End Time Insights

Anyone who is under the Law of Moses is obligated to keep all its required deeds and rituals, and therefore, risks coming under its curse . In his Letter to the Galatians , Paul responded to teachings by certain “ men from Jerusalem ” who were disrupting the churches, claiming that male Gentiles must be circumcised “ to complete ” their faith. This group also promoted following the Hebrew calendar and the Levitical dietary regulations.

Returning to the jurisdiction of the Torah means the restoration of the old social barriers between Jews and Gentiles . The third chapter of Galatians  is pivotal to Paul’s argument for the unity of God’s people. The old social divisions under the Mosaic Legislation are inappropriate in God’s One Covenant Community since the promised “ Seed of Abraham ”  has arrived, namely, Jesus of Nazareth. In Christ’s Assembly, “ No longer can there be Jew or Greek ! ”

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 .”

Paul argued that adopting the rite of circumcision would constitute regression to something rudimentary, and an earlier stage in the redemptive history of God’s people. If Gentile believers did so, they would be obligated to keep the whole Law, and they could easily find themselves “ severed from Christ ” - (Galatians 5:1-4).

The epistle to the  Galatians  opens with a stern warning. What some believers contemplated doing would replace the true Gospel with something quite alien to the Apostolic message. 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, which is why he summoned God to “ curse ” any man, even “ an angel from Heaven ,” who preached “ another gospel .”

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 .”