Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “For what does the Scripture say” Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Amazing faith”   In Romans 3:28 Paul wrote, “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” There Paul uses what is sometimes referred to as “the royal we.” The “royal we” is when the Queen of England speaks of herself in the third person when she says something like “We are very pleased by what we see.” It lends authority and weight to the pronouncement and reminds everyone that the person speaking does indeed have great authority and influence. Paul’s use of the “royal we” is more of an “apostolic we” but it serves the same purpose. It reminds us that he is speaking to us as an Apostle and with the authority of God, and the pronouncement is that God is more impressed with our faith than with our works.   Paul knows that example is always more helpful than simple statements of fact, and so now in chapter four he gives us examples of this kind of faith at work in the lives of people we all know and can relate to. He begins with the man Abraham.   Abraham was the most influential figure in Judaism, even more so than Moses. As important and influential as Moses was, even Moses looked back to, and up to, Abraham for guidance and inspiration. Abraham was affectionately known as “Father Abraham.” But here’s the thing, he was not just the lineal biological father of the Jews, but also the lineal spiritual father of Christians. Ultimately, the roots of Christianity run all the way back to Abraham. Even Jesus referred to the example of Abraham in some of His teaching. Three of the largest religions in the world all trace their roots to Abraham – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.   So, here Paul directs our attention to a lesson that Abraham himself learned and then modeled for the rest of us. Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 that Abraham “believed God” and it was that belief, that faith, that was credited to Him as righteousness. That statement was made in reference to God’s promise to Abraham that God was going to give him a son to be his heir and that ultimately the line of Abraham would grow to be more numerous than the stars in the sky. And although that seemed impossible, Abraham chose to believe the promise of God rather than the apparent impossibility of the circumstances.   Paul’s point is that this is the kind of faith God is looking for from us. Despite how impossible our circumstances may seem, God is sovereign over our circumstances. He is all-powerful and He is good, He loves us unconditionally and He has a great plan for our lives. So, are we going to believe God or our circumstances? Abraham chose to believe God. I hope you will too. Abraham’s faith was amazing. I hope yours is too.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel.” Luke 7:9 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Would you like to amaze Jesus?”   Is there anything we can say or do that would amaze Jesus? Don’t be too quick to answer that. The answer most of us would likely give, and the one that is certainly most theologically accurate is, “No. Jesus is God and therefore He is omniscient. He knows everything. So, no, Jesus cannot be amazed.” And that would be a theologically correct answer. In that application of the word, amaze means to startle, surprise, stun, astonish.   But a couple of synonyms for amaze, and therefore another meaning of the word is to dazzle and electrify. This form of being amazed is the equivalent of being joyfully pleased on the positive side, or deeply disappointed in a negative sense. “I am amazed – exceedingly pleased, with how good and beautiful this is.” Or “I am amazed and very disappointed at how bad this is.”   The reason I ask if you think it’s possible for Jesus to be amazed by us is because the Bible tells us it is possible. There are two times in the Gospels when we are told that Jesus was amazed. Once He was amazed in a positive way and once in a negative way, and both instances had to do with faith.   In Luke 7:9 the Scripture says that Jesus was amazed at the faith of the Roman centurion who asked Him to heal his servant. He believed that Jesus could and would heal him. In that case, it wasn’t that Jesus didn’t know in advance that the centurion had such faith, He knew. And since Jesus is God, He also knew in advance that the centurion was going to display that faith. So, when the verse says that Jesus was amazed at such a display of faith, it means that Jesus was exceedingly pleased by such a pure and beautiful demonstration of faith.   But then in Mark 6:6 we read that when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth it was revealed that many there were hardhearted and unbelieving and they refused to believe in Him. Verse six says that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. That obviously doesn’t mean that it caught Him by surprise. It means that He was disappointed and distressed at that lack of faith and at the hardness of their hearts.   So, is there anything that you and I can do that would amaze Jesus in the ways I have just described? The answer is “yes” we can amaze Him by our strong, pure, and beautiful faith, or we can amaze Him by our lack of it as He sadly shakes His head (as with the people in His hometown), and thinks to Himself, “How can you not have faith?”   This is the issue the Apostle Paul will have us think about as we dip into the main lessons of Romans chapter four over the next several days. For today, I encourage you to amaze Jesus with the depth and sincerity of your great faith.           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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “For we conclude that a person is saved by faith apart from the law.” Romans 3:28 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Yes, you are good enough?”   Yesterday I asked you to consider the question “Am I good enough?” It was based on Paul’s long teaching throughout Romans chapter three which depicted religious people thinking they could be good enough in God’s eyes simply by a matter of heritage, or by ritualistic adherence to rules and regulations. Paul’s point was that none of that was sufficient to make us right in the eyes of God and all of it left the person feeling empty and doubtful.   