In line

DEVOTION
GALATIONS
IN LINE
Gal 2:14
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter 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?
NIV
It surely seems Peter was a little off base on his way of dealing with his relationship with Christ. He was not acting in live with the truth of the Gospel. Now it comes to me, and I must ask myself that very same question. Am I acting in line with the truth of the gospel? Do I act like an unbeliever while preaching to believers on how they should act? No, I think not. So how else could I apply this to me? I am a believer, I do not live like an unbeliever and I do not require them to live like me. What do I do here? What is it I should see? It still comes back to whether or not I am acting in line with the truth of the gospel. How do people, both believers and unbelievers perceive my way of live, my actions, my attitude, my interaction with them? Do they see me as a man of conviction? Do they see me as living out my faith? Do they see me living in line with the truth of the gospel? It is a large responsibility to be all that I can be. I absolutely need the full power of the Holy Spirit at work within me, if I am going to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world and a mirror reflecting the image of God to others. But I think that is what it is to be acting in line with the truth of the gospel. I do not think it is following a bunch of manmade rules and regulations, but following Christ. To be Christ like means far more then rules. If I teach and preach those rules, I surely am going to be like Peter in the sense I would not be acting in line with the truth of the Gospel. In fact I would be teaching something I could not live up to. I can never follow all the rules all the time, I could never be perfect enough to obey every rule, every regulation, and then preach that others should. How bizarre is that? No, I simply have to live according to the truth of the Gospel. I am saved by faith and by faith alone. I have to be who God desires me to be. I have to do what God desires me to do. I have to be that salt, light and mirror. How that looks is up to God. He is the one who works for me, in me and through me. I only need to submit to his authority. Then I will be acting in line with the truth of the gospel.