I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you, your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. -Ezekiel 36:25-27
I previously wrote an article in this blog called Reading the Jerusalem Letter, which challenges the traditional church’s belief that the (Jewish) Jerusalem Council of believers, replaced the Torah, in the lives of Gentile believers, with just a few simple behavioral requirements (see Acts 15). I didn’t describe though, the impact of this letter as it was sent out to the Messianic congregations of the near east. Not all of them accepted the direction of the Council that, among other things, Gentiles didn’t have to convert to Judaism in order to become full recipients of the covenant promises.
It’s also important to remember (and you see examples of this in a number of Paul’s letters), that not all Jews who came to faith in Yeshua as the Messiah, held to the belief that Gentiles could be “grafted in” to Israel without actually becoming Israel through conversion. A number of these Jewish believers visited the faith community in Galatia and taught that, in addition to coming to faith in Yeshua, the Gentiles (males, anyway) needed to undergo the formal ritual of circumcision and convert to Judaism. This was contrary to what Paul was teaching, but it’s understandable that the Gentile Galatians became, at least concerned, if not confused. Naturally, Paul went ballistic and the Book of Galatians was born.
By Paul’s own admission, he wasn’t much of a public speaker, but he was a terrific letter writer. Paul was very specific in his letters, that salvation for all is through faith and grace alone, Jew and Gentile alike, and that the Gentiles were not required to undergo circumcision and conversion to Judaism to receive that grace through faith. Circumcision is a Torah commandment specific to the Jews via the Abrahamic covenant, but not a replacement for faith and grace.
In his Galatian letter, Paul isn’t being precisely literal in his use of the word “circumcision” or “circumcised”, since that would eliminate the Gentile women. This was a sort of “short-hand” for differentiating Jews and Gentiles. Paul used the term Gentiles (ethnos) and uncircumcised (akrobustia) more or less interchangeably, so the object of interest becomes both male and female Gentiles, relative to the idea of conversion. Paul is saying that conversion of the Gentiles to Judaism is not a requirement for salvation through the Messiah, something we should all be able to agree upon.
Nevertheless, the Gentile believers were the new kids on the block. They had freshly “arrived” at Messianic worship out of pagan idolatry, and were looking to their Jewish mentors for direction and advice. When Jewish members of the “circumcision faction” came to them, “preaching” that the Gentiles needed to be converted to Judaism to be “saved”, how were the Gentiles to know what to do, except to believe what they were told? When Paul heard that the Gentile Galatians were so easily swayed, he was very direct in his response, calling them “foolish” and declaring the individual Jews who were the source of this misinformation, as being “eternally condemned” for offering “some other gospel”. This “other gospel” was leading the Gentiles to put their trust in something other than Yeshua as the goal of their faith.
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Messiah (Christ). -Galatians 3:16
The goal of the Torah and of faith, is the Messiah, the one “seed” of Abraham, rather than the many “seeds” of Abraham, or the Jewish people (through Isaac and Jacob). We sometimes see this mistake being made in the modern Messianic movement, when newly minted Gentile Messianic believers become so enamoured in all things Jewish, that they forget the very focus Paul speaks of in Galatians. This matter is made worse by some Messianic Jewish people, who indeed somehow believe that in the “cosmic pecking order”, Jews have more value in the faith community than Gentiles. Gentiles, just as in the days of the Galatian congregation, sometimes believe what they are told in this context, and strive to become more outwardly Jewish, including in some extreme cases, undergoing formal conversion. How did Paul’s message get lost?
As far as the modern church goes, Paul’s words and intent have become misunderstood over the years and currently, Paul’s letter to the Galatians is considered the “anti-Torah” or anti-Law” letter by Christianity. Given that nearly 2000 years have passed, and that the traditional church and synagogue have made great efforts to distance themselves from each other, the interpretation of Paul’s letter has become slurred. Paul wasn’t preaching against Torah observance or the Jewish people but rather, against putting outward physical signs, behaviors, and appearance head of faith and grace. If you believe that becoming physically circumcised will reconcile you with God, you are discounting faith and the Messiah’s sacrifice. It doesn’t mean that Jews aren’t still required to obey the Abrahamic covenant, but it does mean that salvation is open to the Gentiles without requiring that they become Jews.
