The Gospel of the Uncircumcision

Duane Gallentine

Romans 11:13 clearly declares in his Epistle to the Galatians profound truth concerning his apostleship and gospel. Within the first two chapters there is tremendous spiritual light shining forth from God to dissolve the spiritual darkness caused by religions and traditions of men within Christendom concerning the God-given issues of Paul, his Apostleship, his Message and his Ministry. Recorded within the Holy Writ are expressions of surprise, strong warnings, bold pronouncements with new revelations and determined convictions.

The surprise:
Galatians 1:6,7--- "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."
The strong warning:
Galatians 1:8,9--- "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
The bold pronouncement with new revelations:
Galatians 1:11,12--- "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
The determined conviction:
Galatians 2:2a,5-- "And I went up [to Jerusalem] by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles,..." "To whom [Kingdom saints with the Apostles' doctrine] we gave place by subjection, no not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel [Paul's Gospel of the Uncircumcised] might continue with you [the members of the One Body of Christ in the regions of Galatia]." [Emphasized for clarity]

Just as it was so critical for the members of the Body of Christ in the regions of Galatia to comprehend that gospel which Paul had preached to them, then recognizing how they had been so soon removed from a grace standing and blessing, and to recover by understanding the distinct and unique position of authority Paul had received from the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father, even so, today it is absolutely necessary for all members of the Body of Christ to grasp these same issues! Please never forget that the Adversary has not diminished his attack upon the body of Truth which Paul received by the revelation of Jesus Christ which is contained in Paul's Epistles; Romans through Philemon.

As we examine the terms The Gospel of the Uncircumcision and The Gospel of the Circumcision we find that both of these descriptive phrases are written by Paul, the Apostle, in Galatians 2:7:

"But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;"

In Galatians 1:7, the Scriptures state that there were some [men] that troubled these Gentile saints under Paul's ministry. These Galatians were the uncircumcised, and Paul had formed Christ in them through the preaching of his Gospel (Galatians 4:19). The men who caused the Body of Christ trouble were of the believing circumcision who ventured from the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:24). These false brethren had carried with them the Apostle's doctrine; doctrine which the Messianic Kingdom, Pentecostal, New Testament, water baptized, and Holy Ghost filled church had been taught and was maintaining (Acts 2:42, 46; 4:31, 32; 15:24; 21:20; 2 Peter 3:11-14).

The point of understanding that we need to grasp is that by adding another gospel, that is, the Gospel of the Circumcision which was committed unto Peter and the Eleven, and preached during the Acts 2 Pentecostal era, to the Body of Truth of the Gospel of the Uncircumcised that Paul preached, there was a subtraction from the Grace Doctrines of Paul's message, making it impossible for the truth of Paul's gospel to reside within the Galatians (Galatians 2:5).

Adding, subtracting, mixing or changing the Words on the page is disastrous to God's Revelation; be it the "Gospel of the Circumcision" duly committed by God to Peter and the Acts 2 church or the "Gospel of the Uncircumcision" duly entrusted by God to Paul. We must not mix Peter and Paul; their Apostleships, Messages or Ministries!! Please grasp with the eyes of spiritual understanding Satan's diabolical plan of evil which today is still focused upon Paul, his Apostleship to the Gentiles, his Message received by revelation of Jesus Christ, and his Ministry without Israel risen in Kingdom glory.

Satan confuses the issue, but it is very clear from the text of the Authorized Version in Galatians 2:7 that while this Epistle was being written there were two separate distinct gospels being preached, by two kinds of Apostles, going to differing people; with all of this activity effectually wrought by God Himself!! Satan's plan of evil is to make it appear that Paul preached Peter's message; that there has only been one gospel; that it really does not matter if little words such as "of the" is changed in most modern Bible versions to read "to the".

We can thank God for His sovereign care given unto His Word. We have the inspired, preserved Greek text from which the phrase "the gospel of the uncircumcision" and "the gospel of the circumcision" appears. Though our native tongue is English, we can gain understanding from the original Greek language. For example, these phrases in the Greek contain the article tes. It is in the genitive case of possession, and is correctly translated of the in the Authorized Version (KJV). Tes being used with the phrase "the gospel of the uncircumcision" manifests "that" gospel which Paul preached to the heathen was not the same as the gospel Peter was preaching (Galatians 1:16; 2:2,18). This genitive case of possession clearly shows that through Peter and Paul, God had two different gospels that belonged to or were of two classes of people; the Circumcised (National Israel) with their Gospel and the uncircumcised (heathen, Gentiles, or nations) with their Gospel. There were two different gospels in two different churches during the Acts period.

