Who were Paul's opponents in Galatians? What was the essence of their "Gospel"? What Scriptures (OT) could they use to support their position? Why would these scriptures be difficult to counter? (Clue: look for promises made to Israel.)
The question has been asked, who were Paul's opponents in Galatians? Though nobody knows for sure who Paul's opponents were there is much evidence to suggest that these people in some way had a previous connection to Paul. This association may have been the result or combination of Paul's earlier ministry in certain cities, the other apostles in Jerusalem or possibly even his earlier association as a member of the Pharisees. In the "The Acts of the Apostles" (Book of Acts) written by the Apostle Luke we have Paul's own testimony that may provide clues to who these 'false brothers'(Gal 2:4) and 'other people'(Gal. 1:7) might have been who were causing such a disruption in Galatia and the rest of Asia Minor. Some of these clues given to us by Paul and others through Luke in the Book of Acts are: Acts 15:5, 19:10, 20:18 - 19 and …
Act 21:27-29 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)
Acts 24:18-19 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar but there were some Jews from Asia-- who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.
More specifically these false brethren, possibly a sect or a specific group of supposed Jewish Christians (Judaizers) were teaching that once saved all people must then follow the laws of Moses. This group had possibly snuck in beside and infiltrated the community of true Christians.
Peter had similar problems with a group of people called 'circumcised believers' which is a separate group from the 'Jewish Christians'. This distinction is made between Gal 2:12 & Gal 2:13. Further evidence of a possible riff developing between Jewish believers and Gentile believers can be found in:
Acts 10:45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
and
Acts 11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him.
All of which helps us to understand that this was an ongoing battle that Paul had been facing for some time. "'Some people' had evidently thrown Paul's recent converts into confusion by imposing addenda to the message of grace he had proclaimed to them. Who theses people were we do not know, but we can fairly assume that they had some kinship with the "false brothers" who sought to impose circumcision on Titus at Jerusalem and the "circumcised group" that intimidated Peter at Antioch."1
The essence of this "other gospel" that the 'false teachers', these 'other people,' the 'Judaizers' promoted was that "Their claim was rather that the entry-level gospel proclaimed by Paul was insufficient for the higher spiritual realties offered only through the works of the Law. … For them the granting of the Spirit was merely a preliminary initiation into Christian faith, one that remained vacuous and incomplete until it was perfected by receiving the sign of physical incorporation into the people of Israel."2 They may even have claimed to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but that a person still needed to obey the Law of Moses with such acts as circumcision in order to be found right before God. "They were teaching that you only fully became a part of God's family when you were circumcised and became a Jew."3
Since Judaizers were teaching that you only fully became a part of God's family when you were circumcised and became a Jew their pitch might have gone something like this, "Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of our nation. He has shown that He is Lord by rising from the dead - proof that there is life after death. Now to receive this gift of eternal life one must become a member of the family of God and God Himself told us how to do that long time ago; you need to be circumcised." "If the Gentiles were to be accepted into the Christian fellowship at all, it could only be on the basis of their strict adherence to the Mosaic law. For the strictest Jewish Christians this meant that all Gentile Christian males must be circumcised else they would lack the divinely ordained seal of the covenant …"4
This group of Judaizers possibly relied heavily on the traditional precepts of the Law of Moses as preserved in the Torah for their understanding perception of how a person could be found acceptable before God and made a part of God's family. In Genesis chapter 17 (specifically Gen. 17:4-14) God instituted a rite with Abraham (to later be followed by all Jews) as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. God ordained that it be performed on Abraham, and on all his family, slaves, and on foreigners wishing to join themselves to the Jewish people (Gen 17:12). This covenant between God and Abraham symbolized by circumcision was to be physical proof that the Lord would be the God of Abraham and for his descendants that they belonged to Him, and were to worship and obey Him only. This rite became and signified the only admission into fellowship with the people of the covenant and secured the individual his share in the promises God. Thus circumcision reminded the Jewish people of God's promises to them and their duties.
For the Judaizers to deviate from these ordinances proclaimed by God was to be in disobedience of God and to bring a curse upon oneself. The following scriptures may have also been used to convince Paul's new believers in Christ of this much needed added requirement:
Deut. 27:26 'Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
Deut. 30:16 ... in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
Lev 18:5 'So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.
"Apparently these early Jewish Christians failed to understand that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, and that they would share alike in the benefits of redemption. So some pushed that Gentile believers be converted to Judaism to be accepted."5 The Judaizers, 'false brethren' and 'other people' vary well may have wanted to make a good impression outwardly by persuading others to be circumcised and the only reason they did this was to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. And thus by advocating circumcision the Judaizers were less apt to experience opposition from the Jewish opponents to Christianity. In essence they were thinking only of themselves.
The above Scriptures and others would be difficult to counter because Moses through the command of the Lord had given the people of Israel the Law and all its precepts to follow. "To the Judaizers the revelation of the Law at Mount Sinai marked the real beginning of Israel's history in the sense that that event gave them their true national identity and established their unique role in the economy of salvation."6 Further, because "The mark of the covenant that was set upon Abraham's body is an explicit reference to Abraham's acceptance of circumcision as recorded in Gen 17:4 - 14."7 And because, "Did not Moses command the children of Israel to walk in God's ways and "to keep his command, decrees and laws" in order to live (Deut. 30:16)?"8 An lastly because, "Among the Jewish people … circumcision originated in the special covenant God made with Abraham whereby every male child, whether freeborn Israelite or household slave, would be circumcised on the eighth day after birth as a sign of participation in the chosen people of God. In the tradition of the great prophets of Israel circumcision is extended metaphorically to refer to the act of repentance and total consecration demanded by the Lord."9 Therefore Paul faced a seemingly insurmountable battle against a national identity symbol of the Jewish people forged from a partially understood revelation of God's enduring promise to the descendants of Abraham; a promise that saw its fulfillment in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul's battle was not only with national identity, heritage and tradition, but in a need to reeducate the people by way of the new revelation in Christ Jesus to the complete understanding of God's promise to Abraham.
Endnotes
1. Timothy George, The New American Commentary, An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, Galatians (United States of America: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), p.202.
2. George, p. 213.
3. Professor Lawrence Jenks, "Online Discussion" (Georgia, Toccoa Falls College, 2008).
4. George, p. 173.
5. Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament, (Electronic Database. 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc.).
6. George, p. 248.
7. George, p. 218.
8. George, p. 197.
9. George, p. 142-143.
Bibliography
The Bible. The Ryrie Study Bible. New American Standard.
The Bible. New International Version.
Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. SoftKey
Multimedia Inc.1994, 1995, 1996.
Electronic Database. Vincent's Word Studies in the New
Testament. Biblesoft, Inc. 1997, 2003.
George, Timothy. The New American Commentary, An
Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, Galatians. United States of America: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994.
Jenks, Lawrence. PowerPoint A. Toccoa Falls, Georgia:
Toccoa Falls College, 2008.
Jenks, Lawrence. PowerPoint B. Toccoa Falls, Georgia:
Toccoa Falls College, 2008.
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