Philippians 3:2-6 (NIV)
Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
The Judaizers were making progress in churches all over the Roman Empire, perverting the gospel, confusing many gentile Christians, persuading them that they weren’t actually saved because they were gentiles, and dragging them backwards out of salvation by grace through faith, into a legalistic, works-based form of Judaism. And it made Paul angry!
If anyone could have been saved by works of the law, it would have been Paul. He had checked all the boxes throughout his life. He had been born in the right kind of family – Jewish parents from the tribe of Benjamin. His parents had circumcised him on the eighth day after he was born, exactly as the law required. He had been educated as a Pharisee, studying under the esteemed Gamaliel in Jerusalem.
He had even been such a devout Jew that he had actively persecuted Christians as heretics. Since they did not follow the complete law of Moses as passionately as he did, he considered them heretics, enemies of the faith, and worthy of death.
If there had been truth in the claims of the Judaizers, that Jesus only came to save the Jews, so any gentile who wanted to be saved had to first become a full convert to Judaism, Paul would have been fully on board. But Paul, through his own personal experience and through the direct teaching of Jesus Himself (Galatians 1:16-17), had learned that that was not true.
Jesus had come as the Savior of all humanity, every descendant of Adam and Eve. He had come for the Jews, yes, but He had come for the gentiles too. And He doesn’t require people to become something that they are not in order to be saved. He doesn’t require anyone to convert to Judaism so that they are properly positioned to become a Christian. Instead, He meets every one of us right where we are. All that is required is admitting that we are guilty because of the sins we have committed, repentance, turning away from those sins and toward God, and then believing in Jesus, believing that He really was God in the flesh, and that His death was accepted as payment in full for our sins. Then, no matter what our background, no matter the depth or seriousness of the sins we have committed, no matter how old or young we are, no matter how rich or poor we are, no matter if we are a Jew or a gentile, the blood of Jesus washes the stain of every sin away entirely, and He comes to live in our hearts through the presence of the Holy Spirit. And we are saved!
Father, for some people this seems too simple, too easy. They feel like they should have to do something themselves to be saved, go through some ritual, perform some huge task, do a certain number of good deeds. But Salvation by works is a dead end, as Paul himself discovered. Even the smallest sin, the least rebellion against you is so serious, so monstrous, that no amount of good works or acts of contrition can make even a down payment on it. That’s why Jesus came. Only God is powerful enough to make atonement for our sins. And, through his death and resurrection, Jesus did just that. Now, all that is left for us to do, our part, is repentance and faith in the already finished work of Jesus. And that is available to Jew and gentile, old and young, rich and poor, vile sinner and “nice guy”, right where we are, here and now. Thank you, Lord, for making salvation so accessible that anyone can come in. Amen.