While it is true Paul often declares basic principles in passing, to assume that is all he means by them is to miss so very much. Having established so very clearly the Covenant of the Law is now dead, it's time to restore the truth of the gospel to churches which have been nearly torn apart by the Judaizer heresy.
Not everyone in the Galatian churches fell for the Judaizers heresy. These were the ones who continued to exhibit the humble spirit Paul remarked was missing from the Pharisaical Judaizers. To these Paul appeals that they correct the errors, showing the same gentle spirit and patience so uncharacteristic of those taken with the false interpretation of Moses. One look in the spiritual mirror should warn us we could all be so easily deceived by one thing or another.
The only Law which matters is the Law of Christ, and that Law trumps all others. It calls for us to bear peacefully with those who become combative in their heresies. Indeed, a lack of gracefulness is the first warning someone is not quite right with the Word. A mark of the Spirit is taking the time to regularly see ourselves in the mirror of the Cross. No one can be holy for you, but their sins can suck you in so quickly.
A particularly nasty part of this corrupt rabbinical teaching brought by the Judaizers was about material goods. This is what prompted Jesus to make comments about mammon in His Sermon on the Mount. Pharisees taught material wealth was the primary mark of God's favor, so why would anyone give it away freely? Paul showed this was wrong. The whole purpose for material blessings was precisely so they could be passed to others. To the degree possible, gifted teachers of the Word should be set free from the cares of making a living. Those who benefited from that gift should willingly contribute to their support. In the Kingdom gift economy, we have blessings only for the purpose of sharing them. If you invest only in worldly gain, it will be all you ever have, and it will eat your soul alive. If you invest in spiritual growth, you have eternal returns.
Nor should we allow the Lord's sense of timing to throw us off this path of righteousness. While you can watch with your eyes the workings and yield of material investments, what God does with your sacrifice often escapes our human eyes until sometime much later, or maybe never. We can't afford to measure Kingdom business with human accounting principles. Give of your time, your talents, and your material goods. Commit yourself for the sake of Christ, and measure your return in spiritual truth. You obey; you are rich beyond measure. Be ready to give to anyone on earth as if it were Christ Himself, but all the more so to those you know who serve Him.
Paul was literate, but in ancient times the exacting demands of penmanship were not so widely taught. This is natural in a world where writing materials cost so much. Lacking mass produced cheap writing pads and pencils, no one could afford to waste any at all, so scribal clerks were professionals with expensive training. Still, in all his studies, Paul managed to learn a rough bit of hand writing. Thus, he ends this letter in his own hand, rather large and clumsy compared to the neat and compact script of a scribe. Let no one question this is Paul's own words here. And the Galatian Christians were his letter to Galatia, and his hand was easily recognized in the teaching he gave them, the exact same message everywhere Paul had gone.
People who had a stake in human reputation would compel them to pass through ritual circumcision. Just who were they going to show that to? Funny how Jews never bothered to evangelize much, but they could sure make a pass at the established churches behind Christians. They wanted to tone down the emphasis on the Cross, which continued burning in the guilty conscience of Jews everywhere. Jesus was crucified publicly, and a life filled with the Spirit was so obvious no one missed it. The Judaizers themselves proved no man could truly keep the Law of Moses, but their corrupt Hellenistic version of Moses was more Gentile than Hebrew. Were it a matter of appearances, Paul would never have started preaching and traveling the Gentile world. When Jesus died on the Cross, the veil of separation in the Temple was torn in two. In Paul's heart, joining Christ on the Cross tore the veil from his soul, the veil which made so much of ritual circumcision, so much of being a Jew in the flesh. The barrier is gone; it means nothing in the Kingdom. Only grace has meaning.
Making one last stab in the heart of a dead Judaism, Paul notes only those who walk by the Law of the Spirit, leaving the old man on the Cross, can claim to be God's Israel. In His eyes, there was no longer any other Israel. Criticism of Paul was a waste of time, for he bore in his flesh the irreversible marks of walking with Jesus. Criticizing a dead man is a waste of time, because he doesn't hear you. So it should be when the likes of Judaizers pick over the lack of ritual observance in Gentile churches. The old Israel was no longer recognized by God. These Gentiles walking in the grace of Christ were already God's true Israel.
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Ed Hurst
14 January 2008
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