Uncircumcision and the Law

Introduction

As we consider Romans 2:25-29, we must look back at Romans 2:17-24. The first word in verse twenty-five, “for,” makes us look back to those verses to understand what Paul said in the final five verses.

Paul told the Jews in verses seventeen through twenty-three they had the name “Jew” because of God’s calling them to be His people, not because of something they had done or were. He told them they bore the name “Jew,” relied upon and boasted in God, knew His will, and approved the things that are essential because of receiving instruction in the Law. Paul challenged the Jews when he said they were confident they were guides to the blind, a light to those in darkness, correctors of the foolish, and teachers of the immature because they had the knowledge of the Law and the truth. These Jews had inflated egos because of their knowledge and circumcision.

Paul challenged the Jews in verses twenty-one through twenty-three. He said, 

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? [NASB]

Paul used rhetorical questions in these verses. Rhetorical questions are a teaching tool used to make a person dig deeper than surface level to search for the true answer. In these verses, Paul challenged them on their sins. By doing this, He pointed out they were no better than the Gentiles and pagans. The Jews who boasted in their circumcision and being called Jews were not better than other people because they broke their covenant with God by sinning against Him.

Paul ended this section with the glaring statement to the Jews in verse twenty-four. He said, “For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Why? The Gentiles saw the self-righteous Jews were no better than themselves. The Jews sinned just like the Gentiles, so why should the Gentiles honor and follow the God of the Jews? Ouch! This is a pointed charge!

Circumcision’s Value

With this reminder from verses seventeen through twenty-four, let’s learn what Paul continued to say to the Jews in verse twenty-five. He said, “For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” Wow, did you understand that? Paul told them outright the Jews who sinned were just like the uncircumcised people. They were unclean heathens, too. The Jews who sinned were no better than the Gentiles and pagans. They prided themselves on being good. The Jews had the Law, God chose them, they kept the letter of the law, mostly, and they were circumcised. How much more Jewish could you get, right? Paul said, “Wrong!” The Jews’ circumcision of their foreskin was not beneficial to them.

In verses twenty-six through twenty-eight, Paul turned the Jews’ world upside down. He said,

So, if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. [NASB]

Paul said if the non-Jew, the Gentile and pagan, kept the Law without even having a covenant with God like the Jews, isn’t that Gentile or pagan really circumcised inwardly, in his or her heart, even though his skin is not? Circumcision was a bragging point for the Jews. It was an outward sign of their covenant with God. The Jews used it as a sign to say they were better than other people. If you weren’t circumcised, God didn’t choose you, is what they said and meant with their lofty-mindedness. The Jews of the time that Paul spoke to thought they were the elite because of being chosen by God and bearing the mark of their covenant with Him. Yet, they chose not to keep their covenant with God.

Paul took this idea one step further. Besides saying the physically uncircumcised who kept the Law really were circumcised (in their hearts), he said they would judge the circumcised, the Jew. “What? How dare they?” the Jews would have thought. “They are filthy pigs, rotten heathens. They could not touch my robe because they are so low,” a Jew might have said. Yet, those who kept God’s Laws, though they were physically uncircumcised, showed they were righteous and obedient to God’s Law. They obeyed the Law of God revealed to them and so were circumcised in their hearts and had a covenant with God, too. Therefore, these Gentiles and pagans who obeyed God’s revealed Law, would judge the circumcised Jews who were disobedient to God’s Law given in their covenant with Him.

Judgment and Rhetoric

Paul continued in this passage with verse twenty-eight. He brought a stinging statement of judgment to these Jews. He said, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.” A Jew is not someone who has circumcised flesh or who routinely goes through the motions to follow God. Genuine circumcision is not of the flesh.

What is genuine circumcision? Paul brought the biting revelation and the final truth to the Jews and his other readers and hearers with verse twenty-nine. With this verse, he reminded everyone who reads and hears this letter of what he taught in verse four. He said in verse twenty-nine, “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, and not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” The Jews, Paul said, got it wrong. They wanted everyone to see they were Jewish, the chosen people. They boasted about it and judged others because they sinned, all the while they, themselves, sinned, too. Paul taught them circumcision, true circumcision that showed evidence of a covenant with God, is not a cutting of the flesh. True circumcision is a circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit. When a person truly is circumcised by the Spirit of God, the old hardness of heart that comes because of sin and rebellion is cut away to make the person new and moldable by God. This circumcision removes sin and the guilt of sin, so the person can walk in newness of life. The person whose heart is circumcised seeks only to please God by obeying Him and growing closer to Him. He or she does not seek the praise of people by outwardly showing and stating how good he or she is. That is a sin.

Verse twenty-nine takes us back to a fact Paul taught with a rhetorical question in verse four. He asked in this verse, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” The initial answer to this rhetorical question would be a resounding, “No,” by the Jews. The more considered answer would be, “Yes.” Paul taught that the Laws of God were to lead people to recognize His kindness and love, and to follow Him in righteousness by faith. Remember, “He is a Jew who is one inwardly” by circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter (vs 29). God’s kindness should lead you to give your heart to Him. He will circumcise your heart to remove its hardness caused by sin.

