AND THE FATHER OF CIRCUMCISION TO THOSE WHO NOT ONLY ARE OF THE
CIRCUMCISION: kai patera peritomes tois ouk ek peritomes monon:
(Romans 9:6,7; Matthew 3:9; Luke 16:23-31; John 8:39,40; Galatians
4:22-31)
The father of circumcision -
Abraham is spiritual father to all who receive spiritual circumcision of
their heart.
Circumcision
(4061)
(peritome
from perí = around + témno = cut off) refers
literally to cutting and removal of the foreskin. As discussed below
both the Old and New Testament also use the concept of circumcision in a
figurative or metaphorical sense. (See also exposition of
Scriptures on Circumcision)
Although circumcision was
required by the Mosaic law, the rite was neglected during the days when
the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Perhaps this was a sign
that the nation had broken their covenant with God through their
disobedience. The rite was resumed when they entered the land of Canaan,
with Joshua performing the ritual on the generation born in the
wilderness (Joshua 5).
The Hebrew people came to take great pride in circumcision; in fact, it
became a badge of their spiritual and national superiority. This
practice fostered an exclusivist mentality instead of a missionary zeal
to reach the Gentiles which was God's original intent for His "chosen"
people.
A daily prayer of a strict Jewish
male was to thank God that he was neither a woman, a Samaritan, nor a
Gentile. Gentiles came to be regarded by the Jews as the “uncircumcision,”
a term of disrespect implying that non-Jewish peoples were outside the
circle of God’s love. As discussed below, God applied the very same term
("uncircumcised") to describe His "chosen" people. The terms “circumcised”
and “uncircumcised” became emotionally charged symbols to
Israel and their Gentile neighbors. This issue later brought discord
into the fellowship of the New Testament church and especially caused
confusion about how one obtained genuine salvation.
Bartlett comments on the
Jewish misinterpretation of physical (and spiritual) circumcision
writing that for the Jews...
Circumcision was commonly regarded as
affording immunity from penalty. In these assumptions, the Jews
overlooked two basic facts, namely, that birth is not worth,
and that rites do not in themselves confer rights. And we
must keep ever in view that it is faith alone which saves.
Forms without truth are plates without food. They are
empty words without meaning and value. (Galatians
3:1-22 - Doctrinal Exposition)
(Bolding added)
The Jews should have known the
true meaning of circumcision, for Moses and the prophets repeatedly used this
very term circumcised
as a symbol for purity of heart and readiness to hear and obey. For
example, through Moses the Lord challenged the Israelites to submit to
Circumcise
then your heart, and stiffen your neck no more. (Dt 10:16).
Comment: Clearly Moses was not speaking of physical circumcision.
Can't you hear the Jewish audience say (I am speculating here) "What in
the world is Moses talking about? I can't cut my own heart. I wouldn't
be able to live without a heart." Whatever their response to this truth,
it was clearly spoken to "peak" their interest. Even in this same
sentence, Moses gives a clue as to what he meant for he associates an
uncircumcised heart with one who stiffens their neck (clearly a metaphor
that pictures a person who was stubborn and/or disobedient - the Hebrew
words translated "stiff necked" are elsewhere rendered "stubborn" in the
NASU - e.g., Dt 9:6, 13, 31:27, Neh 9:16, 17, see also same 2 Hebrew
words in Jer 7:26, 17:23, 19:15). In other words, an uncircumcised heart reflected a
will that was hardened toward God’s commands.
Circumcision as first
prescribed in (Ge 17:10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
meant to cut away the fleshly part of the male sexual organ, that part
which might hold disease in its folds and so potentially might pass the
disease on to the wives. Thus physical circumcision had an important
role in the preservation of God’s people physically.
Nelson's Study Bible has an
interesting thought on physical circumcision noting that
Since the Canaanite worship system involved sexual excess, the
distinctive sign on the body of the male Hebrew would be a significant
reminder not to participate in the rituals of the Canaanites. (Radmacher,
E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. The Nelson Study Bible: NKJV.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
In any event, the more
significant meaning of circumcision was as a symbol of the need
for the heart to be cleansed from sin’s deadly disease. This "cutting"
needed to happen internally, for God was calling for the removal of the
"body of flesh", which was the predisposition to sin (inherited from
Adam) and which kept man from being spiritually devoted to God. It
seems that God selected the reproductive organ as the location of the
symbol for man’s need of cleansing for sin, because it is the instrument
most indicative of his depravity, since by it he reproduces generations
of sinners. In any event, physical circumcision was a sign of being
under God’s covenant with Abraham, a covenant that was entered into by
faith, not by works. We find Abraham entering that unconditional
covenant with Jehovah in (Ge 15:6)
where Moses records that Abraham
believed (Hebrew
= "aman" conveys basic root idea of firmness or certainty. Thus Abram in
a sense "leaned his
whole weight upon", he said in essence "Amen, Lord" or "so be it Lord") in the LORD and He reckoned [God imputed Christ's
righteousness or placed it on Abraham's account] it to him as
righteousness." (Ge 15:6)
In the midst of a series of
warnings to Israel regarding punishment for disobedience to the LORD,
Moses records a ray of hope in God's gracious promise that
If they
confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their
unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting
with hostility against Me— I also was acting with hostility against
them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their
uncircumcised heart becomes humbled (conveys the basic sense of
being lowly, meek) so that they then make amends for their iniquity,
then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My
covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will
remember the land (this is the same covenant Abraham entered into by
faith not works). (Lev 26:40,
41, 42)
The cause of Israel’s rebellion
was an “uncircumcised heart,” a heart that had never been changed by the
Lord and one which refused to bow (to be humbled) before Him.
Moses gave Israel a prophetic
promise that
the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and
the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. (Dt 30:6)
What God's law demanded, God's
grace would enable. This verse primarily
refers to the future salvation of Jews alive at the return of Christ (cp
Ro 11:26, 27-note),
when by grace through faith their hearts will be spiritually circumcised. In the
intervening centuries, God has partially fulfilled this promise, as
there have always been physical Jews who by faith received God's promise
of new life in Christ (the so called
remnant). In the OT, these
Jewish believers were looking forward to the
Cross, whereas in the NT they (and all believers today) look back to the
finished work of Christ on the Cross. Thus circumcision of heart defines
an internal work by God and is another description of true salvation, a
salvation that imparts to that individual a new will that now desires to
to obey God instead of to rebel against Him (Ezek 36:27). This promise of a
new heart would allow the Israelites to love the Lord with all their heart and
soul. This promise is most fully expressed in the New Covenant
originally promised to Israel (see
Jer 31:31, 32, 33, 34,
Ezek 11:19,
36:26 discussed
in the topic
New Covenant in the Old Testament).
The physical circumcision
God had called for was always meant to be an external sign of an
internal change of heart resulting in a love for God. Thus Paul
wrote that in Christ the believers at Colossae
were also
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in
the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ (Col 2:11-note)
Here in Romans 4:10, 11, 12, 13 Paul is explaining the figurative meaning of circumcision as the
"cutting off" of Christ from the living via Crucifixion. Earlier in
Romans Paul had made it clear that
he is not a Jew who is one
outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the
flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is
that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his
praise is not from men, but from God. (Ro 2:28, 29-note).
This internal "circumcision" is what Jesus was
calling for in the Jewish leaders (who knew the letter of the law) when He declared
You blind Pharisee, first
clean (katharizo
-
aorist imperative
- commanded
calling for an immediate, definitive response!) the inside of the cup
and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. (Mt
23:26)
Jeremiah addressing faithless, unbelieving Judah and Jerusalem declared
Circumcise
(not a suggestion but a command) yourselves to the Lord and
remove
(command) the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem, lest My wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench
it. (Jer 4:4)
Comment: You would have
thought (considering the "promise" of God), that the Jewish hearers
would have sought to obey this command or at least to humble themselves
and seek His face that He might reveal to them what this metaphor meant.
Tragically, as the Biblical record reveals, Judah
refused to heed the divine (merciful) warnings and were utterly destroyed by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar.
(Read the sad words in 2Chr 36:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Jeremiah characterized rebellious
Israel as having “uncircumcised” ears declaring
"To
whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their
ears are closed (Hebrew literally =
uncircumcised) and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of
the LORD has become a reproach to them." (Jer 6:10)
Through Jeremiah the LORD later says
Behold, the days are coming,
that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet
uncircumcised (clearly alluding to the Jews who refused spiritual or internal
"heart
circumcision" available only by faith in the Messiah)-- Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and
the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all those inhabiting the desert who
clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations (Gentiles) are uncircumcised
(literal - most of the Gentiles were physically
uncircumcised), and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of
heart. (figurative - lacked spiritual circumcision)" (Jer 9:25, 26)
The Jews boasted in the covenant sign of circumcision, but it was
only in their flesh. The true spiritual circumcision God desired had
never reached their hearts. In a similar way, people today who depend on
baptism and some other church sacrament (ordinance), and yet who have
never repented and trusted Christ, are in the same situation as the Jews
in Jeremiah’s day - they think they’re a part of the divine covenant,
but their confidence is false and they stand deceived and in imminent
danger of entering into a Christ-less eternity.
In Acts Stephen infuriated his
Jewish audience with the indictment that
You men who are
stiff-necked (literally "hard necked" and thus obstinate, stubborn,
rebellious) and uncircumcised in heart and
ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as
your fathers did. (Acts 7:51)
Their uncircumcision in heart and ears marks the
Jews as just like the unsaved Gentiles (who were often referred to as
the "uncircumcision"). Their sin had never been forgiven. They were as
unclean before God as uncircumcised Gentiles and they therefore stood
condemned before God.
A crisis erupted in the church at
Antioch when some men
some men (Judaizers) came down from
Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised
according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. (Acts 15:1)
The Judaizers insisted that a
believer from a non-Jewish background (Gentile) must first become a Jew
ceremonially (by being circumcised) before he could be admitted to the
Christian brotherhood. A council of apostles and elders was convened in
Jerusalem to resolve the issue (Acts 15:6-29). Among those attending
were Paul, Barnabas, Simon Peter, and James, a leader of the Jerusalem
church. To insist on circumcision for the Gentiles, Peter argued, would
amount to a burdensome yoke (Acts 15:10,19). This was the decision handed down by the council,
and the church broke away from the binding legalism of Judaism which
demanded physical circumcision.
