WHAT TRULY COUNTS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.

1 Corinthians 7:18-19

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What really matters to you in life?

Or maybe the better question is:

Where do you place your attention when it comes to knowing how to live?

Certainly, there are plenty options for us, right?

The world offers us all kinds of advice as to how to go about living. We’re often urged to follow our dreams and work hard to achieve them. There’s also a school of thought that would encourage us to live life to the fullest, to “go for the gusto” because “life’s too short”. And then there is the urging from people to just “do whatever makes you happy”. Maybe you have a few others you can think of.

But here’s the thing about every one of these worldly recommendations.

There’s no mention of God. This is because God’s ways and His expectations for living run counter to the world’s ways. This is why we see so many people living in ungodly ways. They live them apart from what God desires, placing their focus on the world instead of Him.

As we look at our scripture passage today, we find Paul encouraging the Corinthian Christians to fix themselves on what truly counts and that was knowing God’s commands and then living in such a way to comply with them. In looking at our verses, we see that this wasn’t happening.

This is because the church in Corinth was fixing their attention on the matter of circumcision. Look again at Paul’s words here:

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.  1 Corinthians 7:18-19

Now, we need to keep in mind that Christianity was a fledgling religion in first century A.D., competing with religions that were far more established. Judaism was one of those religions.

You’ll remember that Judaism, the technical word for the Jewish faith, was grounded in covenants God made with selected leaders. One of those was the covenant of circumcision that God made with the Israelite people via Abraham (Genesis 17). In this covenant, every male was to be circumcised and this act would serve as a physical indicator that the covenant has been kept. In Genesis 17, we find God telling Abraham that any male who does not get circumcised would be “cut off” from the Israelite people. This covenant between God and His people extended into Jesus’ ministry period but that’s when there was a seismic shift in God’s covenant, the advent of a new covenant with all people, Jews and Gentiles, through His Son. Physical circumcision wasn’t the sign of the covenant anymore. Belief in Jesus as Savior was.

As mentioned, it was obvious that some of the Christians in Corinth were still seeing circumcision as a factor, most probably believers who were converts from Judaism. This is what prompted Paul to write on the subject. His message was simple.

Circumcision wasn’t truly what counted.

If a man was circumcised, fine. If a man wasn’t circumcised, that was fine as well. Neither held any significance in the big scheme of things when it came to being a Christian for it was keeping God’s commands that truly counted. Doing this would ensure a person was living in righteousness, in a way that was pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.

Today, we need to heed Paul’s advice, especially when we have so many suggestions flying around regarding how we should live. In the end translation, God’s word encourages us to stay focused on Him and to comply with His expectations, expectations spelled out by the directives He has given us to follow.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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