Messianics (both Jews and Gentiles) sometimes slur Paul’s (and the Torah’s) meaning to the opposite extreme. While some Messianic communities are only vaguely different in their theology and worship than their traditional church counterparts, many fail to distinguish between a Hebraic interpretation of the Bible, and the rabbinic and halakahic practice of modern Judaism. This tends to lead some Messianic groups to making the same error that Paul was so passionately urging the Galatians to avoid.
In my Reading the Jerusalem Letter article, I attempted to make the point that, while conversion to Judaism and Torah obedience isn’t required for salvation, God still has behavioral expectations of his faith community once they’re redeemed. That includes His entire flock, both Jews and Gentiles. Paul’s Galatian letter builds the argument that Gentiles are redeemed by faith, just as “Our Father Abraham” was redeemed by faith before the act of circumcision, and just as the Jewish nation was redeemed by faith, before the giving of the Torah at Sinai. However, if Abraham is the father of us all in our faith and devotion to God, what does that mean for the Gentile and Jewish sheep? It means that faith is the template by which we all arrive at the Throne of God.
Given this template, it’s ironic that the Jewish members of the “circumcision faction” chose to engage in a bit of “replacement theology”, much like the Christian church is doing today. Back in Paul’s day, this Jewish faction among the Messianic believers, was attempting to re-write the gospels, as well as the Torah, nullifying grace as the only requirement of salvation and reconciliation with God, and replacing it with the entire package of Judaism, including observance to both the written and oral traditions. This group of Jews could not comprehend any other way of coming to faith with God, especially at a time in history when Israel was under Roman occupation and persecution.
Today, we are looking at the other side of the coin. Modern Christianity believes that, in order for a born-Jew to become a believer in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Jew must renounce all Jewish practices and “convert” to Christianity, effectively becoming a Gentile. This is a little nuts, since neither Yeshua, Paul, nor any of the other Jewish disciples ever said the Torah had been done away with, particularly for the Jewish people (and I don’t believe for the rest of us). Paul’s letter to the Galatians doesn’t say the Torah didn’t apply to the Gentiles as a lifestyle; only that Gentiles didn’t have to convert to Judaism and obey the written (and oral) Torah, as pre-requisites for coming into a relationship with God. Faith and grace were always the primary requirements, as we see in Paul’s repeated references to Abraham. The “seed” (singular) of Abraham is the Messiah. One Messiah for us all, Jew and Gentile alike. This doesn’t mean that Gentiles stop being Gentiles and Jews stop being Jews, only that we are all treated alike, without requiring a change in ethnic identity.
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise -Galatians 3:26-29
When Paul says (in verse 23) that before “…this faith came, we were all prisoners by the Law, locked up until faith should be revealed…”, he’s not speaking against the Torah, but describing the condition of all “unsaved” people. Up until we come to faith, we are all subject to the condemnations and curses of the Torah, as lawless and rebellious against God. Once we come to faith, we are justified by that faith. When Paul says we are “free” in his letter, it’s not freedom from the Torah, but freedom to completely obey God’s wishes and desires as expressed in the Torah (Bible), living the lifestyle God has designed for us, and reaping the Torah blessings.
Gentiles don’t need to become Jews, nor do Jews need to become Gentiles, in order to worship the Messiah and to worship God. God created us each as we are. If we were all supposed to be Jews, then we’d all have been born Jewish. The same for being born Gentile. What we are to change isn’t our bodies or our backgrounds, but our hearts.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. -Deuteronomy 10:16-17
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. -Deuteronomy 30:6
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done – burn with no one to quench it. -Jeremiah 4:4
No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and true circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. -Romans 2:29
I’m including all of these quotes to emphasize that circumcision of the heart trumps outward circumcision, while not replacing the requirement for Jews as members of the Abrahamic covenant. Yet it’s not this outward circumcision, for the Jew or the Gentile, that makes the difference in our relationship with God, but the circumcision of the heart and our turning to God.
As Paul describes in Galatians 3, in connection with the Messiah, we are all the “seed” of Abraham, Jew and Gentile alike. Our mission then, is to discover our new identity in the Messiah, as an explorer might discover a new land. We are all born again in a new and wonderful way.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17
The lessons Paul teaches in his letter to the Galatians have a practical application in our lives as believers today. Rather than letting our differences divide us, let’s seek our common ground as new creations together, exploring our identities as Children of God.