Circumcision: NT Survey, Part 1

Introduction and Review of Old Testament Teaching on Circumcision

0:00 This adult Sunday school class was held on November 27th, 1983 at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let's pray and let's ask once again for the Lord's blessing and presence with us as we study his holy word.

0:24 Our Father, again, as we come into your presence to study the holy scriptures, we pray that we may know the outpouring and blessing of the Holy Spirit to open up our minds and our hearts and to write your word upon our hearts, that we may walk in the ways of righteousness, that our understanding may be clear. Help us, Lord, for we confess that left to ourselves, we will not be able rightly to understand or to articulate the teaching of your word, but enable us, Lord, to understand it to ourselves.

1:06 Help us to articulate it and to be able also to embrace it from the heart by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:18 Well, as you can tell, those of you who have been here, I have just given you a brief review by way of outline. We are currently studying the matter of infant baptism, and we are now considering our third unit, infant baptism, as it relates to the biblical doctrine, the ordination of the sacraments. Under this, three major divisions of thought. Number one, infant baptism and the concept of a sacrament.

1:47 Two, infant baptism as it relates to the Lord's Supper. And now, thirdly, infant baptism as it relates to the ordinance of circumcision. And under this, two major points. If we are to enter into polemics, we have to be familiar with the teaching of the word of God.

2:07 We must be... knowledgeable with respect to what the scriptures say about circumcision.

2:13 And so the first point is the biblical teaching about circumcision. And then secondly, once we've considered that, then secondly, the relationship of baptism and circumcision.

2:27 Now, under this first major heading, I said we'd have three points. The Old Testament teaching, the New Testament teaching, and conclusions. So, lastly, we looked at the Old Testament teaching, we saw that circumcision was instituted in conjunction with the Abrahamic covenant, that it was a sign of that sworn pledge of fidelity and blessing which God made to Abraham. Then we saw that circumcision was developed in various ways throughout the Old Testament with a couple of crucial passages, particularly those passages which spoke not so much about a circumcision of the body, but those passages which...

3:10 about a circumcision of the heart and we saw that the Old Testament made a clear distinction between two types of circumcision circumcision of the body and circumcision of the heart then we saw that the nation of Israel was exhorted those who had their bodies circumcised that the nation of Israel the men of Israel were exhorted to circumcise their hearts in a couple of passages Moses exhorted them and this was a characteristic because the prophet Jeremiah also exhorted them to do the same thing and then we saw that in the prophet Jeremiah there was a statement to the effect that the

3:53 distinguishing trait of the nation of Israel was not that their hearts were circumcised that their hearts were uncircumcised as he says in the prophet Jeremiah that all of the nations are uncircumcised and flesh and the nation of Israel is uncircumcised and it's hard and And we saw that it was upon that note that the Old Testament witness to circumcision draws to a close. Also, the notice sounded that the day is coming in which the people of God will be characterized by having their hearts circumcised.

4:31 Remember we saw in Deuteronomy chapter 30, it says that Israel will have its heart circumcised and the Lord will come and will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed. That Israel and the seed of Israel will have their hearts circumcised in the day to come and in the age to come that all of those who are uncircumcised will be judged. A great judgment is coming and it's on this note that the Old Testament draws its teaching concerning circumcision to a close. You remember we saw that there was a tension, a tension between circumcision of the body and circumcision of the heart.

5:08 That the characteristic of those who possess circumcision of the body. Was that they didn't possess circumcision of the heart. And this is not right. This is a tension.

5:16 And this tension must be resolved. Because the people of God ought to be characterized not simply by circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But circumcision which is inward in the heart. And we're going to read now in the New Testament witness about the resolution of this tension.

Continuity of Physical Circumcision in the New Testament

5:37 First passage. Now there are several. I said last time 25 passages. So we're not going to be able to spend a lot of time on all of them.

5:46 I just want to go over some of them briefly and then some of them we'll spend a little more time on. First text Luke 1 59. This morning the New Testament witness right here.

