In Galatians 5 .2, Paul writes, Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you, that if you receive circumcision,
Christ will profit you nothing. Will these be
people who are already professing Christians,
and then they're going out of their way to be
circumcised, which is kind of a painful process,
by the way, to be circumcised in order to prove
that they are saved, or even prove to themselves
they are saved? That's what was going on in Galatians
and Paul today. And Paul says, if you will do
that, if you will engage in certain activities
to prove to yourself that you are saved, or to
be safe and be sure, that you're saved or to
prove to others that you're saved, then no, no.
Then your salvation is of no value. Your salvation
has not actually happened in Jesus Christ. The
only way to be saved is through Jesus, not through
certain activities. You can't prove it to yourself
by certain activities or prove it to anyone else
by certain activities. On the other hand, there
are marks of what it means to be God's people
and being involved in a Bible preaching, Bible
teaching, Christian church, however you can,
locally to you. That is a mark of being a Christian.
Now, you can't do it to be a Christian. You can't
gain your salvation that way. way, and you can't
prove to yourself that you're saved that way,
and no one can tell you that you have to do that
in order to be saved. But if you are saved, then
you are God's people, and you must be the body
of Christ, and you must be in a local church
that is preaching and teaching and saving the
best they can the lost and dying world. You will
give, you will love, you will be kind, you will
exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, and you will
grow, not be perfect, but grow daily into the
image of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. You
can't take on certain activities to prove that
you're saved, or even to make you saved, but
you can live for Jesus.