How does accepting circumcision result in Christ being of no advantage to the believer?

Explanation:

Paul says that if the Gentile Christians in Galatia accept circumcision, Christ will no longer be an advantage to them. He clarifies his position by explaining that everyone who seeks to be circumcised is obliged to keep the whole law (Galatians 5:3), and that those who would be justified by the law are severed from Christ Gal (Galatians 5:4). So, the reason Christ is of no advantage to those who are circumcised is because those who are circumcised commit themselves to justification through the law, rather than Christ.

Why is justification through the law opposed to Christ? In other words, why can one not seek to be justified by the law and still receive the benefits of Christ? Paul has explained throughout Galatians 2:15–5:1 that there is only one way to be justified before God, and that is through faith in Christ.⁴ The law could not make anyone righteous because no one could maintain the whole law. And unless one can maintain the whole law, one is under a curse (Galatians 3:10). Therefore, the only way to be justified before God is through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24–26). If the Gentiles seek justification through the law, they reject Christ as a means of justification, and Paul has explained that the law cannot offer justification. In other words, it is either Christ or the law; there is no in-between.⁵

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that we know from the book of Acts that Paul has Timothy circumcised. In Acts 16:1–40 we read that Timothy was a disciple who had a Jewish mother and Greek father (Acts 16:1). That Timothy had a Greek father implies that he was not circumcised. Timothy was a trustworthy believer and Paul wants to bring him along on his mission. But because he knows he will encounter Jews who know that Timothy is not circumcised, he has Timothy circumcised before they go (Acts 16:3–4). Of course, Timothy would go on to be a faithful preacher and teacher of the gospel, as we know from Paul’s first and second letters to Timothy which are included in the New Testament. So how can it be that those who are circumcised no longer have the advantage of Christ?

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that Paul allows Timothy to be circumcised so as not to offend the Jews while they complete their mission trip, we have to remember the situation Paul addresses in Galatia. Paul does not have a problem with the outward ritual of circumcision, which he sees as a mere physical act.⁶ Rather, his problem is with associating the act of circumcision as a necessary requirement to be a child of Abraham.⁷ In other words, Paul’s problem is with the idea that in order to share in the promises of God to Abraham, one must follow the Mosaic law, including circumcision. Such a view opposes the gospel, which, Paul has explained, includes the fact that no one is justified by the law because the law is like a prison (Galatians 3:23). Since the law is like a prison, it curses those who rely on it, so that in order to be released from the curse of the law, Jesus became a curse (Galatians 3:13).

In the case of Timothy, we can imagine Paul explaining to Timothy that, although Timothy fully understands that justification is through faith in Christ, it would be wise to get circumcised so as not to disturb the Jews. This would allow them to bring the message of the gospel to the Jews so that they might come to see that in fact, circumcision is simply an act of the flesh, with no saving power. In the case of the Gentiles in Galatia the situation is quite different. The Judaizers, and even the apostles from Jerusalem (Galatians 2:11), have been influencing the Gentile Galatians to participate in the Mosaic law to become children of Abraham. In fact, the Gentile Galatians are already observing aspects of the Jewish festivals, likely because they are beginning to think that one should observe such festivals in order to be incorporated in the family of God (Galatians 4:10).⁸ Thus, Paul is contending for the Gentile Galatians understanding of the gospel. Timothy likely understood that he was saved by grace through faith in Christ, and he was circumcised for the sake of mission. The Gentile Galatians are being led to believe that they are saved through the works of the law, and they will be circumcised as a sign of commitment to the law. Paul pleads, No! For if you commit yourself to the law through circumcision, you are severed from the benefits of Christ (Galatians 4:4).

Explanation:

Paul says that if the Gentile Christians are circumcised, they have no benefit from Christ. He says this because in the context of his audience, the act of circumcision is a commitment to the Mosaic law. We can deduce this not only from Galatians 5:3–4 where Paul explains that if the Gentiles are circumcised, they are required to obey the whole law, but also from a first-century source from outside the New Testament.⁹

Josephus was a first-century Jewish historian. In his work called The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus explains that a king named Izates desired to convert to Judaism.¹⁰ When Izates embraces the faith, Josephus explains that Izates understood that he was not considered fully Jewish until he became circumcised. In other words, circumcision is a sign of the culmination of becoming Jewish. The problem is that Izates’ mother does not approve of Izates’ conversion, so he decides that he will worship God without being circumcised because worship of God was of a superior nature to circumcision.¹¹ When Eleazar, one of the Jewish teachers, finds out that Izates has not been circumcised, Eleazar explains to Izates that he is breaking a principle of the law, and by breaking the law, he has brought guilt upon himself. Eleazar explains that to be Jewish is not just to read the law, but to abide by it, which includes circumcision. Josephus explains that when Izates understood the problem, he immediately called a surgeon and was circumcised.¹²

