17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide to the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth- 21 you,then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." 25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, whill they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have that written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
Wow does this passage kick me in the butt. I love it when Paul lays down the hammer on the religious Jews. I love it because the issues that Paul was struggling with are similar to what we struggle with today in the Christian community. That is not what I want to discuss first. I wanted to let you know where Paul was coming from. He was a former ultra religious Jew. If there was a rule, he followed it. If there was an i to dot the dotted it, if there was a t-well you get the point. Paul is setting up an arguement that begins in this section of scripture. He is going to show that God's path to him has always been and will continue to be faith in the Messiah who is Jesus. The mark of circumcision was to show everyone out there that they were part of Gods chosen people and would be part of Gods blessings. This sign soon became the "automatic in" in a lot of people's thinking. Paul is trying to show them that they are mistaken and is about to lay out the truth.
I was stuck while reading this passage of how applicable this is today in the christian community. How often do people live moral "christian" lives. They know the right things to do and the right things to say and yet they have not let God transform (circumcise) their hearts. It is God's desire to save you from yourself and heal you. He wants to transform the inside of you so that the outside reflects the change. We often think that we have to look the part before we are the part. God says that this is all backwards. My prayer for you today is that you would allow God to transform your life...he will never lead you astray.
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