To Have the Snip, Or Not
Galatians 2:3-5 But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us— we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
Okay the subject for today is … circumcision. I know, it’s not exactly something you want to be thinking about. But stick with me, there’s an important point to be made.
And what we’re really chatting about is freedom. Your freedom, here, now, today. But first let’s head back to first century Jerusalem.
There’s a rocky transition underway for those who believe in Jesus, from Judaism, the religion of their forefathers, to Christianity. From a life lived under a complex set of religious rules, to a life of freedom in Christ.
A lot of things that seem pretty obvious to us today, had to be nutted out. It wasn’t easy. One of them, was male circumcision which to this point had been part of God’s law for His people.
Let’s take a look at how the Apostle Paul puts it:
Galatians 2:3-5 But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us— we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
There’s a tussle here, between the old traditionalists, who didn’t believe in this whole nonsense about grace through Jesus, and Paul, to whom the gospel of grace, the fantastic news of God’s unmerited favour towards us, had been revealed by Jesus Himself.
Circumcision was just the flash point. The real debate was between the slavery of living under a set of rules, and the freedom that we have through our faith in Christ.
And it’s a struggled that continues to this day in the heart of many a believer, because grace is so radical, so counter-intuitive.
We live in a dog-eat-dog world, and there seems to be plenty of dog to go around. Yet along comes Jesus and says, in effect:
It’s not about following a bunch of rules. It’s about experiencing my love – and so that you can, I’m going to pay the price on a cross, for all the things you’ve done wrong.
The reason Paul takes this so seriously, is that it strikes at the very heart of the Gospel of grace, the truth.
Besides, have you noticed? It’s pretty much impossible to follow the rules anyway. We all fall short. That’s why we need Jesus.
So, if you’ve been struggling under a bunch of rules, do yourself a favour. Ditch them. Go to Jesus instead. Start having a rich, dynamic relationship with Him.
And your unbounded freedom will flow out of that relationship. Don’t let rules enslave you.
That’s God’s Word.
Fresh … for you … today.
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