Three times in Paul’s letters we find a sentence with essentially the same structure, and beginning with basically the same words—”neither circumcision or uncircumcision is anything”. But all three times what comes next is different, and the comparison is very interesting:
“For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” (Gal. 6:16)
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (Gal. 5:6)
“Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.” (1 Cor. 7:19)
Notice how similar the structure is: the nothingness, the irrelevance, of being circumcised or not being circumcised is first stated; then follows a declaration of what really matters, what is “everything” or “the only thing that counts”.
But notice also how different the second parts seem to be. One says “new creation” is what matters, another “faith working through love”, and another, most surprisingly, “obeying the commandments of God”.
It seems to me that the identical structure should lead us to see these three sentences as mutually interpreting. Yet this creates, I suspect, something of a tension. For while we are, I suspect, fairly happy to read the first two sentences together—faith working through love = new creation—we don’t readily put “keeping the commandments of God” in this same category. How is this for a description of the Christian life!
Yet the ease with which the apostle Paul exchanges one phrase for another should give us pause for thought. Perhaps it highlights a deficiency in our view of the Christian life. In our fear of a proclamation of works have we refused to give obedience to commandments any place in the life of faith? If we have, I believe we are on the wrong track. “For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome!” (1 John 5:3)
Hey bro,
Great post!… Good thoughts mate.
Sometimes I wonder whether a confusion between law (as God’s commands generally) and covenants of law is behind a bit of the muddle-headedness. Our church has been doing a sermon series through the 10 commandments (1 per week) lately and I have to say that a) This is the best sermon series I’ve ever heard preached and b) I’ve been loving God’s law more than ever since. Beautiful stuff. Thank you Lord!
PS – here’s a great quote from a book by Michael Horton (God of Promise) that I read as we started the sermon series. I wonder if it resonates with your thoughts!
“Those who are justified will enter heaven with new hearts that delight in God’s law, and no one who despises God’s law will enter its sacred precincts.”
Hey Andrew,
Great post, i’d never noticed the repeated use of that phrase.
I’m less inclined than you to ‘see the phrases as mutually interpreting’. What i find interesting is what Paul chooses to say to the second half of that phrase depending on the audience he’s writing to. For the Galatians who were slipping back into Judaism he chooses ‘new life’, ‘faith’ and ‘love’ – the very things they were lacking. For the Corinthians, in a section that is on the topic of Sexual Immorality (something usually ignored when 1 Corinthians 7 is taught), Paul chooses to tell them to ‘obey God’s commands’ – the very thing they were failing to do. (note that in 1 Cor 5-6 Paul quotes the Law at least thrice: 5:6-8, 5:13, 6:16)
I short, I think all three phrases are expressions what characterizes new life in Christ, but Paul changes them depending on the needs of his audience. Genius!
Nick
Hi guys,
Thanks for the comments. It is an interesting parallel isn’t it.
Nick, I think I’m with you, and your recognition of the audience is helpful. Though I think that you’re doing precisely what I think we should do here: seeing the phrases as covering the same basic territory, though in different contexts.
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Ethics is good news! (Or ought to be)
I think it’s interesting that we as a society have adopted the idea that the law is a set of rules; like if we do what mean old God tells us to do, than we will be “good” and even deserve to go to heaven.
But isn’t the law more of a description of the character of God, which we were made to be like? The law is God saying “this is how I work, this is how you will work”, rather than “jump through this hoop because I want to control you and don’t want you to be happy”.
There is actually so much freedom in being told how we are meant to work. Like understanding gravity gives you the freedom to live in it without being killed.
I think that all of those things that Paul refers to are components of the same thing… aspects of Truth. Being a new creature that has eyes to see, faith to believe and wisdom to behave is a creature that reflects Christ rather than being a slave to our flesh. And only then are we fulfilling our purpose. Freedom!
Sorry Andrew, i realised i wasn’t that clear in what i wrote. I think all i was suggesting is that i didn’t want to take ‘new life’, ‘faith & love’ and ‘obeying God’s commands’ as synonyms. (now that i read more carefully i don’t think you were either). I see them, as Heather said, as aspects of the same Truth that constitute a description of the Christians life.
Thanks again for a great post.
Nick
Thanks Andrew,
it’s fascinating to track these little catchphrases through the different letters. On a bit of a tangent, do you think Paul viewed his letters as scripture in any way, and thus liable to the mutually interpretive process that Bauckham talks about rabbis using?
Hmmm. I’m not sure I know about the process you’re speaking of. But as to your first question, I don’t think Paul would have seen his letters as Scripture exactly, though I do think he had a strong awareness of his apostolic authority. He could speak of what he was writing as a command of the Lord ( 1 Cor. 14:37). He also envisaged his letters being read in the churches (e.g. Col. 4:16). So perhaps I would say that Paul did see his letters being, under God, foundational documents for the Christian community that expressed and expounded the meaning and implications of the gospel. Thus, I believe that the church’s recognition of them as Scripture was appropriate. For more on this, have a look at my essay “The New Testament and the Word of God” on the essays page.
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