Peter’s actions are viewed as compromising the truth of the gospel. By separating himself from Gentile believers he thereby communicated that Gentile believers are not fully cleansed by the blood of Christ. He denied them the full status that they have in Christ.1 He promoted the idea that they need to observe old covenant purity laws before they can truly be part of God’s people.2
14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”