6:00 And hopefully conclusions.

6:03 But I make no promises about that.

6:07 Luke chapter 1 verse 59.

6:14 The first thing that we're going to see is an element of continuity.

6:20 And they're talking about the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1 59. Right.

6:25 They came to pass on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child and they would have called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother said not so but he shall be called John. So in conjunction with the first mention of circumcision in the New Testament you have physical circumcision. The circumcision of the body performed on John the Baptist on the eighth day in strict accordance with all of the Mosaic and Levitical legislation.

6:55 First text w plugged in. And so we've seen their

7:33 John 7 and verse 22 because the next explicit mention of the cycle of life and death. And the................ fit to that.

7:37 Light will be to see each other. And in the context that we read in the New Testament. We won't Rad Sniff that observe her that was most clearly wrong. engaged in a sabbath controversy and he's healed a man on the sabbath and verse 21 and jesus answered and said to them i did one work and you all marvel because thereof moses has given you circumcision all right moses has given you circumcision probably a reference to leviticus chapter 12 in which moses embellished the patriarchal ordinance of circumcision with

8:17 levitical legislation probably a reference to that moses has given you circumcision then qualifying statement not that it is of moses but of the fathers that is it didn't originate with moses but it originated with the patriarchs with abraham isaac and jacob and on a sabbath on the sabbath you circumcise a man if a man receives circumcision on the sabbath that the law of moses may not be broken so that it may be done on the eighth day when that happens to fall on the sabbath are you wroth with me because i made a man every withhold on the sabbath judge not

9:00 according to appearance but judge righteous judgment so he argues from the fact that it was appropriate for the activity of circumcision to take place on the sabbath day to the fact that it was appropriate for his healing activity to take place on the sabbath day and even as it was no violation of the rest unto god which god had instituted for them to circumcise a man that's what the old writers would have called a deed of piety so also it was no violation of the rest instituted by god for jesus christ to make that man whole upon god's designated day of rest and of worship so you do see continuity between

9:45 the old testament usage and the new testament usage of circumcision right the next passage acts chapter 7 and verse 8 and once again this continuity between the old and the new testament usage is going to be underscored and here steven is speaking acts chapter 7 and verse 8 and in this text steven speaks to his accusers speaking before the high priests and the leaders of the nation and here he speaks of god coming to abraham and addressing to him the language of the abrahamic covenant and reflecting upon genesis

10:28 chapter 15 first and then he reflects after genesis 15 upon genesis chapter 17 notice beginning in verse 4 speaks about abraham coming into the land of the chaldeans and leaving the land of the chaldeans and dwelling in heron and from thence he went to dwell in this land in which you now dwell and he gave him non-inheritance in it verse 5 and he promised that he would give it to him in possession and to his seed after him there's the abrahamic covenant the promise that the very land in which they were then dwelling the land of palestine the land of canaan that that land would be given to abraham god promised him that and that it would be given that land that real estate would be given to him and that land would be given to him and that land

11:13 would be given to him and to his posterity stephen says this was the abrahamic promise and covenant when he still had no child and then you remember in genesis 15 god said this is how you know that my covenant is faithful and sure this is how you know that it will come to pass verse 6 and god spoke to him on this wise that his seed that is his posterity seed plural in this context his physical descendants should sojourn in a strange place and he said that he said that he would bring them into bondage and that they should bring them into bondage and treat them ill 400 years now what's that referring to obviously referring to the time of egyptian

11:51 bondage which predated the exodus right and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will i judge and after that they shall come forth and serve me in this place so god judged the egyptians with all the plagues and then he brought the nation of israel forth on the exodus they went through the wilderness and they entered into the land of the exodus and they were brought to the land of canaan now that's what he's referring to that was the fulfillment of the abrahamic covenant which god made to the post to abraham and to his posterity now that's genesis 15 after reflecting on genesis 15 stephen's thought moves to genesis 17 and notice what he says and he gave him the