Conclusions

Doing right acts for the wrong reasons does not make a person righteous. A wrong reason could be doing good things so people see you doing them. It could be giving great sums of money to a charity so you can take a tax deduction. There’s nothing wrong with doing good things. What is wrong is seeking glory for yourself? Who gave you the ability and desire to do the good things, whether giving time, money, or skills? God. So, He should be the One who gets the glory, not you. Right acts with wrong motives is not righteousness. They are good deeds. Right acts will not make you righteous and clean before the Lord. You cannot earn your way to heaven by doing good deeds. Only righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ the Savior will do that. Paul called this being justified by faith. Read what Paul wrote in Romans 3:21-30.

Now, apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for these is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. [NASB]

God is the God of all who by faith accept the salvation He offers through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. None of us has anything to boast of in ourselves. We cannot keep the Law 100% of the time because we are sinful. Still, we must remember, God did not create the Law to make us perfect; only Jesus Christ can do that. He created the Law to lead us to Him, to see His kindness and love, and then to follow Him as ones He made righteous by our faith in Jesus. We have every reason to boast of God, to give Him all the glory.

Do you practice moralism, doing right things? This doesn’t prevent your heart from sinning. Being religious is no answer and has no power to keep you from sinning or to remove your sins. It has no power to make you clean and right before God. Does your moralism prevent you or other people from knowing the Lord?

It’s now your time to decide. Are you circumcised in your skin or your heart? Have you accepted God’s salvation through faith? None of us can do enough good works to earn our way into heaven. Only God’s grace and love make it possible. Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior today?

God, I am unable to do right all the time. I’m a failure at it. Please forgive me for the wrong things I have done, thought, or said. Please make be clean and right with You. You alone are the only way to salvation and righteousness. I give my heart and life to You, today. Amen.

Justification: What is It?

^21 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶ for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

(Romans 3:21-26 [NASB])

Justification is one of the words heard used by church people. It is not a word commonly used. What does it mean? Can it be used outside of church in any way? Does it reflect upon me? Am I justified?

Let’s begin our study with a simple definition of the word. Justification means to be made right, complete, or as one ought to be. When we consider God’s creation, after He made each part of the world, He stopped and proclaimed it good. That means when God created Adam and Eve He proclaimed them good (Genesis 1:31). Besides this, we are told in Genesis that God created them in His image (Genesis 1:27). Since that is the case, they were just, right, and as they ought to be.

The question remains though: just and right based upon what standard?  Since they Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and God created all we see, the standard is God. God is the definition for righteousness, goodness, love, justice, mercy, grace and other words we use daily. For our purposes here, Adam and Eve were right and as they ought to be based upon God’s standard; they did not have sin, but were pure.

Most of us know what happened next. Satan tempted and convinced Adam and Eve to seek knowledge and greatness like God – to be their own gods. Sin entered the world upon their succumbing to temptation. God created humankind with the gift of free will. He did not mandate Adam and Eve be in a relationship with Him, but wanted them to come to Him of their own free will. God wanted them to choose Him. In the garden when they bowed to temptation, they did not choose God. Adam and Eve exercised their free will and sin (turning away from God) entered the world.

Over the millennia, God appeared to humankind through creation, dreams and visions, voices, burning bushes, pillars of fire and clouds, signs and wonders, prophets and priests, and His Law, which He gave to the Israelites. The intent of the Law was to lead people to God. In Galatians 3:24, Paul said, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

You can see then, before Jesus Christ’s death, God spent millennia striving to reconnect with His creation, humankind, to have a relationship with them. He is not a dictator and does not command humankind be in a relationship with Him. Because of God’s love – the love that caused Him to create us and want a relationship with us – He kept trying to draw us near to Him. Free will and sin kept taking us further away from Him, building blocks higher each day so that a great wall rose between humankind and Himself.

When God gave the Law to the Israelites, they covenanted to worship and obey Him. Yet, their sinful ways kept them from absolute obedience even though they knew God from their ancestor’s past with Him. They knew of His might, majesty, power, and love. They understood to remain His children, He required obedience. Still the Israelites were unfaithful.

God in His love was not thwarted. From the beginning of the world, He planned for the redemption of humankind from sin and death. God’s plan required a pure sacrifice, one not polluted with sin. His plan for this redemption was the offering of His only Son, Jesus Christ, as the sin sacrifice for the death penalty that covered each human.

Sin causes separation from God because God cannot be in the presence of sin due to His holiness. This separation extended even to the time after life on earth ended for each person. Separation from God is death – on earth and eternally. God provided Jesus Christ to pay the sin penalty of death with His death. That is redemption. Jesus Christ paid His life to redeem us from death forever and the power of sin now.

 When a person believes by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died to provide salvation from death and sin, his or her sins are wiped from their slate. God will no longer avenge wrath upon the person for his or her sin against Him (Romans 5:9). The sin of the person is removed from them. His or her slate is clean.

