They did not have the actual marks of circumcision. As members of the true circumcision they were in vi tal contact with God through Jesus Christ. The essential virtue of the Christian religion is not to be found in its symbols but in its Saviour. The man who is merely religious is lost; he is an "evil worker." The four words which summarize these thoughts are: "Not religion, but regeneration!" The Robe Many stories have been told about the clothing of a mission ary, but the important thing to remember is that his robe is not goodness, but rather godliness (Philippians 3:4-11). As Paul con siders what he was before the Da mascus Road conversion, he is able to boast of a great deal more than the average religious man of his day. In his seven reasons for pos sible boasting, four were his by in heritance and three by accomplish ment. He was circumcised the eighth day. This elevated him above the heathen or the proselytes. Th,e Jew, circumcised the eighth day, was considered spiritually super ior to all others. He had the cove nant relation with God. Paul added that he was of the stock of Israel. Other nations had descended from Abraham and Isaac claiming the distinction of circumcision. Only the Israelites had descended from Jacob and could claim the promise of God's covenant with him. Paul was further elevated in the minds of his readers when he said he was of the tribe of Benjamin. It was from this tribe that Saul emerged as Israel's first king. Benjamin nev er wavered from their allegiance to the house of David. Jerusalem Page 19
They rightly wanted to worship God scripturally. Churches must be built, they must be organized, the clergy must be educated, but history has proved that with the development of such a machine there is the danger of a lack of power. Most of the regular denom inations of our day were born in the midst of revival fires. In a great many cases, however, the devil has been successful in sowing the tares of ritualism, formalism, lib eralism and scholasticism to such an extent that the fire has been put out. Paul speaks about the regener ated man as "having no confidence in the flesh." He was talking to a group of people who were proud of their racial background. Many depended on it for their salvation. The Apostle had a superior racial background of which to boast. Yet he testifies, "I have no confidence in the flesh." "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Paul, as a religious man, prac ticed an empty formality. When he was transformed by God's grace he worshipped God in Spirit. Most Jewish people had on their bodies the marks of the circumcision. Such were set apart as God's spe cial people. The important thing, however, is not the circumcision, but contact with God. This is true in any sphere of life. The religious people of Paul's day still had the mark of circumcision although they had lost the reality for which the mark stands. Some of the early Christians were Jewish, and actu ally had in their bodies the literal mark of circumcision. Many of them had come from the pagan world.
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