Ecclesiology
Contrast:
Lesson XIX
I
Titles for God: Old Testament and first Books of the New Testament
“The God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob”
“ The God of our fathers”
“ The God of Israel” repeatedly.
One
can see these titles pertain to the Nation of Israel. They declare God’s Covenant relationship with
“If we accept the Scriptures, that
Nation held a divine commission to establish the right and to put down the
wrong, in a sense, in which no such commission is now given.” (Right Hon. W E. Gladstone, British Prime
Minister)
As
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He has entered into a covenant
relationship with Israel for their material prosperity, and through them a
blessing to the Gentile Nations of the earth.
This is one of many reasons for believing that
The Contrast: In the New Testament these titles, beyond the
gospels, are absent. That is
significant. It is not His covenant
relationship He bears with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that brings blessings to
the Church. In the Epistles, in things
pertaining to the Church, it is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
is the Son of the Blessed (Mark 14:61) and in verse 62, Jesus said, “I Am”.
Mark 14:61-62
(61) But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again
the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of
the Blessed?
(62) And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of
man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
We
give some examples of this title:
Romans
1:8 my
God through Jesus Christ
1
Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ
2
Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
2
Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Galatians
1:1 by
Jesus Christ, and God the father
Ephesians
1:3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Thus
it is right through to the book of Peter.
In all these Scriptures notice the absence of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. Our blessings come to us from God
the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To us, the relationship is through the Lord Jesus Christ, not Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. This is the basis of
our calling and our blessings.
Ephesians 1:3
(3) Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places]
in Christ:
If
Romans 5:9-10
(9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him.
(10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life.
Writes
Paul: “For if when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
There
are times for each of us, when we feel “up” and we think we are being
blessed. When we feel “down”, we think
we are not being blessed! So God orders
circumstances to teach us that we are blessed because of Christ, not by
or because of what we do or don’t do.
Israel’s blessings depended on
their faithfulness; our blessings depend on Christ’s faithfulness.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
(8) Who shall also confirm you unto the end, [that ye
may] be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(9) God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
In
the preceding verses Paul makes reference to what the saints have in Christ, as
they wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus.
Then
in verse 8: “Who shall confirm you unto
the end …”. God is said to “confirm” His
promises in Romans 15:8.
Romans 15:8
(8) Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises [made] unto the
fathers:
God
is said to confirm His people in 2 Corinthians 1:20-22. (Hodge)
2 Corinthians 1:20-22
(20) For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in
him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
(21) Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and
hath anointed us, [is] God;
(22) Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of
the Spirit in our hearts.
Ironside
writes: “This is our confirmation. Church confirmation is not in the Bible. Confirmation is never presented as a rite”.
I
would add, performed by a preacher!
Verse
8 of 1 Corinthians continues: “He will
confirm blameless in the day of Jesus Christ.”
Hodge says that word ‘blameless’ means ‘unblamable’. He is unblamable against whom no accusation
can be brought. In that sense it is said
a Bishop must be blameless.
Titus 1:6-7
(6) If any be
blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of
riot or unruly.
(7) For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of
God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given
to filthy lucre;
Albert
Barnes says: “Blameless does not mean
perfect, but properly denotes those against whom there is no charge or
crime. Unaccused, and no ground for
accusation.”
Romans 8:33
(33) Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect? [It is] God that justifieth.
Romans
8:33 asks “Who is he that condemneth? Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Who can condemn us? Christ alone, and He lives to make
intercession for us! In John 8, Jesus
was the only one qualified to stone the woman taken in adultery, and He would
not!
Ironside: “Blameless, unimpeachable, unaccusable. Our day of final confirmation and that of
every believer is the day of Jesus Christ.
Hodge: God will confirm His people so that they
shall stand before Him blameless, not chargeable with apostasy or any other
sin. When we remember on the one hand
how just is our guilt and on the other how great is our danger, within and
without we feel that nothing but the righteousness of Christ and the power of
God can secure our being preserved and presented blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
1
Corinthians 1:9: God is faithful. That is, faithful to confirm us blameless and
when Paul wrote those words he was writing to the carnal Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 1:9
(9) God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Verse
nine is probably the key verse in 1 Corinthians. It emphasizes that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the solution to the problems that they had in the Church and also the personal
problems that were present among the believers at
Reminding
me of two aged men talking about the news.