That is justification. Because Jesus Christ is just – pure and righteous – and gave Himself as our sin sacrifice, by substitution, we, too, become just, pure, and righteous through Him. Jesus is just and justifier (Romans 3:26). Justification is the being made right, pure, and righteous before God by belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who takes away the sin of people. Justification comes from nothing we do or say. It comes through belief in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ’s righteousness imparted to us when we believe that declares our sin penalty – death – fulfilled by Him.

Have you been justified by Jesus Christ? Have you accepted God’s gift of salvation/redemption from sin and death? You can do nothing to earn it or acquire it. It comes by belief in Jesus Christ. If you accepted God’s gift of salvation and justification, are you living it out in the world? Does your life reflect the righteousness Jesus paid His life to give you? James wrote in James 2:14 & 17-18,

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? Even so faith, if it has now works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by my works.” [NASB]

Later in this chapter, James added, “Faith without works is dead.”

We each have to decide if we will believe in Jesus Christ. Then, we each have to decide if we will live as Jesus Christ lived – will we follow Him daily. Let me encourage you with these final words form Paul in Romans 5:1. He said,

Therefore, since we have been justified (made pure, perfect, complete, and righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. [NASB]

Are you experiencing that joy? Have you received that hope? Today is not too late to accept God’s free gift and be justified. Today is not too late to act out your faith. Will you make those choices?

Led by the Spirit: A Galatians 5:16-26 Devotional

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:16-26 [NIV]

Paul spent this letter teaching the Galatians once again faith in Jesus Christ was what gave them salvation and eternal life. Other teachers had been in Galatia teaching them they had to obey the laws of God including the law that all men must undergo circumcision. These Judaizers added a works element to the salvation of the Gospel. Paul told them nothing of the flesh could give them salvation, but only by God’s grace through faith could they receive salvation.

In chapter five, Paul continued his comparison of living by the Law and living in the Spirit. He taught that living according to the Law was living in the flesh. It was based on what the person did or could do. Because it relied upon a person’s actions, which were often sinful – self-centered, arrogant, self-seeking, etc – living by the flesh could not save them nor give them right relationships with God and other people. Paul taught that living according to the Spirit of Christ, whom God puts in each new believer, was living with the love of Christ in them – love for other people and love for God. Paul said what is of the Spirit is contrary to what is of the flesh. What a person wants often goes against what God wants and what is best for every person affected.

In verse fourteen, Paul reminded the Galatians the Law is summed up in one word, “love.” Since people are sinful, they do not keep the laws God gave. The love of the laws is warped often because a person wants what he or she wants more than what God wants. Because of this, Paul gave the Galatians a list of actions and attitudes that are contrary to God and the intent of His Law. These actions are self-focused and break relationships between people and between the person and God. These acts of the flesh he identified in verses nineteen to twenty-one.

The love God seeks to implant into people, which the Law could not instill because of the sinfulness of humankind, comes through the Spirit of Jesus Christ who dwells within each believer. This love is not twisted by the machinations of a human mind or greed, but is pure and from God. Paul listed some of the attributes of a person in whom the Holy Spirit lives in verses twenty-two and twenty-three.

If you compare these two lists, you will find the second list builds relationship among people and with God, and develops a person’s sense of worth based on the value God places on the person. The latter listing of attributes and characteristics are in line with the purpose and intent of God throughout the whole Bible and align directly with the two greatest commandments Christ taught His disciples and followers. The intent of the Bible is for people to be in a love relationship with God. This love relationship then affects the relationship of people with each other. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-38 [NASB]).

Paul’s point to the Galatians, once again, was they were not to be tied to the Law for salvation because it could not give it. It provided bondage because the flesh is sinful. Instead, live by the Spirit, the freedom Christ put into each believer. By living in the Spirit, the person lives in the manner of Jesus Christ – with love for the Father and love for other people. By doing this, people will not become enslaved to their sinful, human selves. By becoming enslaved to their own desires people become self-focused, envious, and provoke envy. These do not lead to harmony and love, but to chaos and self-seeking.

Paul taught the Galatians they received salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by following the Law. By seeking to follow the laws, they tried to earn salvation, which no one can earn because of human sinfulness. Besides this, striving to earn salvation puts self-seeking ahead of the needs and care of other people. Jesus summed the Scripture when He said we are to love the LORD God and our neighbor. Self-seeking does not put other people first, but second or last. By allowing the Spirit to lead us instead of trying to earn salvation, we allow the love of God to show in us, care for others, and develop a deeper relationship between God and us in our hearts.

Today we each need to stop and consider if we are trying in our strength to be what God wants us to be – to love people, to do for them, to make sure we are walking in the right direction, etc. We need to stop and see if our focus has shifted from God and developing relationship with Him to a focus on ourselves and how we can do more for God. If we are focused on God and our relationship with Him, He will lead us in our daily steps. We will not have to wonder if we are doing what He wants us to do. We can get so caught up in working for God that we lose sight of our relationship with Him and then no longer hear Him as vividly.

