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28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.

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15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.

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Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

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“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.

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Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”[a] though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:7 Gen 21:12.

10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

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God’s Stubborn People

48 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel
    and born into the family of Judah.
Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord
    and call on the God of Israel.
You don’t keep your promises,
    even though you call yourself the holy city
and talk about depending on the God of Israel,
    whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”

After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

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21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from[a] a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:21 Or as an appeal to God for.

The Jews and the Law

17 You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him.

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37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

39 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 8:39 Some manuscripts read if you are really the children of Abraham, follow his example.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

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26 the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places,[a] and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”

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Footnotes

  1. 9:26 Or in the desert and clip the corners of their hair.

If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    had not spared a few of us,[a]
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
    destroyed like Gomorrah.

10 Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.”
    Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”
11 “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
    says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
    of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to worship me,
    who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
    the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
    and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
    I want no more of your pious meetings.
14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
    They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
    Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
    for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:9 Greek version reads a few of our children. Compare Rom 9:29.

Book three (Psalms 73–89)

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those whose hearts are pure.

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