He did what?

Paul reached Derbe, and then Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy. He was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father. The brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take Timothy with him, so he circumcised him. This was because of the Jews who lived in those areas, for they all knew Timothy’s father was Greek. As Paul and his companions traveled through the cities, they instructed Gentile believers to keep the regulations put in place by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and every day their numbers flourished. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia. When they approached the province of Mysia, they tried to enter the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them. Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas instead. (Acts 16:1-8, CEB)

“Paul wanted to take Timothy with him, so he circumcised him. “

Now, did Paul actually do that, or did someone else, and Paul had Timothy get circumcised?

“This was because of the Jews who lived in those areas, for they all knew Timothy’s father was Greek.” But is not Paul the one who told us there is no Jew or Greek and circumcision is not needed? Yes, he is, but that, my friends, is a different book of the Bible, and why interpreting the Bible is so much fun.

You see, there are at least four Pauls in the New Testament. There is Paul, who wrote some of the epistles attributed to him. There is the Paul who is not Paul, meaning other people wrote under the name Paul. There is the Paul that might be Paul, or might not, scholars can not agree, and there is the Paul in Acts, who is the Paul who traveled and wrote, but sometimes seems to do weird things that are not in the letters attributed to Paul. And we jumble all of these into our heads, and they come out as one person. That is what makes interpreting the Bible interesting.

So is circumcision needed? Did Paul have Timothy circumcised?

Grace says no it is not. But Paul still may have to make things easier, because people do not always follow what God has called us to do.

So love. So your friend does not have to get circumcised to make things easier.

Loving People. Loving God.