12:32 covenant of circumcision and he gave him the covenant of circumcision and so abraham begat isaac and circumcised him the eighth day isaac jacob and jacob the twelve patriarchs and then he moves on to tell the story of the patriarchs move with jealousy against joseph now here when he says the covenant of circumcision it's clear that he means the covenant which is circumcision in other words circumcision is once again identified with the abrahamic covenant remember we saw in the old testament when he said this is my covenant he identified circumcision with the covenant the sign of the covenant

13:14 is identified with the covenant itself just like a wedding ring the token is identified with the oath sworn and the vows taken so also circumcision the token is identified with the oath which god swore to abraham and you find an identification of the oath sworn promise and the visible token or pledge or emblem of that promise the two are said to be the same thing is true of the elements of the lord's supper where jesus says this cup is the new

13:52 covenant in my blood this cup is the new covenant in my blood in other words the symbol is identified with the covenant with the pledge which it signifies and represents okay you find again this perspective underscored in the end of the book of uh i'm sorry in the end of this chapter in the end of this chapter verse 51 and following as stephen is bringing his exhortation and his message to a close

The Tension of Uncircumcised Hearts in the New Testament

14:31 he comes to the application and notice how he describes the men of israel in acts 7 and verse 51 he says you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and Ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute, and they killed them that showed before the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers? You who received the law as it was ordained by angels and kept it not. Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

15:16 And then you know the story of how they went to stone him in his bold and gracious witness for Christ. Notice how he describes the men of Israel. He says, you are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and in ears. I have no question, Stephen said, that your bodies have been circumcised, men.

15:39 That's not the issue. The issue is that your hearts and your ears are uncircumcised. You're stiff-necked. You're unbelieving and rebellious in your hearts.

15:51 And just like your fathers were, even as that was the distinguishing trait of your fathers who went before you, so that also is the distinguishing trait of you, gentlemen. As it was theirs, so it is yours. You are uncircumcised in your hearts and in your ears. As a group, it is a distinguishing trait of your nation that you've experienced the circumcision of God.

16:16 You've experienced the circumcision of your bodies, but you have not experienced the circumcision of your hearts. You're stiff-necked. You're uncircumcised in hearts and in ears. Just like your fathers, so you too.

16:33 All right, now, next passage. So you see, that same tension is there, is it not? The nation of Israel still had the same distinguishing trait. And it was because of the fact that they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in their hearts, not only did they kill the prophets, but they rejected John and they rejected Jesus, and their uncircumcised hearts came to their epitome of rebellion and stiff-neckedness when they put to death the Son of God.

Circumcision as a Distinguishing Mark and Source of Social Division

17:00 All right, next passage. Acts chapter 10.

17:05 We're going to spend a little time on that one, because it underscores, it doesn't do anything to resolve the tension, it underscores the tension in the New Testament. All right, Acts chapter 10 and verse 45. And now Peter is in the house of Cornelius, speaking the word of God in accordance with the direct revelation which he was given by the Spirit, that he was to go there and to speak. And while Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on them, all of them that heard the word.

17:41 And they of the circumcision, now here's a phrase that you're going to run across again and again in the New Testament. They of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles, Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. And again, Acts 11 and verse 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, You went into men uncircumcised and did eat with them.

18:17 So now you find a distinction made between two kinds of people. Those that are of the circumcision and those that are uncircumcised. And from the context, it's obvious who those that are of the circumcision are. They are contrasted with the Gentiles, which means that they are the Jews.

18:37 And there's a particular characteristic of these, those of the circumcision who believed. In other words, the Jews who believed. And that's who it refers to. So here, to be of the circumcision is to be a Jew.

18:52 The Jews were described in terms of this ordinance of circumcision. It became something of a distinguishing trait or mark of their Jewishness. To be a Jew was identified with circumcision of the body.

19:13 And to be a Gentile was to be identified with an uncircumcised male body. You follow the point?

