Who were the Judaizers?

The Judaizers were a sect of early Christians who believed Gentiles had to convert to Judaism in order to embrace Jesus as the Messiah. For the Judaizers this meant, among other things, observing circumcision, Jewish feast days, and the dietary provisions of the Law. The apostles concluded that since salvation is through faith in Christ–a condition not requiring observance of the customary Law of the Old Testament–Gentiles (and ultimately Jewish Christians as well) weren’t bound to keep Jewish customs as a prerequisite for membership in the Church (Gal 5:6).