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| INSIGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE: • “Dog” is one of the lowest names you could call a person in Paul’s day, and it often meant someone who wasn’t a Jew or who was unclean. • In verse 3, Paul says that we are the true circumcision. Circumcision was the removal of the foreskin of the penis, and it was a sign of God’s covenant relation with his people, beginning with Abraham. Circumcision of the Jewish male was required as a visible, physical sign of the covenant between the Lord and his people. In this passage, Paul says that the new creation we become in Christ replaces the need for a physical circumcision. • Paul continues in verse 3 to say that our confidence is in Christ rather than the flesh. This means that Christ is wholly sufficient for our salvation. Our own virtue or effort means nothing. • A person can only renounce what he or she has—you can’t give up something you don’t have. Paul had a lot in terms of heritage, advantages, achievements, and religious actions. He could match up with anyone and had a lot of self-confidence in himself. But when Paul came to know Jesus, many of his values were reversed. What once meant a lot to him now meant nothing. The one whom he had despised he now called his Lord. Paul found a new life by losing his own. • Knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord came to be the most valuable thing in Paul’s life. To “know” meant more than mind knowledge. It meant the knowledge that masters the heart and will as well. Knowing Christ is more than knowing about him. It is the personal relationship of inviting Jesus to be the Lord of our hearts and minds. Continued... |
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