Today, take a moment and stop to focus on God. Ask Him to guide you to know if you have walked away from your close relationship with Him. Return to your quiet time with Him reading His Word, praying for closeness and guidance, and walking from that quiet time with His Spirit guiding you. Focus more on being in relationship with God and less on doing. Your relationship with God and with other people will be renewed so that you follow the two greatest commandments as Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-38.

Be led by the Spirit.

Not Slaves but Adopted Children of God: A Galatians 4:1-7 Devotional

¹ “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

³ So also, we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

⁴ But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law ⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶ Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:1-7 [NASB]

Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian Christians after he left there and later heard about a group of teachers who taught contrary to what he taught. The group of teachers told the Galatian Christians they had to become Jews before they could become Christians. In essence, they said they had to undergo circumcision under the Jewish Law before they could become Christ-followers. Paul spent this letter to the Galatian Christians explaining the difference between the Law and the grace gift of God through Jesus Christ, His Son.

In Galatians 3, Paul told the Galatians the Law was a tutor for the Israelites to lead them to God, but belief in Jesus Christ’s as God’s one and only Son is the only way to complete redemption from sin and guilt. The Law led the Jews to recognize their sinfulness and inability to cleanse themselves perfectly and permanently.

In today’s passage, Galatians 4:1-7, Paul used a metaphor to explain living under the Law of God versus being a son or daughter, an heir, of God. The metaphor he used applied commonly in their society. When a person was a minor, though by law an heir of his father, and until the person became a legal adult, the child was not different from a slave. He (at that time, and for our day, she, as well) took orders from his father or the father’s manager/steward/overseer. This is equal to guardians of children today when parents have died. Until the child is an adult, he takes orders and instructions, and obeys them. This makes the child equal to a slave in that regard though he is still an heir of his father.

The second part of this metaphor comes in verse three. In this extension of the metaphor, the “child” is the person who lives by the Law of God. The person who lived by the Law after God provided the perfect sacrifice and freedom from the Law was still in bondage to something less than perfect. Paul equated a person in bondage to the Law as a child/slave, a person still in bondage to elemental things. These elemental things were elementary and rudimentary principles of the world. For people after Christ’s death and resurrection, these elemental things included working to earn salvation according to the Law of God. Remember, the Law of God could not save a person from his or her sins, but only led a way to God.  

Understanding these two metaphors as Paul used them in this passage then means people who followed the Law of God sought to work their way to salvation. These people were entrapped by works theology, the elemental levels of faith. That made the person no better than a child under civil law and a basic son of God able just to drink the milk of God’s Word. To accept by faith the truth of the Gospel – God’s perfect and complete redemption of people through the redemption of a person from the filth and power of sin, the person must believe only in Jesus Christ for redemption and cleansing. Redemption is the redeeming by a form of payment the price to recover a person from the power of another person. Christ redeems and frees people from the power of sin and death.

How does this happen. Paul explained this in verses four through six. He said, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law so He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as son.” Because God gave His laws to rule the religio-political society of Israel, anyone born from that point (Jewish and even Gentile, who knew of the Law) came under those laws. God chose to have His Son born to a woman under those laws so when this Jewish boy grew to a man and showed Himself as the Son of God through His teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection, people could see the Son of God surpassed the Law of God. Belief in Jesus Christ is paramount. Only through His sacrifice is perfect/complete redemption from sin received. Annual sin sacrifices never permanently cleansed a person from his or her sin. Jesus’ sacrifice of His life as the spotless Lamb does.

Paul taught further in verse six when a person believed in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God for his or her salvation, he or she received the Spirit of the Son. When a person believes in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, Jesus’ Spirit resides in him or her and he or she becomes an adopted son or daughter of God. Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to take away the sins of everyone in the world makes you a son or daughter of God and an heir of God. Paul explain in verse six, because you are sons and daughters of God, you can now call to Him, “Abba! Father!,” which means “daddy, father.” You can use that term of endearment because you are in a personal relationship with God through Christ. You no longer have to go through a priest to talk to and hear from God.

To conclude his metaphor, Paul said in verse seven, when you believe in Jesus Christ, “You are no longer a slave (or a minor), but a son (and daughter), and if a son/daughter, then an heir through God.” What do you gain by being an heir through God, a co-heir with Christ? You receive peace from knowing your relationship with God is permanent because your sins are completely and permanently washed away and you can stand in the presence of Holy God. Since you have an unending and eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will have eternal life with Him in His kingdom, heaven. Death will not separate you from Him.

Relationship with God; God made us for this purpose. He chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, In love He predestines us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-5). Jesus said this same thing in Matthew 25:34, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

What do we have to do with this teaching? Consider, like Paul wanted the Galatians to consider, whether you are listening to other teachings instead of accepting by faith that the only work needed to be done for your salvation and redemption Christ did on the cross. Nothing more needs to be added and nothing removed. Our salvation from our sins and self comes completely and perfectly through God’s gift of mercy and grace – Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. It is not a works-based salvation. Nothing we can do is worthy enough to earn our release from the judgment we deserve for our sins. God provided the exact sacrifice needed to release us from His just judgment, His holy and blameless Son.