The one asked: “Anything new?”
The reply, “No, just the same old things happening to different
people.” The human race has not changed.
I
feel it needs to be shouted from the housetops:
We don’t need more counselors, we
need more of Christ.
We don’t need more human abilities,
we need more of Christ.
He will confirm.
He is faithful and He has called us
unto His fellowship.
August
10, 1988: I received a letter from a dear sister in Christ, named Annie. In that letter she states: The night she was saved she had said to my
mother, “I’m afraid I won’t hold out”.
And my mother said: “Jesus will
hold you.” She concluded her
letter: “I have never doubted my
salvation since and that was 54 years ago.”
Wrote
Ironside: “God is faithful. I have never been faithful, and I am afraid I
will never be faithful in the absolute sense, but I have to do with a faithful
God who has undertaken to see me through.”
Hodge:
“One in whom we may confide, one who will fulfill all his promises. The apostle’s confidence in the steadfastness
and final perseverance of believers was found neither in the strength of their
purpose to preserve, nor on any assumption that the principle of religion in
their hearts was indestructible, but simply on the fidelity of God. If God has promised to give certain persons
to His Son as His inheritance - to deliver them from sin and condemnation, and
to make them partakers of eternal life, it is certain He will not allow them to
perish.”
Regarding
this subject of our security, it is not our faithfulness that is held in
question but God’s faithfulness. If you
live in doubt, you are doubting God. He
is faithful. He will confirm. Believe it!
We have been called by a faithful God unto the fellowship of His Son,
Jesus Christ.
God
is faithful. “A brief and blunt
statement” writes G. Campbell Morgan. “God
is faithful. That means God is
trustworthy. He will confirm us unto the
end. When one has that confirmation one
needs no other. It is the faithfulness of
God that demands the faithfulness of believers, not in order to receive
blessings, but because we have received.”
It is because righteousness has been imputed unto us, we are called upon to live
righteously.
Romans 3:21
(21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
It is because of God’s goodness to us, we are to live accordingly.
Titus 2:12
(12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
It is because we have been forgiven, we are to forgive.
Ephesians 4:32
(32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
It is because we are risen with Christ, we are to seek those things which are
above.
Colossians 3:2
(2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth.
It is because we are going to appear with Him in glory, we are exhorted to mortify
the deeds of the flesh.
Colossians 3:4-5
(4) When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory.
(5) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry:
It is because we are justified, sanctified and in His sight glorified, we are to
present our bodies.
Romans 12:1-2
(1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
[which is] your reasonable service.
(2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is because God’s grace has brought us salvation, we are taught to live
soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.
Titus 2:11-12
(11) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men,
(12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Never
are we asked to do anything for God until we are fully aware of what He has
done for us.
Therefore,
it is because of God’s faithfulness to us we are challenged to be faithful to
Him.
It
is not our faithfulness that makes God faithful.
It
is because God is God.
He
is faithful and He will do what He says He will do regardless of what we do.
Philippians 1:6
(6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
“Being confident of this very thing, that he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Christians
need this confidence - not in self but in Christ.
II Contrast 2: Between Israel and the Church
God’s
purpose for the earth is in
Genesis 15:18-20
(18) In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the
great river, the river Euphrates:
(19) The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
(20) And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the
Rephaims,
Israel’s
inheritance is in earthly places. The
scope of Israel’s calling has to do primarily, with earthly, material
things.
Deuteronomy 28: 1-10
(1) And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his
commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee
on high above all nations of the earth:
(2) And all these blessings shall come on thee, and
overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
(3) Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and blessed
[shalt] thou [be] in the field.
(4) Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the
fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and
the flocks of thy sheep.
(5) Blessed [shall be] thy basket and thy store.
(6) Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and
blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out.
(7) The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up
against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee
one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
(8) The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless
thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
(9) The LORD shall
establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou
shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
(10) And all people of the earth shall see that thou art
called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
The
calling of
Many
have asked, “Why did God allow six million Jews to be killed by Hitler?” The result was: the state of Israel was brought into being to
bring Jews back to their land. It is
difficult for one to grasp this fact that often God will take little children
home to Heaven, or we might say, sacrifice children to bring parents to
Himself. In
A
former student, Mark, had three children, and God took his little Amy
home. It was a heart-ache for that
father but we do not know the end of that story. It is in these matters we know nothing yet as
one day we will know.
