Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 6-7
Meditation Verse: 7:19
Thought
Knowing that there are commands and instructions about circumcision in the Law makes this seem like a paradoxical statement. If I desire to keep God's commands, shouldn't I be circumcised? Circumcision is a sign of the righteousness Abraham received by faith that produced obedience to God. But that sign became corrupted and distorted, such that circumcision came to be treated as the thing that makes you part of a saved community. It was the guarantee, so that even those who cared nothing about anything else in all God's instructions would think he was saved and secure. After all, it was 8-day-old boys who were to be circumcised, and they had neither faith nor obedience! But circumcision was supposed to be the sign (and a personal, private one) that you believe in God, fearing and honoring Him such that you cared about all He had to say and did it. Circumcision wasn't meant to replace obedience but to mark someone as one who obeys God out of faith in Him. So God began speaking of circumcision of the heart as what He was really looking for all the way back in the Old Testament. Paul's not saying anything new, then, but pointing out something old, the very basis and reason God called for and established the New Covenant. There are many commands and instructions in the Old Testament, but the heart and core of them all was godly behavior: a genuine love for God and care for our neighbor. The commands that always should have been our greatest concern were those commands that taught us how to treat God and how to treat our fellow man. So Paul can say here that circumcision or uncircumcision doesn't matter, but keeping God's commands is all that matters, and he's not contradicting himself or God!
Application
Indeed, anything that can be used to stand in the place of genuine faith resulting in diligent obedience to God is likewise unimportant. Baptism doesn't guarantee someone is saved. Church confirmation doesn't guarantee someone is saved. Membership in the "right" church doesn't guarantee someone is saved. Going to all the right services, at least the bare minimum, doesn't mean someone is saved. The only thing that guarantees salvation is a faith in God that leads to obedience to all He commands. No outward sign or certificate can replace that or supercede that. No ritual, no confession, no word of any religious authority. God sent His Son to die for me and to live again, to set me free from the condemnation I deserved and to give me a new heart that delights to know God and walk in His ways. That's the only means and evidence of salvation. I don't need to be concerned about signs and certificate, but faith working itself out in love, as God directs and defines love.