“For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people” (Romans 2:28-29; NLT).
Paul certainly knew something about taking pride in his “Jewishness.” There had been a time in his life when he could have compared pedigrees with the best of them (Philippians 3:4-6). As Saul of Tarsus, he had been well-schooled in all of the externals which many Jews believed afforded them a special relationship with God. But Paul learned, at great personal cost, that his belief in what it took to make himself right with God was misplaced. He learned that all the externals in the world were useless without a change internally. Perhaps that is why he speaks out so strongly and clearly as a preacher of the Good News against the dangers of trusting in anything other than the finished work of Jesus Christ to make us right with God.
This is a lesson that I have to continually take to heart. Just because I don’t deal with the same specific issue that Paul and his contemporaries faced doesn’t mean I can’t make the same mistake in other ways. I need to remind myself that my relationship with God doesn’t depend on my ability to keep His commandments. It doesn’t hinge on whether I worship correctly. It doesn’t rely on my understanding of Bible. I am made right with God by God’s effort, not my own.
Do I want to obey God? Of course! Do I want to offer worship to God that pleases him? You bet! Do I want to understand the word of God? Certainly! But my success or failure in any of these areas doesn’t determine my standing with God.
God loves you!
Mike
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