In the above scriptures, Paul points out that Abraham received the blessings of God before he was circumcised. We too receive God’s blessings through faith alone in him. We do not have to go through religious, ceremonial functions to merit God’s blessings. The thief on the cross received God’s blessing without having to say certain scripted, religious words or to have baptisms or ceremonial acts of any sort. This criminal simply said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42) Jesus received him in paradise that day. He was talking to Jesus, his audience of one, the One with power to forgive sin. We too, can find God’s blessing if we approach him with heartfelt faith, believing He is real and that He accepts our allegiance to him. When the undeserving sinner approached God in the temple and asked for his forgiveness, he was forgiven; God’s blessings fell on him. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other (the righteous pharisee), went home justified before God. (Luke 18:13-14) We who are IN CHRIST, IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, are there because of unadulterated faith in God’s works: the life and death of Jesus. We have been changed from the inside out. Our hearts have been circumcised, both male and female. We are new creatures not because we have a part of our biological flesh taken away from us in circumcision; no, we are new creatures because Christ has substituted his Spirit in place of our carnal spirit. His Spirit is always alive to God’s will, our spirit is dead to God because of sin, generally insensitive to God’s will in our lives. No longer are we just biological creatures, born of Adam’s seed, with a temporary existence on Earth. We are now eternal beings born out of Jesus. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)
Circumcision in the Old Testament set the Israelites apart to God. A physical examination easily determined those who were set apart from the men who were not. God demanded circumcision from all Jewish men: they carried the spiritual responsibility for everyone in the family. A man could bring either blessings or judgment on his family by his actions in the world. If he was faithful to God, a man of good character: honest and upright, his family would be blessed. If he were the opposite: corrupt, depraved, his family would receive the judgment of God. In the book of Numbers, we see the fate of Korah and his family when Korah rose up against Moses. Norah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reunites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses. (Numbers 16:1-2) In testing Moses and God, Korah brought judgement upon his whole family. His circumcision was done to protect him and anyone else under his authority, but when he sinned, all those underneath his authority received judgment with him. As soon as he (Moses) finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!” Numbers 16:31-34) Just as circumcision did not change Korah’s heart, we know circumcision did not change the Israelites’ hearts. In fact, the Israelites’ story in the wilderness is one of rebellion, fear, and a lack of trust in God. The people were not a peculiar people, set apart in their spirits to serve God, for they carried the idols of their pagan gods in their satchels and pockets all the way through the wilderness. At Mount Sinai, this lack of faithfulness to the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt came to the forefront. But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, "Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. (Acts 7:39-42) Their rebellious, natural hearts were not changed by circumcision. Yes, in the flesh, they were identified as God’s own, but in their spirits, they were just like all the people around them. They needed a Savior who could change their internal hearts, their spirits. Jesus, the Messiah, would be that Savior. When Jesus sent out the twelve, He said, “Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel, as you go, proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 10:6) Jesus would lead the Jews and all who put their faith in God’s salvation plan out of bondage to sin and death into freedom.
We who are IN CHRIST have followed the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Circumcision just indicated what Abraham had already received: the setting apart to God in righteousness. We are the peculiar people who have had our hearts circumcised. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) We died IN CHRIST when Christ died and arose IN CHRIST when He arose. Our flesh has been cut apart from our ever living spirit by the death of Christ. Our flesh will die, but our spirits will live on eternally because we are alive IN CHRIST. Circumcision could go no further than indicating a certain people were God’s own. But circumcision could not give them eternal life. Their only hope was a Promised Land where they could live on fertile soil and have earthly freedom from captivity. We who are IN CHRIST have a promised land that goes beyond this world: heaven. We are not bound to the slavery of this world, the finiteness of living here. We have been set free: the Red Sea, our sinful nature, the physical restraints of life do not keep us in bondage. The blood of Christ has caused us to escape every bondage of this present world. But all of this comes through faith in God, in his reality. In our daily struggles, we sometimes feel bound to this earth. Sometimes we are tempted to pick up the gods of this world and serve them in our lives: entertainment, occupations, activities, travel, acquaintances, sordid involvements. When we actually do that, we place God in the backroom of our lives as an afterthought. Such a decision is dangerous to our spirits, for when we place God in the background, we fail to commune with him and lose our strength to serve him. However, we do not serve God out of determination, discipline, or law: we follow him through the Spirit. As we read in the Word, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6) We can pick up the spiritual phone anytime and be home with him in communion. He is waiting for us. He has circumcised our hearts: we are in right relationship with him. So let us cast away the gods that so easily deceive us into believing this involvement with everyday living is what life is all about. No, life is about serving, loving, and placing our trust in God. He has destined us for freedom and eternal life with him. Praise God! Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.
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