Debtors’ Prison

“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” (Galatians 5:2–3, ESV)

Up until the mid-1800’s, Western Europe had established debtor’s prisons. They were locked work houses in which those who were unable to pay off their debts would be sentenced into by the courts. The sentence would last until they somehow worked off their debt or could secure outside funds to do the same.

Here Paul wrote to the Galatians regarding the negative result of accepting the teaching of the legalists. The legalists, the Judaizers, had been emphasizing that circumcision was essential for a person to be justified before God. Yet, Paul vehemently rejected such teaching. He tells the Galatians that if they accept circumcision in this way, for justification, that Christ would profit nothing. In other words, to trust in circumcision was to not trust in Christ alone for salvation.

Moreover, Paul indicated that those who would trust in circumcision were then obligating themselves to a works-based salvation. Thus, they would not just have to be circumcised, but also obey the entirety of the law perfectly. Something which none have done to this point, nor could that ever fulfill in the future. This meant that they would constantly be in debt, being unable to fulfill the obligation to keep the whole of the law. In fact, they would continuously add debt to themselves rather than paying it down.

The Galatians who would follow the law for justification would find themselves in a condition of having an insurmountable debt. Ultimately this would leave them in a debtor’s prison with absolutely no hope of paying off what they owed.

We who believe have the greatest of blessings. This is because Christ paid the debt for us completely when He died on the cross. One of His final words on the cross was “It is finished.” On the cross, the debt of sin was paid in full. Let us rejoice that we who believe have been completely and permanently set free from the debtor’s prison.