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6.14 Galatians -- Parting Shots

Paul can't resist throwing a couple of final barbs at the legalists.  Those who advocate circumcision choose to glory in the flesh and not the Cross (Gal 6:12-13).  This is a very telling point: does removal of the foreskin have greater power to regenerate the soul than the blood of Jesus?   What a ridiculous, blasphemous teaching.  Yet this is the implication of the Judaizers' doctrine.   Sarcastically, Paul responds -- if it is marks on the body they are concerned with, he has plenty to show them.  These are "the marks of Jesus", scars and beatings, some of which came at the hands of the Jews.

 

Yet, he says, this entire dispute is a distraction from the one essential thing:

          Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation (Gal 6:15).

          And this comes about through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus.   
         

Even Paul's following blessing is a slam:

          Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).

         The true Israel is the community of faith, people who walk according to the Spirit, not those who cling to the Law and boast of their natural heritage.

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