Flesh-Cut Covenant

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:13.349 You may be seated. So we are continuing this evening in genesis chapter seventeen. 2 00:00:14.910 --> 00:00:29.059 Genesis seventeen versus nine, nine through fourteen, and I'm going to also 3 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:37.649 be reading several passages from Romans later as as a way to help us understand 4 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:45.890 what the Lord is teaching us here in genesis seventeen. I remember that this 5 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:51.840 in this passage, I'm God is making a covenant with Abraham. He has 6 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:57.240 changed his name, he has promised him blessings in the world. I guess 7 00:00:57.640 --> 00:00:59.920 I'm going to change my mind here. I do want to read the first 8 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.870 couple verses, which summarize this chapter, and then we'll read the others. 9 00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:10.310 Genesis seventeen one, when Abram was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared 10 00:01:10.310 --> 00:01:15.430 to Abram and said to him, I am God, Almighty. Walk before 11 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:19.980 me and people aimless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, 12 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:26.739 and they multiply you greatly. Now this covenant is going to be put 13 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:33.730 in an external sign. We read about that now in verses nine through fourteen. 14 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:38.489 And God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my 15 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:45.290 covenant you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant 16 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:49.959 which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you, every 17 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:55.560 male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of 18 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.599 your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and 19 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:04.950 you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every 20 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:07.830 male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money 21 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:12.990 from any foreigner, who is not of your offspring. Both he who is 22 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:15.419 born in your house and he who is bought with your money shall surely be 23 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:23.740 circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh and everlasting covenant. And 24 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:28.699 he uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall 25 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:43.449 be cut off from his people, for he has broken my covenant. So, 26 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:47.400 in order to understand this passage, I want to turn to a section 27 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.560 in the new testament in Romans. So if you would turn there with me, 28 00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:00.750 to Momons chapter two, excuse me, Romans Chapter Two, and I'm 29 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:07.550 going to be walking through this passage and through a few more into chapter four, 30 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:14.900 helping us to understand what this covenant means. Because here Paul gives such 31 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:19.819 a good explanation of what circumcision is and how we ought to understand it. 32 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:29.370 So first let's begin reading in verse Seventeen, or other Verse Twenty Five. 33 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:34.449 Verse Twenty Five Romans Two. Verse Twenty Five. Paul says, for circumcision 34 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:38.409 indeed is a value if you obey the law, but if you break the 35 00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:46.479 law, your circumcision becomes UNCIRCUMCISION. Now, in this immediate context, he 36 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:53.599 is talking to Jews. He is talking to Jews who have prided themselves on 37 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:59.909 their obedience to the law. So when he writes here, for circumcision is 38 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:08.509 indeed of value, what he means by that is he's talking about being prideful 39 00:04:08.830 --> 00:04:15.740 or having confidence in one's personal holiness, and we know that by the verses 40 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:19.819 that just came before. So let's look at those. Now, verse Seventeen, 41 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:25.250 he says. But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the 42 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:30.889 law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent because 43 00:04:30.889 --> 00:04:34.170 you are instructed from the law, and if you are sure that you yourself 44 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:38.680 are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness 45 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:43.319 and instructor of the Foolish, a teacher of children, having the law and 46 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.439 the embodiment of the knowledge and truth, of knowledge and truth. You then, 47 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:53.870 who teach others? Do you not teach yourself? Let me pause just 48 00:04:54.029 --> 00:04:58.430 there. Think who called your mind all the places, for example in the 49 00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:03.949 psalms where David describes his relationship to the law and often describes himself as being 50 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:10.339 one who teaches the law. Right, there's this blessing in Israel of knowing 51 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:15.259 the will of God and sharing that with others. This is a privilege, 52 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:18.100 and what Paul is saying is seeing. You Call Yourself a Jew, you 53 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:23.370 