You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
12 For [gar] before [pro] that certain [tis] came [erchomai] from [apo] James, [Iakobos] he did eat [sunesthio] with
[meta] the Gentiles: [ethnos] but [de] when [hote] they were come, [erchomai]
he withdrew [hupostello] and [kai] separated [aphorizo] himself,
[heautou] fearing [phobeo] them which were of [ek] the
circumcision. [peritome] KJV-Interlinear
12 For
prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the
Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof,
fearing the party of the circumcision. NASB
And here is the double standard which began with how James had been conducting himself, and for which Paul reprimanded both him and Peter for their behavior and inconsistent application of doctrine.
Doctrine is one standard and it is to be applied to all in the same manner.
There are not two standards, one for gentiles and one for Jews.
Circumcision was something that God commanded of Abraham, who was a grown man, and yet the application of circumcision was continued down through the generations and applied to infants, not to adults.
It was a teaching aid, to portray faith.
The infant certainly had no knowledge or understanding of God or salvation, but the adults that circumcised the child would have knowledge of God and salvation, and why they were performing this circumcision. The child while growing up, would likewise have a perpetual and personal reminder of faith every time he urinated.
And that was the intent of teaching aids, which was to teach principles of doctrine. The sacrifices and feasts were teaching aids that taught principles of doctrine from the work of salvation, to confession and fellowship, to spiritual growth and a relationship with the one unique person of the universe.
This all separated Abraham and Hebrews alike, from the rest of the pagan world and their false gods and superstitions.
Faith was the key, not a surgical procedure.
Knowledge of doctrine and spiritual growth are also the important keys of the spiritual life, not ones works or intentions or traditions or cultural practices.
When culture becomes a source of embarrassment, especially when you associate with non-cultural folks, then the priorities and principles are lost.
James had associated with gentiles, the uncircumcised, but when Jewish folks, the circumcised, came along, then James would separate himself in an aloof sort of embarrassment not wanting to be seen with the gentiles, or even associate with them in public. And in this, James and others most certainly, were wrong in their behavior and somewhat hypocritical.