In summary, here in Romans 4:12, Paul is saying that there is
a difference between being Abraham’s physical descendants and Abraham’s
spiritual children. Jesus had said the same thing to the Pharisees,
“I
know that you are Abraham's (physical) offspring” (Jn 8:37).
But then He went on to
say,
"If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham
(believe like Abraham did and become his spiritual children also).” (Jn
8:39).
In summary, in these passages in
Romans 4, Paul insists that physical circumcision is not what
counts (Ro 2:28, 29-note). There must be faith in the living God
(Ro 4:3-note). Those of the
circumcision (those who are physically Jews) who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are the true
Israel
of God (Gal 6:16)
(Click
analysis of the phrase Israel
of God)
BUT WHO ALSO FOLLOW IN THE STEPS: alla kai tois stoichousin (PAPMPD) tois
ichnesin: (Job 33:11; Proverbs 2:20; Song1:8; 2Corinthians
12:18; 1Peter 2:21)
Follow in (4748)
(stoicheo
[word study]
from stoichos = row, line, rank
(walk in line, of walking in relation to others) means to live in
conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs. (See study of
related word
stoicheion).
To be to in line with a person (in this case Abraham) who is considered
as standard for one’s conduct in the life of faith.
Stoicheo - 5x in 5v - Acts
21:24; Rom 4:12; Gal 5:25; 6:16; Phil 3:16. NAS = follow(1), living(1),
walk(2), walk orderly(1).
Stoicheo,
signifies the general conduct of a person in relation to others whereas
the more frequent word for "walk",
peripateo [word study],
signifies activities and conduct of the individual life, apart from
relation to others.
Paul uses it very graphically, of
"falling into line" with Abraham's faith or to describe the
activities and conduct of the life. The point Paul is making is Abraham
has "blazed" a trail (the only trail) to righteousness by his faith &
all who follow him must walk in his same steps -- apart from works,
apart from any merit imputed by circumcision...only by faith.
OF THE FAITH OF OUR FATHER ABRAHAM WHICH HE HAD WHILE UNCIRCUMCISED: tes en te akrobustia pisteos tou patros hemon abraam:
Faith
(4102)
(pistis
[word study])
is synonymous with trust or belief and is the conviction of the truth of
anything, but in Scripture usually speaks of belief respecting
man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included
idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it.
As pistis relates to God, it is the
conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things
well as the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through Christ.
As faith relates to Christ it represents a strong and welcome conviction
or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through Whom we obtain eternal
salvation and entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Stated another way,
eternal salvation comes only through belief in Jesus Christ and
no other way.
Uncircumcised
(203)
(akrobustia
[word study]
from ákron = the extreme +
búo = cover) means uncircumcised (the foreskin not cut off) refers
here to absence of physical circumcision.
Akrobustia - 20x in 17v
- Acts 11:3; Ro 2:25, 26, 27; 3:30; 4:9, 10, 11, 12; 1Cor 7:18, 19; Gal
2:7; 5:6; 6:15; Eph 2:11; Col 2:13; 3:11.
Akrobustia - 11x in the
Septuagint (LXX)
- Ge 17:11, 14, 23, 24, 25; 34:14, 24; Ex 4:25; Lev 12:3; Josh 5:3; 1Sa
18:25, 27; 2Sam 3:14; Jer 9:25.
Paul makes clear that circumcision
alone cannot save--only faith can.
MODERN DAY
"CIRCUMCISION"
Are there any modern day parallels to
circumcision?
Absolutely! What about the symbols of baptism or church
membership. What about the person who says I was baptized at "Camp So
Long Ago" years ago and I know you remember that don't you God? It
doesn't make any difference that I beat my wife and kids, hate the
neighbors and cheat on my income tax does it God? After all I've gone
under the waters. And besides God I became a member of "Church of the
Hopeful" five years ago (sure I know it's not good that I only go on
Easter but you understand I've got to set some priorities), so that
surely makes me acceptable in Your sight. And what does God say? The
same thing He says to the Jews. Things like water baptism and membership
at a church are symbols or signs that point to what one is or ideally
should be by faith in Christ. God doesn't care if you were even baptized
in the Jordan River on a trip to Israel with your church. All He wants
to know is did you believe in My only begotten Son Jesus Christ? It is
not that these symbols such as baptism and church membership are not
important because they are. The problem arises when we begin to place
our faith in the sign or symbol rather than the reality that they point
to, in this case Christ. It would be like someone claiming to be a
sailor because they had a tattoo on their arm. Tattoos won't help
sailors get to heaven. They need to be marked by a new heart and a
blessed hope. To hope in a symbol is hopeless vanity. To hope is Jesus
Christ is the only Hope that will never disappoint.
DEAR READER
IN WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING..
THE SIGN?
or
THE SAVIOR?
