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9/30 Reading Portions: 1 Kings 2; Galatians 6; Ezekiel 33; Psalms 81-82
Galatians 6:15
For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
NEW
Couched in this verse is a truth to help us navigate what seems to be a conflict for many in how we approach God’s law and grace. Some seek a need to reconcile law and grace; yet one may as well attempt reconciliation between friends, as there is no conflict. The irreconcilable conflict was pointed out by the apostle in yesterday’s reading portion:
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:17
Our lives in Christ are not lived out by attempting to keep elements of the law (circumcision), or in dismissing the law altogether (uncircumcision), but in the fact that you and I, in Christ, are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Our lives now in Christ are a response to God’s love to us through Christ (1 Jn 4:19). In yesterday’s portion, Paul said,
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
As Christ has indeed set us free (John 8:31-32), we should now live by the illustration given for the slave who becomes an eternal servant:
“But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same.” Deuteronomy 15:16-17
In Christ, we have been set free from sin and its penalty, but now, with this new freedom, we turn around and freely submit ourselves to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are eternal servants to Him and His righteousness. Therefore, it is not a matter of living under law or grace, but a matter of living for Jesus, and responding righteously to Him in love and godly fear as new creations. With our eyes upon Jesus, we see Him as He commands with a nod or the wave of His hand. The closer we come to Christ, the easier it is to hear our Lord when He calls, speaks, and instructs. Hallelujah! What a loving Savior!
