A line of demarcation

You have been severed from Christ, if you seek to be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] through the Law; you have fallen from grace [for you have lost your grasp on God’s unmerited favor and blessing]. For we [not relying on the Law but] through the [strength and power of the Holy] Spirit, by faith, are waiting [confidently] for the hope of righteousness [the completion of our salvation]. For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love. (Galatians 5:4-6)

If we seek to be declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, placed in right standing with God himself, then the keeping of rituals, ceremonies, or 'rules' is not the way to go. Rules and regulations are all good, but when we attempt to make them our 'end all' for right living, they fall short of grace each and every time. Grace is unmerited - it is unearned. We cannot 'do' our way into right standing with God. We must 'trust' and find favor through his son's finished work on Calvary.

Circumcision was a 'rite' or 'ritual' performed under the Abrahamic covenant. It was a foreshadowing of what Christ would accomplish - the setting apart of his people from all other people. The performance of circumcision under the Abrahamic covenant actually 'marked out' the Israelites as different from the other peoples of the land at that time. It was a mark of 'separation'. The work of grace in our lives is just like the action of circumcision - it sets us apart. In a more 'symbolic' manner, circumcision meant a 'cutting away' of the flesh and symbolized the removal of sin. 

Christ's actions on the Cross did just that - removed our sins, cut away the 'flesh', giving us new life - a pure, clean life. Now, we are to live separated lives. Not set away in some commune or monastery, but not embracing everything this world offers us either. We are to be 'different' - not because of some ritual act - but because our hearts, minds, and very souls have been cleansed, made whole, and 'unyoked' from this world's sinful desires and alluring traps.

'Different' doesn't mean 'odd' or 'weird'. It simply means there is a 'line of demarcation' we will not cross any longer. There are 'fixed boundaries' by which we live, and we actively choose not to cross those boundaries. Perhaps the most profound 'demarcation' in our lives isn't that we stop doing something and do something else, but that we stop 'doing' and start 'being' all that Christ has made us to be in him. Just sayin!