What is a Judaizer according to this teaching?
A Judaizer, in this teaching, was a believer who accepted Jesus as the Christ and was saved under the kingdom gospel, yet did not comprehend God’s grace or that the law was satisfied and set aside. Such Judaizers followed Paul, insisting his Gentile converts must also practice Judaism, be circumcised, and keep the law.
Les teaches that a Judaizer was a believer that Jesus was the Christ, saved under the kingdom gospel, but still not comprehending the grace of God and that the law had now been satisfied and totally set aside. These Judaizers constantly followed in Paul’s footsteps and told his converts, “Now wait a minute, you can’t be saved on just Paul’s gospel alone. You still have to practice Judaism.” They insisted converts had to be circumcised, keep the law, and so on. Les explains they also attacked Paul because he had not walked with Jesus like Peter did, calling him an upstart, which forced Paul to defend his apostleship and suffer so the Gentiles could get the message of grace.