Romans 3:30: Since God Is One--Who Will Justify The Circumcised By Faith And The Uncircumcised Through Faith

Romans 3:30
[30] since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (ESV)

In our world we seem to emphasize that which divides us. We can think of many different categories to place people in. We think of the rich and the poor. Black and white skin color. Man and woman. These distinctions are not good or bad, they are simply different. How we react to those differences is what is important.

Let's take a look at all of mankind for a moment. God is the creator of everything and everyone. In his sovereignty he chose to covenant with the people of Israel. He made a way for them to approach him. He set them apart with the rite of circumcision. This physical act set them apart from the rest of mankind, whom we call the Gentiles, or the uncircumcised.

The Jews had an opportunity to take this distinction of being circumcised and use it as an opportunity to glorify God and to invite all those who were uncircumcised to join them. There were rites that a Gentile could go through to become a Jew, and thereby become a part of God's people. The Jews for the most part looked down their noses at the uncircumcised swine and rejected them.

Paul is making a wonderful point in this voice. The circumcised and the uncircumcised are physically different. Yet, they will both be justified by faith. God is one. Because of faith we can all be one as well. The Jews did not fully understand that faith was to accompany their physical act of circumcision.

We are all different in one way or another. Do you celebrate what divides you from others? Or do you look for the opportunity to bring unity in the midst of diversity. It is faith in Jesus Christ that brings unity, regardless of what divides.