The book of Galatians is perhaps the most misunderstood book in the New Testament. For most evangelicals, Paul’s epistle to the Galatians soundly refutes “works” based righteousness. That is, our behavior makes no contribution to our salvation. Rather, salvation comes purely from “faith” – simple trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus upon the cross. But, as we shall see, this interpretation is not consistent with the text which Paul actually wrote.
Galatians contains Paul’s most confrontational rhetoric. The entire letter hinges on a painful incident which transpired in Antioch, the third largest city in the Roman Empire.
The book of Acts informs us that Antioch was the first place where significant numbers of Gentiles submitted to the lordship of Jesus: “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:19-21)
The church at Antioch, composed of both Jews & Gentiles, flourished for a time. They enjoyed the leadership of Barnabus & Paul. Notably, it was Antioch where the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians.” (Acts 11:26) But before long, trouble arose.
The nascent church had previously faced severe external hostility from unbelieving Jews & from Herod Agrippa. (Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great & nephew of Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee during the ministry of Jesus.) Agrippa executed James the son of Zebedee, one of the 12 disciples & the brother of John. He then imprisoned Peter, although Peter was rescued when God sent an angel to free him. (Acts 12:1- 18)
But a bitter internal controversy erupted at Antioch between the two foremost figures of early Christianity – the Apostles Paul & Peter! Paul describes this ugly disagreement: “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was in the wrong. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (Galatians 2:11-13)
For over a thousand years, the Torah had stipulated that the Jews were to be God’s holy people, set apart from the nations. They were commanded to worship & serve the one true God alone. The 10 commandments famously prohibited wicked conduct such as murder, adultery, lying and theft.
The Torah also included several symbolic practices which reinforced Israel’s special status. Specifically, the Jews were required to circumcise their male infants and to avoid certain kinds of food. In his letters, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that there’s no inherent moral value in circumcision: “For in the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is loyalty expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6) Nor is there anything inherently right or wrong about eating certain kinds of food: “I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.” (Romans 14:14)
Nonetheless, circumcision & dietary restrictions were temporary commands given by God in order to reinforce Israel’s identity.
Circumcision, then, was a powerful symbol of the Torah’s strict separation between Jew & Gentile. This dynamic is reflected in the vocabulary of 1st century Jews, including Paul himself. For example, in the book of Galatians, Paul reflects on how God had appointed him as an apostle to “the uncircumcised” while Peter had been sent to “the circumcised.” (Galatians 2:6-10) Circumcision had become a shorthand way of referring to the Jewish people, as opposed to the rest of uncircumcised humanity.
Similarly, in Acts 10, we read about how Peter brought the gospel to the Roman Centurian Cornelius. As Peter entered the home of Cornelius, he states, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile.” It required a dramatic, thrice-repeated vision from God to convince Peter to enter the dwelling of a Gentile.
This was, then, an exciting time for the rapidly expanding church in Antioch, but it came with growing pains. Unsurprisingly, it was not easy for Jewish Christians to adjust to the new reality. Even Peter struggled to fully grasp the fact that God now accepted Gentiles on equal terms with Jews. Membership in the covenant family was no longer based upon works of the Jewish law, but upon on loyalty to Jesus the Messiah.
Christians of all stripes recognize that Galatians emphasizes justification by faith and not works. Evangelicals define faith as passive belief or trust in Jesus. Meanwhile, works is used as a general term for any human conduct or behavior. Unfortunately, both of these terms have been long misunderstood, resulting in a great deal of confusion, bitter acrimony & even outright warfare among Christians.
This confusion can be avoided if we pay more careful attention to the book of Galatians. The first step is to properly recognize the situation which Paul actually faced in Antioch. The Christians in there had begun well. Jewish Christians like Peter had fully welcomed Gentile Christians into their fellowship.
The dinner table is an important symbol of connection. Even in modern times, we generally eat with people whom we regard as a part of our community; that is, our family or close friends. This was particularly true in the world of ancient Jews. Eating with Gentiles was strictly forbidden.
But the barrier between Jew & Gentile had been torn down by the gospel announcement of Jesus as the Messiah, God’s anointed king. Jesus claimed sovereignty over all creation: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” People of every nation were commanded to submit to King Jesus in loyal obedience. Moreover, the gospel had radically redefined the people of God. Israel, God’s covenant family, was no longer composed only of ethnic Jews, but of all people who had given their allegiance to Jesus. Rooted in this truth, Peter happily ate besides his uncircumcised Gentile brothers.
Sadly, Peter’s tune suddenly changed when some Jewish Christians showed up at Antioch. We never learn the names of these men. Paul only tells us that they were “from James,” (Galatians 2:12) the brother of Jesus who led the church in Jerusalem. These Jewish Christians insisted that, in order to be fully welcomed into the family of God’s people, Gentile Christians must obey the Torah by becoming circumcised & by observing the Jewish dietary laws.
We know that Peter had previously suffered sharp criticism from this crowd. After he had brought God’s word to Cornelius, Peter returned to Jerusalem, where “the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (Acts 11:2-3) Peter carefully explained how the encounter with Cornelius had been orchestrated & confirmed by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 11:4-17) His defense mollified the concerns of his critics: “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18)
But the letter of Galatians shows that this issue was far from settled. The church at Jerusalem was composed of ethnic Jews. Many (or all?) in this church continued to insist upon the strict separation of Jew & Gentile. If Gentiles wished to join the church, they must be circumcised. Paul refers to this faction as “the circumcision group” and suggests that James himself endorsed this view. (Galatians 2:12) Having already been on the receiving end of their criticism, Peter feared further opprobrium. As the result, he “began to draw back and separate himself” from Gentile Christians. Peter’s misbehavior influenced other Jewish Christians so that even Paul’s missionary partner Barnabas was “led astray.”
Paul was deeply distressed by this situation. But what exactly was the problem? Most evangelicals have been taught that the book of Galatians warns Christians that they must not attempt to earn their salvation through good behavior (“works”) but instead passively rely on Jesus instead (“faith”). But it must be stated that this dichotomy was not the source of the conflict between Peter & Paul in Antioch.
Peter wasn’t attempting to “earn” his salvation; he was refusing to eat with his fellow Gentile Christians. The real problem was division within the family of God. Peter & his fellow Jews were excluding the Gentiles from their fellowship. They were effectively telling the Gentiles that they weren’t truly apart of God’s people.
For over a thousand years, circumcision marked out Jews as God’s chosen people. Paul saw that the death & resurrection of Jesus the Messiah had created a new reality. God was now calling people of every nation into covenant relationship with him. How could it be otherwise? The God of Israel was the one true God who created all things. His purposes for humanity could never be limited to Jews alone. For Paul, Jews & Gentiles eating together was a powerful new symbol. It was a sign that Jesus truly was God’s anointed King, sovereign over all people. As we shall see, grasping this reality is the key for understanding the book of Galatians.
