Higher Truth:
The Jews *never* believed that they could work their way into Heaven through Torah-obedience. That is a Gentile misunderstanding.
When Paul speaks of "salvation by works" he is referring to "salvation by ritual" -- the ritual of circumcision.
According to the Mishnah:
All Israel have a portion in the world-to-come, for it is written, Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
-- m. Sanhedrin 10.1, the gemara is b.Sanhedrin 90a.
What did the Sages mean by this statement? They often spoke of Israel as wayward and rebellious, so it is clear they do not mean that all Israelites were without sin. Rather, righteousness is attributed to all who are members of the covenant. Righteousness, according to the Sages, was a matter of Gods willingness to reckon the pious deeds of the fathers to their offspring and to forgive and show mercy when Israel sins. Thus, the place in the world-to-come which belongs to all of Israel was a matter of Gods grace, not something earned or merited.
To put it in simpler terms, the Jews believed that salvation was granted to members of the covenant, and that the members of the covenant were the Jews. In order for a Gentile to become a member of the covenant, they believed, he had to become a Jew. Circumcision, then, was the method by which they believed a Gentile could become a Jew.
So, the Jews believed that the
status of righteous before God and unrighteous was determined by ones
status as a Jew.
This, then, is the reason why we read in Acts 15:1 that certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, [and said],
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. They believed that the covenant was made only with the Jews, and that Gentiles had to become Jewish through the proselyte ceremony of circumcision, before they could be saved.
It is this same issue that Paul was addressing in the book of Galatians. It is these Jews who Paul refers to as the circumcision group or the circumcision faction in Titus 1:10. The circumcision group or simply the circumcision were those Jews who were teaching that one had to become a Jew in order to be a member of the covenant family.
Brit milah, the Hebrew term for circumcision, means covenant in the flesh. It is the means by which they believed a person became a member of the covenant.
But, in Genesis 17:9-14, we read:
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner-those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Here, we read that God instructed Abraham to circumcise his entire household, including those born to him,
and those NOT born to him.
God was not creating a nationality here. That wasnt His intent. His intent was to have a separate, set-apart people who would worship Him in Spirit and in Truth from WHATEVER nationality! He wasnt designating Jew vs. Gentile, but was calling a people unto himself, from whatever nationality they may come from, to separate themselves from the things of the world, and be a holy and righteous people who obeyed His commandments. He was designating righteous vs. unrighteous, worshipers of God vs. worshipers of false gods, those who chose His salvation vs those who did not, those who accepted His covenant vs those who rejected His covenant.
"Grace" is not the freedom to live however we please. "Grace" is the empowerment to live a holy and righteous life in a sick and perverse world. We are called to separate ourselves from the things of the world, and become a separate, set-apart people unto God, and it makes no difference what nationality or ethnic status we come from.
Within His covenant family His separate, set-apart people there is no distinction between Jew or Greek. Ones ethnicity or nationality has absolutely no bearing on ones status before God. The only status that makes a hill of beans of difference is the status of in Messiah.
This is what Paul meant when he said:
Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is neither Jew nor Greek because *BOTH* are one in Messiah!
Circumcision, then, is the sign by which we designate which group we belong to: Gods people, or not His people. It is just like the lambs blood that was placed on the doorposts in Egypt its purpose is to distinguish those who accept His salvation that the spirit of death may pass over us, and those who do *not* accept His salvation and choose death. By being circumcised, we are declaring Im one of His people.
"Gentile," then, doesn't mean "not Jewish," it means "of the world" as opposed to "separate and set apart from the world."
Throughout the Torah, God made it clear that there was One Torah For All, whether Jew or Gentile:
Leviticus 16:29: And [this] shall be a statute for ever unto you: [that] in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, [whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you
Leviticus 17:12: Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Leviticus 18:26: Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit [any] of these abominations; [neither] any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you
Leviticus 19:34: [But] the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.
There was no distinction between "Jew" and "Gentile" among God's people. There was no set of laws given to "Jew" and a different set given to "Gentile."
So, when Paul said "let him not be circumcised," what he was trying to say is: "Don't think you have to become a Jew, because that has no bearing on your status of 'righteous before God.' It is your *faith* that gets you into the covenant, and not your ethnic status." He isn't saying "don't become circumcised," he's saying "it makes no difference whether you are
Jew or
Greek!
So, 1Cor 7:18-19 could be just as accurately interpreted as:
1 Corinthians 7:18-19: Was any man called already "Jew?" Let him not become "Greek". Has anyone been called "Greek?" Let him not be "Jewish." "Jewish" is nothing, and "Greek" is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God {i.e. having the status of "in Messiah" ).
So, he wasn't talking about the *act* of circumcision per se, he was talking about the creation of a
"Jew" from a
"Greek" through the
ritual of circumcision.
Shimon