SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2018
11:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Social
Alienation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 2:11-13
Messages of the verses: “11 Therefore remember that formerly
you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by
the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh
by human hands- 12 remember
that you were at that time
separate from Christ,
excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of
promise, having no hope
and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
I
have mentioned that the past SD’s on these verses were actually an introduction
as we talked much about alienation, and so today we want to look at the first
part of alienation, and that is “Social Alienation,” and we can see this from
verse one where we read that “formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are
called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called, Circumcision,’ which is performed in
the flesh by human hands.” In this
section we see that Paul calls his readers “the Gentiles in the flesh,” and he
does this in order to emphasize the physical, and eternal nature of the
distinction, and he also calls on them to “remember” exactly who they were
before coming to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. The Jews used the term “uncircumcision” as a
term of derision, defamation, and they use it also as a reproach. We can see this even from the great OT King,
David who called Goliath an “uncircumcised Philistine” as seen in 1 Samuel
17:26. Circumcision is something that
came about as far as the Jewish people are concerned with Abram, when this
became part of the covenant that God made with him. I believe that we can say that this is
similar to what Christian baptism is. I
will try to explain: Both acts are
physical, and both acts have a spiritual meaning, which is the most
important. God wanted the hearts of the
Jewish people to be circumcised and not just their bodies. Having their bodies circumcised did not do
anything for their spiritual condition, and neither does an unbeliever have
anything happen to them as a result of baptism.
I for one have been baptized three times, and the third time that I was
baptized it was done n the NT church where I joined as a result of being
baptized. When a person is baptized it
should only be done after they became believers, after they are saved. Standing in the waters of baptism gives us a
picture of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I remember when I was baptized in April of
1978 and as I went under the water I saw in my mind me lying in a casket. It took me a while to tell my Pastor about
this and his reply was “I didn’t see it.”
I guess he did not want to talk about my experience, but going under the
water pictures the death of Christ and being raised up pictures the
resurrection, and so it seemed kind of normal to me.
It
was because that the Gentiles did not have the physical mark of circumcision that
they thought that they were better than Gentiles, and looked down at them. John MacArthur writes “Paul carries a tone of
disdain for such Jewish hatred, as evidenced in his choice of words to describe
Jews—the so-called ‘Circumcision’ (lit., ‘in the flesh, made by hand’) . He thereby takes exception to Jewish boasting
by emphasizing that circumcision is also only external (cf. Lev. 26:41; Deut
10:16; Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 44:7).”
Lev. 26:41 “41 I also was acting with hostility against them,
to bring them into the land of their enemies-or if their uncircumcised heart
becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, “
Deut. 10:16 “"So
circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.”
Jer. 4:4 “4 “Circumcise yourselves to
the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants
of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to
quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.’”
Ezek. 44:7 “7 when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised
in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even
My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My
covenant void-this in addition to all your abominations.”
I
want, now to look at a few verses in the NT to show that circumcision had was
never a mark of personal relationship to God:
“28 For he is not a Jew who is
one outwardly,
nor is circumcision that which is
outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision
is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise
is not from men, but from God (Rom. 2:28-29).”
Gal. 5:6 & 6:15 “6 For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working
through love.” “15 For neither is
circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”
As
we look further into the book of Romans Paul points out that Abraham was saved
before he was circumcised, making the point that physical circumcision was not
the important part, but spiritual circumcision was.
In
our next SD, the first one of the New Year we will begin to look at the “Spiritual
Alienation,” which will take several days to go through.
I
wanted to mention, and will probably mention again that the Bible questions
that I ask at the end of my Spiritual Diaries come from a game I have entitled “Bible
Challenge” and each card has seven questions and answers on it, making it good
for one week. I tried to find the first
time that I stated this and it was started on March 12, 2013. I only have a couple of cards left and then
this will end this portion of my SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful that Jesus paid it all for I
could never pay for the salvation that He gives to me freely.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will give to my family a
very blessed 2019.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Gideon” (Judges 7:15-16).
Today’s Bible question: Which chapter of
the Bible is called “The Love Chapter?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/31/2018 11:48 AM
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