Abraham
Was it in the coolness of the night? Or did itcome while the midday sun was relentlessly beating down uponAbraham's tents? We simply don't know.
What we do know is that when Abram was ninety-nineyears old he fell flat upon his face before God. Why had God appearedto Abram? The Creator had graciously invited Abram into a covenantrelationship with Himself. Genesis 17:1-16
Covenants are often two-way streets. Typicallycovenants require both parties to make and keep certain stipulationsor promises to the other party of the covenant. Such was the natureof this covenant. On this occasion since God is God, He unilaterallydetermined both what He was offering to Abraham and to hisdescendants as well as what He expected from Abram.
On God's part, God bound Himself to bless thosewithin this covenant relationship in a number of wonderful ways.Although much of the covenant focused on how Abram would be blessed,perhaps one of the covenant's most wonderful provisions provided forGod to be his God and the God of his descendants. Genesis 17:7-8 Inother words, all those who would come under the umbrella of thiscovenant would become the people of God.
God demanded a couple of terms from Abram and hisdescendants in order that they might enjoy His promised blessings.First of all, Abram was directed to live a blameless life before God.Genesis 17:1 God had charged Abram with the responsibility of livingwith a holy lifestyle appropriate for one who was to have arelationship with God.
Second, every male of Abram's household andlineage had to be circumcised. Those born within the community had tobe circumcised on the eighth day. Genesis 17:7-8,12 God called thiscircumcision "the sign of the covenant." Genesis 17:10-11Everyone of Abraham's household and lineage who would becomecircumcised could enjoy the benefits of the covenant, but any maledescendant who remained uncircumcised had to be cut off from thecovenant community because he had broken the covenant. Genesis 17:14In this way, God had made the rite of circumcision a visible barrierbetween those enjoying a covenant relationship with God and those whoremained outside of God's covenant people.
Circumcision Under theLaw
When God delivered the Law to Moses, it was notperformed in a vacuum. Moses and the children of Israel were heirs tothe covenant God had made with Abram in which God had bound Himselfto be their God and they would be His people. And so at Mount Sinai,as a nation Israel further accepted the conditions of God'sLaw by having blood sprinkled on them. Exodus 24:7-8 They thus becamea kingdom of priests and a holy nation before God. Exodus19:6
But it is important to note that this priorcovenant continued to be in force even during Moses' lifetime whichcan clearly be seen in two events which predate God's giving of theLaw. First, the Lord was prepared to kill Moses because his son hadnot been circumcised. Exodus 4:24-26 Second, God used circumcisionto separate between those who were His people and who weretherefore commanded to eat of the Passover meal from those whowere foreigners and had to be excluded from participating inPassover. "No uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shallapply to the native as to the stranger." Exodus 12:47-48 NASB Onceagain God had made circumcision the visible barrier between those onthe inside and those who remained foreigners to God's covenantpeople.
Furthermore, it is important to note that bycommanding in the Law that all of the males were to be circumcised onthe eighth day (Leviticus 12:3), the Mosaical Law appropriatelyincorporated and mandated the sign of the covenant already given toAbram and to his descendants. John 7:22 By demanding circumcisionupon the eighth day, babies were brought under God's covenantrelationship without knowing God! This is a theme which Jeremiah willlater address. Regarding the relationship of the Abramic covenantwith the Mosaical Law see Galatians 3:16-18.
And finally it is important to note that althoughthe circumcision commanded by the Law continued the visibledistinction between those within and those excluded from God'scovenant relationship, God's goal for His people was that Hisrelationship with them would not just be a mark in their flesh, butwould also mark their hearts. Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6
The Sign Of The Covenant Was To Be EvidencedUpon One's Heart
Circumcision provided a physical means forentering into covenant and subsequently for identifying who God'scovenant people were. 1 Samuel. 17:36; Ezekiel 44:7, 9 As necessaryas this was, was this act the goal? Did God merely want His people tocarry around a physical mark of their relationship to Him? No.
