Paul continued his attack against those who distorted the gospel of grace. This is such a crucial issue, such a go-to-the-wall theme, that he relentlessly pressed his point from all angles. Genuine Christianity rises or falls on getting this right. If circumcision is required (or baptism or any other rite for that matter), then Christianity is just another works-based religion, dependent upon a person’s ability to meet a pre-set standard. God’s standard, though, is perfect holiness, and we all fall short. That is what’s wrong with man-centered religious efforts. The grace of Christ is categorically different, it is God-centered. Human efforts are absolutely foolish by comparison. Paul shows this in two ways.

First, his own personal testimony—he does not preach circumcision. The proof of that is in his being persecuted. It was not part of the original message that brought the Galatians to salvation through faith in Christ. That seems to be stating the obvious. The cause of the persecution was that Paul did not preach that circumcision was required of believers. To avoid that persecution, he could have started preaching circumcision. But that would be tantamount to abolishing the teaching of the cross, which would cut the heart out of his message!

Paul extended his objections to the false teachers by appealing to the absurd—they should take their argument to its logical conclusion. Speaking rather crudely, but for maximum effect, he suggested they should “mutilate” themselves. The term literally means, “to cut off.” What Paul is thinking about here is castration—that would take circumcision to its logical, if ludicrous, conclusion. In essence, if the legalizers are so passionate about keeping the Law and its symbol, circumcision—if this is such a big deal that it is the lightening rod in the discussion about Christ, then just how far will they go in the adamant over-intensification of the Law and distortion of God’s ways. Since they are completely maligning Scripture and have set their interpretation of it loose from the actual meaning and sense of it, then they ought to just go all the way!

Paul was a master of rhetoric, using words, phrases and thought patterns to convey the truth. On the surface, one might detect sarcasm and crudeness, but the real thrust was to show the absurdity of trying to use God’s Word for one’s own vain purposes. Sometimes, he wrote starkly to his readers, “You foolish Galatians” (Gal 3:1), and we, too, need to hear the truth in very earthy terms.