“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.” (Gal 6:14-16)
Outward adherence to the law. The Pharisees were big on this, weren’t they? As well as many of the early Jewish Christians. In fact, much of the book of Galatians is written because of them! They still clung to the law, and they wished to lay this burden on the new Gentile Christians as well. They insisted on circumcision, to the point that many of the Gentile Christians began to believe that somehow circumcision was a necessary part of Salvation.
Fortunately, circumcision is a dead issue in our day and age. But is the “spirit” of the circumcision argument as dead as circumcision? How easy it is for us to point the finger at others and say: “Mr. Doe didn’t turn any money in at church today!” Or (here is one that hits me close to home!) “You aren’t portraying your Christianity! You wear a wedding ring!” Or how about this one? “You wore pants to church! You should only wear dresses, and don’t forget to keep your head covered!”
I could go on and on with my examples. As petty as they seem, these types of comments sadly abound in Christian churches today. When will we, as Christians, realize that the clothes we wear, what we do in our spare time, etc., don’t mean anything, anymore than circumcision or uncircumcision meant anything in the time of the early churches. What does mean something is a new creation!
Our problem is that we usually have no idea what God is at work doing in the person who didn’t pay their tithe or in the lady with the wedding ring! These are the things we cannot see, and as a result, we judge based on the outward (seemingly!) lack of adherence to our understanding of the law. For all we know, the one wearing pants to church may the one who God has just delivered from serious addictions. The one who wears a wedding ring is the one has made tremendous strides in the area of following the Golden Rule. And the one who didn’t give money in church this week may not have done so because he gave ALL that he had to the single mom across the street who didn’t have any food in the house! God had been impressing him to not just give the minimum at church, but to give ALL he had, but when he did, there was nothing left over to give at church!
Friends, let us stop looking at the outward adherence to the law. Let us, instead, look for the New Creation in Christ Jesus! For those who follow this rule will obtain peace and mercy (Gal. 6:18)!
Father God, help me, today, to stop judging others! Instead, help me to look for the New Creation in Christ Jesus that has begun in them, that I may praise God for the good work He is doing.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org