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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Notice what large letters I use as i write these closing words in my own handwriting.
Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Galatians 6:11-18 NLT
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you or someone you know ever sought a makeover?
A lot of people do.
These makeovers usually have something to do with hair style and/or color, possibly wardrobe, and even changes in fitness. The idea is that a person might become new in some way, radically different than they were before.
And then there are people who try and reinvent themselves. Usually you see this in show business, either in music or acting. It’s spawned when someone who was popular at one time, sees that popularity wane and they need to make a change in order to stay relevant and regain fame and recognition.
Maybe a recording artist switches to a new genre or performs alongside an artist who has a large following in an attempt to regain status. An actor may try to get into an ensemble cast with artists who are more popular or switch from the kind of films they are known for into something unexpected.
Like those who have makeovers, a person reinventing themselves are looking to become something new in order to gain acceptance and admiration of fans, which then further leads to more money.
Indeed, most people aren’t comfortable with the status quo. They are always seeking some kind of change to improve themselves or their quality of life.
But what if all this is a fleeting effort? What if we are seeking to become new in the wrong kinds of ways?
As we see in the final verses of Galatians 6, we see that there is only one move toward newness of self that matters and that is only found through having faith in Jesus as Savior. Look again at these words from the Apostle Paul:
Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.
Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Galatians 6:11-18 NLT
Paul wrote these closing words in larger letters than he had used prior. This was to emphasize the main point he wanted to make, the summary of everything else he had written in the previous five chapters, that all one needed to do in order to gain salvation was believe in Jesus. Circumcision may have been required by the Mosaic Law but the new covenant established by God the Father through Christ Jesus, His Son, superseded the Law. At the heart of the new covenant were truths summed up in these two verses:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
and
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
All that was required to be saved was a belief in Jesus as Savior and anyone who did this would become a new creation, made new by the One who makes all things new. Nothing else was required.
Paul wanted the Galatian Christians to know that anyone sharing a Gospel different from the one he brought them were not doing so with their best interest in mind. They pushed circumcision only to be able to boast that they had recruited and stolen away disciples from Jesus, the only One who bore the sins of the world on Calvary’s cross. The hope of the Apostle was that the believers in Galatia would fix their attention on the cross of Jesus instead of the ways of the world for it was through the cross that Christ followers were transformed into new creations, the new people of God, a people who now included both Jews and Gentiles.
Today, the new covenant is just as alive as it was in first century A.D. God still is calling people away from the world to be saved through believing and trusting in His Son Jesus who He sent to save mankind.
Nothing else in life really matters because it is all about being a new creation. I pray that you have become just that through your belief in Jesus as Savior.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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