Twisted Truth

“But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.” (Galatians 5:11, ESV)

One of the great ploys of kids and adults in an effort to get their own way is that of the twisted truth. My kids trapped me up in this on more than one occasion but it was not limited to kids. One time it happened to me early on as a Platoon Leader in the Army.

Two men in my platoon came to me and said, “The Platoon Sargent said it was ok if we went to the snack bar if you agree.” So, I told them they could go. A while later, I spoke with the Platoon Sargent and he said, “Why did you let those two guys go?” I informed him, “They told me that you said it was ok.” However, the Platoon Sargant did not want them to go and that was not what he said. He said “I do not want you to go, but check with the Platoon Leader. If he says it is ok, then you can go.”

This is a popular ploy by people. They will twist the truth in order to get what they want. This is a method of deception and similar to an argument that the Judaizers were doing with the Galatians.

Their accusation was that Paul had been preaching circumcision according to the law. There were two possible arguments that they may have presented. First, their argument may have gone like this. “You need to be circumcised to be justified before God. Even Paul preached circumcision.” This is true, but it is a twisted truth. It is true that prior to Paul’s conversion, he did as a Pharisee preach that one must be circumcised according to the law. However, their point was a half-truth. For after his conversion he in no way preached the necessity of circumcision or legalistic obedience to the law for justification.

A second argument may have pointed to the fact that Paul circumcised Timothy, showing that he felt circumcision was essential.

“Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:3, ESV)

However, the reason Paul circumcised Timothy was not to make him more acceptable to God. It was not for his justification before God, but “because of the Jews who were in those places.” It was to appease the Jews area for they knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek and that his mother was Jewish. Timothy’s circumcision gave him free access to the synagogues so there would be no hinderance to Paul’s preaching to the Jews.

Paul countered the Judaizers argument that Paul preached circumcision with this statement, “if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?” If Paul experienced persecution by the Jews because of his message and he was preaching the same things that the Judaizers preached, why would they persecute him and oppose his message?

He further went on to state that if he preached circumcision that it would have removed “the offense of the cross” to the Jews. Yet the cross was an offense to them as they held that God’s approval was earned by man’s legalistic obedience to the law.

Today we, in our churches we generally do not run into this particular argument regarding circumcision. However, we do run into groups and individuals who will preach that good works are essential to be approved by God. Those that preach this develop crafty arguments to persuade people away from the truth that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

If you hear anyone who preaches works or works plus grace for salvation, carefully examine the Scriptures. In doing so you will discover the truth and see the error of their deception. In many cases they will twist the truth of the Scriptures or present half-truths taken out of context from the Bible.