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The Law of Circumcision • This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." (Genesis 17:10-14 RSV)
Why Did The Lord Want To Kill Moses? • And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on an ass, and went back to the land of Egypt; and in his hand Moses took the rod of God. And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. And you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me"; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son.'" At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' feet with it, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" So he let him alone. Then it was that she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.(Exodus 4:19-26 RSV)
A Circumcision Made Without Hands • In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:11-14 NKJV) He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:29 RSV)
Is God Serious About Baptism? • for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27 RSV) • And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 RSV)
What God Says About Baptism: • Baptism is commanded. (Acts 10:48) • Baptism is a burial. (Col. 2:12) • Baptism is the new birth. (John 3:5) • Baptism saves. (Mk. 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21) • Baptism remits sins. (Acts 2:38) • Baptism washes sins away. (Acts 22:16) • Baptism puts one into Christ. (Rom. 6:3) • Baptism enables us to put on Christ. (Gal. 3:26,27) • Baptism puts one into the church. (1 Cor. 12:13)
Baptism: The Form of Doctrine • What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4 RSV) “…yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” (Romans 6:17b NKJV)
What Baptism Does Not Do: • It does not put off the filth of the flesh. • It does not change a man’s heart. • It does not destroy a man’s inclination to sin. • Baptism does not suffice for obedience to other commands, either before or after. • It does not assure salvation for the future. • It does not grant a deliverance from persecution, affliction, sickness, or death! Baptism is a condition of salvation (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). We have no promise of heaven without it – but it doesn’t do it all!
Conclusion • Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:21 RSV) • And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.' (Acts 22:16 RSV) • The purpose of baptism is to obey God for the remission of sins. • Baptism is, in the divine wisdom of God, a re-enactment of of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. • Question: What makes us think that God doesn’t really care about baptism?
Sources • Truth Commentary on Romans by Clinton Hamilton • Digging Deeper: Commonly Misunderstood doctrines by Steve Higginbotham • Information from Sermon by Dan King
Circumcision of The Heart • Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. (Deuteronomy 10:16 RSV) • And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6 RSV) • Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings." (Jeremiah 4:4 RSV) • He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:29 RSV)