God's goal for His covenant people went beyondmerely having people perform a ritual through which they could enterinto a relationship with Himself. After having described who Hewanted His people to be with these words: "fear the LORD your God, towalk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your Godwith all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'Scommandments," the LORD summarized this objective with thewords, "So circumcise your heart." Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 16NASB
The LORD longed for His people to willingly givetheir innermost being to be shaped by their relationship withHimself. God wanted His people to be molded by His covenantrelationship and therefore to bear the mark of that covenantrelationship. Thus the phrase "circumcised hearts" captured boththe concept of a people who were separated unto God though covenantas well as describing a heart where God's purposes had beenimprinted.
In Deuteronomy 30 and Leviticus 26 God's goal tohave His people circumcised in their hearts is contrasted to therebellious and uncircumcised heart. "... and you return to the LORD... The LORD God will circumcise your heart and the heart of yourdescendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and withall your soul..." Deuteronomy 30:2, 5 NASB "...if their uncircumcisedheart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for theiriniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I willremember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham aswell,..." Leviticus 26:41-42 NASB
Although it was absolutely essential, God's goalwas greater than merely providing a means for people to enter intoHis covenant. God desired people to willingly and appropriatelyrespond by loving Him and serving Him with all of their heart, souland mind. To be such a person, within God's covenant people, was tobe one whose heart had been circumcised as well as one's body. Butone must not lightly dismiss the physical mark of the covenant; Godwas prepared to kill Moses over it.
The Prophetic Use of CircumcisedHearts
Unfortunately, God found it necessary to send Hisservants the prophets to face the Herculean task of calling Hispeople back to loving Him with all of their heart and soul. Sometimesthis message was couched in the law's metaphor of a circumcisedheart. Deuteronomy 30:6
Ezekiel: Both Circumcisions were Necessary
God's message through Ezekiel to Israel was"Enough of all your abominations." What had they done which was soevil in God's sight? They had profaned God's sanctuary by bringing in"foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to bein My sanctuary." Ezekiel 44:7-9 NASB
Jeremiah: A Call to Repentance
Through Jeremiah God's message rang out warningHis people of their impending doom if they did not turn from theiridolatry. Jeremiah announced that unless they would "circumciseyourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart" (NASB)by breaking up their hardened hearts which were sowing their energiesamong worthless thorns, God's wrath would be poured out against them.Jeremiah 4:3-4
Jeremiah: The Need for More than Just a Ritual
God announced that the days were coming in whichhe would punish those who merely went through the ritual withoutallowing their inner beings to be molded by their relationship withHim. Jeremiah 9:25, 26 "I will punish all who are circumcised and yetuncircumcised ... all the house of Israel are uncircumcised ofheart." NASB
Looking Toward the Future: What God Would Do
Although Jeremiah did not use the words"circumcised hearts" in Jeremiah 31:33-34, he did echo its sentimentsas he spoke of a future time when God would institute a newcovenant with those who internalized His Law upon their heart.Unlike God's former covenant in Sinai where young children andneighbors were in need of being taught to know the Lord, even theleast of those under the new covenant would know Him and have God'slaw written upon their heart! "'Behold, days are coming,' declaresthe LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant ... I will put my Lawwithin them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be theirGod, and they shall be My people. ... they will all know Me, from theleast of them to the greatest of them.'" NASB
Circumcision and the NewCovenant
Christians: No Physical Obligation
Since circumcision was absolutely required by theLaw, it is not surprising that some within the early church insistedone had to be circumcised in order to be saved by Christ. Acts 15:1-2Paul responded that the Christian is not under an obligation to becircumcised. Why? Because he approaches God, not on the basis of theLaw, but through Christ! The Gospel says nothing of a physicalcircumcision. Christ sets one free from the requirements of the Law.Galatians 5:2-6; 6:15 and 1 Corinthians 7:19
Titus' lack of compulsion to be circumcisedillustrates the Christian's doctrinal stance toward circumcision.Galatians 2:3 However, since mere circumcision neither helps norhinders a Christian's relationship to God (assuming that it is notdone as a means of trying to fulfill the Law see Galatians 5:2-4) andsince Paul knew that Timothy's uncircumcision would prevent him frombeing accepted by the Jews, Paul did have Timothy circumcised as anexpedient matter of ministry. Acts 16:3