What is keeping you from believing in Jesus alone? Do you feel you have to earn God’s love? You cannot earn it. You are fallible. God loves you no matter because He created you. His showed His extreme love by allowing His one and only Holy Son to die the worst death, asphyxiation from hanging on a cross. Will you accept that is all that is necessary? Believe. Do not add to the Gospel by trying to prove your worth. You are worthy because God created you, now give Him your heart.

What will you decide today?

God's Law as Tutor: A Galatians 3:19-29 Devotional

Focus verses 3:19, 24-25, & 29

19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 

24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 

29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

I have heard people over the years ask why did God give the laws in the Old Testament if they were not to be followed forever? Why can’t keeping the Law provide salvation from our sins and guarantee us a place with God in heaven? Paul wrote on this specific thing in Galatians 3.

Why did God give the Law if He did not intend for them to give salvation to humankind and eternal life with God in heaven? In verse 19, Paul said God gave the His laws because of sin. Sin separates a person from God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. The laws of God provided temporary cleansing from the stain of sin so a person could be in God’s presence. However, it did not provide permanent and eternal cleansing and removal of sin and guilt. The Law was imperfect because they were a covenant between God who is faithful and perfect and humankind who is unfaithful and imperfect. Humanity could not always keep the laws of God; they were fallible and unfaithful. So the laws were not effective to cleanse a person from sin and guilt. For this purpose, God prepared a way from the beginning of time for humankind to be rid of their sin and guilt through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Since the purpose of the Law of God was not to provide salvation, what was its purpose? Verse 24 explains this. God gave His Law to lead people to Christ. By obeying the Law of God, people recognized their sinful selves and their inability to cleanse themselves perfectly and permanently from sin and guilt. They realized the futility of it. This kept people looking to God because they knew He is faithful and they were unfaithful. They looked to God’s perfection for the way to be closer to Him. God provided that way through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Before, the Law led us to God, but we could not stay permanently in His presence because of our sin. Christ’s death provided permanent cleansing from sin and guilt so we could stay in the presence of God and be in a continual relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, believers become children of God. When you have faith in Jesus Christ, you are descendents of and heirs with Abraham whose faith God said made him righteous.

You see, faith in Jesus Christ as the perfect Son of God who died to pay the penalty for our sins is what gives righteousness. Nothing we do, like keeping the laws of God, can make us clean enough to be in the presence of God. So nothing we can do earns our way into heaven. Abraham (Abram at that time) believed in God and His promise and God proclaimed Him righteous (Genesis 15:6). Faith in God through Jesus Christ, not works, is what makes a person righteous.

Whether you are from China or Argentina, of dark or light skin, from a religion of many gods or a Jew, when a person believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God he or she becomes a child of God – cleansed and saved. That person becomes new in Christ. I do not know what your background is and do not need to know. God knows, and He still loves you. Right now, if you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for your sin, accept Him as your Lord and Savior, and confess your sins, you can become a redeemed (cleansed) child of God, just as Abraham did. Exercising the faith God gives you makes you righteous, just as God declared Abraham righteous because of his faith in Him. If you gave your life to Jesus before but are far from God now, you have not lost your salvation. You can confess your sins to Him because He said, “He is faithful and just to forgive all sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

What will you choose today?

Believe in Jesus Christ, confess your sins, and allow Jesus to be Lord of your life. Renew your relationship with God through confession.

These have to be your choice because God gave you free will. He will not force Himself on you.

What do you choose?

Galatians 2:15-16

 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” [NASB]

Paul’s ministry extended to the non-Jews within the Roman Empire. Prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, he persecuted any person who followed Jesus. Paul taught strict adherence to the Laws of God and His teachings given to Moses and to His prophets and priests. With his conversion to Christianity, Paul’s heart changed to care for the Gentiles – people who were not Jews by birth.

In Galatians, a letter written to the Christians in Galatia (part of current day Turkey), Paul taught against men who said Gentile Christians must become Jews by law before they could be valid Christ followers. Those men meant Gentile Christian men had to be circumcised. In Galatians 2, Paul began his teaching against the need to become a Jew before becoming a Christian.

Paul, in Galatians 2:15-16, explained he, Barnabas, and the other Jewish-background Christians with him were Jews by nature – by birth. Even they, though Jewish by nature, God’s chosen people, did not become Christians by the works of the Law God gave them by which to live. God’s laws led the Jews to God to stay in relationship with Him, but did not make them clean from sin. If that were so, they would not have offered animal sacrifices repeatedly over the years.

Paul said, “A man is not justified by the works of the Law, but through faith in Christ Jesus.” He taught that obeying God’s Law through actions did not make a person clean from sin – disobedience to God. Only faith in Christ Jesus justified them – made them innocent and guiltless before God.

If a man such as Paul - born a Jew, in the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eight day according to God’s Law, trained in the laws of God to be a priest and a chief Pharisee - could not receive acquittal/absolution from guilt and sin by being obedient to the laws of God, then the Law did not give salvation. Paul said even he believed in Christ Jesus so that he would be justified (made just, innocent, and guiltless) by Christ and not by the works of the Law. The works of the Law do not give justification – being made right in God’s eyes.

