Getting Real

In the early church, pressure was being applied by some to require that everyone submit to the ritual of circumcision, which would bring them under the constraints of the Law of Moses.  The apostle Paul was having none of it.  For one thing, he knew that "not even those of the circumcision kept the law" (Gal 6:13).  It was a power move, adding a requirement the Lord did not give.

Aren't you glad that in the church today we've gotten past all that business of requiring things that can't be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Aren't you glad that we have moved on from the constraints of legalism to embrace the grace Christ came to give us?  What's that?  We haven't?  There are still those preaching a Grace Plus salvation?  I stand corrected.

Of course there are those who insist on adding requirements of what we can eat, what we can drink, what style of worship is acceptable, what version of the Bible we can read, how much we must give, whether or not one can chew tobacco, and on it goes.  We make these proclamations and many more thinking that they must be as important to God as they are to us.  But are they?  No, not really.

Listen to what Paul says about add-ons: "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God" (Rom 14:5-6).  Doesn't seem very impressed with them, does he?

Back in Galatians chapter 6, he lays it out in a very clear and concise way, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation: (v. 15).  Making and keeping of rules and rituals has no real value to God.  What God values is the fact that we have become real as Christians, that we are reborn as new creatures in Christ.

Paul goes so far as to say, "[4] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. [6] For in Christ Jesus....The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Gal 5:4,6).

If Paul were using our vernacular, he might say something like "Come on Christians, get real!"  That's what God desires - not people who have a religious look but people who have a relational love for Him and His children.  Jus' Say'n.