19:24 To be a Jew as opposed to being a Gentile, and you can see that this created social tension in 11 too. That the Jews were not going to eat. Those who were circumcised in their bodies would not sit down in a social context and eat with those who were not circumcised in their bodies. So there was social division which arose as a result of this distinction between those who were circumcised in their bodies and those who were not.

The Judaizers' False Teaching and Apostolic Rejection

19:56 All right, now we get on to Acts chapter 15. And we find that this matter of circumcision, this Abraham, this Abrahamic ordinance became an issue of controversy. You can see the controversy building up in Acts chapter 11. Even the Jewish believers had problems with the fact that Peter did something over in Cornelius' house that they didn't think was, let's call it, kosher.

20:20 Lack of a better word. And in Acts chapter 15, we find that there were some who were even more extreme. They didn't like just the social problems identified with it, but they had some other problems too.

20:33 Acts 15 and verse 1. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, saying, Except you be circumcised after the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Except you be circumcised after the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. So a group arose among those who believed the gospel, and they've been nicknamed by later interpreters, the Judaizers.

21:09 And what they were teaching is that circumcision is absolutely essential for salvation. What circumcision? That's the crucial question. Is there any doubt that circumcision is absolutely essential for salvation?

21:24 No. But don't you see the question is, what circumcision is absolutely essential for salvation? Circumcision of the body or circumcision of the heart? And these Judaizers had confused them.

21:38 They had confused this tension. And what they were teaching was that circumcision of the body was absolutely essential for salvation. That the truly determinative mark of those who were the possessors of salvation was circumcision of the body. And without it, you cannot be saved.

22:00 That was the issue.

22:03 And they recognized the biblical teaching of the necessity of circumcision. And they recognized the biblical teaching of the necessity of circumcision. And yet, they thought that it was circumcision of the body which was absolutely essential. And this came into clear focus in terms of the conversion of the Gentiles.

22:26 Why? Because these Gentiles were uncircumcised in their bodies.

22:34 Were the Gentile churches uncircumcised in their hearts? Well, we'll see when we get to some of the other passages. But one thing was clear. They were uncircumcised in their bodies.

22:45 And verse 5 underscores where this group arose. And there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed. Up until that point, they said, We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah.

23:03 And they were baptized and numbered with the disciples of Jesus.

23:11 And they had something to say about, about the conversion of the Gentiles. And this is what they said. It is necessary to circumcise them, that is, circumcise the body, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. In other words, they intimately identified two things.

23:28 They intimately identified the circumcision of the body and obedience to the book of the law, which contained the civil and ceremonial statutes which were the specific and concrete application of the law of Moses. Of the moral principles inscribed on the Decalogue, on the Ten Commandments and the Tables of Stone, which was the concrete and specific application of those moral principles to the civil and religious life of the nation of Israel while they were living in the land of Canaan. And that what we were supposed to do now is to bring these Gentiles into this complex, a Canaan-oriented, a book-of-the-law-oriented religion,

24:11 which would include the Jewish community, the Jewish feasts and all the Jewish ceremonies, all of the special and peculiar religious and civil legislation which was appropriate to the land of Canaan and the Levitical priesthood. All of that was bound up with the concept of receiving physical circumcision. The two things stood or fell together in the minds of these people. It's necessary to circumcise them and at the same time to charge them to keep the law of Moses.

24:44 And then again, down in verse 24, and there's a variant reading in the text,

24:53 but in some of the manuscripts have circumcision in them.

25:02 For as much as we have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment, and in that text some of the manuscripts say something to the effect that saying circumcision was necessary. A very similar statement to what's found in verse 5. If you have the King James Version you'll probably find it in there, right? Okay.

25:29 If you have the American Standards you won't find it in there. Well, in any event, there's no real difference between what verse 24 says in the King James and what verse 5 already said. But the point is that the apostles and the elders who were given the responsibility for the oversight of the church clearly rejected this idea. It was rejected outright that bodily circumcision was to be a distinguishing mark or trait of the church of Jesus Christ, whether it was Jewish or Gentile.

