Rubbish - Part 2

Garbage, trash, refuse, waste, or rubbish, we all have them in our lives. Some of the things are absolutely despicable, while others are normal and may seem appropriate. I am going to go through the list that Paul provides for us in Philippians 3:4-7 [T]hough I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Circumcised – I will not go into the details of what circumcision is, but the main thrust of it was that it was a sign of a covenant between Abraham and God. A covenant that Paul explains in Romans when Abraham was set apart as righteous because of his faith, not because of his circumcision. The circumcision was an outward symbol of his faith. From then on, God commanded His people to be circumcised so that they would be set apart for Him. Over a period of many, many years, the reasons people got circumcised became more about themselves instead of because of who God is and what He did for them. It became a meaningless ritual for some, while others still kept doing it as an outward symbol of their faith.
Here are some passages where Paul tells us that the importance of cirumcision is not the outward physical action, but what is on the inside that counts.
Romans 2:28-29 - that circumcision should not be phyiscal, but rather a condition of your heart.
1 Corithians 7:18-19 - that it doesn’t matter if you are circumcised or not, but keeping the commandments of God is what counts.
Galatians 5:6 and 6:15 - circumcision or uncircumcision counts for nothing, but faith working through love counts, and that we are a new creation.
Colossians 3:11 - There is no Greek, Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free; but Christ is all, and is in all.
It is obvious that Paul doesn’t value the mere act of circumcision, but who we are in Christ.
So we can ask ourselves this question: What actions do I do on the outside to “represent” my faith or the condition of my soul? Do we do things on the outside in order to impress others or even ourselves? Maybe for some it is baptism, an outward symbol of your faith. But are you doing it because every 8th grader has always done it or because your parents made you? Maybe it is praying at a table in a restaurant, trying to get others attention rather than conversing with the Almighty. What are the reasons you do these outward acts? To build confidence in your self or to help you know Christ Jesus in a continous way? If it is the former, then I suggest you throw the towel in, because you will never make it. The only way we can make it through this life is with a desire to know Christ Jesus as our Lord in a ongoing way. We may fall, no, we will fall and it will hurt. But in a strange way, that is how we know God is helping us.