NOTES for Gal 2:3-5

³But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

⁴And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

⁵To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

All the first church communities included both Jews converted to Christ and recent pagans. And for Jews, as before, it was hard to sit at one table and break bread with the uncircumcised. One may think that this was not always a matter of religiosity in the pure sense. It is entirely possible that in principle, theoretically, many of those Jews who insisted on circumcision were ready to acknowledge that circumcision in itself was not essential for a Christian.

But precisely and only in general, in principle. When the matter concerned concrete church life, the same people could well insist that everyone be circumcised simply by custom, for peace in the community, in order not to trouble newly converted Jews. It would seem there is nothing terrible here. In fact that is how it would have been, if in the end the circumcised had not begun to insist on the spiritual significance of circumcision as such. But this the apostle could no longer accept.

Generally speaking, Paul did not demand any religiosity from anyone, just as he did not insist on its mandatory absence. He himself was and always remained a Jew, but he understood perfectly that religiosity in itself neither helps nor hinders Christian life, if, of course, it does not become an end in itself and if spiritual significance is not attributed to it which it does not in fact have. Yet in the Galatian church, judging by Paul's words, this is exactly what happened.

Circumcision there came, apparently under the influence of local Jewish teachers, to be viewed as something obligatory not only for Jews, but also for recent pagans who had accepted Christ. Circumcision began to be reinterpreted as a properly Christian rite and therefore obligatory for Christians; the opinion spread that the uncircumcised would not be saved and would not enter the Kingdom. Here the apostle naturally had to intervene, not because he was a principled opponent of circumcision, which would be hard to expect from a Jew who was not at all going to renounce his Jewishness, but because he considered any religious conditioning of a Christian's spiritual life to be its distortion or diminishment.

Other notes

For Gal 2:1-10

¹Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

²And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

³But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

⁴And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

⁵To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

⁷But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

⁸(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

⁹And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

¹⁰Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

In this chapter the Apostle Paul tells of the Council of Jerusalem, described in detail in the Book of Acts. It discussed... Read more

In this chapter the Apostle Paul tells of the Council of Jerusalem, described in detail in the Book of Acts. It discussed what should be done with Gentiles who had immediately come to believe in Christ and did not know the Law—in particular, whether they needed to be circumcised and observe all the provisions of the Law binding on Jews. Paul and Barnabas’ testimony about the conversion of the Gentiles, their firmness in defending their views, and their obedience to the Church show us how the first Christians resolved the problems that arose. Attentiveness to another person’s opinion, joint discussion of what was happening, and the adoption of a decision were the chief ways of settling disputed questions.

It should be said that Christ’s words that “the truth will make you free” are illustrated very well by this text. One might suppose that Paul, a Pharisee and a disciple of Gamaliel, should have opposed the conversion of Gentiles altogether. Yet here he bears witness to those who do not know the one God. He should have defended the letter of the Law, but he insists that the essential thing in conversion is to accept Christ crucified and risen and to receive the Holy Spirit. And the first named among the Twelve Apostles who supported him is not Peter, as usual, but James—the very James who, though a Christian, continued to observe all the provisions of the Law so scrupulously that the Jews called him righteous. Such freedom in the outward practices of believers is possible only when the Holy Spirit lives and acts among them.