“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11).
The Basket Case Chronicles #71
“Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Cor. 7:18-19).
Paul’s principle is that every man should begin to walk with God from the place where God called him. This principle applies to difficult marriages to pagans, and it applies to marriages that had fallen apart because of it. The principle is now applied to the cultural and religious categories of Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised (vv. 18-19). In a moment he is going to apply the principle to those who were called to Christ while in the condition of slavery (v. 21ff).
Keeping the commandment of God is what counts—and this means that we are to do what God requires and in the way He requires it. Our circumstances change, but God does not change. Because we serve an unchanging God in the midst of changing circumstances, that means that we must not be wooden in our obedience. We have a constant tendency to want to freeze what obedience looks like, and we want to do this because we don’t want to think with our minds or with our hearts. But such a refusal is not maturity, and we are called to maturity.
This is why God can tell His saints to build His Temple, and God can then tear it down with heathen armies. This is why He can command sacrifices, and then inspire the psalmist to say that sacrifices “You did not require.” This is why He can tell us to be merciful and to offer sacrifices, and then tell us that He desires mercy and “not sacrifice. This is why Paul can say here that circumcision, given to Abraham as a glorious thing, is nothing. This is why he can say that uncircumcision is nothing. As in, God does not care.
And we are good with this, because the text is talking about other people’s precious things. But how about this? Baptism is nothing, and lack of baptism is nothing. Liturgy is nothing. The church calendar is nothing. Glorious music in worship is nothing. But . . . but . . . we are doing these things in obedience, and keeping God’s commandments is what counts. Well, then, great. Keep after it. That is the work of faith, and God never fights the work of His own Spirit.
Just remember that His own Spirit will often contradict what we all thought He told us to do. That is where reformations come from.