What’s Inside Counts
“For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation.” Galatians 6:15 csb
Down the street and around the corner from my home, there’s a house where a hoarder lives. The home is filled from floor to ceiling with things that are never thrown away pizza boxes, Amazon packaging, waste, and containers. But from the outside, you’d never know it. The front yard is always well kept. The trees are trimmed, the lawn is mowed, and the grass is green and watered. It all looks nice on the outside, but it doesn’t reflect what’s really happening inside. Eventually, the county had to get involved because of complaints from the neighbors, and they’ve started clearing out the interior.
This picture reminds me of what the Apostle Paul was addressing when he wrote to the Galatians. Jewish religious leaders had been influencing Jewish Christian men and women, convincing them that they needed to add something to the grace they had already received through the mighty Gospel. These leaders were putting external pressure on the very churches Paul had planted. So Paul writes to exhort, correct, and remind them that it is by grace through faith alone that we are justified that is, made right with God. The external observance of the Law could no longer make someone righteous.
In Paul’s closing statements in Galatians 6, he wraps up the entire letter. And in the verse we’re looking at, Paul like the skilled lawyer he was delivers his closing argument: “Outward works mean nothing (like a man being circumcised) if his heart isn’t changed.” God originally gave circumcision as a sign to Abraham to set him and his descendants apart from the rest of the world. It was a mark of holiness—a declaration that they were set apart. But later, the prophet Jeremiah would reveal the true heart of the matter:
“Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds.” — Jeremiah 4:4 (CSB)
The people were focused on keeping the law, making sure their sons were circumcised—but it did nothing for their hearts. God's desire was for hearts that were clean, new, and holy. Just like the hoarder’s house where the yard is clean, but the inside is filthy religion can make a person look good on the outside, but do nothing for the inside. That’s the problem Paul is addressing in Galatians. No matter how many good works you do, no matter how strictly you follow the law, it can never make you a new creation. It can never give you a clean heart. Only grace through faith can justify us in God’s eyes. Only through Jesus Christ can any man or woman be made righteous enough to meet God’s perfect standard.
That’s liberating news! I don’t have to strive to become righteous Christ makes me righteous. I don’t have to perform external works to be justified for heaven Christ did the work on the cross of Calvary. So many people live in condemnation, believing they’re not good enough, thinking they have to do more to be holy. But that’s a lie. That’s bondage. True freedom is found in Christ alone. It’s only through Jesus that we are made holy. It’s only through Jesus that we are made right. When you believe that when you live in that understanding you’ll experience what verse 16 says: “May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy…” If you want to know true peace, know Christ. If you need mercy, it’s found at the cross.
Agape, Frank
Grieve The Sinner
“I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented…” 2 Corinthians 12:21b
In the 1840s, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was a physician in Vienna who discovered that childbed fever, which was killing thousands of mothers after childbirth, was being spread by doctors themselves because they weren’t washing their hands after performing autopsies or working with infected patients. When Semmelweis insisted that doctors wash their hands with antiseptic before delivering babies, the medical community mocked him. His warnings were ignored. Doctors felt insulted that someone would suggest they were the cause of such suffering.
Semmelweis grew more desperate as the death toll rose. He wrote letters, argued passionately, and even broke down emotionally because he knew he had the cure, simple handwashing could save countless lives. But his warnings were rejected. Tragically, he was later committed to an asylum, and he died brokenhearted. It wasn’t until years after his death that germ theory proved he had been right all along.
The Apostle Paul is concluding his second letter to the Corinthian church in chapter twelve. It’s a special glimpse into his heart as a pastor revealing his deep love and care for the church. The Corinthians had a reputation for being influenced by their culture and stumbling into immorality. His first letter (1 Corinthians) addressed many of the concerns he had heard about, offering both correction and grace to urge the church to deal with their sin. Yet even after this, Paul heard that many still “had not repented.” But notice, he isn’t angry. Instead, he is grieved. In this, we see the very heart of Christ, who desires that all sinners would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Paul understood the danger they were in as they continued to live in "moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality" (v. 21). It broke his heart, much like Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, who pleaded for doctors to wash their hands to save lives. If the Corinthians would simply repent and be washed by the Lord, the penalty for sin which is death, would be cured. But instead, they were refusing and continuing in their sin. This grieved not only the Apostle Paul but the Holy Spirit! We live in a society today that is not much different from Corinth. I live in Southern California, and the description Paul gives in verse 21 feels like a mirror of the culture around me. But does it break my heart? Does it move me to plead with those lost in their transgressions? If I’m honest, sometimes yes, but other times, I think, "Well, let them be."
But that’s not the heart of Christ. His desire is to use us, not to hate or dismiss those trapped in sin, but to be loving channels of His grace, offering them the gospel, "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). As American Christians, myself included, we can become cold toward those who don’t think, live, or believe like us. We can be dismissive, even antagonistic, toward those walking in darkness. But we are called to be witnesses to them. Like Dr. Semmelweis, who tirelessly pleaded with his fellow doctors to embrace the cure, we must lovingly share the only cure that has saved us from death: Jesus Christ.
The Lord would have us be compassionate—not tolerating sin, but grieving over it as He does, and courageously offering the hope of repentance and new life. It should break our hearts, because it breaks His. Grieve for those in your life that are unrepentive, pray for those who refuse to repent, it may be Christ might save them by using you. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart” Psalm 24:3 esv Pray they would wash and be clean in Jesus name.
Agape, Frank