Deuteronomy
29: 29 “The secret things belong unto the Lord...”
Deuteronomy 29: 29
(29) The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God:
but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for
ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.
But how different for the Church.
God’s
purpose for the Church is in Heavenly places.
“Heavenlies” refers to location
not a state of mind!
Ephesians 1:19,20
(19) And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
(20) Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
Ephesians 2:6
(6) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit
together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 3:10
(10) To the intent that now unto the principalities and
powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God,
Ephesians 6:12
(12) For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high [places].
Ephesians 1:20 which he wrought in Christ …and set Him in
heavenly places.
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:10 to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.
Ephesians 6:12 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places..
The
Church’s blessings are not earthly but spiritual.
Ephesians 1:3
(3) Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places]
in Christ:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
(16) For which cause we faint not; but though our outward
man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.
(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory;
(18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen: for the things which [are] seen are temporal;
but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.
Ephesians 1:3 The Church’s calling gives temporal things
but a secondary place.
2 Corinthians 4:16 “ ..though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day
by day.” The inward man is more
important than the outward man.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal glory:
2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen. For the things which
are seen are temporal (i.e., pertain to time); but the things which are not
seen are eternal (i.e., pertain to eternity).
The
Church is to recognize that all material things are not made to last!
Hebrews 10:34
(34) For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took
joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in
heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Hebrews 10:34 The believing Hebrews “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods,
…”. How? Why? “…
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance.”
Church
saints need to lift their eyes from earth and catch a vision of Heaven.
The
calling of the Church to the heavenlies is for her to exercise a ministry in
that locality. The Church is of little
or no use any other place, for she is to do business in the heavenlies, the
sphere of her warfare.
Ephesians 6:12
(12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
Philippians 3:20
(20) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
We
are also reminded of the fact that our citizenship, conversation, is in Heaven. The Church has been called out from the
Nations to be citizens of Heaven. As
stated before, the world for us is something like a hotel. A place where people ‘put-up’ for a while,
but from it, go home.
Again
we need to be reminded that in the contrast to Israel, the Church’s inheritance
is in Heaven.
Colossians 1:12
(12) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
1 Peter 1:3-5
(3) Blessed [be]
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead,
(4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
(5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Our
wealth is in Heaven, not on earth.
2 Corinthians 5:6- 8
(6) Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that,
whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(7) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
(8) We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be
absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
As
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5: 6-8, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing
that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Verse 8: we are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. The word ‘present’ could have been
translated, ‘at home’ with the Lord.
Our
home is not on earth.
“As
Israel’s calling secures unto them the place of their calling on earth, so the
Church’s calling secures to her the place of her calling in the Heavenlies.”
O
that the Church could only see that she is as much rejected and separated from
the earth as is Christ her head. Getting
involved in the world’s problems, politics or social problems, as a body, is
wrong, even though for some individuals it may be right.
2 Timothy 2:4
(4) No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a
soldier.
2 Corinthians 10:4
(4) (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
To
Timothy, the preacher, the leader, Paul writes “No man that warreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life…”
2 Timothy 2:4. We are involved in
a warfare that is in the heavenlies (Ephesians 6:12). And in that warfare, the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal.
It
is a very foolish thing for the Church to attempt to establish herself in this
earth. It is because the Roman Catholic
Church has done so, she has, in our opinion, ceased being a Church. Perhaps to emphasize our Heavenly Calling and
Heavenly worth, God allows the Church on earth to continue to look like a
failure on earth. Josiah lost his life
in a battle in which he should not have been involved.
2 Chronicles 35:20-24
(20) After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple,
Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and
Josiah went out against him.
(21) But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I
to do with thee, thou king of Judah?[ I come] not against thee this day, but
against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste:
forbear thee from [meddling] with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee
not.
(22) Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from
him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not
unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley
of Megiddo.
