Returning to the issues at hand in the church that are indicated by Paul’s highlighting of the Jew/Gentile divisions, we can trace this theme through the letter. Doing so should shed helpful light on the words of the sixth verse of the sixth chapter, allowing us to hear the words more appropriately. In the first chapter, Paul writes of “a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you” (1:8b). This is a helpful alert to a problem within the church. Shortly thereafter, Paul begins his talk of Judaism (1:13,14). He does not condemn, but rather, sets his former way of life in contrast with his call to preach Christ “among the Gentiles” (1:16). In the second chapter, Paul again writes of his preaching “among the Gentiles” (2:2), going on to speak of circumcision and his Greek companion (2:3). He calls our attention to this by writing “Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised,” in a desire to bring him into conformity with the covenant markers of Judaism, “although he was a Greek” (2:3). The only reason for Paul to make mention of this is if it has some bearing on that with which he intends to deal in this letter.
In the sixth verse of the chapter, Paul offers an aside, saying “God shows no favoritism between people” (2:6b). Though this is directly related to the “influential leaders” (2:6c) of the church in Jerusalem, it seems as though Paul includes this statement as part of the larger point that he is making, while going on to point out that he was “entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter was to the circumcised (for He who empowered Peter for his apostleship to the circumcised also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles)” (2:7-8). When it comes to participation in the Gospel and the kingdom for which it makes its claim, Paul clearly sets Gentiles on equal footing with the Jews. This section leads into the recollection of his heated encounter with Peter, in which he decries Peter’s attempt to force Gentiles to adhere to the covenant markers of Judaism in order to be full participants in the covenant.
Paul abhors this notion, saying that this is a setting aside of God’s grace, making it so that Christ died for nothing (2:21). If covenant membership was predicated on bearing the covenant markers of Judaism, then the Gospel claim of Jesus’ Lordship had no place nor efficacy. Therefore, He becomes an unnecessary revelation of Israel’s God. Again, Paul is setting Jews and Gentiles on equal footing in regards to participation in the covenant. The Gentiles do not have a lesser position in the covenant, and therefore, most certainly not in the church, though this seems to be what is being communicated, perhaps even unwittingly and unintentionally, to the Gentiles that at least partially compose this particular congregation. With this, we do well to remember that we, along with the recipients of this letters, are most likely hearing it read to us at the setting of the community meal. In this case, it is possible that, as Paul reports to be the case at Antioch (and therefore the reason he brings it to the fore here), the believers have taken to having separate meal tables---one for Jews and one for Gentiles (though we do not insist that this must be the case).
In the third chapter, Paul imports the example of Abraham. It is with Abraham, of course, that circumcision originates as the sign of the covenant. Having imported Abraham, Paul immediately writes that “God would justify the Gentiles by faith” (3:8b), adding the report of the promise that “All the nations will be blessed in you” (3:8c). To this Paul attaches “So then those who believe,” with that belief being the belief in the Gospel that Jesus is Lord, which Paul insists is the sole covenant marker for Gentiles, “are blessed along with Abraham the believer” (3:9). Just as circumcision was a secondary marker for Abraham, with belief being the primary marker, so it would also be for Gentiles. Gentiles were not to be relegated to second-class status if they did not have or observe the visible covenant markers (works of the law) of Judaism. Gentiles Christians were not to be shamed or looked down upon, while Jewish or Judaizing Christians had honor accrue to them. We see that Gentiles, and the need for them to be viewed as equal sharers in the covenant and its blessings, are primarily in view for Paul as he goes on to add that “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles” (3:14a).
Having removed the barriers of separation between Jew and Gentile, Paul continues that process, moving along to other potential sources of division or stratification in the church that could lead to a weakening of the effective presentation of the message of the Gospel to an onlooking world, as he goes on to write “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female---for all of you are on in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise” (3:26-29). This, along with the operational “structure” of the earliest of Christian gatherings, will have a bearing on our conclusions.
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