Was Born

Galatians 4:28-31 ESV 

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

We are born according to the flesh. We are reborn according to the Spirit. The contention of the two lies in the heart of every child of God. 

Passing The Time

We are only minutes away from eternity.

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The Treasure

Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV 

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

The Israelites are the people of the earth who are chosen by God as His treasured possession. They are holy because He is Holy. 

Those in Christ are the people of the kingdom of heaven. We choose God and we are made into His royal priesthood. We are holy because He is Holy. 

One is treasured on earth and the other finds their treasure in heaven. 

His Nature

Hebrews 1:3 ESV 

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Romans 2:14

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

The light of the world is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. This is the man Jesus. Those in Christ begin a transformation into the nature of Christ. His nature is what the law requires. We have to be in His body before He can enter ours. A natural man can then become the natural man God intended. 

For All Who Believe

Romans 3:21-26 ESV 

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

The righteousness of God has been given to the flesh of mankind. Jesus wrapped Himself in that sinful flesh and raised it to His throne in heaven. We can choose to join our spirits with His Spirit and follow wrapped in new flesh like His. 

The grace of this gift is offered to all who believe. No one is predestined for His salvation, though everyone is predestined for destruction. That is why the road to destruction is wide and the way to everlasting life is narrow. They are sized to handle the traffic in each direction. The decision to become one with Jesus lies with each of us. The path chosen is up to us. 

God has shown us His righteousness and we are here in the present time when He can be found. He is looking for us and holds out His light to show the way. He does this that we might find Him. 

Faith is the power that brings us and will keep us in the palm of His hand. 

The Knowledge Of Sin

Romans 3:19-20 NASB

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world. The digested fruit becomes the Law given to Israel, his descendants and heirs who are to tend to the Garden and hold out the light of God to the nations and the world. 

 The Law applies to those under the Law. 

Those who are in Christ have been freed from the Law, but have not been freed from obedience to the Lord. It is now a personal matter. Fortunately, we have the person of Jesus Christ who is with us and intercedes with the Father on our behalf. 

The Mark

Romans 2:25-29 ESV 

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

In the end, circumcision is the mark of god on His people. The mark of the Old Covenant was on the outward flesh of His elect people. The relationship was between God and the natural man of the nation of Israel. They lived exclusively in the flesh as they tried to relate to God. 

The circumcision of the New Covenant is inward and manifests with the Holy Spirit residing in the heart of the believer. This is made possible when one is reborn from above. The spirit of that person is made alive to the Spirit of God. We refer to this reality as being one with Christ. We are still in the flesh, but relate to Him in Spirit. This is true worship, for God is Spirit 

In these verses we see the fullness of what it means to be a Jew. It is the one in relationship with God. The fulfillment of that relationship is in a people who approach God the Father as His children.