The account of Izates gives us a historical glimpse into the nature of circumcision in the first century. In order to properly worship God, one had to follow the Jewish laws, which included circumcision. Failure to do so brought guilt upon one’s head. Paul confronts this same thinking in Galatia. The Judaizers are likely insisting that for the Gentile Christians to worship God, they must obey the Mosaic law, which culminates in circumcision. Circumcision is a commitment to the law. Paul explains that such a commitment means that one is obliged to the whole law (Galatians 4:4), which would bring the Galatians under a curse (Galatians 3:10). Since Christ came to save us from the curse of the law, Paul says that to accept circumcision is to commit to the law and lose the benefits of Christ.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it is not fair to compare Eleazar’s understanding of how to worship God from Josephus with the situation in Galatia. For we know from Galatians 2:11–14 that Peter, James, and Paul’s companion Barnabas are all involved in the theological dispute in Galatia. Peter and James are known as pillars in the church (Galatians 2:9), so we should assume that they had a strong understanding of the content of the gospel. Thus, it is hard to believe that Peter and James would teach the Galatians that in order to worship God properly they had to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument fails to grasp the nuance of the situation Paul faces. The gospel of Christ overturns centuries of tradition for the Jews, so it was difficult for them to grasp the radical fact that we are completely justified before God through faith in Christ. Now, when Paul confronts Peter and James in Galatians 2:11–14, he does not say that Peter and James hold the same theology as Eleazor from Josephus. That is, unlike Eleazar, Peter and James do not explicitly state that the Gentile Galatians must be circumcised in order to be true worshippers of God. Rather, Paul exhorts Peter and James because at first they ate with the Gentiles, but when the circumcision group arrived, they separated them from the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). In other words, the pillars of the church made a small gesture toward the old Jewish tradition that Jews should not mingle with Gentiles. Paul exhorts them on this because they know that no one is justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ (Galatians 2:15–16), so why should they suddenly uphold an aspect of the old Jewish tradition? Of course, if the pillars of the church could be negatively influenced by the teachings of the Judaizers, how much more the Gentile Galatians. In other words, it is the Judaizers that Paul is worried about, whose theology likely aligns with Eleazar. Now that Paul and the other apostles have left Galatia, the Judaizers have convinced the Galatians to follow Jewish festivals (Galatians 4:10), with circumcision as a sign of a commitment to the law soon to follow. Paul deplores the Gentiles, Do not get circumcised or Christ will be of no benefit to you (Galatians 5:4)!

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be, especially since Paul explains himself clearly in Galatians 5:3–4. By getting circumcised, the Gentile Galatians commit to being justified before God by the law, rather than by faith in Christ.

Explanation:

The sign of circumcision was originally given to Abraham in order to mark the covenant between the one God and Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:9–14). Eventually, at least in Paul’s view, it became a sign of Jewish nationalism. That is to say, circumcision became a sign that one was ethnically Jewish and therefore not a Gentile. Paul now understands that in Christ, the Gentiles are included in the covenant between the one God and Abraham’s descendants. This means that the Gentiles do not need to become Jewish in order to share in the promises to Abraham. Thus, since circumcision signalled one’s allegiance to Jewish nationalism and separation from the Gentiles, Paul says Christ will be of no value to one who is circumcised.¹³ Christ is the Messiah of the Jews and the Gentiles, so one ought to identify with Christ, not Jewish nationalism.

Counterargument:

While it might be that circumcision separated a Jewish person from the Gentiles, this does not seem to be the heart of Paul’s problem with circumcision. Rather, the heart of Paul’s problem is not Jewish nationalism, but justification before God by the works of the law. How do we know that the heart of Paul’s problem is justification by works of the law? Because he tells us this in Galatians 5:3–4. After writing that if the Gentiles get circumcised Christ is of no value to them, he explains why. Paul testifies that anyone who gets circumcised is bound to uphold the whole law (Galatians 5:3), and anyone who would be justified by the law is severed from Christ (Galatians 5:4).

In other words, Paul does not have nationalism is mind, but is concerned with how a sinful person can be in a relationship with the one holy God. Paul knows that a sinful person cannot be in a relationship with the one holy God through works of the law, because if one seeks to be justified by the law, one is bound to the whole law (Galatians 5:3). Of course, a sinful person cannot keep the whole law, so the law brings one under a curse (Galatians 3:10).

The problem with this interpretation is that it fails to see the thrust of Paul’s argument throughout Galatians 2:15–5:1. We have to interpret each passage in its literary context, and in the case of Galatians 5:2, the context indicates that Paul contrasts justification by the law with faith in Christ. Paul says that no one will be justified before God by the works of the law (Galatians 2:16), because the law brings a curse, from which Christ has freed us (Galatians 3:10–13). Now that the Galatians know that one cannot be justified by the law but by faith in Christ, Paul tells them that if they get circumcised, they forfeit Christ and commit to the law. Unfortunately, by overlooking the context, this view fails to see that while Jewish nationalism may be in the background, it is not Paul’s main concern.