Galatians 2:15
15 We [hemeis] who are Jews [Ioudaios] by nature, [phusis] and [kai] not [ou] sinners [hamartolos] of [ek] the Gentiles, [ethnos]
KJV-Interlinear
15 "We are Jews by nature,
and not sinners from among the Gentiles; NASB
This verse connects the last verse to the next
verse, which should be rather obvious.
But, Paul is making the point that salvation is by
faith. And since it is by faith and
since it applied to everyone, then they, Paul and the Apostles, who are Jews
and they were saved by faith, then why should the gentiles have any other
demands placed upon them.
There are no other demands placed on the Jews, and
so there should be no extra demands or expectations, or hoops to jump through,
for the gentiles.
When one grows up within a culture and lives their
life based on the culture, then those cultural choices should not be placed on
others.
Some cultures insist on its people wearing
black.
Some cultures expect the men to have beards.
Some cultures have this lifestyle, and other
cultures have that lifestyle.
So whether you push bones through your nose, or will
only drive sports cars, then these things are choices that you make and have nothing
to do with salvation.
The Jewish history is full of cultural examples
that were primarily designed to be teaching aids, for learning spiritual principles. They were never designed to be the spiritual
life.
And by the way, the term, Jew, did not begin with
Abraham, nor even Jacob or Moses. That
term came along many, many centuries later when Judah became known as Judea,
and then naturally its occupants were called Jews.
The circumcision of Abraham was done as a picture
of faith. Faith came first, and thus salvation
was already completed, when Abraham circumcised himself.
Abraham back then was called a Hebrew. This set him apart from all other races on planet
earth.
His spiritual status was set apart from all others,
and then his physical make up was set apart as a teaching aid to symbolize that
separation from all others.
