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Galatians is one of the most intense epistles in the New Testament. It’s one of the richest and yet one of the most misunderstood. If we’re going to understand the book of Galatians, especially regarding the relationship of Jews and Gentiles and the role that Torah plays for followers, then we must understand the context. We must look at the book of Galatians in context with the entire New Testament, as well as the specific context for why Paul wrote this letter and to whom it was written. First, let’s look at the context of the Jew Gentile relationship through the lens of the entire New Testament. Many in the church believe that the distinction between Jew and Gentile has been done away with through Jesus. Many Galatians to affirm this. Galatians 3 28, there is no longer Jew or Gentile. It also says there’s no longer slave free. There is no longer male or female.
We don’t seem to hear people advocating that God has done away with male and female through the work of Jesus. Why would he get rid of this distinction he made? Maybe it’s because Galatians three is not talking about breaking down a distinction. It’s about breaking down a barrier. In a world where Jew was valued more than Gentile, and where free was valued more than slave, and where male was valued more than female, God is saying, through the work of Jesus, we are breaking down this barrier. And just like male and female, when they come into a covenant together, they become one flesh. Genesis 2 24. Well, the Bible says that Jew and Gentile, when they come together, they become something too. Ephesians two 14, he made both groups into one, making one new man out of two male female, one flesh, ju Gentile, one new man.
Where do you think Paul’s getting that language? He’s seeing these two distinctions come together in unity. Now at Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem, all the Jewish followers of Jesus come together to decide one thing. Do the Gentiles need to be become Jewish in order to follow Yeshua and the God of Israel, but they don’t need to become Jewish. They decide by the Holy Spirit. They can remain Gentile. They don’t have to. As the Book of Acts says, where the yoke that the Jewish people can’t even bear, and here’s what Acts 1523 says. When they send the letter with Silas and Barnabas, it says to the Gentile brothers of Antioch, Syria, and Ccia to the Gentiles, not to the Christians, not to the new converts, not to the former Gentiles, but to the Gentiles. Paul says this in Romans all over the place, Romans 1113.
Now, I am speaking to you Gentiles, in as much as I’m an apostle to the Gentiles, we don’t even think of ourselves as Gentiles nowadays, but we are Gentiles and we were created to be Gentiles just like Jewish people we’re created by God to be Jewish. So the New Testament confirms over and over again that God is not creating this third race that’s outside of Jew and Gentile, but that Jew and Gentile are coming together in a new covenant. The Gentiles are grafted into the tree that is Israel. This is Romans 11 or Romans eight that says, we’ve been adopted into the family, but we remain Gentile. So now let’s look at Galatians because Galatians is often used to support the view that Paul has abandoned his Judaism and now he’s a Christian. It’s easy to think when you read statements like Galatians one 13, for you have heard of my earlier behavior in Judaism.
See, he used to be Jewish. That’s what he said. Well, let’s dive in. Why did Paul write this letter to the Galatians? Nearly all scholars believe that the book of Galatians was written to a gentile audience. This gentile audience had been persuaded by who Paul calls agitators. Galatians one, seven, he says, those who are confusing you and want to distort the good news of Messiah, how are they doing this? Well, these Jewish believers in Jesus, were trying to get these Gentile believers in Jesus to be circumcised. Galatians six 12, those wanting to look good outwardly are trying to force you to be circumcised. This makes Paul furious. Why? Because like we read earlier in Acts 15 at the Council of Jerusalem, Paul was at that meeting and he was there when the Holy Spirit decided Gentiles are called to remain Gentile and the Jewish people are called to remain Jewish and be circumcised and obey Torah and kosher laws to be Jewish.
Now, some people nowadays, they’ve tried to say, well, acts 15 decided that no one has to obey Torah anymore. No one has to be Jewish or Gentile anymore. But what was the point of Acts 15? The whole reason for Acts 15, the Jewish leadership was asking, do the Gentiles need to become Jewish and live Jewish lives? No. But what is the obvious implication? We still do? Paul demonstrates to the Galatians, this Gentile community that salvation and inclusion to the family of God is through faith in Jesus, not circumcision. Galatians three, two, I want to find out just one thing from you. Did you receive the spirit by deeds based on Torah or by hearing based on trust? So Paul, as a Jewish man, is furious at these judaizers, these people trying to convince the Gentiles that they need to be circumcised to be in the family.
