What counts is the new creation

Galatians 6:12-

12 Those who want to impress others by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.

16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

My thoughts -

Paul closes his letter here hammering home the point about circumcision. We've dealt with this issue a couple of times over the last few days. This is a big deal. This is a case of the religiously powerful oppressing the vulnerable and imposing upon them a standard that no one can bear.

I find it compelling and a little bit convicting that Paul is doing this. Let me explain what I mean by that. I am not convicted in that I feel as though I have done what the Galatians have done or its equivalent. It's possible that I have. We need to, especially those of us with some authority (it pains me to admit that I might have some authority - I always try to avoid that), check our actions constantly to make sure that we are not causing undue hardships for others and that we are striving to do God's will and not anything from our own selfish, sinful nature. What convicts me here is that Paul is dealing with a very real issue of oppression and, while he's not letting anyone off the hook, he is still responding with the Galatian churches' best interest at heart.

He has spent a great amount of time and effort in this letter lamenting the breakdown in the relationship. These people have wronged Paul. These people have oppressed others in the name of Jesus. These people have been ethnocentric hypocrites. I would have no patience for them. I would have no love for them. My goal would be to remove them from their place of power with whatever means necessary. They would be dead to me, or, failing that, my mortal enemies.

As you can see, I am nowhere near the man Paul was. I may be a believer. I may be trying hard to follow Christ. I may be seeking desperately after God's will. But I am not filled with God's love. At least not enough. At least not yet.

I'm not closing this letter with anything wishing grace, peace, or love on the recipient. I'm closing it with a precision guided missile of profanity. I'm closing it not with a blessing but a curse.

So when Paul says that "what counts is the new creation" in this passage, while he's responding to the practice of the Galatians imposing circumcision and strict adherence to the law I am finding that I need to, yet again, be made into a new creation. This isn't an overnight fix. I like to say that I am being made in the image of God, not that I have been made in the image of God. Creation is a process. Re-creation is as well. I am not a finished product. There is much work left to do. And while I, when reading this, want to place myself in Paul's shoes the sad truth of the matter is the Galatian shoes would fit much better right now.

How do you follow Christ? How do you love your enemies? How do you bless those who curse you? How do you take up your own cross? How do you become a new creation?

We like to think that we have all of the answers but this isn't easy. We know that the answer is "Jesus" but that's not something that can be understood with reason. How do you let go? How do you allow Jesus to take over? It's crazy. It doesn't make sense. It isn't rational. There are no fool proof procedures, no six easy steps, no guarantees. It isn't easy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either confused or lying. Is the longing enough? How do you do God's will when you're tainted by sin? How do you overcome sin without doing God's will? It seems that the Christian life is full of contradictions and conundrums.

So here I am again. More questions than answers. But this I do know. Grace is available to all of us through Christ Jesus our Lord. We, through Christ, can overcome all of these things. Maybe I need to stop trying to figure out exactly how that works and trust Jesus to do the work for me. I need to allow my Creator to finish me and stop fighting to take over the design. What counts is the new creation.