Idolatry and division go hand in hand

In the early church in Antioch there had been a problem over circumcision. The church was made up of both Jewish background believers and Gentile believers. The problem arose because some Jewish believers had insisted on the Gentile converts being circumcised … even the apostle Peter had been caught up in it. When certain Jews came to Antioch he stopped eating with the Gentile believers.

The apostle Paul sharply rebuked Peter because what he had done compromised the truth of the gospel. It was a denial that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from the law. Circumcision had become an idol and caused division in the church. Paul, in writing to the churches in Galatia over this problem, said ‘neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation’.

There is also a pointer here to division among God’s people generally. The primary matter for God’s people is faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins. Secondary matters, such as circumcision should never be confused with the primary matter otherwise they undermine the truth of the gospel and create idolatrous division within the church. Paul said ‘may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.’