ArchivedThe Quran - Is pre-ordained sin mans responsibility?Peace to you Alexei and greetings on what is a beautiful day in this part of the beautiful world we live in. There is a very simple explanation to this question.. and it is that God commanded circumcision in Genesis 17. Did you ever wonder why? Verse 11 does give us an idea ... "it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you". Any Jew who was not circumcised by either refusal or by willful neglect was to be cut off from the covenant of grace altogether. (verse 14). Circumcision obviously mattered a great deal to God, as far as the Hebrew nation was concerned. Romans 4:9-10 expands on this though. It explains that salvation was not dependant on circumcision, but rather on the grace of God mediated to the guilty sinner through his acceptance and faith on the promises of God. Circumcision, showed the people of Israel, as well as the surrounding nations that a covenant relationship existed between them and God. It did not however form the basis for the covenant relationship. God's righteousness was reckoned to Abraham BEFORE He was circumcised (see Genesis 15:6, Genesis 17:23-24), and was based on his faith, not his circumcised state. God made His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12 and in Genesis 17, and then he ordained/commanded that circumcision would be the outward sign of that covenant relationship. But then Paul states why circumcision was required. it was to be a seal of the righteousness he had BY FAITH whilst still uncircumcised. It would show Abraham as the Father of the circumcised nation Israel, but also of those who are also God's children by faith and remain uncircumcised... but who also walk in the faith of our father Abraham had BEFORE he was circumcised. Circumcision was intended as a sign and a seal of a covenant relationship between the believer and God. It was intended as a blood-sealed testimonial that believer had turned his life over to God and to live in dependance on His grace for the rest of his earthly life. Basically, circumcision was the seal of ownership by God on the life of the OT believer. (remember also, that God already had his side of the covenant relationship prepared.. it was the promise of the Messiah") Now look at Colossians 2:11-13 In Him you were also circumcised in the putting off of your sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. Circumcision to the OT believer is what baptism is today to the NT believer. An acceptance or adoption into the family of the Redeemer. The benefits of faith in Christ's future atonement was passed to the circumcised believer prior to the cross, based on the fact that the cross was a certainty and was going to happen. Faith came first for the Old Testament circumcised believer, and for the New Testament baptised believer. Faith produces what Christians call regeneration or new birth.. which simply means, is a renewed/restored relationship with God as well as a totally new nature that is given by the Holy Spirit when you become a believer. , but the command to be baptised follows faith. Notice that not all circumcised jews will go to heaven, even as not all baptised "christians" will. It's not the act of being circumcised or baptised that bought the adoption into the family of God.. it was faith, but the command to be baptised and to be "sacramentally sealed with the outward sign of faith" is very much part of our Christian responsibility and obedience to God. So, why then did Peter speak out for uncircumcised Jews? The purpose of the circumcision was to be an outward sign for the Jews that they were God's people. God in the OT had used circumcision as a sign of commitment and obedience from the nation He had chosen to show His glory to the world. there was a very important reason why two paths were seen.. one for the Jew and one for the Gentile.. and the God fearing Gentile or any property of the Jews were brought into the covenant relationship by being circumcised, again as an outward sign of an inner commitment to the covenant.. Of course Jesus, John and all the apostles were circumcised. They were all Jews prior to the cross and therefore lived under the old law. When Jesus died, the mandate for a separated nation who would be recognizably God's own nation, expanded to include believers the whole world over, whom Paul calls in Romans, the grafted branches who are one with Israel. This didn't require the act of circumcision anymore to occur, because a far greater circumcision takes place when someone becomes a Christian.. it is circumcision of the heart. The two divisions.. the Jewish and Gentile divisions disappeared with Christ's death and resurrection and Paul declares in Galations 3:28 there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus., If you belong to Christ then you are all Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Alexei, can I encourage you to read the book of Galations. The entire book is written to a group of Gentile believers, by a Jew who had been considered one of the most learned and well respected Jewish teachers before his conversion. The Galations had began as strong believers, until some had come from amongst the Jewish tradition we were discussing in our previous post, and started reintroducing components of the law into their worship and confusing the Gentiles. Read his reply carefully and it will bring some understanding to this question of yours. Now please read this verse Colossians 2:11-13 In Him you were also circumcised in the putting off of your sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. This was a prophesised occurence in Jeremiah 31:31-33 31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD , "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD . "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,"declares the Lord. I will put my law in their hearts. I will be their God and they will by my people." Alexei, you are seeing two separate covenants and combining them as one covenant and looking at the whole of scripture from the perspective of that one covenant. The new covenant which came after the death and resurrection of Jesus, in no way minimises the importance of the old covenant. It just highlighted the holes that only God could fill and did when He came as Jesus to this earth and met all the requirements of the law (including the need to be circumcised at that point). Now, Christians are baptised and it has the same meaning.. to be baptised is to be publically associated with belonging to God, to commit yourself to Him through all that Jesus Christ did on the cross. LOL.. sorry, I said there was a simple explanation to this question. My answer is as long as ever, but I hope it adds to your thinking and understanding. I'd better stop for now Carol |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame