Article 3: The Spirit as the Beginning of Salvation — Why Circumcision Was Never the Gateway
Before continuing, it’s worth explaining the pace of this series.
Many of the assumptions modern Christians bring to passages like Galatians were not formed by Scripture itself, but through layers and layers of explanations for later theological interpretations, and well-intentioned but flawed teaching. Over time, those ideas become so ingrained that they shape how we automatically read the text, often without realizing it. What should be a fairly understandable subject has been made needlessly complex.
I’ve had to work through these questions slowly myself, discovering along the way how deeply certain misconceptions had worked their way into my thinking. Because of that, this series has moved deliberately — not to complicate the subject, but to carefully clear away assumptions so Scripture can speak on its own terms. This pace has been necessary for my own understanding, and I hope it proves helpful for others working through the same process.
If Article 1 established that salvation is God’s work of restoration rather than a one-time legal pronouncement, and Article 2 showed that Paul’s dispute in Galatians centered on covenant identity markers rather than moral obedience, then Article 3 addresses the next essential question:
What does the Spirit actually do in salvation?
Modern Christianity often speaks of “receiving the Holy Spirit” as though it merely confirms that salvation has already occurred. In Scripture, however, the Spirit is not proof that salvation is finished. It is God’s power actively at work within a person who has responded to His calling. The Spirit is how God begins the work of restoration — not a certificate of status.
Once this is understood, the circumcision controversy of the early church becomes remarkably clear.
The Spirit in Scripture Is About Transformation, Not Status
Throughout Scripture, the Spirit is consistently associated with God’s power to create, renew, empower, and restore. It never functions as a passive marker. It always does something.
Old Testament Foundations
- The Spirit moves over chaotic waters to bring order and creation (Gen. 1:2).
- The Spirit fills craftsmen with skill to build God’s dwelling place (Ex. 31:3).
- The Spirit empowers Israel’s leaders to judge, deliver, and guide (Judg. 3:10; 6:34).
- The prophets link the New Covenant to God giving a new heart and enabling obedience by His Spirit (Ezek. 36:26–27; Joel 2:28–29).
In every case, the Spirit brings ability, direction, and renewal — never mere identification or an automatic, spirit-controlled replacement of human will. The Spirit empowers, teaches, corrects, and strengthens, but it does not act apart from a person’s response. God supplies the power; we are still required to walk, choose, resist, repent, and grow. The Spirit aids the process of transformation, but that aid must be actively responded to through faith-driven effort, not passive assumption.
New Testament Continuity
The New Testament continues this same pattern:
- The Spirit convicts — not to remove responsibility, but to call for repentance and change (John 16:8; Acts 2:37–38).
- The Spirit teaches and reminds, bringing God’s instruction to mind so it can be lived out (John 14:26; Ps. 119:33–35).
- The Spirit strengthens perseverance, character, and hope, empowering endurance rather than bypassing effort (Rom. 5:3–5; Gal. 6:8–9).
- The Spirit produces fruit as believers walk in God’s way. It’s that fruit that grows through faithful practice and submission (Gal. 5:16, 22–25).
- The Spirit gives life and resurrection power. It does this first through inward renewal, ultimately through resurrection (Rom. 8:10–11; 2 Cor. 4:16).
- The Spirit identifies God’s children by placing them under loving discipline, not by removing accountability (Rom. 8:14–17; Heb. 12:5–11).
In Scripture, then, the Spirit is not evidence that salvation is complete. It is how God begins changing a person in preparation for resurrection.
The Gift of the Spirit Marks the Beginning — Not the Completion — of Salvation
Modern theology often reverses the biblical order, suggesting:
“You receive the Spirit because you are already saved.”
Scripture presents the opposite emphasis. God gives His Spirit as the start of salvation:
- The Spirit is called the firstfruits, that is the beginning of what is yet to come (Rom. 8:23).
- The Spirit is described as a down payment or guarantee of a future inheritance (Eph. 1:13–14; 2 Cor. 5:5).
- Believers groan inwardly, waiting for completion at the resurrection (Rom. 8:23).
- God writes His instruction on the heart by His Spirit (2 Cor. 3:3).
- Inner renewal takes place day by day, not instantaneously (2 Cor. 4:16).
