Circumcision: NT Survey, Part 2

Introduction and Review of Old Testament and Early New Testament Teaching on Circumcision

0:00 This adult Sunday school class was held on December 4th, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Our Father, as we draw near, we come into your presence. We confess, though always we are conscious of how much we need your help and how much we need your assistance, yet this morning, O God, in this special way, we are conscious of this, and, O, be pleased by your grace, O God, to draw near in the midst of our helplessness, in the midst of our need. Be pleased, O Father, to come and draw near and give grace and give understanding and enlighten our minds and our hearts that we may understand your holy word this morning.

0:44 Do not leave us to ourselves, but be pleased to come and to teach us, and then to take that word and to write it upon our hearts. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, as we plod through the biblical doctrine of baptism and consider that doctrine with special reference to the error of infant baptism, we come to our third unit of thought, namely infant baptism and its relationship to the sacraments.

1:18 And we look first of all at infant baptism and the concept of a sacrament and then infant baptism in the Lord's Supper. And now we're in the midst of considering infant baptism in relationship to the subject of circumcision. And under this, I have two major divisions of thought. First of all, a survey of the biblical teaching respecting circumcision, and then secondly, an attempt at a biblical definition of the relationship between baptism and circumcision.

1:46 And under this, we are now considering the survey of the biblical teaching. We looked at the Old Testament teaching. Then we began last week to look at the New Testament teaching. And hopefully we'll complete.

1:58 We'll complete the New Testament teaching this morning and then be able to draw some conclusions concerning the biblical teaching.

2:08 Now, we saw with respect to the Old Testament that circumcision was instituted at the time of Abraham. It was a mark to mark out Abraham and to mark out the posterity of Abraham. That much is clear. But it marked out Abraham, it distinguished him, and it marked out Abraham's posterity, Abraham's descent, and it marked out Abraham's descendants or to put it a different way, Abraham's seed, Abraham's posterity, Abraham's descendants.

2:38 And we saw that throughout the Old Testament a distinction was made from the time of Moses right through to the days of the prophets, that a distinction was made between two different kinds of circumcision. There was first of all, the circumcision of the body, which was an outward circumcision in the secret place of a male. and then there was failure to circumcise and the dissolution in the cave Then there was also this other circumcision, a circumcision of the heart, which was an inward circumcision, a circumcision not made with hands. And it was this circumcision of the heart which was characteristically not the possession of the Jews.

3:17 Remember, the Jews were exhorted to circumcise their hearts. Now, why would they be exhorted to circumcise their hearts if their hearts were already circumcised? And furthermore, it says something else. It says that all of the nations are uncircumcised in their body and my people, Israel, are uncircumcised in heart in Jeremiah 9, 26.

3:39 That the distinguishing trait of the nation of Israel from its inception to the coming of Christ was that that nation was not circumcised in heart. There was this terrible anomaly, this tension, this dichotomy. And the people who were circumcised in their bodies characterized. Characteristically, were not circumcised in their hearts.

4:02 Now, that doesn't mean that there was never any Jews who were saved. Of course, there were many who were saved. Most of the elect during those days came from the nation of Israel, of course. But the point is that the nation as a whole, as a distinguishing mark, as a distinguishing trait, was uncircumcised in heart.

4:22 And we saw from our consideration of the New Testament data that this tension, which was established in the Old Testament, and the promise of the resolution of this tension was given in the Old Testament. And yet, we find in the New Testament that this tension is underscored. Remember what Stephen said? He said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and in ears like your fathers did, so do you.

4:50 You always resist the Holy Ghost. Remember? The very tension established in the Old Testament is intensified and underscored in the New Testament. Nothing's changed.

5:03 Those that are circumcised in their body still, characteristically, are uncircumcised in their hearts. And this tension is underscored in the New Testament. And we completed last week, up through Romans, chapter 4, verses 9 through 12, where we saw that the Apostle Paul outlines the specific, the specific, the specific significance of circumcision in the case of Abraham. Now, we're going to try to complete this morning the New Testament.

Christ's Ministry Focus and the Irrelevance of Bodily Circumcision (Romans 15, 1 Corinthians 7)

5:39 And the next passage is found in Romans, chapter 15. So, so much for that little bit of review. Now, Romans, chapter 15. Now, you know, in the context, Romans, chapter 15, the text is verse 8.

