"Having wanted [that] even they will castrate [themselves], the [ones] upsetting you."
-Whoa! Such strong, serious language coming from Paul. But in his eyes, this is a serious situation. He is so upset, Paul says the ones who have been wanting to cut foreskins off of Gentile converts to the faith, he wants them to go ahead and cut off their whole member! That’s literally what Paul is saying here. And perhaps more than actually being serious about castration, he wants these Galatian believers to realize just how serious it is. Forcing someone who has embraced the true soul freedom of forgiveness through faith in Christ, forcing them to receive circumcision and to enter into the bondage of the ineffectual works-based righteousness of the Jewish religious tradition - this to Paul was horrific, just as horrific as the prospect of physical mutilation. This person or persons who are hindering and troubling and upsetting the Galatians are leading them into bondage, slavery, to a place where the grace of Christ will be of no benefit to them. Entangled and strangled by works such that they will be unable to enjoy the freedom for which Christ set them (and us!) free. Tragic, really. So much so, so horrifying a prospect to Paul that he is angry enough to be suggesting that these would-be works entanglers should instead be member-manglers. Usually Paul is more inclined to reserve judgment for the Lord (Romans 12.17, 12.19; 1Thessalonians 4.6), and to be fair he does so here as well (Galatians 5.10), but it is both interesting and enlightening to observe how angry he is about what these Judaizers are doing. May we find similar grace and wisdom to care just as deeply about the things which really matter to the Lord, and be less upset by the those things which have far less eternal significance...
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