Galatians 4-6
Passage 5:2-4
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
If a person is ritualized, Christ shall profit him nothing. Ritualized means a person is depending upon some religious thing to make him acceptable to God. In the case of the Galatians, it was circumcision; but it can apply to anything: ritual, ceremony, works, law, goodness, church membership, last rites, religious services etc. If a person approaches God and tries to secure God’s acceptance by any means other than Christ, then Christ shall profit him nothing. This means that what Christ has done for man is of no benefit to the person. What Christ has done for man will have no effect upon the man whatsoever. The righteousness and death of Jesus Christ will be of no avail to the man, for the man trusts his own works and goodness, not the righteousness and death of Jesus Christ.
Accepting the grace of God at face-value is difficult for many Christians: “How can God be that good to us? What is the catch? Surely, we have to add something to what God has done to be saved.”
Many of us have been through this experience, but yet couldn’t understand that grace of God is free of cost. The Jewish converts demanded others to be first circumcised in order to be saved, same way now days many Christians have made walls by their rituals. Every man that is circumcised as a token of obedience to the Old Covenant is a debtor to do the whole law. And as Paul confirms that in verse six, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Illustration:
“A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear cracking as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth: a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn’t outrun it.
“Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for-a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come.
“They didn’t have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near – and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched. Fire would not pass where fire had already passed.
“The law is like a brushfire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned- over place, not a hair will be singed. Christ’s death is the burned- over place. There I huddle, hardly believing yet relieved. The law is powerful, yet powerless: Christ’s death has disarmed it.”
The point is this: not only the Galatians, but we also, must heed the warning lest we begin to deny Christ. As Gal 5:13-14 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The hope for righteousness comes through Jesus Christ alone, not by a ritual (circumcision, law) nor by the lack of a ritual. Note exactly what this is saying:
-> Neither undergoing a ritual (circumcision) nor being without a ritual brings hope.
-> Neither having and keeping the law nor being without law brings hope.
-> Neither working for righteousness nor not working for righteousness brings hope.
Passage 5:2-4
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
If a person is ritualized, Christ shall profit him nothing. Ritualized means a person is depending upon some religious thing to make him acceptable to God. In the case of the Galatians, it was circumcision; but it can apply to anything: ritual, ceremony, works, law, goodness, church membership, last rites, religious services etc. If a person approaches God and tries to secure God’s acceptance by any means other than Christ, then Christ shall profit him nothing. This means that what Christ has done for man is of no benefit to the person. What Christ has done for man will have no effect upon the man whatsoever. The righteousness and death of Jesus Christ will be of no avail to the man, for the man trusts his own works and goodness, not the righteousness and death of Jesus Christ.
Accepting the grace of God at face-value is difficult for many Christians: “How can God be that good to us? What is the catch? Surely, we have to add something to what God has done to be saved.”
Many of us have been through this experience, but yet couldn’t understand that grace of God is free of cost. The Jewish converts demanded others to be first circumcised in order to be saved, same way now days many Christians have made walls by their rituals. Every man that is circumcised as a token of obedience to the Old Covenant is a debtor to do the whole law. And as Paul confirms that in verse six, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Illustration:
“A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear cracking as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth: a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn’t outrun it.
“Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for-a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come.
“They didn’t have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near – and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched. Fire would not pass where fire had already passed.
“The law is like a brushfire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned- over place, not a hair will be singed. Christ’s death is the burned- over place. There I huddle, hardly believing yet relieved. The law is powerful, yet powerless: Christ’s death has disarmed it.”
The point is this: not only the Galatians, but we also, must heed the warning lest we begin to deny Christ. As Gal 5:13-14 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The hope for righteousness comes through Jesus Christ alone, not by a ritual (circumcision, law) nor by the lack of a ritual. Note exactly what this is saying:
-> Neither undergoing a ritual (circumcision) nor being without a ritual brings hope.
-> Neither having and keeping the law nor being without law brings hope.
-> Neither working for righteousness nor not working for righteousness brings hope.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, can provide the sure hope of righteousness within a person except Jesus Christ: His righteousness and his death alone can offer hope to man.