6:05 For I say that Christ has been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written. And then he goes on to quote passages from the Old Testament. And verse 10, in particular, says, And rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

6:41 All right. Now, in the context, Paul is speaking about Christian liberty. He's speaking about the fact that Christians who differ over a matter of, over things which are really indifferent ought not to cut one another off from Christian fellowship. And this has particular reference to Jews and to Gentiles, probably.

7:04 Jews and Gentiles who differ so much in terms of their customs and their national customs and practices, and yet that ought not to divide them as far as religious fellowship, church identification in Christ is concerned. And that's the point of it. Now, he may well be speaking here in verse 8 because that's the context in which he's speaking. And he makes a contrast between the circumcision and the Gentiles.

7:31 Notice the difference between verse 8 and 9. Christ has been made a minister of the circumcision that he might confirm the promises to the fathers. And that the Gentiles might glorify God. So it may mean that the peculiar focus of Christ's ministry when he was here upon earth was to the Jews.

7:49 Now, that's a biblical truth. And it may well be that that's what's being spoken here. For example, in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 24, the Lord Jesus says, I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the children of Israel. He says that in the context in which he has come to the Syrians.

8:08 Come to the Syrophoenician woman, this Canaanitish woman. And she has asked him to heal her daughter. And he said, lady, I can't do that because I was only sent to the lost sheep of the children of Israel. The peculiar focus of my mission right now is not to the Gentiles.

8:24 It's not to the world at large. The peculiar focus of my mission is to the Jews. So I can't do what you ask. So he initially put her off.

8:34 Nevertheless, through faith, she prevailed. And he healed her daughter. As she had requested. So it may mean here that the Lord Jesus Christ had the peculiar focus of his ministry to the Jews.

8:47 All right, next passage. First Corinthians chapter 7 and verses 18 and 19. Beginning in verse 17 to catch the context. After he's speaking about the fact that Christians ought not to dissolve marriages with unconverted people.

9:18 Simply because their spouses are unconverted. He says in verse 17. Only. As the Lord has distributed to each man and as God has called each, so let him walk.

9:30 And so I ordained in all the churches. Was any man called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Well, obviously, that's a figure of speech.

9:43 Let him try. He's obviously not speaking literally, is he? Has any man be called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.

9:55 All right. Now, what does he mean by that? Because he's. All right.

9:59 Here's usually going to tell you what he means in verse 19. Circumcision is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. Circumcision is nothing.

10:14 He says. Uncircumcision is nothing. He says. They're speaking about circumcision of the body.

10:19 And he says. As far. As you're standing with God is concerned. As far as that which distinguishes you as one who's in the favor of God is concerned.

10:33 Circumcision or uncircumcision of the body is totally irrelevant. Circumcision of the body is a matter of indifference. And that which marks you out and that which distinguishes you as a person who is in the favor of God. The body is not whether or not your body has been circumcised.

10:54 It's whether or not you're living a life of obedience to God. That's the issue. Circumcision is nothing. Uncircumcision is nothing.

11:02 But here's the thing. The keeping of the commandments of God. Obedience to the Decalogue. Obedience.

11:11 Evangelical obedience to the moral law of God. It's that which marks out. Those who are in the favor of God. That kind of a lifestyle is the proof of the pudding that you are right with God, not whether or not your body has been circumcised.

11:30 And you see there he's making essentially the same point that he made in Romans chapter 2, verses 25 to 29. Remember he said, he's not a Jew who's one outwardly, and that is not circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he's a Jew who is one inwardly. And it's that circumcision of heart in spirit, not written code, whose approval comes not from men, but from God. So you find here underscoring the very same principle that as far as the apostle was concerned with regard to the coming of Christ and the New Testament, circumcision of the body is a matter of indifference.

12:15 It is not the distinguishing mark of those who are in the favor of God. They are. Rather, distinguished by a life of obedience. That's the issue.

Paul's Battle Against Judaizers in Galatians: Circumcision as a Matter of Indifference

12:25 So that's an important text. Right, next, Galatians chapter 2.

12:31 Galatians chapter 2.

12:42 First of all, verse 3.

