marks that can guide us to discern the presence of "wolves in sheep's
clothing" in our midst today.First, false teachers distract Christians
from obeying the truth of the gospel (v. 7). Paul compliments the
Galatian believers for running a good race. Running a race was one of
Paul's favorite images for living the Christian life. Here this image
portrays how well they were obeying the truth. The gospel set the
course for their life, and they were running well in that course. The
reality of their belief in the truth about Christ was demonstrated by
their obedience to Christ. But then they were distracted, tripped and
so hindered from running this race. Paul asks them, Who cut in on you
and kept you from obeying the truth? The question is rhetorical. Paul
knows the answer. But by asking the question this way he exposes the
false teachers' negative effect on the life of the believers. The
picture is of a runner who distracts another runner, blocks his way,
cuts in on him and trips him. Everyone would have been very angry with
a runner who did such a thing. He would have broken the clear rules
against cutting in or tripping in the foot races of the Greek
festivals. He would be immediately disqualified and excluded from the
festival.The false teachers are hindering the Christians from obeying
the truth of the gospel with all their talk about joining the Jewish
people and keeping the law. All those who get the church off on a
tangent, away from the clear direction given by the central truth of
the gospel, are like these false teachers. They should be disqualified
and excluded from the churches.Second, false teachers replace the call
of God with their own deceptive persuasiveness (v. 8). That kind of
persuasion does not come from the one who calls you, Paul informs his
readers. When Paul had preached the gospel, the Galatians heard the
voice of God calling them through Paul (1:6). But when the false
teachers teach, all that can be heard is flattery, boastfulness and
empty rhetoric. They are skillful orators. No doubt they claim to be
giving God's message backed by Scripture. But all one can hear through
their strident voices is a harsh repetition of the demands of the law.
What a contrast to "the one who called you by the grace of Christ"
(1:6) and the God who "called me by his grace" (1:15). Their message
is all about the works of the law, not about God's work of grace in
Christ. So obviously their persuasion does not come from God, who
always calls by his grace.Third, false teachers gain control over the
whole church (v. 9). Just as a little yeast works through the whole
batch of dough, so the negative influence of a few false teachers has
penetrated the whole church and is quickly coming to control the
direction of the church. False teachers are like that; they seek to
dominate every situation in the life of the church.Fourth, false
teachers cause confusion and discouragement (v. 10). When the
Galatians were converted, they related to God with the joyful
confidence of children, calling him "Abba, Father" through the Spirit.
But their confidence in God's grace has been badly shaken by the false
teachers, who threaten them with the judgment of God if they do not
keep the law of God. They are confused and discouraged. So Paul
reassures the Galatians of his confidence in the Lord regarding them:
I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. And then
he turns the tables on the false teachers by putting them under the
judgment of God: The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay
the penalty, whoever he may be.Fifth, false teachers spread false
reports about spiritual leaders. We may infer that verse 11 is Paul's
response to a false report that had been given about him. Since the
immediate context focuses on the corrupting influence of the false
teachers, it seems reasonable to suppose that they claimed Paul's
support for their campaign to circumcise the Gentile believers. We
don't know on what basis they would have done this. Perhaps if this
letter was written after Paul circumcised Timothy, as recorded in Acts
16:3, they may have appealed to that incident. Or maybe they pointed
to Paul's own willingness to continue his Jewish way of life even
after his conversion (see 1 Cor 9:20). Whatever their basis may have
been, they gave a false report about Paul to strengthen their own
position.Paul had, of course, preached circumcision before his
conversion. He had been "extremely zealous for the traditions" of
Judaism (1:14). But after his conversion he preached the cross of
Christ as the only way of salvation. True, he continued to support
Jewish Christian adherence to the traditional Jewish way of life. But
he consistently resisted anyone who tried to "force Gentiles to follow
Jewish customs" (2:14). That was a key point of his autobiography
(1:13--2:21). Paul proves that the report that he is still preaching
circumcision is false by pointing to the fact that he is being
persecuted (5:11). Both non-Christian Jews and many Christian Jews
fiercely opposed him precisely because he did not require
circumcision. His refusal to require circumcision clearly implied that
it was not necessary to belong to the Jewish nation to belong to the
covenant people of God. By denying the exclusive claim of the Jewish
people to be the only true people of God, Paul seemed to deny the
reason for the Jewish people's very existence. No wonder, then, that
they persecuted him from one country to another. If Paul had preached
circumcision, then he would not have been persecuted by the Jews. By
preaching circumcision, he would have been communicating that it was
necessary to belong to the Jewish nation because the salvation of God
was available only to those within this nation.Paul says in verse 11
that if he has communicated that salvation is only in the Jewish
nation by preaching circumcision, the offense of the cross has been
abolished. For then the message that salvation is only through the
cross of Christ would have been denied. The offense of the cross is
that it denies a "most favored nation" status, a "superior race"
category, as the reason for God's blessing. For the blessing of God
comes only through the cross, where the judgment of God upon all was
removed by Christ's death (see 3:13-14). The message of Christ
crucified is offensive not only to Jews but also to the pride of all
who want to claim some personal merit as the basis of God's
approval.Sixth, false teachers emphasize sensational rituals. Verse 12
sounds terribly harsh and crude, but we must interpret it in its
historical and cultural context. It would indeed have been a
sensational ceremony if all the male members of the Galatian churches
had been circumcised by the false teachers. But then, Paul says,
somewhat sarcastically, if they really want to put on a sensational
show, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! He
is probably referring here to a barbaric ritual that actually took
place in his day in Galatian pagan temples. The priests of Cybele, the
mother goddess of the earth, castrated themselves with ritual pincers
and placed their testicles in a box. (Such a box is now on display in
the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England.) The false teachers were
leading the Galatian Christians to think that the ritual of
circumcision was a sacred act that would bring them into fellowship
with God. But Paul has already said that "in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value" (v. 6). Now he puts the
ritual of circumcision in the same category as the ritual castration
of the Galli, the priests of the mother-goddess of the earth, Cybele;
it had no more significance to the Gentile Christians than any of the
other barbaric, bloody rituals practiced in the ancient world.So Paul
has totally discredited the value of circumcision and the motives of
the false teachers who want to impose it upon the churches in Galatia.
They only "want to make a good impression outwardly" (6:12); they want
to boast in their sensational ceremony (see 6:13). Since their motive
is to put on an impressive ritual show, they might as well learn a few
lessons from the pagan priests, who really know how to put on a good
show when it comes to using a knife on the human body!It is never
pleasant to expose the deceptive, destructive tactics of the "false
brothers." But it is necessary to do so in order to protect the
freedom of fellow Christians. Of course circumcision is not an issue
today. But we are constantly faced with a choice between different
religious options. They are not all the same; they are not all spokes
on a wheel leading to the same hub. Some religious options lead to
slavery and imprisonment. Only by obedience to the truth of the gospel
of Christ can we protect the freedom that is ours in Christ.
- InterVarsity Press
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