call yourself one who relies on these things, who boasts in these things, 54 00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:29.129 who teaches the law, but then verse twenty one. You then, who 55 00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:33.250 teach others? Do you not teach yourself? He says, while you preach 56 00:05:33.449 --> 00:05:39.439 against stealing, do you steal? You, who say that one must not 57 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:43.839 commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you 58 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.160 rob temples? You, you, who boast in the law of God, 59 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.790 dishonor God by breaking the law, for, as it is written, the 60 00:05:51.910 --> 00:06:00.149 name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you. For circumcision is, 61 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:04.740 indeed is a value. If you obey the law. So when he 62 00:06:04.819 --> 00:06:10.220 says there's circumcision of that is of value, he's saying you can have pride 63 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:15.740 in being a Jewish person who can boast in the law of God if you 64 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:23.009 obey the law. You can have confidence that you are a teacher of children, 65 00:06:23.129 --> 00:06:25.769 you are a guide to the blind, that you are all these things. 66 00:06:26.089 --> 00:06:30.970 But only can you have pride in the law if you actually obey the 67 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:35.920 law. But he says in that rest of that verse, if you break 68 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:46.629 the law, your circumcision becomes UNCIRCUMCISION. Your circumcision becomes UNCIRCUMCISION. The law 69 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:53.709 which which you were tying to your identity as a child of Abraham, becomes 70 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:58.990 totally undone. It is as if you are not a child of Abraham anymore, 71 00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:02.139 you are no longer a Jew. If that's how you understand these things, 72 00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:05.740 if that's how you act, he goes on to say in a hypothetical 73 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:10.339 way, that the one who falls the law, if even a gentile, 74 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:15.300 is the one who's really circumcised. So in Verse Twenty Six he says so 75 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:19.129 if a man who is uncircumcised keep the precepts of the law, will not 76 00:07:19.329 --> 00:07:28.250 his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision, then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps 77 00:07:28.329 --> 00:07:32.759 the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the 78 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:42.560 law. For No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. Nor 79 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:51.110 is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision 80 00:07:51.149 --> 00:07:56.110 is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter. 81 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:01.939 His praise is not from man but from God. So what does this 82 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:07.300 teach us about circumcision? That's our particular goal for this evening. Will how 83 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:13.170 are we supposed to understand the sign of circumcision that God commands in Genesis Seventeen 84 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:18.850 in light of this passage? Let me ask the question in a little more 85 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:24.170 specific way. How are we to understand the very external and outward sign of 86 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:30.040 circumcision, in the way that God talks about it here? that it is 87 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:35.039 not merely an outward one, it is not merely a physical one, but 88 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.879 it is that and something more, that one is a Jew who is one 89 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.629 inwardly, who has been circumcised by the heart. Well, one thing we 90 00:08:43.750 --> 00:08:50.070 learn about circumcision from this passage is that it's not a badge of holiness that 91 00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:56.899 can be disconnected from actual holiness. In other words, you can't just sort 92 00:08:56.899 --> 00:09:03.220 of do an external thing and be counted as do an externally righteous thing, 93 00:09:03.379 --> 00:09:09.580 or be marked in an externally, in an external way by a righteous sign 94 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:15.409 and yet not be one inwardly and be counted as righteous. This doesn't work 95 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:18.169 that way. You know this, right, we do this with words. 96 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:22.730 You know, talk is cheap. We say right, if somebody says all 97 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:26.799 the right things, makes all the right promise, it's but an actually doesn't 98 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.399 do what they say they're going to do. Well, it's an empty promise. 99 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.159 It's a it the it is not a badge of holiness. It is 100 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:43.750 not truly a badge of holiness if it's not connected with Real Holiness. It's 101 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:50.389 not merely a matter of outward things, but also the heart. Well, 102 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:54.100 what does it mean then, to be belonged to Abraham, not just outwardly 103 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:58.259 but inwardly? Well, it means to seek praise from God and not from 104 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:03.659 Man. Remember the very beginning of Genesis. I need to turn back. 105 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:11.210 There a genesis seventeen. Remember the point of this covenant, noticing that circumcision 106 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:16.129 itself is called a covenant in its close connection with the promises that God is 107 00:10:16.330 --> 00:10:20.480 making. What is circumcision? What is the covenant of Circumcision? Here's