WEDNESDAY June 3, 2020

What Is Profitable?

For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
Romans 2:25-26

Paul argued biblically and logically about the Jewish tradition of circumcision. The Jew was circumcised, but the heathens were not. The Jew was circumcised for cleanliness, but primarily it began as a covenant between God and Abraham. Circumcision was an act of obedience and a reminder of the covenant relationship between God and Abraham and for the rest of the Jewish nation.

Does circumcision save anyone? No! A circumcised Jew, who continually transgressed God’s law, had no more of a saving relationship with God than a sinful, uncircumcised Gentile. That is just the fact. Circumcision was an outward symbol; it had nothing to do with an inner reality of God working in a man’s heart. So, circumcision will not save you!

Understand, if a Christian continues to behave just like the heathen by continuing in sin, then they are guilty too; there is no difference between them and the heathen—except their spiritual jargon. There is no change! Even though a person may say, “I have been born again,” it does not matter. If a Christian returns back to their sin, then they can expect their judgment to be greater--to much is given, much more is required (Ezekiel 18:24). No one can say they are truly a Christian without the Spirit of God working in their lives to bring about an inward change.

What is needed in a Christian’s life is a genuine fear of God. Before you willfully commit sin, think of the serious consequences that you will reap and the people you will infect, including the end of the journey— the coming Day of Judgment.

When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone.
~A.W. Tozer~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!