No actions or works we can do will ever be able to absolve our bad/sinful actions. We cannot make ourselves right before God. Even living by the laws of God from the Old Testament cannot remove our sin and guilt so that we can be in the presence of the righteous and holy God. We must each decide if we will believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God whose death and resurrection provides reparation for our sins. Belief is a choice and a gift. It is a choice in that we each must choose to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is a gift in that God provides faith for us to accept it. Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so no one may boast.” Faith is a gift from God according to 1 Corinthians 12:9. Peter said this, too, in 2 Peter 1:1.

Now, understanding faith is a gift of God as grace (God’s unmerited favor) toward you, do you choose to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you choose to accept God’s gift of faith to believe in His Son and the salvation He provides for your sins? By God’s grace, He chose you to be His son or daughter by the expense of His Son’s life. He loves you that much. John 3:16 says that, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

God gave us free will to determine our own minds. We have a choice.

Will you choose to believe?

All of Me

Luke 11

Upon reading Luke 11, what first caught my eye and mind was verse 42. I was curious as to what Jesus meant when He said the Pharisees pay tithe of mint and ruse and every herb. I wondered did this mean they who knew the Law gave the very smallest bit required by God and felt their obligation fulfilled. As I went further into the text looking at the Greek words and the Old Testament laws for tithing, I found something different from what I first thought. This made me look at all of Luke 11 to see if there was a theme here which Luke wanted people to understand. What I found was amazing. There is a theme in this chapter. This theme is taught by others, but maybe not in this way. We spend so much time studying the Lord’s Prayer, the good Father versus the earthly father, cleanliness, demon removal, and the lamp under the bushel basket that we do not often see the whole picture of Luke 11. This is what amazed me. The lesson Luke told is one of the main points of Jesus’ ministry. Before I give it away in advance, let us look at this chapter as a whole.

After Jesus prayed, one of the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. The Lord’s Prayer so many of us know. It contains six points. Our prayers must start with the supreme, hallowing God, revering God because of who He is. Since God is spiritual, this is a spiritual request. Next, we are to pray for God’s kingdom to come. This seems like a physical thing, asking for Jesus to return to the earth to judge the people, cast Satan into eternal fire, renew the created world, and have His kingdom reign forever in the new heaven and new earth. We must remember though that Jesus said with His appearance God’s kingdom came. With the birth of Jesus, God began His new Covenant with the people of earth and this new covenant began the kingdom of God on earth. In addition, whenever a person receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, God’s kingdom has come for them. Therefore, God’s kingdom is spiritual and physical. The kingdom will fully come upon Jesus’ second coming to earth. The next thing we are to pray for is to ask God for our daily needed food, the bread for our physical body. Through the fourth item in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to ask for forgiveness. This is an internal and spiritual thing and requires acknowledging we have sinned and humbling ourselves to confess those sins against God and His moral laws. This is an internal and spiritual act requiring our mind, heart, and spirit. The fifth aspect of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught is that we to ask for a forgiving heart. We are to forgive because He forgave us. Forgiving people means we understand we are also sinners who have received God’s grace and mercy and, understanding this, we, through God’s love, forgive those who have hurt us. This aspect of the Lord’s Prayer is also an inner, spiritual thing. The final part of the Lord’s Prayer is important and is an internal spiritual thing. We are to ask God for strength to avoid temptation. Jesus recognized that the temptation was not the sin, but could lead to sin if a person did not have the strength to overcome the temptation. Humankind often cannot do this with their own inner fortitude. They can always avoid temptation with the power and fortitude of Jesus, who, being tempted like all men, did not succumb to the temptations, even when the devil tempted Him in the desert. What I want to make sure we see is that most of the Lord’s Prayer, which He taught His disciples, has to do with inner spiritual things. Each of them related to God and four of them related to humankind. One specifically dealt with physical things for humanity. One physical thing for which Jesus instructed us to pray was for our daily needed food. Every other thing He instructed us to pray was spiritual and internal. Let us consider that and move to the next passages.

We can break the rest of Luke 11 into these categories: the Giver and the asker (vs. 5-13), the kingdom of God is here now (vs. 14-20), cleaning house (vs. 21-26), the thematic statement of Luke (vs. 28), comparisons of humans and God’s working (vs. 29-54). Verses 5 to 13 show us a comparison of an earthly giver and our heavenly Father who gives. There are three stories used to show us how much more loving and gracious our heavenly Father is toward us. Because of the one man’s persistence, a neighbor friend wakes and gives him food. Because of a father’s love, he gives a child a fish and an egg instead of a snake or scorpion. If an earthly father or neighbor gives this, how much more will the heavenly Father give. Therefore, Jesus tells them to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knocking. The Father will always provide your needs whenever you ask. Do not give up faith because He wants you to find Him. He waits for you to ask, seek, and knock.