the 108 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:28.320 goal. I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless, that 109 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:33.519 I may make or I may give my covenant between me and you and me 110 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:41.470 multiply you greatly. So, if circumcision is a matter of the heart, 111 00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:48.190 what's the point of the sign? Do you understand that question? If circumcision 112 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:52.019 is really a matter of an inward spiritual reality, then what's the point of 113 00:10:52.620 --> 00:11:00.059 having of God commanding in such a strong way that all of these males be 114 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:03.570 circumcised? In other words, if it what really matters is what you believe 115 00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:11.330 and how you act, then why does why a circumcision commanded? People think 116 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:15.730 about this in light of baptism in the same way. If Baptism is a 117 00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:18.360 matter of the heart and not merely an external washing will, then what's the 118 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.039 point of baptism? It doesn't matter, somebody will say, whether I'm baptized 119 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.879 or not. What matters is what's in my heart. Well, you can 120 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.559 be sympathetic to that. I'm sympathetic to that because clear really it is a 121 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.750 matter of the heart. That's what the Lord says. The question and then 122 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:37.429 then is if it's a matter of the heart, which it obviously is, 123 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:46.580 why then, the sign which is clearly commanded? What advantages there in receiving 124 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:52.500 this? Why would God be so strict and speak, speak so strongly about 125 00:11:52.659 --> 00:12:01.529 this? Well, turning back to Romans, we have some answers. Paul 126 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:05.970 ask this question essentially at the beginning, continuing on in a reading and chapter 127 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:11.929 three. He says, then, what advantage has the Jew or what is 128 00:12:13.009 --> 00:12:18.080 the value of circumcision? What's the point? Why do we do this? 129 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:26.000 And he says much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were 130 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:33.269 entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their 131 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:41.070 faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means let God be true, 132 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:46.460 even though everyone were a liar. And he goes on to talk about that 133 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:52.139 a little bit more. But so that we can stay focused on the point 134 00:12:52.139 --> 00:12:58.970 of circumcision here, think about it this way, sir. concision ultimately is 135 00:12:58.049 --> 00:13:05.049 about God's faithfulness to Abraham. Right. It's about God's faithfulness to Abraham. 136 00:13:05.090 --> 00:13:11.049 It's about God's promise to Abraham and his children. This was God's blessing to 137 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:16.799 him. Now truly Abraham will be blessed by that and experience all those things. 138 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:18.759 So it's not as though Abraham has no part in this. Abraham is 139 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.639 called to keep the Covenant Walk in these things. But ultimately, first and 140 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:31.549 foremost, this is about God placing his word in their flesh, God making 141 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:37.429 his sign and his seal the promises of his word. He's preaching the Gospel, 142 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:43.500 we might say, in this sign. That's what God is doing here. 143 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:46.779 That's why Paul puts it in this way. He says the Jews were 144 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:54.139 entrusted with the Oracles of God and he connects that with circumcision. Why would 145 00:13:54.139 --> 00:14:01.450 we connect circumcision with the oracles of God? Because God connects the circumcision with 146 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:05.769 the oracles of God. As we have it here, right in genesis seventeen, 147 00:14:05.129 --> 00:14:11.440 he makes a promise to Abraham and then he gives him a sign of 148 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:18.480 those promises, a seal of those promises. God connects the sign to the 149 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:24.990 thing signified. That's why we can say that this is what circumcision means, 150 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:30.309 this cutting away of the flesh, this being holy, this call to righteousness 151 00:14:30.629 --> 00:14:35.110 and this giving of righteousness that God will give to his people. A promise 152 00:14:35.389 --> 00:14:41.460 grace, that he will establish them and make them his, his his children. 153 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:48.179 So what does God do? God places his word in their flesh, 154 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:54.169 we might put say he preaches his message in their bodies, and he does 155 00:14:54.210 --> 00:15:00.090 it for generations. So then Paul's question is, does the fact that some 156 00:15:00.409 --> 00:15:07.200 were unfaithful mean that his message was worthless or pointless or didn't have value? 157 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:13.879 Of course not. All over the world preachers get up and preach the Gospel 158 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:20.159 and people don't believe. Does that mean that the message doesn't have value? 