In this passage most of the Modern English translations refuse to render "of the" from tes but rather use "to the" in their translations. This false reading is not faithful to the Traditional Greek text and leads to several false conclusions that are with us today:

  1. There is only one gospel;
  2. Paul preached Peter's message;
  3. The Dispensation of Grace started at Pentecost;
  4. The church in Acts 2 is the church, which is His Body as recorded in Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Galatians chapters one and two is a bold confrontation of these two gospels meeting head on. The Record is clear and the recorded events make it very clear what is going on in the Passage; and, for men to translate tes into this subversive meaning is dishonest. Why do modern translators continue to mistranslate when both family of manuscripts, the Textus Receptus (Traditional Text) from which only the Authorized Version comes from and the Critical Text, the basic Westcott and Hort Greek text of which all other versions come from, have tes as the Greek definite article? This is illustrated on page 36 of "Translator Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Galatians" by D.C. Arichea, Jr. and E.A. Nida, published by the United Bible Societies, volume XVIII. It states,

"In translating the two phrases gospel to the Gentiles and gospel to the Jews, one must be careful to avoid giving the impression that there are two gospels, one for the Jews and another for the Gentiles.....To avoid this misunderstanding, one should make it clear that both Paul and Peter are entrusted with proclaiming one gospel, except that Paul is to proclaim it to Gentiles and Peter to the Jews..."

Thus even today, there is the scholarly assumption that there has always been one gospel with the supposed difference between Peter and Paul being only the people to whom God sent them. But there is no tampering with the word tes in Galatians 2:7 as found in either family or line of manuscripts. Why then should translators change the meaning? It must be that they all think the Bible contains only one gospel; and in order to prove it, they change the meaning of the Greek article to fit their erroneous doctrinal and denominational traditions. Instead of God's Word being the Authority correcting man's thinking, man's wisdom is used to correct God.

In order for the Body of Christ to grasp the spiritual significance of the whole Epistle to the Galatians, it is helpful to remember that Galatians was written during the Acts period after the fall of Israel as recorded in Acts 7. This period is Scripturally designated as "the diminishing of them" [Israel]-Romans 11:11-13. When Israel, her provisions, and imperatives were being diminished God had commissioned unto two different kinds of Apostles, two different kinds of Gospels! One Gospel of a different kind (Greek--the heteros Gospel...Galatians 1:6) as the good news of the Circumcision, which was comprised of Bible truth for the circumcised Nation called Israel, and entrusted to Peter and the Eleven, i.e. the provision of the New Testament including circumcision and Law works (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:27-29; 5:17-19). The other kind (Greek--the allos gospel...Galatians 1:7) as the good news of the Uncircumcision committed to Paul's trust, also known as the Gospel of the Grace of God (1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:17; 1 Timothy 1:11; Acts 20:24).

In Genesis 17:1-14, the Lord Almighty God changed the name of Abram, a gentile, unto Abraham and made a contractual agreement (a covenant) with him and his physical descendants. The Lord God made within Abraham's flesh a sign or token of this covenant. The sign was circumcision. Thus, Abram now circumcised and known as Abraham, became the father of the Nation of Israel. When Israel spoke of their fathers it was always Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This Abrahamic covenant was confirmed to Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 17:19, 28:13-15). Circumcision was even incorporated into the Law given to Moses (Leviticus 12:3).

This Abrahamic covenant is comprised of three major points (see Genesis 17):

  1. That the Lord Almighty God would be God to the circumcision of the flesh. Only this Nation has the Lord Almighty God as their God. He is their God. All other nations are without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11,12);
  2. The circumcision of the flesh would be God's people, MY PEOPLE;
  3. The land of Canaan, wherein Abraham was a stranger, would be their everlasting possession (the promise of a land to dwell in forever).

This covenant of promise was the first in a line of other covenants that were added unto this three-fold promise. This covenant was made 430 years before the Mosaic Law was added unto this same people, Israel. The Old Testament given at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20, did not change the 'good news' of circumcision, but added detailed laws, statutes, judgments, and commandments unto that which already existed. In considering the provisions of the Old Covenant listed below, we see that the three-fold provision of the Abrahamic Covenant of Circumcision was incorporated into the covenant at Sinai.

