ham grease on the side? We could also say, that maybe Peter even enjoyed that country ham, before his Jewish brethren came.

 

Gal 2:14   But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, "If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

     Uh oh. Paul just called Peter down for his actions, right in front of all. It appears Peter must have been eating' that 'country ham' of the Gentiles before his Jewish brethren had arrived, and he maybe even liked it! 

 

Gal 2:15   We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16    Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

     So what's Paul's Message so far?  It is this. God's Law is embedded in the operations of this world of flesh. The Law is our 'schoolmaster' to live by. It helps keep us in line. When we transgress that Law, we will suffer punishment in the flesh, just as a schoolmaster must maintain discipline.

 But that same Law from God, which He set up for us as a Guide in order to receive His Goodness, is Perfect, as  our Teacher Yehovah, He is Perfect also. So the non-believing 'class clowns' who transgress God's Law, deliberately for self-attention and self-pride, are not to be looked upon as being funny. The 'paddling' they receive from God can't be compared to the one given by a human high school teacher. Yet, for those who believe on Christ when we sin, that paddling from God, i.e. His chastisement, will fit the crime and is done out of His love for us. But we can in no way be perfect in that Law, for we are all sinners in the flesh.

Thank God for His Christ Who frees us from being held accountable based solely on The Law! But is The Law done away with? Absolutely not; only the ordinances which Christ 'fulfilled' upon the cross.

 

 Eph.2:15;

 

Heb.9:

                    Read all.

Col.2:

 

 Stealing is a transgression of God's Law...

 

Exo.20:15;

 

What happens to a thief who is caught today?

     The meaning of 'Jews by nature' refers to their particular habit and upbringing in a very strict observance in God's Law. Therefore, these Jews who accepted Christ as Messiah were having a hard time adjusting away from their old habits of strict observance and traditions based upon God's Law. Many of those 'traditions' of the Jews, which are based upon God's Law, are man's own doings anyway. The 'false brethren', the 'crept in unawares', i.e. the 'sons of Cain', are the ones mainly responsible for creating the greater 'bondage' based upon their over meticulous renderings of God's Law.

Christ freed them from those entrapments that create bondage, and they have a hard time trying to 'ease up' on the reigns a little, not being held to the blood ordinances anymore.