Gods Sabbath

P AULS ’ S M ISTAKE

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This attitude, which was wide spread in Paul’s day, imposed a se vere burden of temptation on him. He longed for com plete unity with the leading breth ren, seeing in the achievement of this the removal of sig nificant obstacles which barred the advancement of the

To whom would he turn?

To God the great Problem Solver

Paul

To himself as an erring human

work. He no doubt tended to blame himself for the trouble and felt that he ought to do something towards meeting these men half way. It was out of a deep and humble love for his brethren and the cause, that he felt compelled to make the concessions he did. Admirable as Paul’s motives were, there was an alternative and correct course available for him to follow. He could have care fully reviewed the Lord’s dealings with him in the past and seen anew how he had done nothing other than what God had directed him to do. He was not responsible for the attitude of the leaders when their spirit resulted from resistance to present truth. Paul had no changes to make. The fault lay entirely with the leaders. Yet it was the humble, loving, dedicated, Christ-like Paul who was prepared to change, while the leaders, who ought to have made the adjustment, showed no willingness to do so. On this one critical occasion, Paul who had so resolutely refused to ac cept any other head than Christ, departed from the pathway of strict principle and accepted the plans other men had made for him. Thus he surrendered his position as champion of the mys tery of God and gave the advantage to the Lord’s opponents. In doing so, Paul’s motive and spirit were unquestionably pure and noble. It is not our place to sit in judgment on either him or the leaders who caused him to stumble. But the nature of the decisions made and the courses followed must be ana lyzed carefully, so that the same mistakes can be avoided in