July 5, 2019
For full passage click: Galatians 6:11-18 …“For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” vs. 15
Paul had gotten caught up in the circumcision controversy and there’s no doubt where his convictions lie. He was adamant! Those who wished to become followers of Jesus did not first need to be circumcised and those who insisted otherwise should go the whole way and castrate themselves. He wasn’t one to mince his words! But Paul is mostly irritated about having to argue about this at all. In his mind, such controversies were a sideshow and drew people away from the incredible truth of the gospel. He believed that, in Christ, there had been a new creation and that’s all that counted. We who love to show off our theological knowledge and who parse doctrine with such precision should learn something from this. Being right in a theological debate is an exercise in futility—there is no right or wrong in Christ. All that counts is having Christ within and living within Christ. If we don’t quite understand what that means, that’s fine, we can spend the rest of our lives figuring it out. What matters is, that in Christ, the Light of a new creation has dawned, and as we live in the Spirit of Christ that Light will shine in our lives and the whole world will be blessed. In that context, our religious and denominational boundaries are breached and we become the One Body that Jesus imagined!
Thought for the Day: Why are religious differences such a focus in our lives?
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