At the deepest levels of reality, our unity is found in Christ. Our union with him by faith runs deeper than anything in this world that would ever tempt us to divide.

There are times when small parts of the Bible really stick out to me. I often feel the urge to just marinate on part of a chapter or part of a verse. That’s what happened to me the other day when I read half of Galatians 2:12. I simply wanted to sit with the words.

In this post, then, I want to briefly draw your attention to how important the first part of verse 12 is in Galatians 2. This isn’t the main point of the passage, but I believe what Paul says here, if you stare at it for a moment, has something to say to our world today.

For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles…(Galatians 2:12a)

Take some time and consider what half of a verse might say to our culture. Look around. What do we see at every turn? Division. Political division. Social division. Ethnic division. We do not see a lot of unity. And, sadly, that is true when it comes to the church, too. There are plenty of debates about our educational issues, political opinions, whether or not to defy the government, and the way ahead in terms of Sunday worship during COVID. And, of course, old debates about theology have not simply ceased to exist because a virus came calling.

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