Conflict in Galatia

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?

The heart of his response is that “in Christ” the old distinctions between “Jew” and “Gentile” are no longer relevant. The covenant promises have found their fulfillment in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel. What determines membership is not the “deeds of the law” but the “faith of Jesus Christ.”

[Photo by Georgi Kalaydzhiev on Unsplash]

The Mosaic law was more than a statement of theological principles or moral codes for regulating human conduct. God chose Israel to be His treasure above all other nations.  The Law was a covenant between Him and the entire Nation of Israel. It was not individual Israelites who accepted the covenant one by one, but the nation proclaimed in unison - “All that Yahweh has commanded we will do.” - (Exodus 19:3-6).

The Law was given to Israel and not to any other nation, and her obedience to the Torah was vital to her possession of the Promised Land.  The Torah was a national contract between Yahweh and Israel. It included a sacrificial system, dietary restrictions, inheritance laws, civil regulations, and penal codes. Some regulations were specific to the nation residing in Canaan, such as the cities of refuge and the rules of inheritance.

The Law kept Israel separate from the surrounding nations.  The dietary restrictions, for example, maintained the nation's ritual purity. This does not mean Israel’s religion was closed to Gentiles. The Law provided the means for Gentiles to join the covenant community, including circumcision and submission to the obligations of the Law - (Leviticus 20:24-26).

Gentile “converts” became members of the nation of Israel. Since circumcision was the fundamental sign of the covenant, it was not optional.

The Church in its early years was composed of Jews and Jewish proselytes. It did not view itself as a new religion but as a messianic movement within Judaism, the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. The first chapters of the Book of Acts record how this new “way” spread among the Jewish people.

Only later was the Gospel offered to Gentiles when Peter visited the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. Cornelius was a centurion of the “band called Italian,” but he also was “devout and feared God… doing many alms to the people and supplicating God continually.” He embraced the precepts of Israel’s faith. Though he loved the Jewish people, he remained uncircumcised - (Acts 10:13-28).

The opening of the Gospel to the nations necessitated divine intervention, thus the visions received by Cornelius and Peter. The latter saw a sheet filled with ritually unclean animals descending from heaven. A voice commanded him to eat, which he refused to do.  “At no time had he eaten anything common or unclean.” The voice responded, “What things God has cleansed do not make common” - (Acts 10:9-16).

Following Peter’s vision, two men from Cornelius arrived and told him, “Cornelius, a centurion, a man righteous and fearing God, well–attested by the whole nation of the Jews, has been instructed by an angel to send for you to his house and to hear words from you.” Though uncircumcised, he had an excellent reputation among the Jewish people.  God did not choose just any Gentile for this pivotal event. He selected one known by many Jews for his devoutness.

Despite the Roman centurion’s well-attested character, Peter responded, “You well know how it is unlawful for a Jew to be joining himself or coming into one of another race.” His statement demonstrates the obstacle to welcoming Gentiles into the covenant community that existed at that time. Even righteous men remained outside the covenant if they were uncircumcised. Peter continued:

• “Yet to me has God pointed out that I should be calling no man common or unclean...of a truth, I find that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation, he that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”

The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles while Peter was speaking. This caused amazement among the Jews for “upon the Gentiles also the free gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out.” God gave the same gift to uncircumcised Gentiles - (Acts 10:29-48).

Only after the Spirit was poured out did Peter confess that people from every nation were acceptable to God if they feared him and lived righteously, circumcised or not. God had accepted Gentiles AS GENTILES into His Church.

Some Jewish believers in Jerusalem found fault with Peter’s actions since he had fellowshipped “uncircumcised men.” Peter justified his actions by pointing to the outpouring of the Spirit: “If the same gift God gave to them as even to us when we had believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that could withstand God?” – (Acts 11:1-3).

That God had given the Spirit to Gentiles while they were still uncircumcised was irrefutable evidence that He had accepted them because of their faith in Jesus.  After hearing Peter’s defense, the Church of Jerusalem glorified God and declared, “Even to the Gentiles has God granted repentance for life.”

IN GALATIA

In his letter, Paul detailed how he received his Gospel for the Gentiles by revelation, a commission confirmed by the church leaders in Jerusalem. He also described how “false brethren, secretly introduced, slinked in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus.”

Paul was referring to an earlier incident in Antioch when Jewish believers from Jerusalem infiltrated the congregation and spread disruptive teachings. They claimed it was improper for Jewish believers to eat with uncircumcised Gentiles.  Even Peter and Barnabas were caught up in this, the pressure was so great - (Galatians 2:1-13).

The Apostle to the Gentiles would have none of it. He confronted Peter over his hypocrisy- “I said to Cephas before all: If you, although a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how do you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?” - (Galatians 2:14).

The key phrase is “compelling Gentiles to live like Jews.”  The Greek verb is a strong one. It means “to compel, force” (anangkazō – Strong’s Concordance #G315). The Greek infinitive translated as “to live like Jews” occurs only here in the New Testament (Ioudaizo – Strong’s #G2450). It refers to pressuring non-Jews to adopt a Jewish lifestyle.

Certain Jewish believers in Antioch were “compelling” Gentiles to conform to Jewish customs.  Refusing to eat with Gentiles insinuated there was something defective in their faith.

The controversy in Galatia focused on circumcision (“If you are getting circumcised Christ will profit you nothing”). Paul’s opponents were “compelling you to get circumcised,” to add circumcision to their faith in Jesus - (Galatians 5:12).

This dispute was not surprising.  The first disciples were Jews. Was not Jesus the promised Jewish Messiah? Questions about how Gentiles could enter the covenant community became inevitable, especially after the Gospel was opened to Gentiles at the house of Cornelius.

The Gospel was connected to the faith and covenant of Abraham.  It was natural for Jewish believers to look to the Mosaic Law for the criteria that would identify and define the people of God.  Circumcision would inevitably become an issue. Was it not the original sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, one that even predated the Torah?

Proponents of circumcision had a strong scriptural basis for doing so. Did not the Law already provide the means for Gentiles to become members of the covenant community, including circumcision? This was the situation in Galatia addressed by Paul, the “Apostle to the Gentiles,” in his Letter to the Galatians.

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