Paul addresses a letter to the communities of Galatia, probably to the cities of Lystra and Derbe, what would currently be the interior of the Anatolian peninsula, this letter is known as the epistle to the Galatians. In his message Paul describes at the beginning of his letter what is known as the Antioch incident, the early church had divided into two groups, Paul who preached to the Gentiles, and Peter who taught the converts of Jewish origin.
Some of the first converts of Jewish origin were Pharisees and demanded that the pagans be circumcised and obey the law of Moses. Paul did not agree with this, and the division threatened to become the first schism in the Church. This doctrinal problem within the faith gives rise to the first council of Jerusalem, which resolves in favor of Paul's ideas.
It is then that Paul exposes them in his epistle to the Galatians that it is not obligatory to be circumcised, the Kingdom of God is to live according to the spirit as he exposes it in other epistles, and not in the accomplishment of laws that are almost impossible to fulfill.
This is how Paul relates the beginning of the Antioch incident, and the problem of false converts who confused the doctrine of the Kingdom of heaven (living the gifts), with the law of Moses:
"Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." Galatians 2:1-5.
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