Conflict happens even among believers. Paul and Peter had one such conflict. This devotion looks at how they resolved their conflict.
Nuggets
- Conflict can happen even among believers.
- Both Paul and Peter had gotten an attitude adjustment regarding the Gentiles; but Peter wasn’t consistent.
- After Paul called Peter on it, Peter could have gotten even.
- Instead, Peter called Paul his beloved brother.
- Peter acknowledged that sometimes people try to twist Paul’s words to justify their beliefs.
- Twisting the meaning of scriptures is dangerous.
Peter is always listed first when Jesus’ apostles are listed. He was also the most vocal.
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Paul, at first, would have been hunting Peter down to kill him. However, that changed one day on the Damascus Road. Jesus specifically called Paul to be a missionary.
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So, Peter and Paul should have been good buddies, right? But they did have some conflict. Let’s look at the problem and then see how it was resolved.
Let's Put It into Context
“When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles” (Gal. 2: 11-12 CEV)
Conflict can happen even among believers. Think about what courage Paul had to have to confront Peter. Yes, Paul was very defensive regarding his apostleship.
But this was Peter. There was no controversy on his. He had spent three years with Jesus. Peter had walked on water!
And Paul had to say, “Excuse me, Buddy. You’re wrong.”
We have to remember that Paul probably used to feel the say way as Peter did. Paul used to be a Pharisee. He got an attitude adjustment. Peter had, too; but he wasn’t consistent.
So, Paul called Peter on it. Paul doesn’t come across as being timid as Peter was, but it still had to be hard to correct a friend.
Why did Paul correct Peter? It is like Bishop Hall said. “There cannot more worthy improvement of friendship than in a fervent opposition to the sins of those whom we love.”
Paul doesn’t elaborate much here as to how he corrected Peter. He probably listened to his own advice. “Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister” (II Thess. 3: 15 NLT). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom …” (Col. 3: 16 ESV).
So, Peter got even with Paul, right? Let’s see.
Is It a Dig or Not?
“Some of his comments are not easy to understand …” (II Pet. 3: 16 LB)
I laugh at these words every time I read them. I can just hear Peter snipping at Paul.
Also, here is the guy who was with Jesus for three years saying he finds the words confusing that we’re written by a guy who met Jesus once on the street.
However, not understanding scripture is not a laughing matter. We need to understand what God is trying to tell us.
Still, we could read this a couple of different ways.
Peter could have been getting a dig at Paul, and it was probably where it would have hurt. Paul wrote his letters to instruct his readers on the mystery of the gospel. He was trying to clear things up, not confuse people more.
More than likely, Peter was teasing Paul as a brother. If we look back in II Peter 3: 15, we see Peter called him “… our beloved brother Paul …” (KJV).
Maybe Peter was just stating a fact. We have to remember Peter was a fisherman. He would have been educated until he was 13.
Paul was a Pharisee. He probably would have been educated until he was 17.
Maybe Peter was just recognizing their differences. He could have been acknowledging the fact that Paul wrote at a higher level than he could always comprehend. (If you don’t think it happens, try reading a study that has a lot of statistical jargon in it.)
Paul was writing at his level (with his enthusiasm) to a specific group of people. They did not have the knowledge that we have today. They probably had their own code or sayings that just haven’t survived.
If God’s thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isa. 55: 8-9), how can we even think we are going to understand everything? That is why God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3: 5 NKJV). God is going to continue to reveal Himself to us through His Word. How could we expect to understand it at the first reading?
I think Peter was good with Paul. Peter had read what Paul had written. He didn’t question what was written.
Some Tough Words
“… and there are people who are deliberately stupid, and always demand some unusual interpretation – they have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant; just as they do in other parts of the Scripture …” (II Pet. 3: 16 LB)
Ummm. Did I say Peter was timid before? Not in this translation!
Now, most of the time, we escalate the situation when we call someone stupid. That garners the direct opposite response of soothing ruffled feathers.
