Early Years

 In the early years of Christianity, as Paul was traveling on his missionary journeys sharing the gospel – there were also Jews who were trying to teach the Gentiles that Christians must follow the Laws of Moses as well. Perhaps no greater argument arose than over whether or not new Gentile converts, (which included anyone who wasn’t a Jew), must submit to be circumcised before they could follow Christ. For the Jews, circumcision represented their covenant with God as His chosen people. For Paul, this was a clear moving away from the freedom Christians have in Christ!

 In our message this morning, the Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians, recounts himself rebuking Peter “openly” for fearing the Jewish leaders who had arrived and falling into hypocrisy concerning the Grace of God thru Christ. Cephas, (also known as Peter), had withdrawn his fellowship from the Gentile believers because certain Jewish leaders were present. Not only was this hypocrisy, but it was an afront to the Gospel that negated the Grace and Sacrifice of Christ, and it brought an unholy segregation to the early Church.

Romans 2:28-29 reminds us, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Paul reminds the Galatians, “For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation,” (Galatians 6:13-15). Amen and amen!