12:46 Now, of course, the book of Galatians has to do with justification as it comes in the context of Paul fighting against the Judaizers, the people who were teaching that it was necessary to be circumcised in your body and to keep the whole book of the law with all the Jewish ceremonies and statutes, in order to be saved. He's fighting against that mentality. And the first thing that he has to say, the first time that he mentions circumcision in this connection, he mentions it in chapter 2 and verse 3. He gives a historical reference.

13:17 He says, But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. Titus was not compelled to be circumcised. It's referring to circumcision of the body. And he's saying that circumcision...

13:32 Circumcision of the body is not necessary unto salvation of the soul. Then again, down in verse 7.

13:41 Now, here in verse 7, you find that the Apostle Paul draws reference or draws out the fact that there was a distinct focus between his apostolate and the apostolate of Peter, James, and John.

13:57 But contrarized, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, even... Even...

14:03 Even... Even...

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14:03 Even... Even...

14:04 Even... Even...

14:04 Even... Even...

14:04 Even... Even...

14:04 Even... Even...

14:04 Even as Peter with the gospel of the circumcision, for he that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the Gentiles. So it's clear, is it not? Here, circumcision is contrasted with Gentiles. And you see, what he's saying is that the peculiar focus of the apostolate of Peter was to the Jews, and the peculiar focus of the apostolate of Paul was to the Gentiles.

14:42 And here, the circumcision is contrasted with the Gentiles. You see, circumcision of body, the bodily circumcision became so identified with the Jewish nation and with the Jewish people that the Jewish people, Jewish men, are called the circumcision, and they are contrasted with the Gentiles. It's clear. It's clear, right?

15:05 And the peculiar focus of Peter's ministry was to the Jewish people, and Paul's was to the Gentile people.

15:15 Notice, again, next, and verse 9, and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James, Cephas, and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they, unto the circumcision. Now, what could be clearer than that? That we should go to the Gentiles, the peculiar focus of our ministry is to be the Gentiles, and they should go to the circumcision. The peculiar focus of their ministry was to be the Jews.

15:56 See that? Okay. Jews and Gentiles. The circumcision and the uncircumcision.

16:05 Circumcision of body.

16:08 Then again, verse 12. Now, in this context, he's speaking about Peter and his misbehavior at Antioch, and he says in verse 11, and when Peter, or Cephas, came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face because he stood condemned, because before that certain came from James, he ate with the Gentiles, but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of. The circumcision.

16:41 So he feared the Jews, and he separated himself from the Gentiles with whom he had previously eaten because of the fear of man.

16:54 And Paul rebuked him to his face for that behavior.

17:00 Right? The next passage. And so you can see that identified with circumcision, those who had the circumcision of the body were refusing to eat with those who were not circumcised in their body, and there was a creation. There was a creation.

17:12 There was a creation. There was a creation. There was a creation. There was a creation.

17:12 There was a creation of tension and division among Christians over this issue. Right? Now, also, Galatians chapter 5.

Circumcision and Justification by Faith in Galatians 5-6

17:22 Galatians chapter 5.

17:29 Now, here you have to take it in the context. I'm going to read, first of all, Galatians 5, 2, 3, and 6, and then come down and read Galatians 5, 11. Galatians 5, 2. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

17:47 Yea, I testify again to every man that... That receives circumcision, he's a debtor to do the whole law.

17:54 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. Verse 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. And then verse 11.

18:15 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision... Why am I still persecuted?

18:25 Then has the stumbling block of the cross been done away. I would that those that unsettle you would go beyond circumcision. All right. Now, verse 11 is the key to this.

18:36 He says, if I still preach circumcision. Now, what did he mean by that? He didn't mean that he was going around telling that people ought to be circumcised for medical reasons. He wasn't preaching that.

18:50 What was he preaching? He was preaching that you must be circumcised in your body and come into that whole complex identified with circumcision of body, the keeping of the book of the law and all those statutes and ceremonies given in the book of the law for the people of Israel and the land of Canaan, that you must come in to that whole framework if you are to be right with God and if you are to go to heaven and it's going to be well with you in the last. So when he's speaking about receiving...

19:22 When he's speaking circumcision in verse two, he's not saying that if any person is ever circumcised for any reason under any circumstances whatsoever, he's severed from Christ. Of course not, because he himself circumcised Timothy and Timothy wasn't severed from Christ when Paul circumcised him. So he's speaking about circumcision in the very context here of preaching circumcision as the Judaizers preached it. If you receive circumcision as it's being preached.

