Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands—
In the next three verses, Paul would set out another contrast. the before and after
Before, you were called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision
That language is the language of exclusion, the language of the permanent outsider, the permanently disadvantaged, based on race. The point is you are supposed to be pitied because you were not Jews. You had no association/connection with the true God. Your state was pathetic, and you had no future.
It's like being stuck on a crocodile-infested island; your situation is bad, and it can only get worse. You can never measure up, no matter what you do.
The Jews are the people on the inside of the protected enclave of the house, looking at you, Gentiles, being battered by rain outside. And there is nothing to do to change that situation.
We had no connection with God, no way to connect with Him. We are at best the permanent underclass.
And even if we try all we can, it still can't make us equal to the Jews in standing. We are still outsiders.
And that is part of the appeal of the gospel, which is about God reaching out to you.
John the Baptist mentioned something like that.
and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!
Paul is saying that what excluded you was only skin deep. But God has come in Jesus to enter into you and remove the heart of stone and put a heart of flesh, put His Spirit in you.
I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative, and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.
So God has clearly done it. He has raised children for Abraham from people previously with hearts of stone.
You were excluded because of the skin difference, but God entered you by his Spirit.
There is no need to try to trace yourself back and claim to be the real Hebrews. It's like trying to invest in the salt business when you live by the sea, where salt is abundant. There is no premium anymore on your ancestry. That is the truth.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
There is no need to try to reclaim the Old Testament festivals, to align with the Hebrew calendar, or to say Yeshua rather than Jesus, or Yahweh rather than Lord/God.
All those things are not different from what Paul is saying — circumcision made with hands.
It's, at a minimum, thinking like a child, in my opinion, and clearly thinking according to the flesh, still believing your righteousness is based on those other things.
So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer.
And when we dig into it, it is an insult to the blood of Jesus, in my opinion.
We are drawn near by the blood of Jesus, not by observance of Jewish times and seasons in the name of prophetic alignment, which is all lies packaged for the people, driving them away from what Paul calls the simplicity of devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Christ did not save us so that we would try to hang on to the law as a means of connection with God. He did not save us for us to construct another religion based on the old external observances, which the bible calls “shadow,” saying the substance is Christ (Colossians 2:17).
The circumcision of the body is an external distinction— “made with human hands.” That is the source of division.
So people want to revive certain observances to set themselves apart.
The point is that they create a distinction between themselves and historical Christianity, based on externals. That is dangerous, as it leads people away from Christ into something else, which is what made Paul livid with the Galatian church.
You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!”
People may not know that is what they are trying to do, hence the need for Paul to write a whole letter about it.
They may think they are being distinct, even doing what God wants, based on whatever persuasion, but they are trying to be declared righteous by some other means apart from Christ.
And look at the word “performed.” It is about performance in the body. There is a religious performance that is no longer needed in Christ. But those in the flesh do understand this.