Day 38 "Circumcision of the Heart by the Spirit" (Romans: Chapter Two)

Verses 1: "You have no excuse. you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge other, you are condemning yourself."

Verse 5: "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath."

Verse 8: "But for those who self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

Verse 9: "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil."

Verse 23: "You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?"

Key verses for me:

Verses 28-29: "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code."

I believe what Paul is revealing to us is that God isn't interested in us trying to follow his rules (called the law) in an effort towards self-righteousness but to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us as his children. When we see that God's desire for us is to care for others as he cares for us, we begin to understand that our lives were not meant to be just focused on our own needs and self-interest. Circumcision was an act performed by the Jewish people in adherence to God's law and done subjected to a covenant with God to show that the Jewish people were God's people. But in the book of Hebrews, we discover that God's law for his people was insufficient for changing the heart of man. The law could do a great job of condemning man by revealing that man could not keep it. But it could not change him! Therefore, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He made us holy by our faith in Jesus, God's one and only Son, who died to pay the penalty for all of our sins. In verses 28-29, Paul is emphasizing that changing a person is a matter of changing the heart of a person, not just making some physical change on the outside or trying to follow righteous rules through discipline. No, the written code, God's law, is not what is going to change our lifestyle. Only the Holy Spirit has the capability and capacity to work on our hearts and transform lives.

****************************************************************************

The driving force that makes this all possible is God's love for us. He is for us,

not against us!

Allow the Holy Spirit through God's word to speak to your heart. See you, again, tomorrow...