As we continue our reading, we find Jesus cast a demon out of a mute man and the Pharisees reacted (vs. 14-26). We must remember who the Pharisees were. They were one of the three sects of Judaism. “Pharisee” means "separatist" an of the separated one. People of the time knew them as the chasidim, which means loyal to God. The Pharisees were the strictest in their observance and obedience to God. They became extremists in limited parts of the Law. This may be what blinded them to the Messiah in their midst. After Jesus cast out the demon from this man, the man spoke and the crowds expressed amazement. To counter the crowds, the Pharisees said Jesus cast out the demon by the power of Satan. Jesus used rhetoric to refute this by saying that since the demon came from the devil, why would the devil cast the demon out. That would be one house fighting itself. He said a house divided against itself could not stand. Jesus then spoke a barb. He asked, implying since He is the Messiah and they do not accept Him, by whom do their sons cast out demons. He implied that their sons cast out demons by the power of Satan (vs.19). Consider this, though. Jesus said, “Since I do not cast out demons by the power of Satan because Satan would not ‘divide his house,’ then I must cast our demons by the finger of God (the power of God). Since Jesus cays out demons with the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (vs. 20). Jesus just proclaimed God’s kingdom had come. He said, “If you are not with me, you are against me” (vs. 23). Jesus continued talking about demons. He said in essence, when you clean house spiritually, unless you take in a stronger man than yourself, then the one who mastered you before will return to master you again and it will be worse (vs. 21-22, 23-26). Jesus meant, when you hear about Him and change your life avoiding sinful activities and other things because of what He said that is good. However, if you just do external things, changing your actions, but do not cleanse internally, the demons will return to find a suitable place to live. Hearing Jesus, believing Him, and following Him requires not just a physical change, like actions, but an internal spiritual change where a person gives his heart, mind, and soul to Jesus. When a person gives their whole self to Jesus, Jesus cleans him or her inside and out. Jesus guards the person so that demons, who are stronger than people, cannot overcome him or her when returning to look for a new home. God is a stronger guard than the person against the demons. A person cannot protect him or herself against the strength of Satan using just  his or her own strength. Only with God’s strength can a person resist the devil. When God cleanses a person inside and out, He gives His strength to him or her. These things are what Jesus spoke of in the rest of the chapter.

We must understand one more thing before we go to the last section of the chapter. The theme of this chapter is verse 28. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Blessed are those who hear, consider, and understand the Word of God. This is an active hearing. It involves the physical ear and the mental capacity of a person. "Observe" means to guard for one's self or to take care not to violate. Jesus, said, then, happy is the person who hears, considers, and understands the Word of God and takes care not to violate His Word. This is an act of volition, an act of the will. This is internal, not just external, as the Pharisees lived the Law of the Old Covenant. The Ten Commandments gave four laws in relation to God and six in relation to humankind. These were moral and religious laws. The Pharisees were following some of the laws strictly. Those who pray for God's kingdom to come, His will to be done, and for strength to overcome temptation are those who Jesus speaks of here. God's kingdom is more than prayer, following rules, and forgiveness.  It is observing the Word of God, believing, taking it into one's heart, and living it, nit just following a few rules only. It requires an internal change as well as an external. The Pharisees were external followers. The Pharisees were self-righteous, not righteous. Only God can give righteousness. As a follower of Jesus, Jesus changes the person inside and out, physically and spiritually, which includes the heart, mind, and soul.

We arrive now at the section of the chapter that shows human activity as compared to godly activity. This section of Luke 11 shows that belief changes a life because true belief affects the heart and creates a love of God that lives out God’s love to others. First, Jesus began by reminding them that in the past God sent messengers. Some people believed them. Consider Jonah. When he told them God was bringing judgment on them because of their sins, they tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and repented. Because of their true repentance, God spared them. When the Queen of Sheba ventured to speak to Solomon about His God of whom she heard, she believed because of his testimony. Jesus said one does not hide a light, but uses it to lead people. He compared a person’s eye to light. The Pharisees were the eyes for the Jews, but their sight was not good and they led the Jews into darkness. With the Son of God as their light, all the Jews would be full of light and would not have darkness for the trickery and deceit of Satan.

Jesus continued speaking to the Pharisees and the Law interpreters and teachers about their actions and beliefs when a Pharisee invited Him to eat lunch with him. This is where Jesus became explicit with the Pharisees regarding what keeps them from believing. As they each sit at the table to eat, the Pharisee noted that Jesus did not follow the Law concerning washing before a meal. Jesus used this opportunity to make His main point. The Pharisees are more concerned with obedience to the Law that is visible to other people, the external Laws. They cleaned their hands and the outside of the cup and platter. He said, though they did this, they were still unclean. He told them there were “full of robbery and wickedness.” They did not allow their belief in Yahweh to change who they were internally, but instead chose to do those things that were visible to others so they would appear holy and devout. God sees inside a person. Jesus gave them an example in verses 41 and 42. He said to give from what is inside their selves to charity, knowing that they were not. He said when the love of God, which governs their actions, affected them internally in true charity, then they would be clean They would be clean because God had control of their hearts. Verse 42 shows what Jesus meant. The Pharisees were so concerned to give the exact amount and right thing for tithe that they went out of their way to make sure they even gave the herbs recorded at the bottom of the tithe list. They went out of their way to make sure they observed even the jot and tittle of the Law, but they disregarded moral law and the love of God. Jesus told them they should have tithed as well as followed the morals of God’s Law, which His love, had it resided in them, would have enacted. Jesus pointed out their error. They were following the actions the Law required to the final degree, but they were not following the moral law that God’s love put into the heart of a true follower. Ouch! Does this ring true for us, too? This was the first “woe” Jesus proclaimed that day. The people of God are to give from the inside and the outside, justice to everyone and love of God. These Pharisees were hypocrites and corrupters of public morals.

