What is the stumbling block mentioned in the New Testament?

(Galatians 5:11-12)

The New Testament refers to a stumbling block in several places, and it was prophesied there would be a stumbling block come into the world. The prophecy says this:

6 For it stands in scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,” 8 and “A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall” – (1 Peter 2:6-8)

These words tell us WHO the stumbling stone is: Jesus Christ. But they still do not explain WHY He is described as the stumbling stone and HOW it is that man stumbles over Him.

However, in the words of these verses in Galatians 5:11-12 we gain some insight into WHAT the stumbling stone is and WHY it is a stone that makes men stumble.

Removal of the Stumbling Block

The words of the scriptures in Galatians 5:11-12 say this:

11 But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves! (Galatians 5:11-12)

These are quite strong words, especially the last part about mutilating themselves, which I’ll get to in a minute. But we see here how the stumbling block could have been removed if Paul so wanted it, and why he was being persecuted.

In the first instance, the stumbling block is Christ Jesus as we saw from the verses above in 1 Peter 2:6-8.

But the point of the stumbling is about FAITH. Specifically it refers to seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness by faith rather than through works of the law.

Circumcision was given to Abraham to seal him and his descendants as the people of God. It was later added into the laws of Moses and circumcision became the sign and the seal of the law.

When Paul speaks about circumcision in the ways mentioned here in Galatians 5, he is talking about the keeping of the law in it’s totality.

This is why he says here that IF he were to preach circumcision, that is, IF he were to preach righteousness through the works of the law, then he would not be persecuted. The ones who were creating difficulties for the Galatians church were trying to get the people in the church to be circumcised and to follow the law. So if Paul was teaching these same things, they would not have a point of difference and they would not be persecuting him.

But Paul was NOT preaching the law or works of law or circumcision or any of the other points of Judaism to the Gentile churches. He was teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He taught that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected for our justification, that is to make us righteous through faith, not by works of law. He taught this in all the churches as we see in his words to the Roman Gentile church.

22 That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Romans 4:22-25)

The stumbling block is that we can ONLY be righteous through the free gift of God and the righteousness of FAITH in Jesus Christ that comes from the Father.

We cannot truly receive righteousness through works of the law because through the law comes knowledge of sin and where there is sin and the knowledge of sin, there cannot be righteousness because righteousness is the absence of sin. Because man was born in sin and the inherited sin of our forefather Adam, no man can be relieved of sin through his own actions or by works of the law.

We can only become righteous if someone truly righteous will remove our sins and declare us righteous. And that “someone” is God the Father through the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only true path to righteousness and that is by the path of faith.

This is why those try to find righteousness via some other path, such as circumcision and keeping the works of the law, will fail. There is no other righteousness other than that which comes from God, and God in His wisdom has said that the pathway to true righteousness is through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Why? Because we can all have faith and believe, even when we cannot all do the complete works of God. Man in his imperfection of sin will always sin. But through Christ God made a way out by which sin can be overcome.

The stumbling block is…will you and I believe it? Will we have faith to accept God’s free gift of righteousness by faith and through grace, or will we continue to believe we have to work for it?

And that is the point. You DON’T have to work for this righteousness and in fact you CAN’T do anything to receive it, except believe.

What a truly wonderful thing this is and such an amazing blessing that God has given to all who do NOT stumble over the stumbling stone and hold fast the faith that leads to righteousness.

What about the Mutilation thing?

I did say I’d get to that bit. The words in verse 12 say, “I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!” and these are pretty strong words.

If you read different translations you get a multitude of versions of what these original Greek words say, especially the word “mutilate.” Clearly this is one of those sections of translation that translators had difficulty with, as evidenced by the many different renderings of the translations.

Some render this as to “emasculate themselves,” some say to “mutilate themselves,” others say, “castrate themselves,” and still others say “cut themselves off.”

I do not believe that Paul was suggesting ANYONE should physically mutilate or castrate themselves. It is my belief that what Paul was saying was that he wished these people would cut themselves off and separate themselves from the Galatians church so that they would cease to bother them.

The key point though in these verses is that the people should not fall back into the teachings of circumcision and law, for that would be to stumble over the stumbling stone. What they needed to do was to hold fast to the faith Paul delivered to them in Jesus Christ so they could receive righteousness and all of the free gifts from God that come through faith.

This was the point then and is the point still today. Many in the church are devotees of the law and are using the law to seek a righteousness of their own based on law. But we need to step away from those pursuits and follow Christ in faith for this is the only path to the true righteousness of God.

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