Galatians 2:12
For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
At Antioch Peter had so far overcome his prejudice as to eat freely with Gentile converts, in harmony with the light he had received and with the decision of the council. That advance was tested when pressure reached him from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish exclusiveness and bigotry. There Jewish Christians living in sight of the temple clung to the peculiar privileges of the Jews as a nation and to the sacredness of Jewish customs and ceremonies. As Christianity departed from those traditions many grew indignant against Paul as the cause of the change, even the disciples were not all prepared to willingly accept the council's decision, and some remained zealous for the ceremonial law and regarded Paul with jealousy because his principles seemed lax toward obligation to the Jewish law.
When certain visitors associated with James arrived who were zealous for the ceremonial law and insisted on circumcision, Peter withdrew and separated himself from the Gentile believers. He did so because he feared those who were of the circumcision, fearing their disapproval and reaction. Paul opposed this course because God gives His gifts to circumcised and uncircumcised believers alike, and Gentile Christians should not be bound by unnecessary burdens.
In withdrawing Peter acted inconsistently and played a double part. He disguised and misrepresented his true convictions, compromised gospel principles and failed in integrity by dissembling, evading principle, and wavering as a two-sided man from fear of man and desire for approval, esteem, and to gain esteem. His changed conduct painfully affected, hurt, and harmed the Gentile believers and gave them a painful impression. It exerted a subverting influence by encouraging others to follow his example, including Barnabas, and thereby threatened division in the church.
Paul openly rebuked and withstood Peter face to face for acting wrongly. After acting against his convictions Peter recognized his error and tried to repair the harm he had done. His failure reveals human weakness and fallibility, that even an apostle, even the best of men, even influential church leaders, and even men who sometimes wrote under the Spirit's inspiration could err when left to themselves and not under the Spirit's direct influence. It is the more strange after Peter's fall and restoration, his long course of service, his intimate acquaintance with Christ and knowledge of Christ's pure straightforward practice of principle, and after all the instruction, gifts, knowledge, and great influence he had in preaching and teaching the Word.
The record is preserved so others may profit by it, as a solemn warning to men in high places not to fail in integrity but to keep close to principle. It shows that the higher the responsibility and position to dictate and control, the more mischief is done in perverting minds and hearts without careful following of the way of the Lord. It shows every man's personal helplessness to steer straight and the daily essential need of the grace of Christ alone to keep feet from falling and to save feet from falling. Peter's conduct gives no support to claims that he was head of the church or that later popes were his successors, and prerogatives belonging only to God cannot rightly be claimed for Peter or his successors. His failure proves he was fallible and no higher than the other apostles, with no grounds for boasting or claim to authority above them, and instead supports the apostles' equality with one another.