End Time Insights

The key issue in Galatia is whether Gentiles must be circumcised and keep some, at least, of the deeds required by the Torah .  Paul’s letter to the Galatians is his response to a controversy in the churches of Galatia. The issue is the status of Gentile believers. Must they conform to Jewish practices and submit to the regulation of the Mosaic Law, especially the rite of circumcision?

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  Galatians , Paul responds to teachings from certain “ men from Jerusalem ” who are disrupting the churches by claiming that male Gentiles must be circumcised to “ complete ” their faith.  This group may also be promoting calendrical observances and the Levitical dietary regulations.

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

For the church to insist on a Torah-observant lifestyle means the restoration of the old social barriers between Jews and Gentiles .  The final paragraph of the third chapter of  Galatians  is pivotal to Paul’s argument. It stresses the oneness of God’s people. In the covenant community, the old social divisions are inappropriate since the promised “ seed of Abraham ”  has arrived.

With the new era inaugurated by Jesus, circumcision is no longer the sign of membership in the covenant community .  Circumcision is an obstacle to claims that disciples must keep the Mosaic Law. In  Genesis , it is the entrance rite of the Abrahamic covenant and the identifying sign of the covenant. And it is mandatory under the l aw given through Moses at Mount Sinai. Thus, if circumcision is no longer required, then the jurisdiction of the Law has changed.