Sermon Response Guide
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 2:1-14 ESV
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And 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. 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 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and 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.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 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. 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?”
Key Points
- Hypocrisy is:
1) Inconsistency
2) Nothing less than deception
3) Damaging because it’s a lie that hurts more than our intended target
4) A never-ending painful quest for the approval of other people - We live in a society obsessed with influence and that thrives on hypocrisy. Therefore, we fear community and vulnerability.
- Jesus reserves his harshest words for hypocrites.
- All of us are infected with hypocrisy.
- The cure to hypocrisy is humility.
- When we humble ourselves before Christ, he frees us from our hypocrisy and gives us his own image to bear.
Memory Verse
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:
“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?’”
-Galatians 2:14 ESV
Questions for Reflection
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
1: Read Matthew 23:27-28.
· In your own words, what is Jesus saying here?
· Why do you think Jesus is so upset?
· Why do we often treat hypocrisy as a more acceptable sin than Jesus makes it seem here?
2: Perhaps the only consistency we all have in life is our continued pursuit of inconsistency – playing the role we are expected to play in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.
· Where are you struggling with hypocrisy the most right now?
· How does this “continued pursuit of inconsistency” make you feel?
3: The gospel offers us freedom from the constant costume changes of life by giving us one new person to clothe ourselves in: Jesus Christ.
· Read Romans 8:29.
· How is Romans 8:29 a message of freedom?
· Why do you think God desires for us to be conformed to the image of his Son?
4: You will never look more like you until you look like him [Jesus].
· What does this mean to you?
5: Why might humility be the cure to hypocrisy?
6: What would it look like for you to humble yourself before Christ this week?
Pray
Lord, hypocrisy hurts us and hurts others. Yet, we all wrestle with it. Search us and show us where hypocrisy is rampant in our lives. Humble us before you so we can see you – and ourselves – as we truly are. Give us a desire to become more like you, and grant us the grace to do so.