God gives His Spirit as the beginning of new life. It is a necessary start that anticipates full birth into His family at the resurrection. Again, it’s totally necessary, but still just the beginning.
Why Circumcision is Debated in the Early Church
The defining question of the first-century church was simple but profound:
Must a Gentile become Jewish in order to belong to God’s covenant people?
The answer came not through abstract debate, but through God’s direct action.
Acts 10–11: God Interrupts the Question
Gentiles received the Holy Spirit prior to ritual inclusion. Peter’s conclusion was unavoidable:
“Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17)
This did not eliminate repentance, faith, baptism, or instruction. Gentiles were baptized and taught. What was understood as irrelevant was circumcision as an ethnic gateway nor conversion to Jewish identity. God demonstrated that physical markers were not the doorway into His family, or to receive His Spirit.
Acts 15: The Council Confirms the Pattern
Peter reminds the assembly:
“God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us.” (Acts 15:8) and they were not yet circumcised.
James concludes:
“We should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God.” (Acts 15:19)
The decision rests on one fact: God Himself gave His Spirit without this or other Jewish identity markers. To require circumcision afterward would deny what God had already done.
This explains Paul’s sharp response in Galatians:
“Did you receive the Spirit by works of law, or by hearing with faith?” (Gal. 3:2)
The answer was undeniable. The Spirit was given without ritual conversion. Circumcision was therefore unnecessary — and insisting on it contradicted God’s work.
Why Paul Never Attacks the Law as Instruction
Paul does not oppose:
- moral living
- the Ten Commandments
- God’s standards
- wisdom
- righteous instruction
- Scripture’s usefulness for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16–17)
What Paul opposes is the idea that covenant identity markers create standing before God. If God Himself begins salvation by giving His Spirit, no human ritual or ethnic boundary marker can function as the gateway.
Paul is not anti-law.
Paul is anti-gatekeeping.
The Spirit Produces What the Law Always Pointed Toward
The prophets foresaw a time when:
- God would give a new heart, to be lived out through a life of faithful obedience.
- His instruction would be written inwardly as individuals respond to the Spirit.
- Obedience would flow from a genuine desire to follow God, rather than from external compulsion.
Paul identifies this reality as present wherever God’s Spirit is at work.
As a result:
- External identity markers lose their role as gateways.
- God’s instruction is internalized.
- Obedience grows from the inside out — through a faithful desire.
This is why Paul can say:
“That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:4)
He is not nullifying God’s instruction. What he is doing is revealing its intended outcome.
A Clarifying Observation
It is worth noting, as a point of informed speculation, that circumcision likely did not disappear from practice in the early church. While it was not required to receive the Spirit or to enter the covenant community, it remained part of the Law and therefore would still have held meaning for many believers. Some Gentiles may have chosen circumcision after conversion, and others who did not likely still circumcised their sons on the eighth day.
What was addressed was not the value of the command, but its role. Circumcision was never a gateway to salvation or the means by which one received God’s Spirit. Rather, it functioned as an act of obedience within an already-established covenant relationship, not a prerequisite for entering it.
The Order of Salvation in Scripture
When Scripture is allowed to speak for itself, the pattern is clear:
- Calling — God draws a person.
- Repentance and faith — the human response.
- Baptism — the outward commitment.
- Spirit given — God’s power begins the work of renewal.
- Transformation — God’s character is formed over time.
- Perseverance — remaining in a relationship.
- Resurrection — full birth into God’s family.
This is neither legalism nor lawlessness. It is a Spirit-driven, relationship-centered process of restoration.
In A Thought
The Spirit is not merely evidence of salvation; it is how God begins salvation. By giving His Spirit to Gentiles apart from circumcision or Jewish identity markers, God revealed that His design for restoration has always been based on His action, not ethnic conversion. Paul’s letters defend this truth relentlessly: God’s Spirit initiates transformation, internalizes His instruction, produces obedience, and prepares believers for resurrection. God initiates relationships with His creation — not a physical ritual. Identity markers are at most evidence of what God is doing, never a prerequisite for it, because God’s original intention was never for them to serve as the gateway into His family. His Spirit fulfills that purpose from within.
