Inner vs Outer (Acts 15)

12:30 PM





The world looks for proof that we are a Christian. Perhaps we ourselves get caught up in feeling that we should prove we are a Christian as well. Sadly, many churches today put way too much emphasis on ceremonies and outward signs or religious mandates which have their congregations putting check marks next to “things” that outwardly show just how Christian or spiritual they are. In Acts 15, this very thing was happening.  “Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”” (v1)

Why would they do this? Well, perhaps their intentions were not to give false information. You have to remember that circumcision was a very important part of the Jewish belief system and was commanded by God as a sign of the covenant he made with Abraham. (Genesis 17:10-11). It was also made part of the law of Moses. (Leviticus 12:3) But, good intentions or not, this concerned Paul and Barnabus very much because they saw the potential harm of such requirements being put on the newly converted Gentile nation. What was the harm? That performance and outer signs would become a focus and not the saving blood of Jesus Christ. 
Paul still had great respect for God’s Law but Paul had a new understanding of circumcision and the requirements of the Law.  He knew that Jesus had fulfilled the Law. Circumcision done outwardly was just that, an outward sign. God was more interested in a circumcision of the heart. In fact, a circumcision of the heart was mentioned in the OT:
“Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:6

The circumcision of the flesh was an operation performed by a Jewish “mohel”. Circumcision of the  heart was an operation also but a spiritual one performed by the Holy Spirit through Christ. 
Paul wrote about this to the church of Colossians:
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:9-15)

God doesn’t care about how Christian we look, or outwardly give show of. He doesn’t care about our ceremonies and rituals. He doesn’t care how many times we attend Sunday School or church or how much money we put in the offering plate. None of that matters to Him if it comes from obligation or to prove to others we are a good Christian. What God cares about is that we have submitted to His will and allowed Him to circumcise our heart. From the change within our heart will come the fruit of true spiritual investment into the lives of others. That personal relationship with Christ may result in our regular worship and time in His Word, or in giving of our resources to others but it will be for the right reasons.  If you are going to “check off” something, let it be the motives of your heart. What we do should not be for the approval of others but for the approval of God. 
Paul also wrote about this in Romans:
“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29)

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