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Galatians 6:12-16
Some had taught the Galatian Christians that "Gentile" Christians should become physically circumcised. Paul disagrees. He makes it plain that the real motive of those teaching this doctrine is to "make a good showing of the flesh . . . that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ" (Galatians 6:12; 5:11; I Corinthians 7:19; Romans 2:28-29). In verse 15, he asserts that "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but the new creation." Paul reiterates what he says in Galatians 5:6: What is important is a walk of "faith working through love." Upon those who so walk, the apostle concludes, will be "peace and mercy" (verse 16).
Physical descent - whether one is a Gentile or an Israelite - matters nothing. What matters is whether a person is nurturing the new man, once established by God, through a renewal process which involves walking in His law.
Charles Whitaker
Choosing the New Man (Part Two)Related Topics: Abraham, Descendants of | Circumcised in the Mind | Circumcision | Circumcision of the Heart | Circumcision, Physical | Circumcision, Spiritual | Circumcision, Symbolism Behind | Gentiles | Israelite, Spiritual | New Man | Renewal of Mind | Renewal Process | Renewing of Mind | Spiritual Israelite
Galatians 6:12-16
In Galatians 6:12-16; Ephesians 2:10-18; and Colossians 3:9-11, Paul broaches the subject of circumcision. He often connects the new man with circumcision because he understands the symbolism behind circumcision, and so should we.
When practiced according to God's law, the ritual of circumcision pertains to men, that is, males, taking place on the eighth day after parturition. Eight is the number of "new beginnings," the idea being that seven is the number of perfection, and seven plus one - eight - restarts the cycle. Thus, the eighth day of the week is Sunday, in reality the beginning of the new week. The Last Great Day, which occurs eight days after the Feast of Tabernacles begins, looks forward to the day when God will make all things new. This is the important symbolic message behind physical circumcision: The boy - the man - circumcised on the eighth day is a "new man."
However, the new man of whom Paul speaks is not new because of physical circumcision. He is new because he has obeyed God's command to "circumcise the foreskin of [his] heart, and be stiff-necked no longer" (Deuteronomy 10:16, see Jeremiah 4:4). Paul, understanding this, claims that "circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit." "Heart," of course, refers to mind. The new man is new because he is "renewed in the spirit of [his] mind" (Ephesians 4:23). By definition, the new man is spiritually circumcised - circumcised in his mind.
Charles Whitaker
Choosing the New Man (Part Two)Related Topics: Circumcised in the Mind | Circumcision | Circumcision of the Heart | Circumcision, Physical | Circumcision, Spiritual | Circumcision, Symbolism Behind | Last Great Day | New Man | Spiritual Circumcision
Galatians 6:16
As members of the God Family—children of God, we will be God, ruling as He would rule. Spiritually speaking, we will be the kings God promised would descend from Jacob (Genesis 35:12). Yes, Israel isan apt designation for God's church; the Israel of God will rule as God.
Viewed in the present tense or in the future, we in the true Israel of God have a great deal in common with our patriarch Jacob. Like him, we will eventually have a new name (Revelation 3:12). Like him, we struggle to overcome. And like him, those who remain faithful among us will someday prevail, qualifying to rule as God—princes forever with Him.
Charles Whitaker
The Israel of GodRelated Topics: Children of God | Children of Israel | Children of Jacob | Children of Satan | Family of God | God's Family | God's Offspring | Israel | Israel of God | Jacob | Jacob: Transformation of | Overcoming | Prevailing with God | Struggle | Struggle against Carnal Nature | Struggle against Satan's Influence | Struggle against Sin | Struggle for the Truth
Galatians 6:16
Characteristically, God's true church is a spiritual organism whose members, with God's help, will ultimately prevail over their own sinful natures, over the world, and over Satan. The Israel of God, like Jacob, prevails with God. Christ certainly remembered His wrestling match with the unrelenting Jacob when He inspired Paul to call His church "the Israel of God."
Charles Whitaker
The Israel of GodRelated Topics: Church, The | Israel | Israel of God | Jacob | Jacob: Transformation of | Prevailing with God | Spiritual Organism | Struggle | Struggle against Carnal Nature | Struggle against Satan's Influence | Struggle against Sin | Struggle for the Truth
Galatians 6:15-16
Walk according to this rule means "understand and apply this principle."
After Jacob's name was changed to Israel, through the centuries Israel gradually became a code name for the called and chosen of God who had made a covenant with Him. Here in Galatians 6, that code name is transferred openly and clearly to the church, and Paul attaches the prepositional phrase "of God" to show possession to differentiate it from the physical nation also named "Israel." God is creating a new nation—a New Covenant people—whose citizenship is in heaven and whose people owe their loyalty to the Kingdom of God, its laws, and its purposes.
The Israel of God—the remnant, the elect, the vessels of mercy, the children of promise—is a spiritual body, the Body of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:18). There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female. In one sense, there is no nationality, for we are being transformed into a new "nationality"—the Kingdom of God! God is doing a new thing.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Eleven)Related Topics: Body Analogy | Body Metaphor | Body of Christ | Children of Israel | Children of Promise | Chosen People | Chosen, The | Church | Church as Organism | Elect , The | Israel of God | Remnant of Israel | Remnant, Spiritual | Spiritual Body | Spiritual Organism | Vessels of Mercy | Walk According to this RuleOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing Galatians 6:16:
Exodus 12:48
Exodus 31:12-17
Exodus 31:13
Exodus 31:17
Leviticus 11:44-47
Leviticus 19:1-3
Deuteronomy 4:6-8
Deuteronomy 10:16
Deuteronomy 14:2-3
Deuteronomy 14:28-29
Deuteronomy 15:1-11
Deuteronomy 26:12
Ruth 2:10-13
1 Kings 18:31
2 Kings 17:14-16
2 Chronicles 29:3-11
Psalm 24:6
Proverbs 26:2
Isaiah 48:1-2
Isaiah 66:7-8
Jeremiah 31:31-33
Lamentations 1:1-7
Hosea 12:10
Amos 5:21-24
Matthew 10:5-7
Matthew 13:44
Matthew 13:44
Matthew 15:28
Matthew 28:16-20
Luke 2:8-14
John 17:3
Romans 2:28-29
Romans 3:1-2
1 Corinthians 3:6-17
Galatians 3:25-27
Galatians 4:24-26
Galatians 6:12-16
Ephesians 1:14
Ephesians 2:10-18
Ephesians 2:12
Colossians 3:9-11
Revelation 10:1
Revelation 11:1
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What Does Galatians 6:16 Mean?
The Israel of God designates the church, a spiritual organism whose faithful members will ultimately prevail over their sinful natures, the world, and Satan, just as the patriarch Jacob prevailed with God. Like Jacob, these people struggle to overcome, will receive a new name, and those remaining faithful will qualify to rule as God forever. Christ remembered His wrestling match with Jacob when He inspired Paul to call His church the Israel of God. This spiritual Israel, the Body of Christ, is still journeying toward God's future rest, entering only through obedience and faithfulness, unlike ancient Israel. Bearing God's name spiritually, the church must live up to that majesty; using His name in ways denying His true character risks breaking the third commandment.