THE KING’S BUSINESS
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outwardly by the application of water with out thus entering into fellowship with Jesus Christ in death, -burial and resurrec tion (or putting on Christ). Such an one has not been “baptized into Christ.” On the other hand, there may have been the omission of water baptism, and yet one may have entered into fellowship with Christ in death, burial and resurrection, may have put on Christ. Such an one has been “baptized into Christ.” “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh.” So also he is not a Christian which is one outwardly and neither is that bap tism which is outward in the flesh. “He is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circum cision is- that of thè heart, in the spirit, not in the letter.” In the same way, he is a Christian which is one inwardly; and baptism is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter. (1 Cor. 12:13, R. V.) This is not to say that either circumcision or baptism are of no importance in their place (circumcision was “indeed profitable” under the law and baptism is “indeed profit able” under the Gospel) ; it is only to say that the inward reality is of more import ance than the outward form that expresses it. Paul’s principal purpose in these verses is to show the Jew that essentially he is in no better case than the Gentile. It is true he has the law, but he has not kept it and so is under condemnation. This thought Paul will develop further in the next chapter. Wednesday, June 13 . Rom. 3 : 1 - 3 . Paul now brings up the objections which cunning, subtle Jewish cavillers would .advance against this position. The first objection of the Jew wquld be, if the Jew is in no better case than the Gentile, “what advantage then hath the Jew?” Paul is ready with the answer: in his answer he says that the first and ¿reat advantage of the Jew was that the Jews “were entrusted with the oracles of God.” That is a deeply significant statement. It tells us first of all that the Jewish Scriptures were the “oracles
upon his own doings, but in chapter 3, verses 23-26, we are told how we can stand even in that day. Monday, June n . Rom. 2 : 17 - 24 . These verses lay bare mercilessly the folly and hypocrisy of those who make their boast in a revelation that they do not obey. This folly is not confined to the Jew. How many today stand very stoutly for the Divine origin and authority of the Bible, and say harsh things about the infidelity of those who deny the authority of the Bible or any part ox the Bible, and yet they themselves do not order their lives according to the Bible. It is not the truth we preach, but the truth that we practice, that commends us to God. To glory in God and to live like the devil causes the name of God to be blasphemed among unbelievers more than all the rantings of the infidels themselves. These verses set forth the proneness of the human heart to self-confidence and boasting in a way that should set us all to thinking and to self-examination along this line. How we love to exalt ourselves one above another. Tuesday, June 12 . Rom. 2 : 25 - 29 . Obedience to God’s laws of life is more important in God’s reckoning than the keeping of symbolical ordinances, no mat ter how significant these ordinances may be in themselves, and even though these ordinances may themselves be of Divine appointment. The one who realized in his walk that of which circumcision was the symbolic expression, even though he was not literally circumcised, was more pleas ing to God than the one who underwent the outward ceremony of circumcision, but did not live out its significance. In other words that for which a symbol stands is more important than the symbol itself. The principle will apply to baptism as well as to circumcision. That for which baptism stands is identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, (Rom. 6:3-5), the putting on of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:17). One may be baptized
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