Kingdom Disciples

The issue in Galatia was whether Gentiles must be circumcised and keep some, at least, of the deeds required by the Torah . The Letter to the Galatians is Paul’s response to a controversy that had developed among the congregations of Galatia. At issue was the status of Gentile believers. Must they conform to Jewish practices and submit to the regulations of the Mosaic Law to become members of the covenant community, especially the rite of circumcision ?

Paul anchored all that God has done for His Church in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Galatians 1:1-5. Paul claimed the source of his apostleship was the same God who raised His Son from “ among dead ones .” Jesus died and was raised from the dead to “ deliver us from this evil age .” In his Letter to the Galatians , Paul responded to “ men from Jerusalem ” who operated as if the old era before this event remained in effect. They insisted that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Jewish calendar, and they challenged Paul’s Apostolic authority.

The Judaizing faction in Galatia proclaimed a message that deviated from the Apostolic Tradition and twisted the true Gospel – Galatians 1:6-12. The Letter to the Galatians  opens with a stern warning. What some believers contemplated doing would replace the Gospel of Jesus with something alien. To turn from the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” to the “ works of the law ” for justification meant abandoning the grace of God and rejecting the message preached by Paul. This is why he summoned God to “ curse ” any man, “ even an angel from Heaven ,” who preached “ another gospel .”

With the new era inaugurated by Jesus, circumcision is no longer the required sign of membership in the covenant community . Circumcision is an obstacle to any claim that believers must keep the regulations of the Mosaic Law to be saved. Circumcision was the entrance rite of the covenant with Abraham. Moreover, it was mandatory under the Law given through Moses at Mount Sinai; it was never optional . Therefore, if circumcision is no longer required for membership in the People of God, the jurisdiction or content of the Mosaic Law has changed, if not ended.

What identifies the people of God and determines membership in His Assembly is Jesus, especially the Messiah revealed on the cross,  and nothing else ! This does not mean that the Law of Moses served no purpose, but it is not the basis for determining who is acquitted of sin by God. Right standing before Him is obtained “ through the faith OF Jesus Christ ,” and not “ from the deeds of the Law .”

The Apostle Paul referred to the “ Promise of the Spirit ” which he equated with the “ Blessing of Abraham .” Jesus subjected himself to the “ curse ” of the Law to redeem believers so that the “ Blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith .” He wrote elsewhere that believers were “ sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise, the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession .”

Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is his response to a controversy in the churches of that region. The issue was the status of Gentile believers. Must they conform to Jewish practices and submit to the regulation of the Mosaic Law, especially circumcision? At the heart of his response was his contention that “ in Christ ” the old distinctions between “ Jew ” and “ Gentile ” no longer apply, the covenant promises have found their fulfillment in Jesus, the “ seed of Abraham .”

Paul chided the Galatians over their desire “ to return to bondage under the weak and beggarly rudiments ” of the world, including calendrical observations and circumcision. Since they were no longer “minors” but full heirs who lived in the age of fulfillment and had the Gift of the Spirit, resorting to outmoded rituals was tantamount to returning to a state of slavery.

The death of Jesus inaugurated the messianic age with consequent changes in the status of God’s people .  In his epistle to the Assembly in Galatia, Paul declares that his apostleship originated from the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, the Messiah of Israel who gave his life to “ deliver us from this evil age .” His declaration anticipates his proposition in the body of the Letter that the arrival of Jesus changed the status of the Law for the people of God, the “ children of Abraham .”

The Gift of the Spirit is clear evidence that a person has been justified by God and made a part of His covenant people. In Galatia, “ false brethren ” were preaching “ another gospel ,” one that claimed Gentiles must be circumcised to “ complete ” their faith. Paul would have none of it, and he appealed to the presence of the Spirit among uncircumcised Gentiles as proof positive of their justification and acceptance by God.