The second of the six “woe” proclamations had to do with the Pharisees pride. They wanted people to see them as righteous through their external performance. This acknowledgement came when people gave them the choice seats out of respect as an honor. Jesus called the Pharisees concealed tombs. They hide their lack of faith behind their actions. They are not true followers of God. Jesus pronounced this as the third “woe." “Woe” that they did not have seats around God’s table.

After Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, the lawyers told Him that what He was saying was insulting them, too (vs. 45). These lawyers were experts in the Mosaic Law. If the Pharisees followed them, then the people would consider the lawyers reputable and would follow them. Jesus confronted the lawyers with their extreme requirements. He told the lawyers they were requiring more from the Jews than they were willing to do themselves. Jesus told them they were not willing to touch the burdens they required with even one of their fingers. These lawyers required more of the Jews allegiance to the Law than they required of themselves. This is hypocrisy, too. The fifth “woe” Jesus also spoke to the lawyers. He told them that they, by their action and inaction, built the tombs of the prophets earlier generations killed. They were as guilty as the past persecutors of God’s prophets. Added to this, they bore more guilt (built the tombs) because they did not correct the past persecutors’ teachings to the Jews. They led the current Jews to believe the persecutors were right in what they did. They approved of the persecutors deeds in their teachings and proclamations to the Jews (vs. 48). Jesus recalled for them that they, being in the loins of the persecutors when they persecuted the prophets, are guilty, too. (The writer of Hebrews used this line of thought, too, when he spoke of the children of Abraham as being heirs to the promise of God and the New Covenant.) In addition to this, Jesus told them God would send prophets and apostles for persecution and killing so that the blood of the prophets since the foundation of the world will be upon that generation. (See Matthew 23:34-36.) Jesus told the lawyers they were hypocrites and just as guilty as the Pharisees and those who persecuted and killed prophets from the beginning of time. Lest the lawyers say the Law or the Pharisees told us to do these things, Jesus ensured they knew the guilt rested within their own hands. The lawyers taught the strict observance by actions, but avoided moral requirements as the Law taught and as Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus proclaimed a final “woe” against the lawyers that was similar to the charge against the Pharisees. It regarded being the light for the Jews. The lawyers, the ones who knew and taught the Law, took away knowledge of God from the Jews. They would not enter the kingdom of God and they hindered those who were entering, the Jews. Should the lawyers consider that God condemn them less, Jesus stated their guilt plainly. They are hypocrites, killers and persecutors, and hiders of the true knowledge of God.

The Pharisees and lawyers had power and authority over the people, yet they did not teach justice and love of God from the heart and soul. They became very hostile toward Jesus, questioned Him closely, and were plotting how to catch Him in saying something against the Law that they enforced. The Pharisees were more interested in outward observance than in inward knowledge of and obedience to God. Outward signs of devotion to God were more important than public and religious morals to them. The way to become more than the Pharisees and lawyers is to hear the Word of God and observe it (See Luke 11:28 and Matthew 23:13.)

When we read or say the Lord’s Prayer, we must understand that the prayer is about God, who He is, our response to Him, our correct understanding of Him, and what is required to be a follower of Jesus. The Pharisees and lawyers chose one part of that, the actions. If actions could give us salvation, then there would have been no need for God’s promise of a new covenant. If actions could give salvation, then there would be no need for God. Yet, we are not as powerful as God, or even of Satan. We need a guard of our house, our person. We need a savior to redeem us from the penalty of our sins; that penalty  is death. We need a new way to be with God in His kingdom and to live in this world until Jesus’ return. God provided this way through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The decision we must make is whether we will give our whole selves to the Lord, our physical bodies, as well as, our heart, mind, and soul. We choose to let God’s love affect our innermost being so that our actions and thoughts come from His Spirit within us and the love God put in our hearts. These give rise to godly actions. By giving only our physical bodies, we will become like the Pharisees and lawyers. In giving all of them, we become followers of Jesus and children of God.

We get to choose. Will you choose to allow God to forgive you and be your Savior and Lord? Will you just follow the Law and not let it affect your moral life? Will you choose to let Him have your whole being, body, heart, mind, and soul? It is up to you. You get to make the decision. He will not make it for you, but He has provided the way and given you the choice. What will you choose?