With respect to their relationship with God and the question of “Am I good enough” many people believe the answer to be, “Yes, I am good enough.” They wrongly believe that although they may not be perfect, they’re not brazenly evil either. “Maybe I do smoke and chew and go with girls who do”, but I’m not a murderer; I’m not an adulterer; I don’t cheat on my taxes, kick puppies, or steal lollipops from the mouths of toddlers. I’m basically a good person and surely that’s good enough for God.”   Paul’s logic in Romans three leads us to the realization that it is only through faith in Christ that we become “good enough”. Once we embrace that truth and make it our own, we then have a solid doctrinal foundation upon which to build a life of strong faith, and that will go a long way towards improving the image we have of ourselves.   Paul’s point in all of this is that rather than putting on a big, hypocritical religious show, we would be much better off if we would fall to our knees, get our own hearts right with the Lord, and then live a life as a fully committed disciple of Jesus.   So back to our original question, “Are you good enough?” Well, yes, you are – if you have placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and if you are living the life of a faithful disciple of Christ, then you look pretty good to God.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” Romans 3:28 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Am I good enough?”   Now there’s an uncomfortable question, “Am I good enough?” It’s a question we all ask ourselves sometimes, and it often grows out of our insecurities, or out of a sense of low self-esteem and a feeling that we just don’t measure up. It might be the result of a troubled childhood that left you with a deep-seated sense of inadequacy and insecurity. There are a lot of people who spend a large part of their adult lives trying to get over their childhood. Maybe for you your doubts about “Am I good enough” result from comparing yourself to others in terms of looks, body image, education, job status, economic status, or other false standards of measure like that which we often apply to ourselves. We then conclude that we fall short.   In our society counselors and psychologists make a pretty good living trying to help people get over their insecurities and poor self-image and to change their answer to that question to, “Yes, I am good enough.”  Getting to that point is a great victory – it’s a glorious day for the individual.   All throughout Romans chapter three the Apostle Paul has been attempting to help us realize that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves good enough in the eyes of God. Heritage won’t do it. Being raised in a Christian family won’t do it. Being a good enough person, giving enough money to charity, performing enough religious rituals – none of it will make you “good enough”. In 3:23 he reminded us that, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But then in verse 28 he revealed the solution to it all, “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of law.”   If you are a Christian then you are a child of God, created in the image of God. Your Father in heaven loves you unconditionally and you are fully accepted by Him because of your position in Christ. None of those other manmade standards of measurement created and promoted by the world are the true measure of your worth. Your body image, your educational level, your economic status, the number of followers you have on YouTube or Twitter – none of that defines your worth in the eyes of God. If you are “in Christ”, you are a new creation – a beautiful fully forgiven and fully accepted child of God and so then the answer is, “Yes, I am good enough. I am good enough to God because I come to Him in Christ”.   That’s where Paul has been trying to get us to in our thinking. That is the sound and solid and essential doctrinal understanding that leads to a strong faith that cannot be shaken. If you belong to the Father through faith in His Son Jesus then the answer to our opening question is “Yes, you are good enough.”   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “Their condemnation is deserved!” Romans 3:8b (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Should God continue to bless us anyway?”   In Romans 3:1-8 Paul has been making the point that God’s standards are right and His judgment is righteous, and any attempt to rationalize ungodly behavior is absurd. Now Paul has come to the point that he won’t engage in this ridiculous dialogue any further because, well, because it is ridiculous. It is nonsensical and it is therefore a waste of his time.   His point was to show how it is that when people become so deeply invested in their sinful ways and so determined to justify it, they object to traditional Biblical values but without any sense of objectivity. In other words, you can’t reason with them. That’s what happened with the Jews back then, and that is what has been happening in America today. They cannot be reasoned with.   For many of the Jews in that day they had come to the point of believing they were in favor with God because of their heritage, and they believed that to be true despite how they were living. They were cultural Jews, but they were far from God. The same is true in America today. Many in our society are living far from God but still believe God is blessing America because we have a Christian heritage. Like the early Jews, those Americans may be cultural Christians, but they are living far from God.   One of my favorite patriotic songs is “God Bless America.” “God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her guide her, through the night with the light from above.” We faithful Christians often call out to God and ask Him to bless America. But I wonder if that’s really a good and appropriate prayer. Should we be asking God to bless America? I mean, considering the sinful ways of our society, does America deserve to be blessed by God right now? If we ask for God to bless us in our current condition, aren’t we essentially saying, “God, despite all the bad things we’re doing, please continue to bless us anyway.”   Now let me be quick to say that I like being blessed, and I don’t want it to stop. I like prosperity, and I like my comfortable lifestyle. I like living safely and well-protected in the strongest nation in the world and I like all our creature comforts. I like freedom. So, yes, God, please continue to bless America because when you do so, you are by extension blessing me.    