Paul emphasized in Galatians 1:10-14 that Yeshua (Jesus) is the only way for humanity to enter God’s Presence. Paul rejected tradition (halachah, “way of walking”) he previously held as a Pharisee that taught a different way of salvation, a “different gospel”: be converted via circumcision to be part of Israel (Acts 15:1). Paul, as Yeshua’s apostle, affirmed Yeshua’s teachings on the enduring primacy of the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 16:16-17). Yeshua taught Paul on the Damascus road why that “different gospel” must be rejected (Acts 22:3-15; 26:15-18). While Paul considered that halachah as “loss,” he maintained others (worship on Shabbat) that help one live out God’s mitzvot, khuquot and mishpatim (commandments, ordinances and judgments).
Category: Galatians
What is the “different gospel” Paul is excoriating the congregations of Galatia? This study from the
Paul’s discussions of circumcision, mainly in Galatians, Philippians and Romans, have been interpreted as being condemnation against the Torah, because the Law calls for circumcision for newborns and those wanting to participate in key parts of worship of God.
However, it must be remembered that circumcision by the first century A.D. had become an “identity marker” separating Jews from non-Jews. Like observance of Shabbat, circumcision was listed among the “works of [the] law” in the Dead Sea Scrolls that defined those separate from the corrupt religious system around the time of the first century. The rite of circumcision could be behind the division between Jewish and “unconverted” non-Jews that Paul dressed down Peter and the Galatian congregations in chapters 2 and 3 of this letter.