So what does Paul do? He kind of flexes his Judaism and then he smashes it to make a point. Paul attacks these judaizers and he basically says, you think that the Jewish guys that were teaching you this, you think they’re impressive? Galatians one 13, Paul says, you’ve heard of my earlier behavior in Judaism, how I persecuted God’s community beyond measure and tried to destroy it. I was even advancing within Judaism beyond many of my own age, among my people being a more extreme observer of my father’s traditions. Paul does this in the book of Philippians as well. Philippians five, three, verse five, circumcised on the eighth day, he says, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews as of the Torah of Pharisee. See, Paul didn’t stop being Jewish. Acts 21. He says, I am a Jewish man from Tarsus.
Acts 23 verse six. Paul says, brothers to the Sanhedrin, I am a Pharisee. Notice these are present tense words. I am Jewish. I am a Pharisee. Paul affirms his Jewish identity and even places himself in contrast to these people who are trying to get these gentiles to be circumcised. Now, why does he do this? He does this because he’s trying to say The Judaism that is trying to convince you, these Judaizers are trying to convince you. I have more credibility to convince you, but that’s not what God’s heart is. Acts 23, verse three. Paul says, I studied under and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. But then he says a shocking statement to these gentiles in Galatia Galatia, five, four, Galatians five, four, for in Christ Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah, neither circumcision nor Uncircumcision has any meaning, but only trust and faithfulness expressing itself through love.
He says it again in Galatians six 13, for not even the circumcised keep Torah themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised. So they may boast about your flesh. But may I never boast except for the cross of the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Through him, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world for neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only a new creation. Paul’s main argument centers on faith in Jesus bringing justification, not Torah. He says The Torah was a Tudor for the Jewish people for a season, a Tudor meaning a protector, protector of the consequences of sin. But now they are justified through faith just like the Gentiles are. Paul is not diminishing the Torah. He’s not saying the Torah is bad, and he’s not even advocating for the removal of circumcision for Jewish people. He is just speaking to the Gentiles in Galatia saying, you do not need to be circumcised.
That’s not what’s getting you into this family. We talked about this at Acts 15. We talked about this at the Council of Jerusalem. I want to end by giving you an analogy, just bringing it back to how Jew and Gentile are similar to male and female. I want you to imagine that me as a male who works for the church here of another church where these pastors are trying to convince the women of the church that they need to become male in order to be part of the family of God. Well, that would frustrate me. So imagine I go to this church and I talk to them about how no one’s more manly than me. That’s not true. But let’s just pretend for a second. It doesn’t get more manly than this, and I start getting a little fiery and I say things like, oh, you think that me being a man has anything to do with my proximity to God?
Are you crazy? You think being a man is worth anything? Being a man is worth nothing. I am nothing except for who I am in Christ Jesus and who I am in Messiah. I am close to God because I’ve accepted Jesus, not because of my manhood. Now, imagine that someone played just a clip with no context of me saying Being a man is worth nothing. And they said, see, David says, being a man is worth nothing. He doesn’t believe in male female anymore. He doesn’t believe that that’s a distinction anymore. God’s been done away. I even heard he wrote down, there’s no longer male or female, but it’s taken out of context. Let’s not take the book of Galatians out of context and teach that Jew and Gentile are no longer distinctions that God made or that still exist today. If a Jewish person believes in Jesus, they’re still Jewish and are still called to live Jewish lives, and Gentiles who believe in Jesus are still Gentile. I know we don’t often think of ourselves as Gentiles, but it doesn’t make it less true. We think of ourselves as Christians, but in a biblical worldview, we are still gentiles. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not a bad word. It’s a distinction that God made.
