Are you wearing costume jewelry?

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart – by the Spirit, not the letter.” Romans 2:28-29 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Are you wearing costume jewelry?”

Today we will conclude our examination of Paul’s use of the illustration of the physical act of circumcision to describe the spiritual act of cutting out of our lives anything that does not honor God. True circumcision takes place internally not externally – it is spiritual circumcision of the heart rather than physical circumcision of that male body part.

In Matthew 23:27-28 Jesus condemned the Pharisees for missing this important distinction: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

One Bible commentator called such phony outward religious shows “costume jewelry.” Another said that such people are living double lives, they’re one person outwardly and another person inwardly. With respect to the Jews who thought they were somebody because they had the outward symbol of physical circumcision, Paul was essentially saying it was costume jewelry. There’s was a physical symbol of a spiritual reality that wasn’t real in their case.

So, shame on those hypocritical Jews, right? Paul even went on to quote Isaiah 52:5, “The name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you.” The hypocrisy of the religious poseurs was so ridiculous to the unbelieving world that it was a cause of mockery, and it kept people away from God rather than drawing them to Him. Shame on them!

But wait, how about shame on us? Are we guilty of this too? Consider what the late, great theologian Francis Schaeffer had to say about the contemporary application of this passage for us: “This is surely how God looks at much of Christendom today. Claiming to be under the umbrella of Christendom, claiming to have some sort of special blessing because the bells ring in the cathedrals, because in the United States great numbers of people go to church, and yet we commit blasphemy against God as we turn from the clear teaching of His Word. It is a sober truth and we must face it: if we have the Bible, if we enjoy all the blessings it brings, and yet our lives bring shame upon God’s name, we are guilty of the greatest irreverence … When the man with the Bible treats it as an external thing only, it causes the man without the Bible to dishonor the God of the Bible. Surely, then, the man with the Bible is justifiably under God’s wrath.”

Many of the Jews of that day thought they were special to God because they had the outward symbol of the covenant carved into that sensitive part of their body. They thought the outward symbol made them special. But that was a terrible misunderstanding of the true meaning of circumcision. Likewise, many Christians today think they are special and holier than the unbelieving world around them because they maintain the outward symbols and rituals of a faith that in truth, often isn’t very real, isn’t very deep, and doesn’t make much of a difference in their own lives. It is a physical symbol that is not backed up by a spiritual reality in their lives. It is costume jewelry.

Are you wearing any spiritual costume jewelry? It’s a question worth considering.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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