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...the Bible tells me so:
The
There is a little trouble going on in the region we know as “The Middle East.” It is a family feud, cousin against cousin and brother against brother.
Israelis fight Palestinians. Iraqis fight Iraqis, Kuwaitis, Iranians and Saudis, if they could. Egyptians fight Egyptians. Jew, Christian and Muslim go to war. Arab goes to war against Arab.
It is that classic battle over dirt. Gangs fight over turf. Cities fight over annexation. Nations fight over territory.
The terror in that part of the world is a difficult political question. The
modern state of
Paul called for peace for “the
However, in Galatians Paul answered the earliest and most significant threat to the very identity of Christ’s church. Many Christian Jews wanted to bring Jewish law into the church. Specifically, Gentiles who saved themselves through faith and baptism would have to be circumcised and to keep the rest of the law of Moses in order to remain Christians.
Judaizing Christianity was a perversion of the good news of Jesus (1:6-7)
and an attempt to destroy the
Paul closed chapter three by identifying those who became descendents of Abraham. Notice that faith and baptism made “heirs of the promise” instead of circumcision. He wrote,
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (verses 26-29)
In chapter four, The first two sons of Abraham are an allegory of the
conflict between Jew and Christian. Hagar represented Mount Sinai and first
century
If a Gentile Christian received circumcision, he must accept all of the law of Moses. He is severed from Christ and falls from grace (5:2-4). Those words must not be taken lightly!
Paul closed his argument by denying the value of circumcision. He said, “Neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.
Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the
The Israel of God is the
“A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29)
While circumcision in ancient
Paul continued, “It is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
Paul made clear that Christian circumcision is baptism. He said,
“In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” (Colossians 2:11-13)
God described His relationship with the church in those same words that He
used to
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10; see Exodus 19:5-6; Hosea 1:10; 2:23)
While we do what we can to bring peace to the Middle East, we must keep this
in mind: True Israel is spiritual
As God’s new chosen people, it is our responsibility to exalt Him in everything that we do, especially to this troubled world.
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