But when we ask God to continue to bless us despite all the sinful things our society is doing, aren’t we then essentially asking God to enable our bad behavior? Isn’t that like a child saying, “Daddy, I know we’re misbehaving and acting like a bunch of spoiled brats, but we still want our ice cream anyway.”   Rather than praying “God bless America,” maybe we should be praying “God discipline America.” Maybe we should be asking Him to bring our society to its knees so that we will repent and change our ways. And if I’m not willing to pray such a prayer, is it possible I’m more concerned with my comfort than with God’s honor?   To some degree, our Christian heritage has become a problem for us – a stumbling block. We have been experiencing blessings we no longer deserve to have and yet we expect them to keep coming. Should God keep blessing America? I sure hope He does but I’m not sure we deserve it.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? … if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?” Romans 3:5;7 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “That thinking is ridiculous”   In Romans 3:5-8 Paul continues to illustrate how absurd people can get as they attempt to rationalize their behavior. Over the decades of his long and difficult ministry, Paul had made repeated attempts to reason with his own people, but with mixed results. There were times when his listeners were convicted, repented, and came to faith in Christ. But more often, the Jews reacted negatively to his message and they opposed him, sometimes to the point of violence.   The reason that happens is because when you challenge someone’s deeply held beliefs, or when you question their ungodly behavior, their reaction is often driven by emotion and anger. The stronger the position is held, the deeper the emotion associated with it. Often their reasoning is so illogical it becomes silly. That was the case in Romans 3:5-8. The person Paul referred to claimed that since God’s favor upon the Jewish people was a great gift and a tremendous act of grace on God’s part, and since he had favor with God simply as a matter of his Jewish heritage (even if he sinned), then his sinful conduct actually served to highlight God’s grace and therefore it was a good thing not a bad thing.   The longer the debate went on the more argumentative and ridiculous the person was getting. I think we can paraphrase his challenge to Paul like this: “How can you say on the one hand that the Jews have failed in their faithfulness to God, and then turn around and insist that they are still the people of God? (Which is what Paul did in verses 1-3). If we are as bad as you say we are, then surely God has abandoned us; but if God has not abandoned us, then we must not be as bad as you say we are and He still blesses us anyway. So, which is it?”   That would be the equivalent of someone saying today: “You Christians claim that America is special and blessed by God because we were founded on Biblical principles. Well, if it is true that we were founded on Biblical principles and God has blessed us because of it, He should still be blessing us now because even if our culture and conduct have changed, we are still a nation founded on Biblical principles and therefore we should still have His blessings regardless of how we act.”   That kind of thinking is especially prevalent among the liberal segments of the Christian world who claim to be doctrinally sound, but who endorse the sexual ethics of the culture rather than Biblical sexual ethics. It is that kind of convoluted reasoning that allows them to engage in unbiblical conduct and yet believe they are still receiving God’s blessings.   We will continue this discussion tomorrow. For today, I challenge each of us to prayerfully consider if we ourselves are guilty of engaging in silly and illogical rationalizations about our own conduct, which lead us away from God’s will, and consequently away from His blessings.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the very words of God. What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar.” Romans 3:1-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Do you appreciate what we have?”   As we discussed in the previous devotional, a Godly heritage can be an asset, but it can also be a liability. I think we can all see how a good godly heritage can be a blessing; we can see it in the history of the Jews and in the history of the USA. So, we probably don’t need to spend a lot of time thinking about that. But what about heritage being a potential liability or problem? In what ways can the heritage become a problem or a hindrance? There are two, one of which I will address today, and the other tomorrow.   First, there is the problem of what is sometimes called privilege without perception. As Paul already established, physical circumcision was to be nothing more than a physical symbol of an inner reality. True circumcision is circumcision of the heart. It is the cutting out of our lives any thought or behavior that does not honor God. The circumcised heart then results in a life that honors God. Jews who lived that way were honoring their true heritage.   The same is true of our heritage here in the USA. If we recognize God’s hand upon the founding of this nation; and we see how our adherence to Biblical principles of morality and ethics have shaped our society in a good way; and if we then conduct our lives according to those Biblical principles which have brought us such great blessings; then our godly heritage is indeed a glorious thing and of great advantage to us. That’s the point Paul was making about the Jews here in these verses, and it applies to us here in the USA as well.   But then in verses 3-4 Paul brings us to one of the potential problems often associated with such a heritage – it’s when the people of that heritage begin to take it for granted. They lose sight of it, and they begin to drift from it. Many within that society, with its rich heritage from God, had drifted progressively further-and-further from their godly heritage.    How did that happen? How did the people get so muddled in their thinking and how did they drift so far from God and His ways? They became so entangled with the affairs of life that they lost sight of the big picture. They were so emmeshed in their cultural rituals and routines of their Jewish culture, and it became so routine to them that they lost sight of the core values of their culture.   