Galatians 5:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Before his conversion Paul had certainly preached circumcision; he had been in complete agreement with the Judaizers, indeed he had been an outstanding proponent of their doctrine. He knew their arguments well and he understood all the implications of their teaching. But Paul had abruptly ceased preaching circumcision the moment he had trusted in Christ for salvation and he had never returned to it. He had begun instead to preach the cross, an object of shame to the Jews, and it was this new message which provoked the opposition of his enemies. It was because they hated this message, which in their minds was at war with the teachings of Moses, that they took such great offence. They persecuted Paul because the preaching of the cross undermined their claim to a legal righteousness, and this their pride regarded as intolerable. The cross was an offense to the Jew just because it told him that all his national distinctives were worth nothing to God and gave him not the least advantage over the Gentile, yet all his life he had looked down on the Gentiles as inferior and sinful. If Paul had stopped preaching the cross and begun to preach circumcision, then this offence would have been removed and all grounds for persecution would be gone; they were not beyond forgiving an erring Jew that had returned to their fold. Why then were they still persecuting him? Quite clearly, because they knew that he had not changed his message.This would be a surprising matter for Paul to raise, unless he had in fact been accused of preaching circumcision by his enemies. The emphatic use of the first person suggests that he wishes to say that he of all people would not do this, but why defend himself so vigorously from an attack that had never happened? Most of those who see an implicit accusation against Paul in this verse, think that it was an attempt by his enemies to discredit him on the grounds of inconsistency. It is suggested that the event they have in mind is Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy (16:3). But whatever reason Paul had for doing this, it had nothing to do with Timothy’s salvation. As he indicates here, if he had been in the habit of compromising in order to avoid trouble, now would have been the perfect occasion to do so, but he opposed such a move with all his being.