26:00 That bodily circumcision rather belonged to that class of things which is called those things indifferent.

Paul's Pragmatic Approach to Circumcision as an Indifferent Matter

26:12 All right? Acts chapter 16 and verse 3.

26:18 And after Paul fought so hard and so long to have circumcision put in its place, in its right place, notice what he does in Acts 16.3 when he takes Timothy. A certain disciple there in Derbe, in Lystra, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed but his father was a Greek. Him would Paul, verse 3, have to go forth with him and took him and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts because they all knew that his father was a Greek.

26:54 Maybe if they didn't know, Paul wouldn't have circumcised him. But anyway, they did know. And because they all knew it, Paul took him and circumcised him. Well, what was this?

27:04 Was Paul capitulating to pharisaical influences in the church of Christ? No. Paul was simply doing what was wise. He was not creating unnecessary ruckuses and fusses about things which were indifferent.

27:23 And he knew that Timothy's usefulness would be greatly hampered if he were physically uncircumcised in his body. And so he took him and circumcised him in order to defuse that issue totally. So Paul put this into that class of things which were indifferent. He knew that he was going around to the various places that he would be going into the synagogues and he wanted to be able to bring Timothy with him.

27:49 He didn't want to create a situation in which people would unnecessarily come up with all kinds of false accusations. He didn't want to create a situation in which people would unnecessarily come up with all kinds of false accusations. He didn't want to create a situation in which people would unnecessarily come up with all kinds of false accusations. And slanders about him bringing uncircumcised men in and all the rest.

27:57 And slanders about him bringing uncircumcised men in and all the rest. And so in order to avoid that, he took Timothy and circumcised him. he took Timothy and circumcised him. Alright, Acts Chapter 21.

Paul's True Teaching on Jewish Circumcision and Customs

28:06 Now here is another important passage. Acts Chapter 21 and verse 21. Paul returns to Jerusalem. And people have heard a lot of bad things about this man, Paul.

28:30 And especially these Jews have heard a lot of lies about him. And especially these Jews have heard a lot of lies about him. And here is what they have heard. And verse 20 says, And they, when they heard that I was dead, heard it glorified God. And they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there

28:45 are among the Jews of them that have believed. And they're all zealous for the law. They're all zealous for the law. They didn't. Those living in the land of Canaan and Judea, they

28:56 didn't throw out the book of the law. They didn't throw out the Levitical feast. They didn't throw out the civil and religious rites and ceremonies which had been handed down to them through Moses and inscribed in the book of the law. They're all zealous for the law. And here's what they've heard. They have been informed concerning you that you

29:16 teach all the Jews that are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. You see the things go together. You're telling these, this is what they've heard about you, Paul, that you are telling the Jews who live among the Gentiles not to circumcise their children, and you're telling them not to circumcise their children. You're telling them to forsake the Mosaic customs and ceremonies which were handed down to us and written in the book of the law. That's what they've heard about you.

29:50 Now verse 22. What is it, therefore? They will certainly hear that you're come. We're not going to hide this fact. You can't keep this a secret. Do therefore this that we say

30:03 to you. We have four men that have a vow on them. Take these and purify yourself with them. That is, go through the Jewish ceremony.

30:12 The Jewish ceremony of purification with these men, and be it charges for them that they may shave their heads, and all shall know that there is no truth in the things whereof they have been informed concerning you, but that you yourself also walk orderly keeping the law. See that? Doing those things written in the book of the law. And they will know that there is no truth to what they have been informed concerning

30:52 you. Now what were they told? They were told that Paul was going around among the Jews scattered out in the various portions of the Roman Empire and telling them circumcision has been done away for you. Circumcision has been replaced. And there's no need for you

31:09 Jews to continue to circumcise your children. That's been replaced or done away with. That's no longer, that's passe, that's no longer proper for you Jews. Paul never taught that. He never taught that. He never said that the circumcision of their infants was