That happened to the Jews in Paul’s day, and it is happening to many Christians in America in our day. We have a strong godly heritage – a nation that is founded on Biblical principles and the Judea/Christian ethic, but we must treasure it, nurture it, cling to it, and protect it. Otherwise, we are expecting to enjoy the privileges of the heritage, but we are doing so without the perception or the conscious awareness of where that heritage comes from and what difference it should make in how we live our lives. When that starts happening it won’t be long before we lose the blessings of that heritage.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”   Our Bible verse for today: “So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?” Romans 3:1 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Is it an asset, a liability, or both?”   As we continue to think about developing sound doctrine on which to build a strong faith, our discussion now turns to the subject of our Christian heritage as a nation. Heritage is the subject Paul addresses now in his letter to the Roman Christians regarding the heritage of the Jews. Specifically, he discusses the pros and cons of Jewish heritage. Did the Jews have an advantage over others because of their heritage? Well, yes and no. And while we’re thinking about them, I think the question should also cause us to consider whether we, as Christians in the USA, have an advantage because of our Godly heritage. And the answer again is both yes and no.   There can be no question that the Jews had a Godly, Biblical heritage. In a previous devotional in this series, we looked at Genesis chapter seventeen where God instituted physical circumcision as a sign of the covenant that He was making with the Israelites that He would be their God, and they would be His people. Then the entire Old Testament records the history of the Jews with God.   So, there can be no question about their heritage, and the Jews themselves certainly thought there was huge advantage to it. So much so that they believed their Godly heritage made them special and above every other society and culture. They were sure they were blessed by God simply because of their heritage.  That was a big part of their problem – many of them had become just cultural Jews rather than spiritual Jews.   Likewise, we here in America can point to a solid Biblical heritage. I have preached, taught, and written about this many times before. We have our Judeo/Christian Ethic upon which this nation was founded and which has been the underpinning of our values and our culture for most of our history. Sadly, liberal historians are working overtime trying to rewrite our history and trying to write our Biblical heritage out of the historical narrative, but that is intellectual dishonesty. Any fair reading of the historical facts reveals the truth that at our founding and at our core, we are a nation that has a strong Biblical heritage.   But just like with the Jews, we need to see that just because we are citizens of a nation with a Biblical foundation and a Christian heritage, that by itself would only make us cultural Christians. Being people who have a deep and strong relationship with Jesus Christ is something else entirely.   We will think more about this tomorrow. For today, I encourage each of us to prayerfully consider how deep, real, and genuine is your faith? Is it more cultural than spiritual? Cultural faith can be deceptive and misleading. It can give people a false sense of assurance with respect to their relationship with God. And when that happens, their heritage becomes a liability rather than an asset. That was true of many in ancient Israel, and it’s true in the USA today as well.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN38571

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.” Romans 2:28 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Does God want you to be circumcised?”   This section of Romans chapter two is a continuation of Paul’s teaching in the previous passage about righteous judgment. Paul urges his readers to avoid becoming a religious hypocrite who puts on a religious show by doing and saying one thing publicly but then is a secret sinner in private. In both cases he was using Jewish heritage, the Jewish mindset, and common Jewish practice as an illustration. It’s in that way that he is now going to us the subject of circumcision to teach an important spiritual lesson, and it is a key element of sound doctrine that leads to strong faith.   In the previous passage, Paul created a fictious Jewish man who was fastidious about observing every jot and tittle of the law. He prides himself on being a rule-keeper and he is that proverbial religious poseur, the hypocrite putting on the big outward religious show. This is the guy Paul described in Romans 2:17-24 and it was an obvious reference to the scribes and Pharisees that all his early readers would have been so familiar with. But it also applies to modern-day Pharisees who are self-righteous religious hypocrites who pride themselves on being “holier than thou”.   Now, in fairness, it is understandable (while not excusable), that the Jews could be tempted to see themselves as being better than the rest of humanity. Remember the covenant that God made with them and which we read in Genesis 17:10-14 in yesterday’s devotional. He was their God, they were His people, and they bore the physical mark of circumcision in their flesh to prove it.   So, they were special, they knew it, they could prove it, and they were proud of it, so… it went to their heads. They had forgotten an important part of the covenant – they had forgotten what circumcision was supposed to symbolize. The covenant was never supposed to be about mindless ritual. It was never supposed to be about outward shows of religious piety that weren’t real. Circumcision was never supposed to be some kind of Boy Scout merit badge to wear on your uniform. Physical circumcision was supposed to be an outward symbol of an inner reality. Listen to King David in Psalm 51:16-17: “You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.”   We will continue thinking about this tomorrow. For this morning, I encourage you to ask God to show you if the practice of your own faith has in any way devolved into little more than a religious show. Then ask Him to forgive you and to help you correct it.   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

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571