Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Galatians 2:11-16 (NIV)
Paul Opposes Cephas
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? 15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
It’s a timeless debate: Should you read the Bible every day? After all, “we know that a person is not justified [made right] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ”. (Gal 2:16a) So… if reading the Bible every day doesn’t impress God, if it doesn’t get me special points, why do it? If what really matters is my faith in Jesus, then I really don’t have to do anything extra, like read the Bible or pray or give or serve. Right? It’s true. No action on our part will buy us favor with God. Because of Jesus, we are saved by grace. So, even though reading my Bible every day doesn’t make God love me more, reading my Bible every day is a habit that will help me grow in the knowledge of God, his grace, and his truth. Again, let us thank God for his amazing grace and pray that God encourages us in those habits that help us grow in our knowledge of God. What are you doing today to get to know God better?