It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Galatians 5:1-18, NASB
In a bit of serendipity, I found myself reading Galatians while considering issues of gender in both marriage and the church. Then my pastor preached from the epistle in a sermon titled, "Celebrate Freedom," tying in the freedom we celebrate on July 4th with the concept of spiritual freedom. Now, Internet Monk links to a post by Ray Ortlund on the Judaizers of Galatia, and I highly commend this post to you. It says what I've been thinking, only so very much better:
The tricky thing about our hearts is that they can turn even a good thing into an engine of oppression. It happens when our theological distinctives make us aloof from other Christians...The Judaizers in Galatia did not see their distinctive - the rite of circumcision - as problematic. They could claim biblical authority for it in Genesis 17 and the Abrahamic covenant. But their distinctive functioned as an addition to the all-sufficiency of Jesus himself... no matter how well argued our position is biblically, if it functions in our hearts as an addition to Jesus, it ends up as a form of legalistic divisiveness. (emphasis added)
He points out what many have been saying in the previously discussed thread at Denny Burk's blog and also at Complegalitarian, that theology does not exist in a vacuum; it necessarily plays out in the ways we live our lives, and this is where the problems show up. This is because our beliefs are either based upon trust and faith in the gospel, or in some sort of law (legalism). But they can't be both, for the two are forever opposed -- Gal. 5:17
Even if a biblical argument can be made for a certain position, and we all want to be biblical, the proof of what's really happening is not in the theological argumentation but in the sociological integration.
Of the Galatian Judaizers, Ortlund says,
Their misuse of the Bible showed up in social dysfunction.
In other words, When Christians, whatever the label or badge or shibboleth, start pressuring you to come into line with their distinctive, you know something's wrong. They want to enhance their own significance by your conformity to them... What is this, but deep emotional emptiness medicating itself by relational manipulation? This is not about Christ. This is about Self. Even Peter fell into this hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14). But no matter who is involved, this is not the ministry of the gospel. (emphasis added)
Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. Gal. 6:12-13
This puts to rest the argument that, if one is following Christ, one will feel "uncomfortable" in one's cultural environment. We (and Christ) are not pitted against the culture, but rather against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph. 6). It is the two natures, fleshly and godly, that war within us, each one of us. If we boast in the flesh, we are the culture, or rather, worldly, concerned with our image before men and proving ourselves rather than our image before God (or perhaps we have the wrong image of God).
But may we all live in the freedom of the gospel, walking in the Spirit and serving one another in love.
What proves that that gospel hermeneutic has captured our hearts is that we are not looking down on other believers but lifting them up, not seeing ourselves as better but grateful for their contribution to the cause, not standing aloof but embracing them freely, not wishing they would become like us but serving them in love (Galatians 5:13).
