In recounting his history to
the church membership in Galatia, Paul mentioned his companions who
traveled to Jerusalem with him in the early goings. In verse one of
chapter two, Paul mentioned Titus and Barnabas. In verse three Paul
elaborates more on Titus, and his experience with him relates
directly to one of the false teachings the Galatians were
encountering at this time. He wrote:
But neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
One of
the teachings that was being promoted among the Judaizers was that
when a Gentile was saved, he should be circumcised physically to
demonstrate that he was a true believer. The custom of circumcision
was introduced by God to Abraham in Genesis chapter seventeen and
verses nine through fourteen:
And God said unto
Abraham, You shall keep my covenant therefore, you, and your seed
after you in their generations. This [is] my covenant, which you
shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man
child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the
flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant
betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be
circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that
is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which
[is] not of your seed. He that is born in your house, and he that is
bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant
shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the
uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not
circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath
broken my covenant.
The
Judizers believed that every man who came into a relationship with
God must follow this law. This was part of the reason Paul was
writing to the Galatians. However, Paul uses the example of Titus
when he wrote, “But neither Titus, who was with me, being a
Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.” In other words, while
Paul visited Jerusalem, no one saw it necessary, forced, or made
threats against Titus because he was not circumcised. Although Titus
had a Jewish mother and a Gentile father, by implication of Paul's
words we know that Titus could have been circumcised, however, no one
strongly suggested that he be. The implied question is, if this was
the law that was to be followed, why didn't the leadership in
Jerusalem force Titus to be circumcised? Paul knew there was no good
answer to that question.
It is
easy to step up on a platform and be in agreement with Paul as we
read these words, however, are there certain “rules” or “laws”
that we feel that a person should keep if they are really in a
relationship with God? We have to admit that God did implement the
idea of circumcision, and it is quite possible that he implemented
the rule we are thinking of as well. But if we were to find one not
keeping “our rule” would we be as the Judaizers and believe that
people should be compelled to keep it? As we place ourselves in the
positions of both Paul who conveyed these words to the church members
of Galatia and the Galatian church members themselves, what would we
be thinking as both writer and receiver of these words? Maybe we
should be compelled to seek God's help in knowing the way we are to
be.
Next
time will see what false brethren did to the church of Galatia, so
read ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to
Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it
locally
at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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