(23) And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king
said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
(24) His servants therefore took him out of that chariot,
and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to
Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in [one of] the sepulchres of his
fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
And
many times the Church has lost ground by being too involved with earthly
battles.
Christ
is in the Heavenly Sanctuary, the temple not made with hands, as a Heavenly
Priest. From there, He sends the Spirit
into our hearts.
Romans 8:2
(2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans
8:2 the spirit of life!
Religion
of the head does not touch the heart.
God wants our hearts and then He will have our heads. Then our hearts will tell us all riches on
earth are corruptible and uncertain, but our inheritance in Heaven is
incorruptible and certain.
1 Peter 1:4-5
(4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
(5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Trying
to use carnal methods to fight spiritual battles can only produce carnal
results. This is illustrated by Abraham
and Ishmael, as Ishmael created problems for Israel. In our opinion, many problems in the Church
are the result of fleshly effort trying to do spiritual work.
III
Contrast 3
Israel,
because she is an earthly people, was chosen from the foundation of
the earth.
Matthew 25:34
(34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world:
Recorded
history in the Bible begins with the foundation of the earth.
Genesis 1:1
(1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.
The
calling of Israel was from the foundation of the earth to
an earthly ministry.
What a contrast with the Church!
The
Church was chosen, because she is a heavenly people, before the foundation of the earth.
Ephesians 1:4
(4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love:
“According as He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world...” Ephesians 1:4
God
planned for the Church before that of Israel.
The calling of the Church was for the Heavenlies and therefore before
the foundation of the earth. Chosen
before the world’s foundation because she was for another world!
Three
things are named before the foundation of the world.
1)
John 17:24 The love of the
Father for the Son
2)
Ephesians 1:4 The plan for
the Church
3)
1 Peter 1:19-20 Redemption
by the precious blood.
John 17:24
(24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1:4
(4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love:
1 Peter 1:19-20
(19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot:
(20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
As
Joseph Parker has written: “the sacrifice was provided before the sin was
committed.”
Jesus
could say: “Father, thou lovedst me
before the foundation of the earth.” (John 17:24)
Reverently, and with all humility,
the Church can say the same.
1 John 4:19
(19) We love him, because he first loved us.
Christ
did not die for us so that God could love us:
God loved us and therefore Christ died for us. The plan was made in eternity.
The
election and selection of the Church was not an act of time, in time, or for
time. Time is dated from creation, not
before. Our election was in eternity for
eternity. All this is beyond my little mind!
Ephesians 3:10
(10) To the intent that now unto the principalities and
powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God,
Today,
because these distinctions of the Church’s true place have been almost totally
absent from teaching and preaching, the Church has ceased to realize her
Heavenly calling. It would appear from
Ephesians 3:10 that although the Church does not realize her position in the
Heavenlies, principalities and powers do.
Positionally,
the true Church in Christ is seen by God as being in Heaven, as belonging
there, and so it is not in harmony with its nature to expect a position or
place in this world.
“We
are well aware that Divine Revelation has anticipated and ante-dated
sciences. Science is what man thinks,
Revelation is what God knows. Science is
the result of man’s knowledge (and therefore some is false).”
1 Timothy 6:20
(20) O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy
trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science
falsely so called:
Revelation
is the publishing of God’s knowledge.
The
book of Ephesians is a great Epistle for the Church. It speaks of a pre-historic person,
pre-historic purpose, pre-historic plan and pre-historic choice. Spiritually speaking, Church members are
pre-historic specimens of His grace, His goodness, His purpose and His plan.
Jews
may thank God for His promises and covenants.
Gentiles
should thank God for His mercy.
Romans 15:8-12
(8) Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises [made] unto the
fathers:
(9) And that the Gentiles might glorify God for [his]
mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the
Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
(10) And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his
people.
(11) And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and
laud him, all ye people.
(12) And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of
Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the
Gentiles trust.
Is
our standing before God in our righteousness?
No.
Is
our standing before God in the law? No.
Is
our standing before God in circumcision?
No.
Is
our standing before God based on covenants?
No.
Is
our standing before God based in promises?
No.
Our
standing is totally and only, all in Christ.
To Conclude:
Seeing
these contrasts between
May
God help us to ever see more clearly what is written in His Precious Book.