There is one key word in there — deliberately. We all can have our ditzy moments. (Oh, yes. I can go from Super Mom to Ditzy Mom in 0.00002 seconds sometimes.)
Maybe we aren’t really paying attention. Maybe we just misunderstand something. Maybe we are looking for something that really isn’t there.
But that is not on purpose. Peter accused people of misunderstanding on purpose.
And it wasn’t just Paul’s writing they twisted. It was the Scriptures.
Oooo, baby. That is a serious accusation.
Not only were those people twisting what they read, but they were also “demand[ing] some unusual interpretation …” (II Pet. 3: 16 LB). They were expecting others to give them the explanation they wanted to hear. They were wanting scriptures rewritten.
Why the Tough Words?
“… and the result is disaster for them” (II Pet. 3: 16 LB)
I think Peter followed Paul’s advise, too. He saw something wrong, and he addressed it.
No, Peter wasn’t as polished as Paul was. He was, however, every bit as committed to doing God’s work as Paul was. He, too, gave his life for kingdom work.
Why?
Peter knew that people need Jesus as their lord and Savior. Not turning our lives over to God will have disastrous results.
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Jesus will come down and judge us. Judgement will be based on the ABCDs.
The ABCDs of Salvation
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Making the Connections
Peter knew the bottom line. People either always have to searching for or seeking God. If we haven’t ABCDed, we need to. If we have, we are never going to know it all. There will always need to be some sin we are cutting out of our lives.
Get two people together, it is possible that conflict is going to happen — even disciples. No, we want unity, but we are human. There is going to be differences of opinion. Someone is going to say something that someone else will take wrong.
Even disciples are going to continue to sin — even Peter. Grace doesn’t flip a switch so disciples no longer sin. We have to work out our salvation.
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We have to be forgiving. We have to try to live in peace with each other.
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Yes, the letter circulated among the churches, but they still would have been private letters. In no way, shape, or form did Paul expect these letters to make up the bulk of the New Testament. He would have said, “What New Testament?”
Paul was writing at his level (with his enthusiasm) to a specific group of people. They did not have the knowledge that we have today. They probably had their own code or sayings that just haven’t survived.
If God’s thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isa. 55: 8-9), how can we even think we are going to understand everything. That is why God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3: 5 NKJV). God is going to continue to reveal Himself to us through His Word. How could we expect to understand it at the first reading?
How Do We Apply This?
Conflict can be hard to deal with on many levels. We have conflict within our families, our friends, our workplace, our society, and through the world.
It saddens me that there are so many people who think that, just because someone believes the opposite of them, they have the right — and sometimes duty — to just rip that person up one side and down the other.
Is that really going to change a person’s mind and belief? No. That isn’t going to change anything.
Go back to what Paul said in II Thessalonians 3: 15. Don’t treat them as an enemy; treat them as a brother. Don’t be a dictator.
Our discounting someone’s feelings and beliefs is not where Paul — and Jesus — started. They started where the person was.
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When we are witnessing, they are going to tune us out if we are confusing them. If we assume they believe something and don’t or we completely ignore what they do believe, they may not make the needed connections to evaluate what they already know with the new information.
That is what learning us all about — making the connections with what we already know and changing our knowledge based on how new information impacts that. We’ve got to make sure we connect the dots. (That is one reason I say below, if I haven’t sufficiently connected the dots for you, let me know.)
It would probably depend on the situation as to whether it is worse to not try to resolve conflict or try the wrong way. Trying the wrong way may potentially make it worse.
We have to be like Peter. We can’t let people rewrite the scriptures because they want to continue sinning. We need to be concerned with spiritual life.
Loving Father. You did not make mankind to suffer conflict. That is a consequence of the original sin. You have shown us in Your Word how to resolve that conflict. Help us as we deal with others so that we can live in peace. Most importantly, help us to not be a stumbling block when witnessing. We know people need to know of Your love and forgiveness. Amen.
What do you think?
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