31:25 passe, improper, done away now that they had come to Christ. He never taught that. He never taught that. He never taught that. They continued to circumcise their children. It was not done

31:40 away. It was not replaced. And Paul did not teach them that. He never taught that. He

31:44 just said it was replaced and he didn't go around seeking to stop them from practicing it or from keeping the Mosaic customs. He didn't. You say, why are you getting excited about that? You'll find out next week. You'll find out next week. But as for now, just remember

32:06 that text. Just remember that text. As far as the Gentiles who believed were concerned, circumcision of their body was not essential for salvation. And as far as the Jews who believed were concerned, circumcision of their bodies and the bodies of their children was not done away with and forbidden and replaced with something else. Isn't that clear? That's what text says, right?

Romans: The Primacy of Heart Circumcision Over Flesh Circumcision

32:38 Okay. Romans chapter 2. Now we'll get to some of them. We've got about 17 minutes left.

32:45 We're coming to the epistles. Maybe we'll make it. Romans chapter 2, verses 25 to 28. Now this is a key passage because circumcision is mentioned some six times in this text. It's

33:01 a crucial text in the New Testament. And this is where the Apostle Paul is underscoring the fact that the Jews, just like the Gentiles by nature, are under the wrath of God. And he tells them about their sin, beginning in verse 17. But you, if you bear the name of a Jew and rest upon the law and glory in God and know his will, and he goes on. You remember

33:27 we saw that when we were, when I was preaching about Paul's treatment of this person. And this is a key passage. But now notice what he says. Verse 23. You who glory in the law

33:36 through your transgression of the law, you dishonor God. Now I'm going to read a different translation. And the reason I'm going to read this translation is because I believe that some of the translations that are available are not accurate with regard to verses 28 and 29. I think they missed the point of it. So I'm going to read you a different translation

33:56 today. And it's this. For circumcision benefits if you keep the law. For circumcision benefits but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If therefore an

34:10 uncircumcised man keeps the requirement of the law, won't his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And an uncircumcised man by nature, if he keeps the law, shall judge you, the lawbreaker, with the written code and circumcision. So what Paul is saying is this. When it comes to having the approval of God.

34:34 And to being right with God. The issue, my dear Jewish brothers, is not whether or not your body has been circumcised. The issue is whether or not you are living a life which is in obedience to the moral standards of the Decalogue. That's what he's saying. If

34:54 you keep the law, then circumcision is valuable. If you don't keep the law, if you violate the law of God and you live in rebellion against God, then circumcision is not a law. If you keep the law, then circumcision is a law. That's what Paul is saying.

35:07 He doesn't mean that physical circumcision somehow got reversed. He means that everything that's identified with that in terms of the blessing of God is utterly eviscerated and negated. And that the real issue is not whether or not you have experienced this change in your body, but it's the way that the person lives. Whether you live a life of evangelical obedience. Whether you live a life of peace of mind. Whether you live a life of correctness.

35:34 How can you live without circumcision? You know you have a life of the Bible, the Greek, To God or whether you live a life of rebellion toward God, not circumcision of your body. And he says it's because of this great truth that if an uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the law, if an uncircumcised Gentile whose body has never been changed in the secret place, if that Gentile lives a life of evangelical obedience, then he'll be regarded just as though he were circumcised. In body, he has what really matters. And furthermore, this same uncircumcised man, if he keeps the law, shall judge you, the lawbreaker, with the written code and circumcision.

36:18 Now, in verse 28 and 29, the Apostle Paul is going to underscore the great principle upon which this perspective rests, and he says as follows. For it is not the visible Jew, nor visible sin. Circumcision in flesh. See the point?

36:40 It is not the visible Jew, nor the visible circumcision in flesh, but the secret Jew and circumcision of heart in spirit, not written code, whose approval comes not from men, but from God. Now, that's what the text says. There's no verb in the thing, in the first part of it.