  1. Exodus 20:3,4--the Lord God would be Israel's God, and they were to have no other gods before Him. Israel was given the name of God whereby they could call upon Him as His chosen nation; that name was Jehovah (Exodus 6:1-5). Jehovah would be their God;
  2. Deuteronomy 7:6-8/Leviticus 12:3; 20:26--The Old Covenant included as law the command to circumcise the male children. That circumcised people were severed from all other people (the uncircumcised) and given sanctification by Jehovah, saying "ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy". Thus the circumcision would be His people (2 Chronicles 7:14/Ezekiel 34:30);
  3. Deuteronomy 4:1/Exedus 19:5,6; Isaiah 61:6; 1 Peter 2:5--National Israel, the circumcised Nation, were to go in and possess the land promised unto the Fathers by the covenant, serving God as a Nation of priests. They would dwell in the contracted land forever.

This same three-fold provision is also found in the Everlasting Covenant that God will bring to fruition through the Nation of Israel (Ezekiel 37:11, 24-28). When considering this separation evident in the flesh of these people, please remember that prior to calling Abram and changing his name to Abraham, God had given up the nations of the world in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel. These nations were in unbelief. God judged them in their willful act of rejecting the knowledge of God which He had revealed to them (Romans 1:20-25). God gave them up to a reprobate mind and over to the desires of the flesh. Out of this judgment, God selected one man Abram, made the Covenant of Circumcision with him and promised unto him and his physical seed that they would be the people that God would use in the earth to show the heathen nations what it will be like for the God of heaven to be Israel's God; for them to be His People; and, for Him to dwell in their midst in the land (Deuteronomy 4:5-8).

The problem was not the provisions of the good news of the Circumcision, nor was it the added Covenants including the Law, for we read in Romans 7 that the Law is holy, just, and good. The fault lies within the Adamic nature of every Israelite. They, like the unbelieving heathen, possess the sin nature since they are also descendants of Adam. The Circumcised needed a gospel that was strictly theirs so they could overcome the problems of the flesh and find their position as God's Holy Nation of priests in that prophesied earthly Kingdom. Historically in Peter's day, and future to our day, there is the Gospel of the Circumcision [Read Galatians 2:7-8 in the A.V. Bible wherein God, working mightily in Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision, committed unto him this body of truth].

This Gospel of the Circumcision is the cure-all Israel needed in Peter's day as God, through the Twelve Apostles, offered Israel the Kingdom. That Nation had rejected God the Father in allowing John the Baptist to be killed. They had demanded that God the Son be crucified. And during the early chapters of the Book of Acts, the Holy Ghost empowers the Little Flock, with Peter at the helm, to offer unto Israel the Gospel of the Circumcision: "Repent and be baptized..." is its invitation (Acts 2:38). During the first part of the book of Acts repentance, water baptism, and the remission of sins goes to "the children of the prophets, and of the covenants which God made with our fathers,..." (Acts 2:14, 22, 29, 36;3:25; 4:10; 5:31). The three-fold provision of the good news of the Circumcision was once again offered to Israel [Acts 3:17-21] based upon the New Covenant/Testament blood sacrifice of Israel's True High Priest, Jesus Christ.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 Israel's God announces that He will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This passage lists the identical provision of the Covenant of Circumcision, the Old Covenant/Testament, the Covenant of Peace and the Everlasting Covenant. It is:

  1. Jeremiah 31:33--I, Jehovah, will be Israel's God. The Circumcised will have Jehovah as their God. The Lord will give Israel anew heart to know Him--Jeremiah 24:7. This new heart will not fail;
  2. Jeremiah 31:33--The House of Israel shall be MY PEOPLE, for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart which He gives them;
  3. Jeremiah 31:38-40/Ezekial 36:24--Jehovah will bring redeemed Israel into their own land.

At last, the Circumcised will be found in righteousness and with peace in the Land. The Record of Peter's preaching as found in the book of Acts is based upon these Covenants of promise made with the Fathers, including the Covenant of Circumcision. Peter offered all the house of Israel (Acts 2:36, etc.) the fulfillment of the Covenants of promise. When carefully studied, Acts 3:13-26 reveals the three-fold provision of the Circumcision.

At Pentecost those Israelites responding by faith would obey the revelation given through Peter's preaching and enjoy the blessings within the GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION. Then and only then, Israel would find her remedy for her sin problem. Through this Gospel they would walk in obedience to the Law. Israel would receive the blessings of the New Testament/New Law through Jesus, the Messiah. Faith plus Works done in the Flesh equals blessing in the Land-see James 2. This is a Law, Work, Flesh System of operation.