159 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:24.269 Does that mean that it's not true? No, it just means that people 160 00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:28.870 didn't believe. It means that they were faithless. But just because all says 161 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:37.299 just because some people are faithless doesn't mean that that nullifies God's faithfulness. So 162 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:41.220 what does this teach us? He says by no means does the fact that 163 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:46.379 somewhere unfaithful mean that it's all worthless or pointless. So what is this teach 164 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:52.809 us about circumcision? Circumcision, then, was not primarily about their allegiance to 165 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:58.970 God, though of course that is involved, but primarily it was a sign 166 00:15:58.450 --> 00:16:03.519 of God's allegiance to them, and this is, of course similar to our 167 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.600 BAPTISMS, while we are required to live in here. The promises that he 168 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:17.519 has made, the ultimately the promises, are his sign. Connecting this to 169 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:22.870 earlier lessons, we have this great promise given in circumcision. He's promising this 170 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:26.070 good news, that he will establish of this family, that he will make 171 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:32.830 this people great, that he will change their hearts. Now, notice, 172 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:40.700 God does not promise each and every individual that receives the sign salvation. Doesn't 173 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:45.779 say that. What he does is he promises that those who receive the sign 174 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:51.730 by faith will be saved. And in this way the promise still stands, 175 00:16:52.889 --> 00:17:00.559 even though some people are unfaithful to the sign. Well then, what does 176 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:06.640 it mean to receive that sign? How do we do that? Well, 177 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:10.440 the great example is, of course, Abraham himself, and that takes us 178 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:15.950 to the last passage I want to show you. We're not quite done yet. 179 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:22.150 There's some more. I don't want to the girls done. Romans Chapter 180 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:33.140 Four, verse thirteen, Paul says for the promise to Abraham and his offspring 181 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:37.579 that he would be heir of the world. Right genesis seventeen did not come 182 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:44.890 through the law but through the righteousness of faith, did not come to the 183 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:49.089 law but through the righteousness of faith. Take a look at verse nine as 184 00:17:49.170 --> 00:17:53.650 well. He says, is this blessing then, only for the circumcised or 185 00:17:53.809 --> 00:18:00.880 also for the uncircumcised? And the answer is that it is for both. 186 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:07.880 We see that the blessing promised in circumcision was not just for the circumcised. 187 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:14.069 We know that from genesis seventeen as well, because this promise that is made, 188 00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:19.910 that is signified and sealed in this sign of circumcision, this promise that 189 00:18:21.109 --> 00:18:26.789 is made is made to Abraham for him to be the father of a multitude, 190 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:30.220 a blessing to all the nations of the Earth. Right. So even 191 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:34.819 in the beginning of genesis seventeen, we see the expansive nature of the promises 192 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:40.460 that are promised in the sign of circumcision, and Paul's bringing that up here 193 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:47.009 as well. The blessing promised in the sign of circumcision was not just for 194 00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:52.049 the circumcised. This helps us to understand, for example, why women are 195 00:18:52.329 --> 00:19:00.039 included and girls are included in the promise even though they didn't receive the sign 196 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:06.279 itself. It helps us to I understand, gentiles can be even included in 197 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:12.589 the promise even though they were are not and after the resurrection, after they 198 00:19:12.630 --> 00:19:19.390 were not circumcised, into Abraham. In this way, why it was not 199 00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:25.619 necessary for women to be circumcised, not because they wouldn't be saved, but 200 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:30.420 because the sign was a specifically male sign, for reasons having to do with 201 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:37.940 offspring and seed and eventually Christ himself. It might be helpful to understand this 202 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:42.890 in light of another covenant sign, the Rainbow. When God makes the covenant 203 00:19:42.930 --> 00:19:47.130 with Noah, it's not just with Noah, but it's the whole earth, 204 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:52.400 the whole earth, he makes it with every creature, every every person, 205 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:57.960 with the land, the sky, the whole world. But think about the 206 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:03.559 sign of the Rainbow, the sign of the Covenant. God did not place 207 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.950 the sign on every living creature. You don't all have tattoos of rainbows on 208 00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:12.430 our hands or something like that. It's not in the ground. Even it's 209 00:20:12.589 --> 00:20:18.789 a sign that is in the sky. It's not everywhere or on everything. 210 00:20:18.150 --> 00:20:22.619 But that doesn't mean, just because a rainbow is only in the sky, 211 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:27.259 that the covenant only applies to the sky, because it applies everywhere. So 212 00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:30.900 why is it in the sky? Well, to make clear the nature of 213 00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:36.490 the covenant known because, as you know, God was promising not to judge 214 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:42.369 the world again. In the flood he places the rainbow in the sky and 215 00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:48.809 in times related with water, usually rain, he displays forth the meaning. 