By the numbers....
Philip. 3:1-6 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
[2] Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. [3] For 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— [4] though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; [6] as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
Circumcision was used by the Jews to show who was part of the Covenant people with God. The story of the Old Testament is of God’s faithfulness to the Jews, even when they were not faithful to Him. But the New Testament story is of a new covenant, a new relationship of care and trust, not with one group of people, but open to the whole of mankind. Regardless of race, colour, gender or nationality we can all join God’s chosen people.
In Paul’s time, there were people who wanted to force all believers to embrace the lifestyle of the Old Covenant, including physical circumcision and obedience to the whole of the Jewish Law and all its regulations. Paul’s deep feeling was that this created a system you could follow and it didn’t promote living faith in Jesus Christ. You could do religion by the numbers….
I wonder if the contemporary Church can be like that too. I wonder if we look at people coming to Jesus for the first time and we try and put burdens of tradition and assumed behaviour on them which are not necessary. I wonder if we try to draw lines between who is in and out of the circle of believers by accepting that a certain type of dress code, lifestyle and social beliefs matter, when actually the Gospel would say they are not essential. And if we do I’m sure it cannot be laid at the door of the established churches alone – the new and emerging churches have their own codes too. And we adopt them quickly – watch how a new believer quickly picks up on the ‘internal code’ of the faith community they join…. I wonder how much emphasis we place on acceptance of the code rather than life transformation.
So here Paul restates his opposition to people who want to live that way. He points to his old life of religion by the numbers, saying ‘I tried it – it doesn’t work, and I should know because nobody gave a better shot at it than me!’
Instead Paul points to a new mark of circumcision, not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Those who are in the new covenant are those who have put worshipping Jesus as Lord as the central part of their life and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. In effect Paul is saying that the real mark of belonging to God is a life transformed to be like Jesus.
[2] Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. [3] For 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— [4] though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; [6] as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
Circumcision was used by the Jews to show who was part of the Covenant people with God. The story of the Old Testament is of God’s faithfulness to the Jews, even when they were not faithful to Him. But the New Testament story is of a new covenant, a new relationship of care and trust, not with one group of people, but open to the whole of mankind. Regardless of race, colour, gender or nationality we can all join God’s chosen people.
In Paul’s time, there were people who wanted to force all believers to embrace the lifestyle of the Old Covenant, including physical circumcision and obedience to the whole of the Jewish Law and all its regulations. Paul’s deep feeling was that this created a system you could follow and it didn’t promote living faith in Jesus Christ. You could do religion by the numbers….
I wonder if the contemporary Church can be like that too. I wonder if we look at people coming to Jesus for the first time and we try and put burdens of tradition and assumed behaviour on them which are not necessary. I wonder if we try to draw lines between who is in and out of the circle of believers by accepting that a certain type of dress code, lifestyle and social beliefs matter, when actually the Gospel would say they are not essential. And if we do I’m sure it cannot be laid at the door of the established churches alone – the new and emerging churches have their own codes too. And we adopt them quickly – watch how a new believer quickly picks up on the ‘internal code’ of the faith community they join…. I wonder how much emphasis we place on acceptance of the code rather than life transformation.
So here Paul restates his opposition to people who want to live that way. He points to his old life of religion by the numbers, saying ‘I tried it – it doesn’t work, and I should know because nobody gave a better shot at it than me!’
Instead Paul points to a new mark of circumcision, not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Those who are in the new covenant are those who have put worshipping Jesus as Lord as the central part of their life and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. In effect Paul is saying that the real mark of belonging to God is a life transformed to be like Jesus.
posted by Gordon at
8:14 am
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