Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
--Parallel verses:
Matthew 24:9-14
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
“… the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
These are at once heart-wrenching yet encouraging words out of our parallel passage.
Jesus is describing a time of intense persecution for the church. Paul found a lot of persecution as well. In fact, he was persecuted by many Jews for not preaching circumcision to the Gentile followers of Jesus. He offers this as proof that he is on their side.
If the law and circumcision still had power, his point is Jesus died for nothing. And so we see that he harshly condemns these false prophets who perpetuate this foolishness of requiring the Gentile converts to be circumcised. He basically wishes they would go all the way and castrate themselves.
Why is Paul so angry with these teachers? Because they pretend to represent God and his Word, yet preach a twisted and false doctrine to deceive people.
Jesus warns about times like these, when his followers will be persecuted and put to death and hated by all nations because of him. At that time there will be a refining of the faithful. Many will turn away from their faith. Betrayals will be prevalent. Hearts will grow cold.
Are we seeing this today? Absolutely! We have world forum meetings by global leaders talking about “depopulating” the earth. This is horrible! We have family values under attack and Christians being pinpointed for persecution.
So what are we called to do in these situations? STAND FIRM! And not just once or for a while, we are called to STAND FIRM UNTIL THE END! This is how we receive our salvation. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (II Chronicles 16:9a)
We prepare our houses to weather severe storms. How are we preparing our hearts to stand during challenging times? The Bible is clear that true faith is demonstrated by perseverance through trials. Only God can judge this, but this is a warning from Paul that we should target an extreme devotedness and determination to remain faithful to the cause of Christ — at all costs.
Lord, I aim to build up my faith and trust in you to be able to stand strong in the middle of persecution. Battle-harden my faith, I pray. May I see your glory on this earth!