19:53 If you receive circumcision as it's being taught to you by these people in the context of hoping to be saved through the law and of thinking that obedience to the book of the law and identification with all of the Jewish ceremonies and rituals is essential for salvation, then you're manifesting that your heart is not trusting in Christ and his obedience as your only hope of being right with God. And you can't have two ways of being right with God. You can't be right through Christ. You can't be right through the law.

20:23 perceive circumcision as an expression of the fact that you're hoping to be justified by the law, then you're severed from Christ. See the point? He's talking about circumcision as it was preached heretically by those Judaizers. And he says, don't think that bodily circumcision is able to deliver you from the wrath to come and the whole complex of obedience to ceremonies that goes with it. No, no, no. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything or uncircumcision, but faith working through love. It is by faith. It is by faith, he says, and faith alone. It's through the exercise of faith that you are availed of righteousness. It is not through the reception

21:13 of circumcision and the subsequent engagement and all of the activities of submission to Jewish ceremonies that you are. availed of righteousness, but it is through faith in Christ and faith in Christ alone that you are availed of righteousness. It is not through circumcision and obedience to Jewish ceremonial law. No. And then the final passage, Galatians chapter 6 in the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6. And it's as though he couldn't say it enough to these people. He says the same thing again. Verse 12, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For not even those that receive circumcision do themselves keep

22:12 the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But far be it from me to glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I unto the world. Four. Neither circumcision is anything. Maybe you didn't hear me before. He said, I'm going to say it again. Neither circumcision is anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. As many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy even upon the Israel of God. He said the issue is not whether your body's been circumcised or whether your body's not circumcised. That's nothing. But the issue is whether your body's been circumcised or

23:00 circumcised. That's nothing. But the issue is whether your body's been circumcised or a new creature. That's the issue. It's not circumcision of the body, but it's whether or not you have experienced the power of God operating in your heart to make you a new creature in Christ Jesus. He underscores this same principle again. All right, now, over to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. Book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 11. Now, here again, you find explicit, emphatic words. A statement of who the circumcision are and who the uncircumcision are. Notice, wherefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made with hands. You see there you've got circumcision of the body. And these people who

Defining Circumcision and Uncircumcision in Ephesians 2

24:09 experienced circumcision of the body, a circumcision in their flesh, a circumcision made with hands. And that's a very important phrase, made with hands, because there you find out what the circumcision made with hands is. It is the circumcision of the body. No one's body was circumcised apart from the agency of the human hand. It was the human hand that took the knife and the human hand that performed that operation of blood upon the body and thereby circumcised that person. This circumcision is made with hands. It's done in the body. And those who have experienced it are called the circumcision. And those who haven't experienced it, they

24:57 call them uncircumcision. Who are the ones who've experienced it? The Jews. Who are the ones who haven't? The Gentiles. Clear, right? Okay. You say, why are you belaboring?

The True Circumcision: Spiritual Identity in Philippians 3

25:07 Well, I'm just going through the New Testament, and that's what it's saying again and again and again and again. It's saying the same thing over and over again. Philippians chapter 3. Now, we're coming to the resolution of attention. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, he says, to write the same things to you. To me, indeed, is not irksome, but for you, it is safe. Beware of the Lord. Beware of the dogs. Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision.

25:55 We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, he's going to open up the concept of confidence in the flesh. Verse 4. Though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh, if any man thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more circumcise the eighth day. There he's referring to his own past, born as a Jew. On the eighth day of his life, his body was circumcised according to the Mosaic law and that given down to the fathers. The stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews, touching the law.

26:45 All of the ceremonies peculiar to the Jews. He was a Pharisee, the strictest sect. Touching zeal, persecuting the church. The righteousness found in the law, blameless. All of those things which were distinctively Jewish, Paul said. That's what it means to boast in the flesh. And at the head of those things is circumcision of the body. Circumcision of the body was the gateway to Jewish sin. So that is to say that circumcision of the body, it's the gate toë he flesh. In the dead body, that' the koy O European cross 퍼olح n't thank시고 The Jewishness and all that was distinctively Jewish, they were called the circumcision.

