Do You Want Peace And Mercy?

“And as many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God”

(Galatians 6:16)

Wow this is an awesome promise for if we walk according to this rule we will have peace and mercy, but the question is WHAT RULE? RIGHT?

Galatians 6:13 says this “For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh”. This verse lets us know that many of the converted Jews wanted the converted Gentiles to be circumcised so that they would fulfill Mosaic Law (about being circumcised) thus being under the law. This meant that the converted Jews could glory in their flesh because they made the converted Gentiles get circumcised. In addition, this was a stab at the Gentiles by the Jews in the sense that if you were not circumcised as the Jews were then you were lower on the “christian” ladder. Also, even though God tells us in other verses that there is neither circumcision or uncircumcision in the Body of Christ (Galatians 5:6 / Colossians 3:9-11)  many Jews still wanted their Gentile brothers to be circumcised according to the Law. So how do we need to walk to receive the peace and mercy promised in Galatians 6:16?

“GOD FORBID that I should GLORY, save in the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Galatians 6:14-15). THAT is the rule we should follow…

Glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

The world is crucified unto me

I am crucified unto the world

Because in Christ there is neither Jew (circumcision) nor Greek (uncircumcision)

BUT A NEW CREATURE!

Most people who claim to love Jesus are not dead to the world no more than people of the world are dead to the world. Oh they play act it well when they go to their buildings or when they are around believers or on the phone, but how they act when they think no one is looking is a different story. These people have one foot in the world (see full definition below) and the other foot in the Kingdom of God, but in reality they are actually really only living in the world and play acting like a christian when it’s convenient.

1 John 2:15-16

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”

What is the world?

The word world is the Greek word “kosmos” which means an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution (oops America), the government, the inhabitants of the earth, the human family, the ungodly multitude (whole mass of men who are alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ), world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly, and the whole circle of earthly goods (endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc) which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, and seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.

Isn’t it time to STOP living like the world and start living like we actually live in the Kingdom of God…

It’s OUR choice And It Will Define OUR Eternity!!!