<p>2:4 <i>In view of the false brothers unknowingly brought in, who came in secretly to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus</i>- Did Judaizers pose as Christians and get baptized even, in order to infiltrate and undermine the Christian church? But &quot;unknowingly brought in&quot; translates a Greek word used for smuggling in; as if there were Judaists already embedded within the church who smuggled in others who they knew would purposefully disrupt the church. &quot;Spy out&quot; suggests a conscious, cunning plan; to observe the &quot;liberty&quot; and then subvert it, in order to return the community to bondage to the Mosaic law. This &quot;Jewish plot&quot;, as Harry Whittaker labelled it, was perhaps Paul's thorn in the flesh; a group of Judaists who intentionally sought to derail his ministry of grace. I have expanded upon this at great length in &quot;The Jewish Satan&quot; in <a href=http://www.realdevil.info/>The Real Devil</a>. Peter was up against the same problem, when he writes of false teachers secretly entering in (2 Pet. 2:1). His usage of the same word as Paul here uses is a reflection of Peter's humility. For here, Paul is criticizing Peter for allowing this false teaching to enter unopposed. And Peter in his maturity realizes his error, and appeals to others not to repeat it. This is the humility of maturity in Christ.</p><p><i>That they might bring us into b</i><i>ondage</i>- The term used in Acts 15:10 about the Judaizing element within the church, seeking to bring believers into the bondage of the Mosaic law. We naturally wonder why they went to such an extent in doing this. But this is all an essay in the power of legalism, and the way legalists consider that anything justifies the end of maintaining a traditional, legalistic system. Such defence of entrenched legalism is a psychological classic- it releases extraordinary energy and bitterness because of the belief that the end must justify any means. These same &quot;false brothers&quot; are referred to with the same word in 2 Cor. 11:26 as a group who literally endangered Paul's life. They were within the ecclesia. But legalists within ecclesias today show a similar hatred which the Lord judges as murder.</p>