27:24 It was that which marked out Abraham's physical posterity through Isaac and Jacob. Now, but he says, we are the circumcision.

27:41 Now, who's the we? Who's the we? Well, notice how he describes them. Here are the distinguishing traits.

27:48 First distinguishing trait, who worship by the Spirit of God. Second distinguishing trait, who glory in Christ Jesus. Third distinguishing trait, who have no confidence in the flesh.

28:05 The true circumcision are not those who are circumcised in their bodies, but the true circumcision are those who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus. And have no confidence in the flesh. And he says, we are the circumcision. This includes both Jews and Gentiles.

28:30 Notice, verse 1 of chapter 1, to whom is he writing? He's writing to Gentile Christians, the church at Philippi. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and bishops, and deacons. He's writing to the church at Philippi, organized with bishops and deacons, and he says, brethren, we are the circumcision.

29:03 There he's underscoring the very same truth that he outlined in Romans chapter 2. And let me read this passage again. Romans chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. There's two circumcisions and two different kinds of Jews, identified with two circumcisions.

29:24 For, verse 28, he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Amen. Amen. Amen.

29:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

29:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

29:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

29:51 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

29:51 Amen. Amen. Whether our bodies have been circumcised or not, we are the circumcision. We are the ones who characteristically, as a distinguishing trait, have been circumcised in heart.

30:05 We are the circumcision. And this is manifested by the fact that we worship in the Holy Spirit, that we boast in Jesus Christ alone, and that we have no confidence in the flesh. Amen. Amen.

30:21 Amen. We have no confidence in our bloodlines. We have no confidence in our ethnic traditions. We have no confidence in anything but Christ.

30:34 That's what distinguishes us and characterizes us in our worship, is in the Holy Spirit. And it is the circumcision of heart which marks us out.

30:50 Philippians 3.5. He mentions that again, about circumcision of the flesh. Then let's go on to the next text, Colossians 2.11.

Resolution of Tension: Heart Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2

30:59 You see how the tension is being resolved?

31:02 There will be a people, the people of Israel in the New Covenant, will be circumcised in heart.

31:13 Remember the old promise? Now look at this. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, indicates that that promise of circumcision of heart was fulfilled to the church at Colossae.

31:26 He says, verse 8, Take heed, lest there shall be anyone that makes spoil of you through his philology, philosophy, and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And in him you, you saints at Colossae, Gentile Christians are made full, who is the head of all principality and power, in whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made full. You were circumcised with hands in the putting off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ. You were circumcised. You Gentiles who constitute the church at Colossae, you were circumcised. That's a distinguishing trait, a distinguishing mark of your congregation.

32:26 You have been circumcised, but with what circumcision are you marked out? With what circumcision are you distinguished? Were you circumcised in your bodies? No.

32:37 How do you know? Look at the circumcision he's speaking about. You were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands. The human hand had absolutely nothing to do.

32:51 It had no agency whatsoever in this circumcision. What circumcision is he talking about? He's talking about circumcision of heart. You were circumcised in your hearts.

33:05 Human hands did not touch your heart to change it. It did not touch your soul. No. You were circumcised.

33:13 The distinguishing trait and mark of that church is that their hearts were changed. Do you remember that old promise that said the day is coming when I'll circumcise Israel, I'll circumcise the heart of your seed? Well, here it is. Here's Israel circumcised.

33:31 Not Israel after the flesh, but Israel after the spirit. Not the one who's an outward Jew, but the one who's an inward Jew. There's two kinds of Jews. Jews distinguished by being circumcised in their bodies and Jews distinguished by being circumcised in their hearts.

33:49 Two kinds of Jews and two kinds of circumcision. And those spiritual Jews are the church of Jesus Christ. You know, we are all a group of Jews. That's what we are.

34:05 We're Jews. We're Jews. We are the Jews. We are Israel.

34:10 But we're not the Jews and the Israel that's marked out by bodily circumcision. We are the Jews and the Israel that are marked out by circumcision of heart. And even as that old nation, the old covenant Jewish nation, was marked out by circumcision of the body, so also the new covenant Jews and the Jewish nation, the new covenant Israel is marked out by circumcision of the heart. And new covenant Israel is nothing other more or less than the church of Jesus Christ.