All True Christians Have Been Circumcised in their Hearts by Christ
Since Christ has made possible a new covenantrelationship with God which achieves both of God's purposes, namely&endash; to bring people to Himself and to alter who one's heart isworshiping, it is only to be expected that Paul would refer to God'speople as: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor iscircumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew whois one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, bythe Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, butfrom God." Romans 2:28-29 NASB
Paul's understanding was that when oneresponded in faith to the Gospel by being baptized, Christ performeda circumcision upon one's heart. Colossians 2:11-12 Baptismis not a circumcision we perform, rather, at the time of baptismChrist circumcises the believer. The transformation ofChrist's circumcision is a transformation from being dead in sins tobecoming alive with Christ. Colossians 2:13
By using this covenantal language from the OldTestament, what has Paul suggested? First, that at the time ofbaptism when Christ circumcises the one who has been dead in sin,that one is entering into the new covenant which Christ hasestablished. The new life and forgiveness of sins which Christ makespossible is received upon entering into the new covenant.Second, God's people wear the mark of Christ's covenantupon their hearts by having been circumcised by him.Third, the Christian life is not to be characterized by anevil and hardened heart, but rather one which loves God with allone's heart and soul. (Deuteronomy. 30:6)
Jeremiah was right. Those who are in the newcovenant do not need anyone to teach them about the Lord because theyhave already responded with faith to the message about the Lord! Noris there any need for them to internalize God's laws because theyhave already voluntarily allowed their hearts to be shaped by God.Unlike the ancient nation of Israel where even babies became membersof the covenant community without knowledge of God, those under thenew covenant are those with faith in God and where God's word hasbeen stamped upon their heart with Christ performing a circumcisionupon their inner being bringing them into his newcovenant.
How does God identify those who belong to Him? Howcan someone identify Christ's true church today? Is it based uponpersonal characteristics such as how loving and generous someonemight have been? Is it based upon someone's claim that "I belong toGod" or the fact that this person might gather to regularly worship?
Consistently, the theological message of scriptureis the identity ofGod's people is based upon having entered into the covenantrelationship which God in His grace has madeavailable. As Paul wrote, "if you belongto Christ, then you are Abraham's descendents, heirs according to thepromise." Galatians 3:29 How does one belong to Christ thus becominga child of God? Paul wrote we become children of God when we trust inChrist by being baptized into Christ. Galatians 3:26-27 The greatnews for us today is that Jesus has brought a new covenantrelationship that is available to all peoples and thereforeeveryone who enters into this covenant relationship becomes a childof God. For this reason, Jesus told his disciples to go and makedisciples of all nations by baptizing them and then teaching them toobserve everything he had commanded. Matthew 28:19-20
An Error in Reasoning
I first encountered the following fallaciousreasoning while attending a private Protestant high school. It goesbasically like this:
1. "Baptism is circumcision." (At best anambiguous statement. Colossians 2:11-12 is quoted to supportthis)
2. "No one will be saved by circumcision today."(A true statement regarding physical circumcision. Galatians5:2-5 and other texts are cited as proof)
3. "Therefore, no one will be saved by baptismtoday." (False conclusion. It even contradicts 1 Peter 3:21,etc.)
Two problems with this reasoning:
Line one has two problems. The first is thatColossians 2:11-12 does not call baptism "a circumcision." Rather itrefers to a circumcision Christ performs at the time of baptism.
The second problem hinges on using circumcisionwith two different meanings. In line one the circumcision beingreferred to is NOT a physical circumcision we do, but rather whatChrist performs upon the one responding to the Gospel. Line two,however, refers to physical circumcision in one's flesh. Since twodifferent items are being addressed, it is impossible to draw a validconclusion. (One can't say something about apples in line one andoranges in line two and then draw a valid conclusion about apples inline three). Technically, this latter form of bad reasoning is knownas the "fallacy of equivocation."
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998 (Revised2000)
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