For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the COMMANDMENTS of God

[tonychanyt]

What commandments of God?

Moses commanded in De 10:

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

Moses distinguished between physical and spiritual circumcisions.

Paul wrote in 1Co 7:

19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Circumcision and uncircumcision did not count for anything. Keeping the commandments of God counted.

What commandments? Wasn't circumcision a commandment of God?

Circumcision was a ritualistic external code. Paul wanted to focus on the inner being of the heart.

He expounded in (BSB) Ro 2:

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

I.e. Moses Law

26 If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

Yes, he was circumcised in the heart (De 10:16). Paul focused on the spiritual inner being.

27 The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

Spiritual circumcision was more important than physical circumcision.

28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

Paul contrasted the external code vs the internal heart: outward observance vs inward transformation. The Holy Spirit circumcised and dwelled in a believer's heart. It came directly from God and not from the written code.

Jr 31:

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This is the NT covenant reality. When we are born again, the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in our hearts. We are God's. The Paraclete guides us to walk in the Spirit.

What commandments was Paul talking about in 1Co 7:19?

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but keeping the commandments of God written in my heart as the Paraclete guides me is what counts.

 

[KevinT]

Circumcision and uncircumcision did not count for anything. Keeping the commandments of God counted.

What commandments? Wasn't circumcision a commandment of God?

Yes. God nearly killed the children of Moses until his wife circumcised them. Exodus 4:25

Circumcision was a ritualistic external code. Paul wanted to focus on the inner being of the heart. ... Paul contrasted the external code vs the internal heart: outward observance vs inward transformation. The Holy Spirit circumcised and dwelled in a believer's heart. It came directly from God and not from the written code. ... When we are born again, the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in our hearts. We are God's. The Paraclete guides us to walk in the Spirit.

... keeping the commandments of God written in my heart as the Paraclete guides me is what counts.

Many of God's commandments are of a nature of "for our own good." Circumcision, although it probably reduces risk of penile cancer, wasn't really in that category. It was more of something mankind did to show allegiance to God. And I think many Jews used it as a hard-core test of being "in the club." They got circumcised before they were old enough to remember, but they were certainly going to make anyone who wanted to convert into Judaism undergo the procedure as an adult, without any anesthesia.

So something that had been a good thing got turned into a bad thing. And thus God changed plans. Obeying God meant following the new instructions rather than getting hung up on the old, outdated instructions. The problem comes with figuring out which older instructions have been changed, and which are still valid. And that is where God seems to provide extra proof. The fact that Jesus was who He was, and that He did miracles that no one had ever seen before, gave evidence that people needed to listen to him. The fact that the Holy Spirit was with Paul and the other missionaries gave proof that God was wanting to include the Gentiles into his family.

So next the question is if there will be further instruction, some new directions from God/Spirit/Paraclete. And how will that be accepted? If one adopts "Sola Scriptura", it seems that this limits God's instructions to only be that which has already been written down in past scriptures.

KT

 

[tonychanyt]

So next the question is if there will be further instruction, some new directions from God/Spirit/Paraclete. And how will that be accepted?

Check out Which OT laws should I obey?

If one adopts "Sola Scriptura", it seems that this limits God's instructions to only be that which has already been written down in past scriptures.

Check out My take on Sola Scriptura

 

[KevinT]

Check out Which OT laws should I obey?

I wasn't talking about further instructions about which OT laws to obey. I'm saying if God wanted, for example, to give a command for everyone to move out of California because He knew that there was going to be a massive earthquake causing the state to fall into the sea, how would that sort of new instruction be taken?

KT

 

[tonychanyt]

if God wanted, for example, to give a command for everyone to move out of California because He knew that there was going to be a massive earthquake causing the state to fall into the sea, how would that sort of new instruction be taken?

Thanks for the clarification.

I would take it this way: I assess the human speaker's prophetic authority against what I hear from the Paraclete in me. Check out How to hear God?.