But the Record of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 shows the Nation of Israel joining the heathen in rejecting God's Anointed. Israel, at this point, was judged by God to be like the nations: IN UNBELIEF. We read of this declaration in Romans 11:30-32. In the Prophetic Scriptures it was revealed that God would unleash His wrath and sore displeasure when Israel joined the heathen in rebelling against the Lord and His Anointed (Psalm 2:1-5). During that judgment, God would send forth His angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come."--Revelations 14:6,7.

But something wonderful and gracious happened!! The minutes of that prophetic hour of judgment did not begin to tick away. This is where the due time testimony [1Tim 2:6-7; Titus 1:3] of the Epistle to the Galatians boldly announces a NEW Apostle, Paul, with that NEW Gospel called "THE GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION".

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen;..."---Galatians 1:15,16
"Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing, For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."---Galatians 5:2-3
"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."---Galatians 5:6
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."---Galatians 6:15

As Paul preached "THE GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION" to the Galatians it is very clear that the Gospel which he had taught them was not associated or mingled with the good news of the Circumcision. In fact concerning Paul's gospel of the Grace of Christ, circumcision becomes a curse making Christ profiting the Body of Christ nothing. Grace becomes vain! (Galatians 5:2-4).

These Galatians were the descendants of the heathen that were given up at the tower of Babel. God had made no covenant with them. They were strangers from all those Covenants of promise and were without Christ (Ephesians 2:11, 12). BUT NOW through the gospel Paul preached, these who were afar off from God as He dealt with Israel over the centuries, find GOOD NEWS through Paul's office of Apostleship, Message, and Ministry. They who had no hope, find hope in the Gospel of the Grace of God during this Dispensation of the Grace of God. Israel's rejected Christ/Messiah, even the King of Israel, is NOW the Hope of the uncircumcised being made the Head of the One Body of Christ!! (1Tim 1:1; Eph 1:19-23).

Today in this present Dispensation of Grace, the Gospel of the Circumcision that Peter labored under has temporarily been put into abeyance by God [the diminishing of Israel from Acts 7 to the end of Acts28] so that the present Word of Truth may bring to fullness the working of God amongst the heathen nations or UNCIRCUMCISED via this new Gospel of the Uncircumcision. This is a Grace, Faith, Spirit System of operation. In this new system there is no racial, religious, economical or national benefit with or from God in being circumcised or Law keeping (Eph.1:3).

Since the close of the Book of Acts, God has approved of only one Gospel being proclaimed. It is the Gospel of the Grace of God--Acts 20:24--in this Dispensation of the Grace of God--Ephesians 3:1,2. It has appeared, and will continue to appear, to all without distinction until the fullness of the Gentiles become in--i.e. the Body of Christ be complete (Titus 2:11,12; Romans 11:25). At such time when the Body is complete, God will conclude this Dispensation in the catching away of that One Body (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and bring about the revitalization of Abraham's descendants, National Israel, through THE GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION.

In closing, to any and all who mix the two Programs of God--Prophecy and Mystery--the different Gospels--the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Gospel of the Circumcision, or the Gospel of the Uncircumcision; Israel and the Body of Christ, or degrades Paul's distinct Message of Grace, God pronounces a strong warning unto them:

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."--Galatians 1:8,9.

Especially, may the Christian worker beware and take heed [1Corinthians 3:10; 1Timothy 4:16] how he buildeth the house of doctrine upon the foundation of our soul salvation by faith alone in,

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures"--see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

The foundation with its super-structure that reaches into the heavenly places has been laid and built by Paul. It consists of the Sound Doctrines that Paul alone received by direct revelation of Jesus Christ according to the Mystery (Galatians 1:11,12; Ephesians 3:1-4). Paul is the Apostle of Jesus Christ to/of the Gentiles, with the Gospel of the Uncircumcision, according to the will and commandment of God (Galatians 1:1; Titus 1:1-3; Romans 1:5). His ministry and 13 Epistles manifest the Gospel of the Grace of God which reveals Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery. By teaching the same Sound Doctrine that Paul taught, we shall be found by Christ to be faithful stewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Timothy 2:2; 3:14; 4:7-8; Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). Only Paul's Gospel is God's message for the saving of the eternal soul during this present Dispensation!