34:43 It is Israel. It's the spiritual Israel. The Israel with whom the new covenant is made. It's the fulfillment of the promise.

34:51 It's the resolution of that tension. No longer now is God's Israel characterized by having its body circumcised and its heart uncircumcised. Now God's Israel, whether its body is circumcised now, is a matter of indifference. But now God's Israel is marked out by the fact that it's circumcised in its heart.

35:11 That's the distinguishing mark of true Israel, of new Israel, of new covenant Israel. Circumcised in the heart. And that's what marked out those Colossian Christians. And that's what that text teaches unambiguously and clearly.

35:30 And it describes this circumcision of the heart as that which transforms our souls. It's that which puts away the flesh. And it's that which comes from Christ. It's called the circumcision of Christ.

35:48 And then also in verse 12 we find out that this circumcision of heart, heart circumcision, circumcision not made with hands, is related to water baptism. The same people who experienced circumcision of heart, these are the same people who, he says, experienced water baptism. Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. Now notice this.

36:30 Now he underscores in verse 13 that this is indeed what he means to say. And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. In other words, your hearts were uncircumcised. You were dead in trespasses and sins.

36:49 That was your condition. He says you did he make alive together with him. You experienced the resurrection of conversion. The distinguishing mark of that group of people was that they were once dead in their sins with uncircumcised hearts and they experienced the resurrection of conversion.

37:10 And that's what he's talking about. He speaks about that in verse 11 by saying that they were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands. And you see, he then identifies the ordinance of Christian baptism with the experience of the resurrection of conversion and the experience of circumcision of the heart. Christian baptism did not replace circumcision, but the people who received baptism also received circumcision.

37:47 It doesn't say that they did not receive circumcision. It says that they did receive it. It says that they did receive the circumcision of the heart and the very same ones who received circumcision of the heart are the ones who were marked out in Christian baptism. He speaks first of all about the application of salvation in the changing of a person's heart.

38:14 You experience spiritual circumcision and then he moves to speak about the symbol of the application of salvation, Christian baptism. They experienced the reality and then they experienced that ceremonial ordinance, baptism, which symbolizes that reality. And he says it was in baptism that you were raised through faith in the working of God. He assumes that those people exercised faith when they experienced the ordinance of baptism.

38:48 So you see what baptism is identified with in the passage. It is identified with circumcision of the heart. And he says that circumcision of the heart and baptism, washing of the body in water, that these two things go hand in hand. Circumcision of the heart and baptism go hand in hand.

39:13 See that? The same ones who were circumcised in heart are the ones who were baptized. They're the ones who experienced the resurrection of conversion. So the baptism in this passage is related to circumcision of the heart.

39:30 Now there's a couple other passages and then we're rounded out. Now there's some technical problems too with Colossians 2, 11 and 12 and the connection between those verses and the use of a participle there. I'll get into that, Lord willing, next week. I don't want to get into it now.

Further New Testament References and Summary of Biblical Usage

39:45 I just want to go through a survey now. Now then, verse 11 of chapter 3. And here again, he's speaking about the fact of the new creation. And he says here, in terms of the new creation, he says circumcision of the body doesn't mean anything.

40:08 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman, but Christ is all and in all. And then again, Colossians 4, 11, same idea. And Jesus, who is called justice, who are of the circumcision, these only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me. Again he describes a Jew with regard to circumcision of the body.

40:39 And then again, Titus 1, 10, last passage, Titus 1, 10. He says, For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, that is Jews, whose mouths must be stopped, etc. So there's the Biblical usage of the term. Now we have about six minutes or so in an attempt to draw out some conclusions.

Conclusions: The Duality of Circumcision and Two Covenants

41:19 Got myself warmed up. We looked at the Old Testament material, we looked at the New Testament material, now let's look at some conclusions about the Biblical teaching on circumcision. Now first of all, first by way of conclusion, what is circumcision? What is circumcision?

41:45 Where was it instituted? Well, circumcision is a symbolic rite instituted by God in conjunction with the Abrahamic covenant. I guess after looking at the Bible, nobody wants to argue that point. The circumcision is identified and originates with Abraham.

42:05 Abraham's circumcision. Get those two things together in your mind. Abraham and circumcision. And circumcision marks out Abraham's posterity.

