Contemplative Bible Reading

Galatians 6:12 (New Living Translation)

Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.

This is the theme of Paul’s Galatian letter:

The cross of Christ ALONE saves

There are no prerequisites, “You must be fill-in-the-blank before you can become a Christian.”

There are no post requirements, “You must be fill-in-the-blank now that you are a Christian.”

In Paul’s time, “Judaizers” were trying to force Gentiles to first become Jews before becoming Christians. Today, well, ur, uh, …

The classic case is that American missionaries want people in foreign lands to become American before becoming Christian. That is a bad stereotype, but it is borne of some bad practices.

Other cases of “you need to … before you become a Christian”

• dress better (i.e., dress like me)
• attend church more often (like me)
• get a job (like me)
• mow your lawn (like me)
• teach your kids to behave (like me)

Ooops, there seems to be a lot of “like me” in these statements.