Day 14: September 17, 2025: Galatians 1-6

The church in every generation faces controversy over certain topics that seem to consume the culture and the society in which it finds itself. Today our controversies in the church tend to revolve around sexuality. There is nothing more appealing to the masses than a little controversy that is steeped in sexuality. Back in the day of Paul, the primary controversy of the church had to do with theology. How much does someone who did not grow up Jewish, so a gentile, need to become Jewish once they accepted Jesus as Lord? That was the central question of the day.

A little about Paul, he does explain a bit about himself in Galatians. He was trained as a Pharisee and went to the best Pharisaical schools around. Once he finished school he became a Pharisee himself and was put in charge of pursuing Christians and tracking them down and bringing them to Jerusalem in order that they might be tried and killed. You see Christians in this early time period were just Jews for the most part who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. So this was an inhouse problem. Take care of your problems in house, get rid of those Jewish believers in Jesus. There was no such thing, or it was very rare, for there to be a believer in Jesus who was not Jewish, because so much of what Jesus did was bring about the completion of the prophecy of the Messiah, which was Jewish.

But when Paul is converted on the road to Damascus and becomes a believer himself, well, then things start to go sideways for those in the synagogue. Paul felt called to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the gentiles, to those who grew up secular, for those who grew up influenced by Greek thought. Once they come to know Jesus and give their life over to Jesus did they have to get circumcised and follow the law? Galatians is a long treatise by Paul in explaining his answer to that question which was simply: NO! Once a person, no matter if they are Jewish or gentile, comes to know Jesus personally as Lord and Savior they do not then need to become Jewish.

This whole matter is discussed and decided at the great apostolic convention which we find in Acts 15. Circumcision was not then required for gentile believers. While the decision was made we see even here with Paul’s letter to the Galatians that it wasn’t follower universally. There was still a vestige of people who wanted gentiles to become Jewish, or felt guilty about it, including Peter himself, whom Paul castigates.