Galatians 5:12

I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision.

"The priests of Cybele, whom the Galatians had formerly worshipped,"[13] made themselves eunuchs. Also, "The cult of Attis, whose famous temples were at Rome and in Phrygia of Asia Minor, practiced sacral castration."[14] None of the Galatians, therefore, could misunderstand Paul's ironic, and perhaps humorous, remarks here. Paul was so disgusted with all the argument demanding circumcision that he uttered this outburst, which may be paraphrased, "It would be good if you fellows, always wanting to circumcise somebody, would just circumcise yourselves like those priests of Cybele!" Criticism of Paul's remark here is unbecoming, for the remark is a protest, not any sort of recommendation.

Before moving to a study of the next paragraph, the student should observe the double reference "in Christ" (Galatians 5:6) and "in the Lord" (Galatians 5:10), indicating the ever-present consciousness on his part of the dominating concept which pervades all of his writings, that salvation is always a matter of one's being "in Christ," who alone is righteous, and whose perfect faith and perfect obedience are the only true ground of redemption for any man. When one is "baptized into Christ" be becomes Christ, in the sense of being part of his spiritual body, being saved, not in his own identity, but "as Christ." This expression, "in Christ," or its equivalent, is found 169 times in Paul's writings.