37:03 There's no verb. And I don't know that there's any biblical warrant either to insert one. In the first part of it, the verb is at the end. It's all one sentence.

37:12 And he's saying it's not the visible Jew, nor visible circumcision in the flesh, whose approval comes from God. That's not the issue. But it's the secret Jew and circumcision of heart, whose approval comes not from men, but from God. And you see there, the Apostle Paul makes a distinction once again.

37:38 Between circumcision of heart and circumcision in the flesh. Circumcision in the body and circumcision in the soul. And just as the visible Jew is identified with circumcision of the body, so there's another kind of Jew. There's two Jews.

37:59 Two kinds of Jews. Two kinds of circumcision and two kinds of Jews.

38:05 There's those secret Jews who are identified with circumcision. And there's those who are identified with circumcision of the heart. So there's two circumcisions and there's two Jews. There's secret Jews and visible Jews.

38:26 Right now. And it's those Jews who are Jews inwardly. Those are the ones who are distinguished by being circumcised inwardly. And those are the ones whose approval comes not from men, but from God, whether or not they have been circumcised outwardly in their bodies.

38:48 Right now.

Justification by Faith for Both Circumcised and Uncircumcised

38:51 Romans chapter three, a couple of more passages, and I'll pass over some of these quickly.

39:00 What advantage then has the Jew? What's the profit of circumcision? Again, speaking about circumcision, the body and the visible, obvious Jew who's distinguished by receiving circumcision in the body. And again, Romans chapter three, verse 30.

39:14 Now, here's a clear passage. Jews and Gentiles justified in the same way. Circumcision used to describe the Jews and uncircumcision. The Jews to describe the Gentiles, if so be that God is one and he shall justify the Jews, the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision, the Gentiles through faith, right?

Abraham's Circumcision: A Seal of Pre-Existing Faith

39:33 Next passage, Romans chapter four, Romans chapter four, verses nine to 12, Romans four, verses nine to 12. Now, here you have Abraham described as the one who was justified through receiving the righteousness of faith. Now, Paul is concerned. To show that the reception of righteousness by faith occurred in Abraham's life prior to the reception of circumcision.

40:08 Abraham, in other words, was justified while he was an uncircumcised man as far as his body was concerned. That's the point. Is this blessing, verse nine, pronounced upon the circumcision that is upon a circumcised man or upon the uncircumcision, too? That's the question.

40:27 Is this blessing of righteousness? The exclusive possession of those whose bodies have been circumcised? Does this blessedness pertain to the circumcised exclusively or the uncircumcised also as far as their bodies are concerned? For, go on reading the scriptures now, for we are saying that faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.

40:49 How then was it reckoned while he was in a circumcised condition or an uncircumcised condition? Not in a circumcised condition. But in an uncircumcised condition? And he received the distinguishing mark or sign of circumcision as a seal or ask to attestation.

41:12 Of the righteousness derived from the faith which he had in his uncircumcised condition. In order for him to be the father of all those who believe. While they are in an uncircumcised condition. In order for.

41:29 righteousness to be credited to them too. And the father of circumcised men, not to those who are only distinguished by circumcision, but to those who are also following the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham which existed in an uncircumcised condition. So we read that circumcision as it was given to Abraham had a very special place in God's purpose in redemptive history.

42:05 What was the very special place that it had? Abraham received this sign or distinguishing mark of circumcision of his body. He received it in the way that he received it in order to attest to him the righteousness which he had while he was still living. He was still uncircumcised. Now why did God do all of this? It was in order that Abraham would have

42:33 a special place in the history of the redemption and salvation of his people. It was in order that Abraham would be the father of all who believe. You remember we saw in Genesis chapter 17 that when Abraham received the sign of circumcision that God changed his name. You remember that?

42:55 Remember what he changed his name? He changed his name from Abram to Abraham which means the father of a multitude. Why? Because God changed his name in conjunction with the reception of circumcision of the body because God was giving him this distinguishing mark of circumcision in order to make him the father of everyone who believed.

