Disciples Global Network

The jurisdiction of the Mosaic regulations over the covenant community reached its limit with the arrival of Jesus, the Seed of Abraham . In responding to claims that Gentiles must be circumcised, Paul appealed to the common experience of the Spirit received by the Galatians.  Did they receive the Gift through a “ hearing of faith ” or “ from the works of the Law ?”  Having begun in the Spirit, why did they seek the “ completion ” of their faith based on “ flesh ” by submitting to circumcision?

Jesus summons us to become “ perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect ,” yet how can we emulate the perfect righteousness of God? His explanation is clear – By performing acts of mercy for others,  especially our enemies . Self-sacrificial love is the heart of the Gospel and the essential nature of the merciful God. Was Jesus not the Messiah who submitted to an unjust death on our behalf when we were yet the “ enemies of God ”?

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 life, words, and deeds of Jesus echo key events from the History of Israel. He brings the things God began in the past to their intended fulfillment. He is the  Greater Lawgiver  foreshadowed in the story of the Exodus from Egypt. By presenting parallels between Moses and Jesus, the  Gospel of Matthew  prepares us for the teachings of Christ, especially as represented in his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’.

Religious leaders from Jerusalem began to object to the looseness of Jesus to their Sabbath traditions, but he used the opportunity to show that the “ Son of Man ” is “ Lord ” even over that day. God did cease His creative activities on the seventh day, but its formal establishment as a regulated day on which no work was to be done did not occur until the Torah was given through Moses at Mount Sinai (“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ”).

After a curt introduction, Paul began his  Letter to the Galatians  with a stern warning and a sharp rebuke. What some members of the congregation were contemplating would replace Jesus with a false messiah and a counterfeit gospel. Abandoning the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” by engaging in circumcision and other “ works of the law ” for justification before God would lead inevitably to being severed from Christ. Thus, the seriousness of his language.

Fulfillment  is a key theme in the  Gospel of Matthew . With the arrival of the Messiah, the time of fulfillment began. What were the implications for the Law of Moses? In his ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’, Jesus provides clear answers. He did not come to settle the interpretive disputes between competing Jewish sects over the details of the Law but to  FULFILL  the “ Law and the Prophets .”

Sin is the Great Leveler that places everyone in the same predicament: Bondage now, death and “ wrath ” later. No one is exempt from the penalty of sin, and no one has a legitimate excuse for trespassing the commandment of God who will “ render to each according to his works .” But what, precisely, did the Apostle Paul mean when he brought “ works ” into the discussion? Good deeds and human efforts in general, or something more specific?

If a man is not justified from the works of the Law, what was the purpose of the Law given at Sinai?  –  Galatians 3:19 .  In his letter to   the Galatians, Paul declares that we are set right with God from the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” and not “ from the works of the Law .” But if keeping the “ works of the Law ” does not justify us, inevitably, this raises the question - What was the purpose of the  Torah ? Paul answers this question in the third chapter of his letter.

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.

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?

In his  Letter to the Galatians , Paul argues that adopting the rite of circumcision would constitute regression to something rudimentary, a reversion to an earlier stage in the redemptive history of God’s people. If Gentiles adopted a  Torah -compliant lifestyle, they would return to bondage and once more experience the social divisions inherent in the Law. They would forsake the great and many benefits they had acquired through the “ faith of Jesus .”