"Behold, I myself, Paul, am saying to you that if you all may be being circumcised, Christ not will profit you."
-Paul invokes his Paul card here. The Galatians know him, they know who he is. He is for all intensive purposes the de facto leader of the Gentile church, THE apostle to the Gentiles, not to mention the one who (the Lord used to) planted their church in the first place. Not some johnny-come-lately. Not some charlatan or spiritual ne’er-do-well who cares only for another notch in his belt. This is Paul, God’s hand-picked apostle to the Gentiles. The Lord specifically sent Paul to these people ans(Acts 13.2), to help them begin to trust in Him for forgiveness and eternal life (Rom 1.4-5). The ones who were pushing the law on these believers could make no such claim.
-But Paul here employs the language of capitalism. Any good business owner could relate to it. How do I make a profit? That is the question. Would you want to be in a negative cash flow situation, running in the red, losing money? Do you want to wind up being broke and bankrupt, spiritually? Or, would you like to be turning a profit? Positive cash flow, money in the bank? Would you like to hit the spiritual jackpot? Paul is here telling the Galatians that their proverbial ship has already come in, and it's name is the USS Jesus. He alone is the One Who can save my soul. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life.
-The way to go spiritually bankrupt is to be receiving circumcision. Circumcision in this instance was the focal-point of works-based righteousness. If I am having placed my trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, then the very moment I begin to place my trust in any work or self-effort as a way to earn favor or right standing with God, then Christ is no longer profiting me. If any good work could somehow save me, then Christ died needlessly. And if I am in that place, if I get to that place where I am trying to work my way to stay in favor with God - like these Galatians were in danger of going - then I am obligated to be keeping the entire law. Not just one command, but all 600+ of them. Every. Last. One.
-So once they take the plunge to receive circumcision, the Galatians will in fact be moving to a place where Christ will not profit them. While we know that there are things, good deeds in this life which contain some benefit (bodily discipline, for one - 1Timothy 4.7-8), there is only one thing which is profitable in all things, both in this life and in the life to come, only one which really matters. Godliness. God-likeness. In other words, that character and comportment of heart and life which are like Him, the One Who made us in His image, the One Who died for us and is dying to remake us like unto Him. And He alone holds the profit for the life to come, for eternity. We put our faith, our trust, our spiritual security in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment