“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:”
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh — peritomē (circumcision) is claimed by Paul's community: true circumcision is spiritual, not literal. 'Worship by the Spirit' (latreuo pneumati theō, serve/worship in/by the Spirit) invokes the promised new covenant where God's Spirit indwells hearts, making external markers obsolete. 'Glory in Christ Jesus' (kauchaomai en Christō Iēsou) is boasting in Christ, not ethnic privilege. 'Put no confidence in the flesh' (oudepoiē ptoitē sarki) renounces bodily markers as grounds of salvation. This is Paul's counter-definition: true Israel is Spirit-defined.
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