Friday, August 15 He . . . separated himself, fearing those of the circumcised class.​—Gal. 2:12.

[Áine]

Friday, August 15

He . . . separated himself, fearing those of the circumcised class.—Gal. 2:12.

 

Even after he became an anointed Christian, the apostle Peter had to deal with his weaknesses. In 36 C.E., Peter was present when the uncircumcised Gentile Cornelius was anointed with holy spirit, which was clear evidence that “God is not partial” and that Gentiles could be part of the Christian congregation. (Acts 10:34,44, 45) Peter thereafter felt free to share meals with Gentiles, something he would never have done earlier. However, some Jewish Christians felt that Jews and Gentiles should not eat together. When some who had that viewpoint came to Antioch, Peter stopped eating with his Gentile brothers, likely out of fear of offending Jewish Christians. The apostle Paul saw this hypocrisy and rebuked Peter publicly. (Gal. 2:13, 14) Despite this setback, Peter persevered. w23.09 22 ¶8

[LeslieDean]

My verse mapping research uncovered this: 

Peter’s Prejudice Was Subtle, Not Open Hostility

• Peter wasn’t openly condemning Gentile Christians — he simply withdrew. This shows how powerful fear of human opinion can be, leading to passive compromise instead of active persecution.

• Hidden lesson: Sometimes our actions (or lack of them) speak louder than our words.

[careful]

this daily scripture is interesting because it asks us to examine our opinions.   Peter was clearly wrong to not associate with gentiles since association with them was allowed.  However....in other scriptures we learn how we can at times abstain from eating food that we might consider fine but someone else might find objectionable such as meat that was previously used in false worship but is now simply food.  does anyone have thoughts on this?

[LeslieDean]

Why Peter was wrong in Galatians 2:12

 

Association with Gentile Christians was already approved by Jehovah (Acts 10:28, 34-35; Acts 15:7-9).

 

Peter’s withdrawal wasn’t about kindly yielding to a weaker conscience — it was about giving in to fear of men (Galatians 2:12 says “fearing those of the circumcised class”).

 

His actions suggested that Gentile believers were somehow “second-class,” which undermined the truth of the good news.

 

This wasn’t a “neutral” matter — it touched a core teaching: the unity and equality of all Christians.

[LeslieDean]

• In matters that are truly neutral — such as eating meat that had been offered to idols but was now just ordinary food — Christians could decide to abstain temporarily for the sake of someone else’s conscience (1 Corinthians 8:13; Romans 14:21).

• The motive here is love, not fear: avoiding stumbling a brother or sister while still holding the correct understanding privately.

• The key is that this kind of yielding doesn’t deny a Bible truth — it simply defers exercising a right for the benefit of another person’s spiritual well-

[careful]

leslie dean....thank you...your explanation makes perfect sense.    the two accounts to me show that Jehovah is always aware of our heart motiive whenever we avoid something.