So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. We were buried with Christ so that we could \{be raised up and\} live a new life. This happened the same as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father.
When a person is in Christ Jesus, it is not important if he is circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.
God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good things. God had already planned those good things for us. God had planned for us to live our lives doing those good things.
The Jewish law had many commands and rules. But Christ ended that law. Christ’s purpose was to make the two groups of people (Jews and non-Jews) become one new people in him. By doing this Christ would make peace.
But we are the people who are truly circumcised. {\cf2\super [16]} We worship (serve) God through his Spirit. {\cf2\super [17]} We are proud to be in Christ Jesus. And we don’t trust in ourselves or anything we can do.
The One that was sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”