and looked down upon everyone who was not one of them. They had put a great store on the external signs. As a parallel today we might con sider the rite of baptism which is something very wonderful for the be liever. It is an outward testimony to an inward work of grace in our hearts. God meant this ordinance to be of great blessing. But as in the Old Tes tament, so in the New. What He means for a blessing could turn to a curse. It is possible to so magnify baptism that we totally ignore the real meaning and purpose. Some churches seem more interested in how many people are baptized rather than in how many are truly born again. As in Is rael’s case, it was not the circumcision of the flesh which made a true Jew, but the circumcision of the heart which was simply obedience to God. The Pharisees, of whom we read in the Gospels, were performing formal religious rites while their hearts were fa r from God. This is shown from their unjust conduct, taking advan tage of the common people and put ting unnecessary burdens upon the poor. For this John the Baptist loudly condemned them. That is why Paul makes such a point of this. While the people may be called Israelites nation ally, they are not truly this spiritu ally. The Lord Jesus forcefully stated, “Ye are of your father, the devil.” When Abraham and Sarah were Mrs. Margaret Sanders, organist for "The Biota. Hour" records her half hour pipe organ pro gram for KBBI, Los Angeles (heard Sunday evenings af 9:30 P.M.). She is pictured at the three manual Lansing Memorial Shantz organ located in Biota's recital half.
begins to treat the verses which are before us. Without question, Is rael’s unbelief is not due to the in effectiveness of the Scriptures. God’s Word does bring life from the dead. God’s Word does have the power to convert the soul. Yet, this is not the reason why many in Israel have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as per sonal Saviour. You know this fact to be true. Tracing the history of this unusual people, even the most blatant infidel will have to take note of their unusual protection and their distinc tiveness preserved by the Lord Him self down through the ages. E ven in th e day of the Apostle Paul the Jewish people were not like those in the Old Testament who had the priesthood or the sacrifices. Some of the people had asked the ques tion as to whether the Word of God had the power to convert the heart. Paul, as the logical attorney, points out that the problem is wholly with man. He points out the difference be tween formalism on the one hand, which has a great outward religious display, and real experience on the other hand, born of the heart and life. From God’s point of view, it isn’t so much the physical, intellectual, or social characteristics which set apart an Israelite; it is really one’s per sonal devotion to God. To emphasize this point Paul takes Israel in gen eral, then Abraham, and finally con siders it in the light of Esau and Jacob. He declares, “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom. 9 :6 ). In Romans 2:28-29 a true Israelite is marked. The basis, in the flesh, was circumcision. This was the sign of a covenant between Abraham and his offspring, and God. Israel, however, rpisinterpreted the sign. They forgot about the Lord and ignored the spir itual aspect of the covenant. Instead of being a sign of blessing, it became a curse. They felt they were superior Children Of Grace
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