42:17 It marks out Abraham's seed. It marks out Abraham's descendants. It distinguishes them. So circumcision is a symbolic rite instituted by God in conjunction with the Abrahamic covenant.

42:32 It marks out Abraham from the rest of men. And it marks out also Abraham's posterity from the rest of men. Now what is it? Well, now we're going to get into some things that we're going to get into in more detail when we look at the Abrahamic covenant.

42:53 But you have to recognize that there's a duality. There are two types of circumcision. Remember? The Bible speaks clearly about a circumcision of the body and it speaks clearly about a circumcision of the heart.

43:10 Now it says, what is it? Circumcision consists in a change to be wrought upon the secret place of the body, the removal of the foreskin of all the male physical posterity of Abraham. And it consists of a change wrought upon the inward secret place, that's the heart, specifically the removal of a disposition of impenitence and unbelief. And it's wrought in the hearts of all the spiritual posterity of Abraham.

43:49 If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's posterity. You are the children of Abraham. You are Jews. You are the nation of Israel.

43:57 Follow that? So there's two circumcisions. There's two seeds. There's two Israels.

44:07 There's two kinds of Jews. There's two communities in covenant with God, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both of those communities are marked out by being circumcised. The distinguishing mark of the members of the Old Covenant is that they were circumcised in their bodies.

44:29 And the distinguishing mark of the members of the New Covenant is that they're circumcised in their hearts. The distinguishing mark of those that are circumcised in their bodies is circumcision of the body. That's what they're named, the circumcision. And the distinguishing mark of those circumcised in their souls is that they live in obedience to the Decalogue.

44:57 They are physical Jews and they are spiritual Jews. And so that tension that existed in the people of God is resolved in the New Covenant. That tension is resolved when the distinguishing trait of the covenant community becomes not circumcision in its body but circumcision in its heart. And then Israel is marked by circumcision of heart.

45:28 And you see what circumcision tells us is it tells us that a change in the secret place marks out and characterizes those who are in covenant relationship and fellowship to God. There must be a change. A change is absolutely essential. A change in the secret place is essential to participation in covenant fellowship and blessing.

45:56 Absolutely essential to the right to it. In the Old Covenant that change which is essential is a change in the secret place of the body. And in the New Covenant, that change which is essential is the change which marks out the New Covenant community is a change in the secret place of the soul. As it was absolutely necessary for participation in Israel's life for those Jews to be circumcised in their body, so it's absolutely essential for the right to participate in the New Israel's life that you be circumcised in your hearts.

46:39 See the point? With regard to the circumcision of the body, Jewish believers continued to practice circumcision of the body. It became a matter of things. It became into the category of things indifferent.

46:59 It became a matter of indifference. It entered into the category of things indifferent. And so you have two Jews, two circumcisions, two covenants, and yet intimately related to Abraham. A duality in the seed of Abraham in his posterity, a physical posterity characterized by circumcision of the body and a spiritual posterity characterized by circumcision of the soul.

Closing Prayer and Future Discussion

47:31 Well, our time is gone. I've attempted to give you a summary of what we've seen. I'm sure you probably have some questions. But we don't have time for questions this morning.

47:46 I hope I've been able to put the things together for you to make it clear to you. I'm having a hard time reading where you're at. But Lord willing, next week we'll find out because I'll throw it open for questions. And then we'll be able to discuss any things that are concerning you or confusing you with regard to these things.

48:03 Let's pray. O Lord God, we give you thanks for the tremendous privilege of being part of the new Israel, of being part of that community which is marked by circumcision of the heart. We bless you, O Lord God, that you have given us this privilege that we have not experienced the grief and the pain of having people in covenant fellowship with us whose hearts are full of hatred to you. But we thank you, Lord God, that you have given to us that unity with one another that we are able to dwell together in that unity knowing that our hearts are agreed in obedience to Jesus Christ and that you have marked us out by changing our hearts. We pray, O Lord our God, that we may ever live consistent with what you have already done for us in Jesus Christ and that in so living like those who have had their hearts changed we may be drawn ever closer to you and ever closer in intimate fellowship in Christ to one another. Write these things upon our hearts, Father, and enable us that we may understand what you have done to the end that we may live as you require. We ask it in Jesus' name.

49:22 Amen.