“You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?”
Summary: Deciphering what Paul is saying to Peter and his companions requires an understanding of past covenants made by God for man.
What Paul is saying about Peter is true. He had been shown that God had approved of eating with Gentiles. (See Acts 10-11) The other apostles in Jerusalem were, at first, shocked by this. But when they learned how God had demonstrated his will in this matter, they all agreed it was the right thing to do.
Then something interesting happened. At some point, someone suggested the idea that Gentiles should be circumcised.
We don’t know why this came up. Perhaps whoever suggested it thought it would be a fair trade. Since the Jewish Christians were changing their ways to allow themselves to eat with Gentiles, maybe the Gentiles should change their ways, too. That sounds “fair,” doesn’t it?
Whatever the reason, both Jew and Gentile had missed the point. The covenant of circumcision is not what you might think.
God’s relationship with mankind is bound up in a number of different covenants. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David were all involved in covenants that God made with man. Each covenant has a specific purpose and function.
The covenant of circumcision goes back to the time of Abraham. God describes the covenant in this way:
“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8)
As you can see, this covenant was not related to salvation. Instead, it was a marker of God’s favor on Abraham and his descendants.
So, you might ask, “Why would the Jews want Gentiles to be circumcised?”
Legalism is a very strange mindset. To the Jewish mind, circumcision had become more than a symbol of God’s promise to Abraham. It had come to symbolize their entire relationship with God. If you were a male who was circumcised, you were “in the club.” If you were not circumcised, you were not in the club. Their word for not being in the club was “Gentile.”
To reconcile this discrepancy in their minds, it probably seemed natural that if Gentiles were truly accepted by God as manifested by the Holy Spirit and Peter’s testimony, then they, too, should share in this sign that signified being “in the club.”
Paul understood that there is no “club” that God finds acceptable. The only club God wants us to join is the group of people who have humbled themselves before God and submitted their lives to Jesus Christ. This is an elite group of people who have given up any claim to ego and pride and instead trusted a Jewish carpenter who was condemned to death on a cross.
Application: Do a self-check. Have you left your pride at the door when you come before the Lord?
Food for Thought: Why did Paul call circumcision a “Jewish custom” rather than a covenant or something else?
I think you said it – in the Torah, circumcision was a covenant with the descendants of Abraham, not the Gentiles. And it was not for salvation. Abraham entered into the covenant after he already knew God. Faith came first.
Peter was bowing to the oral law of men and not the true law of God. As I understand it, nowhere in the OT does it tell Jews they cannot associate or eat with Gentiles.
The point Paul is making is that the covenant of grace depends on faith alone in Christ alone. The outward sign of the flesh is not important. What is important is the change of heart. Someone can be physically circumcised and their heart can be far from the Lord. To the Gentile, circumcision was not a covenant that the Lord called them to perform – it was only a Jewish custom.
Well said, Rich.
You make an interesting point about associating with Gentiles. It makes me wonder if there were connotations about eating food that was considered “unclean” that carried over into other areas of life.
02-12-2024, Why did Paul call circumcision a “Jewish custom” rather than a covenant or something else?
Excellent point Rich!
In Genesis 3:15, God is speaking to the serpent who is the power tempting mankind into a state of disobedience to God’s position of sovereignty over all. “ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. “ Fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:13-14, Christ became a curse for us in order that the blessings of the covenant that were promised to Abraham might now come to the Gentiles.
Ezekiel 36:26–27, And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Our Bible shows how the kingdom of God has advanced through the progression of distinct covenants, ( not all covered here ) which collectively serve as the foundation for God’s promise to bring redemption to his people. To focus on any single covenant is like focusing on a pointing finger and missing where or what it is pointing to.
Ron,
Great point! I like the “pointing finger” analogy. In one way or another, everything in the Bible points to Jesus, so that makes total sense.
I think for many circumcision had become a “custom,” and the true significance of it had been lost. God is faithful in His covenants, it is mankind’s proven inability to turn from sin that takes what God creates as pure and good and turns it into something that separates us from God and each other. Jesus came and died for our sins so that everyone could be one fellowship under Christ. I also like how Rich said “Someone can be physically circumcised and their heart can be far from the Lord. ” It reminds me of Romans 28-29
Romans 2:28-29 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Chris
I suppose in some ways we should consider it a miracle that the “custom” of circumcision survived at all. It is a testimony to the power of God that the Jews retained their culture and heritage over the centuries. It makes sense then, looked at through the historical lens, that the custom might have remained while the meaning of the custom was lost in time.