Cepas, is eating as a Jew with Gentiles. In other words, he was experiencing his new freedom in Christ

that the old dietary laws that kept the Gentiles and the Jews separate were overcome now, fulfilled in Jesus, laid aside, and he was eating with them.

And then a conservative, super-conservative party from James or they said they were from James anyway.

Now Jerusalem came up and Peter saw them coming and he shrunk back and began to be

hypocritical and not eat with him anymore.

So let me just read that now. You'll hear all this.

But when Cefus came, this is 2-11, chapter 2, verse 11.

When Cefus came to Antioch, I opposed him, Paul opposes Peter now, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for prior to coming to the coming of certain men from James he used to eat with the

Gentiles but when they came he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof fearing the party

of the circumcision.

So fear was the motive of this hypocrisy.

And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy.

So people generally get pulled into something like that.

The rest of the Jews join him in hypocrisy

with the result that even Barnabas,

...