43:27 That was the point. See that? Why did Abraham receive it? And he received it in order that he might be the father of all who believe and then Paul explains this. The father of those who believe in an uncircumcised state and the father

43:49 of those who are not simply marked out by circumcision of the body but who also walk in the steps of the faith of their father. So Abraham received circumcision and he received it in the way that he did in order to constitute him as the father of all believers. Circumcision was given to Abraham with a specific purpose, a special purpose, and it was given to him with a special and specific significance. And look at what the significance was.

44:25 It says that circumcision was to Abraham a seal or an attestation of the righteousness of faith which he had, which existed already in his uncircumcised state. See that?

44:50 Circumcision of the body for Abraham was an attestation of something which already... already existed, namely the righteousness of faith.

45:08 And Abraham so received circumcision in order to point him out and to specify him and him alone. It is not everyone who is the father of all believers. It is only Abraham who is the father of all believers. Circumcision had a special purpose and a special significance in the case of Abraham.

45:29 Now it is wrong to say that it has that same purpose. And that same significance in the case of all of the other Jews who received circumcision. That is wrong to reason that way. It is obvious from what it signifies.

45:43 It signifies and it seals and attests that which Abraham already possessed in his uncircumcised state. And what did Abraham already possess? He already possessed the righteousness of faith. Now this is obviously...

46:03 not what was signified in the circumcision of Ishmael, in the circumcision of Esau, in the circumcision of the Jews who were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in their hearts and ears, or in the circumcision of anyone else who was circumcised on the eighth day. For then, circumcision was not an attestation of the righteousness of faith which they already possessed in their uncircumcised state. Now that is obvious, isn't it? Because some of them never possessed it at all.

46:36 As a matter of fact, it was a distinguishing trait of the nation that they never possessed it at all. They didn't possess it at all during the days of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses. And they didn't possess it during the days of Stephen. They never did possess it.

46:51 They didn't possess the righteousness of faith as a distinguishing trait in their uncircumcised state of body or in their circumcised state of body. They didn't possess it at all. The vast majority of them. But it wasn't for them who were circumcised on the eighth day a sign and seal of the righteousness of faith which they had in their uncircumcised condition.

47:16 That's not what it was. Whatever it was, it wasn't that. It has a special significance because it has a special purpose. Its special purpose is to constitute Abraham the father of all those who believe.

47:34 And its special significance for Abraham is intimately bound with the special purpose for which it was given to Abraham. It was not given to Esau. It was not given to Ishmael. It was not given to the Jews in order to constitute them the father of believers.

47:50 It was not given to them for that purpose. And it does not have for them the very same and identical significance which it had for Abraham. And so I trust you can see the fallacy of trying to say that circumcision, that circumcision has the same spiritual significance for everyone that it has for Abraham. It does not because it had a special purpose in the case of Abraham.

Conclusion and Prayer

48:17 Well, I failed. I did not get through all of the New Testament usage this morning. I'm going to stop here because it's 1028. So we'll stop with Abraham, Genesis chapter, Romans chapter 4.

48:33 The Lord willing, next week we'll complete the rest of the New Testament witness and come to draw our conclusions. Now let's pray that the Lord will take his word and seal it to our hearts. Our Father, we give you thanks for your holy word. We thank you, Lord, for the clarity and also for the forcefulness of your holy word.

49:03 And we pray, Lord, that you would come by the Holy Spirit, that you would write that word upon our hearts. As we, Lord, have read again about the Jews, about those who had yet received so much, so many blessings, and yet their hearts were stiff-necked and uncircumcised. And we pray, O God, that this may never characterize us. We pray that we may always be careful to walk in such a way as would befit a tender and circumcised heart.

49:30 We pray, Lord, that you would keep us from error on the right hand and on the left, that we may walk in the ways of righteousness, in the paths of truth. We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen.