Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
C. S. Lewis, writing during WWII, had another name for traitors. Even if they were useful to the other army, they were human vermin. Spy is a rare word in the Bible but very similar, in that we love spies when they are ours and regard them with disdain when we are the victim. Joshua sent spies for his side in the Old Testament. Here, Paul sees spies hurting the churches in Galatia. In this case, the spies were looking to expose the churches for violating the law of circumcision from the Mosaic law. The law of grace supersedes that but the spies did not understand it.
There are spies in our midst. It sounds scary but there are ways to turn problems into opportunities without submitting to them. When people come into our churches looking to catch us in some lie or lawbreaking, there is a way for us to outsmart them. We can do this by remembering the Great Commandment and loving them as we love ourselves. We can do it by remembering the Great Commission and making disciples of them. When false brothers come in, may they be presented with the truth of the gospel. They run the danger of becoming traitors to their own way of thinking.
Dear Lord, thank you for the truth of the gospel. May people see it and become traitors to their old way of life, following Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church