INSIDE OUT
ROMANS 2:28-29 NKJV
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
In this passage, Paul is making the case for the spiritual nature of the new covenant that we have in Christ.
The Jewish people were well known as God's chosen people. In the Old Testament, God speaks of them being a separate nation to Him.
The Jewish people were to live differently than the nations that were in proximity to them. The Jews had different laws and rules of conduct. There were foods they could eat, and some they were to abstain from. There were laws regarding how to clean utensils and how to wash. In looking back at these laws, the Jews were extremely far ahead of disease prevention before germs were ever discovered.
Another key component of Jewish laws before God was circumcision. It was a sign of the covenant between God and His people.
But then along comes Jesus, and things make a dramatic shift. No longer would people have to go to a temple to stand before the presence of God. Now God would live in man by His Spirit.
No longer would the focus be on foods and washing. Jesus stated it was what came out of the heart that caused defilement, not what went into the stomach.
And as for circumcision, no longer was it required to show a relationship with God. No longer were the Jews the only people of God. Now God's children were determined spiritually. Now, the change was not measured on the outside but by what has taken place in the heart, in the spirit of man.
What is done on the outside appeals to man. What is done on the inside is apparent to God. Now everyone can be one of God's special people, one of His chosen ones. Not by keeping an outward set of rules and regulations but by receiving the work of God completed in Jesus.
Paul's writings and message greatly angered the religious Jews. We observed the attacks they leveled against him in the book of Acts.
But Paul's message brought great freedom to Gentiles who could now become God's chosen by faith in Christ.
PRAYER:
Thank You Lord that now I am one of Your chosen ones because of what You did for me through Jesus. Inwardly I look good to You!