216 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:53.400 And it's like that here. The sign is placed only in the males and 217 00:20:53.559 --> 00:21:00.880 only in the biological children of Abraham and those who come into his household because 218 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.509 of the particular the functioning of that covenant, but that does not limit its 219 00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:11.750 purpose and it's meaning only to the males. That extended to others as well, 220 00:21:11.109 --> 00:21:15.589 and that's why Paul says this. He asked this rhetorical question. Is 221 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:18.779 the blessing then, for the only for the circumcised, or also for the 222 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:32.099 uncircumcised? It is for both. This is helpful for us as we think 223 00:21:32.099 --> 00:21:36.849 about baptism and the entrance, this sign of entrance into the new covenant community. 224 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:41.690 We don't need to be baptized over and over and over again. Why? 225 00:21:44.089 --> 00:21:49.599 Because the sign is effective on pointing to the Covenant even when it's not 226 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.920 being made from moment to moment. If that were the case, we just 227 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.079 walk around dripping all the time, right because we would need the sign always 228 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.950 applied to us. But that's not the case. The sign does its purpose. 229 00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:11.630 It fulfills its job. It points to the Covenant. In our being 230 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:15.740 baptized, we are marked and enter into the Covenant Community, in the promises 231 00:22:15.779 --> 00:22:22.220 of grace that established that community. And then we continue to be blessed by 232 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:23.900 it as we reflect on it, as we hear of it in the Scriptures, 233 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:30.289 as we see other's baptized. Now this is great news for us because 234 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:40.890 it means that the promise of circumcision extends to US gentiles. And as we 235 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:45.240 continue on, Paul will then ask how is that faith? How is it 236 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.000 that we belong to that? How is it that we can be a part 237 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:53.440 of that family when we are not a part of his house biologically or being 238 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:57.670 brought in or bought or something like that? And this is what I will 239 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:07.390 finish with. His his answer in verses thirteen and following. Nope, no, 240 00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:11.549 no, that's not right. Versus after Verse Nine, Nine, two 241 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:18.539 twelve. So the question again. Is this blessing then, only for the 242 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:22.579 circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to 243 00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:27.369 Abraham. As righteousness. How, then, was it counted him? Was 244 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:33.690 it before or after he was had been circumcised? It was not after, 245 00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:41.329 but before he was circumcised, he received the sign of circumcision as a seal 246 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:47.839 of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. He's 247 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.960 gonna saying, he's saying, Paul, are Paul saying, that Abraham was 248 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:00.589 considered circumcised even before he was circumcised? Abraham was considered one who was circumcised 249 00:24:00.630 --> 00:24:06.109 and had received the promises of righteousness through faith even before he was circumcised. 250 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:08.869 Circumcision is not a matter of outward things. Going back to where we started, 251 00:24:11.380 --> 00:24:15.859 Abraham didn't become a purse, a child of God, didn't become an 252 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:21.660 air to these promises because he was circumcised. No, those things are a 253 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:29.690 seal of the promise that he was given before he was circumcised. The purpose 254 00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:33.890 of this, Paul says, was to make him the father of all who 255 00:24:34.089 --> 00:24:40.720 believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 256 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.599 and to make him the father of the circumcised. So both he's the 257 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:51.559 father of the uncircumcised and the father of the circumcised, who are not merely 258 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:56.470 circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of faith that our father Abraham had 259 00:24:57.230 --> 00:25:15.099 before he was circumcised. The law, the law brings forth wrath and judgment 260 00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:18.740 because of sin, because we do not fulfill the law, because we do 261 00:25:18.859 --> 00:25:26.009 not keep the law. The law condemns us, it only puts us in 262 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:32.890 a position of liability to the wrath of God. The promise, however, 263 00:25:33.089 --> 00:25:37.640 comes to those who are already liable for judgment, already declared as sinners, 264 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:45.720 and then it brings life, not through our obedience, but through our reception 265 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:53.309 of these things by faith alone. That is why it must depend on faith. 266 00:25:53.349 --> 00:26:00.109 And and he's saying that circumcision points to this. So if you see 267 00:26:00.509 --> 00:26:06.460 circumcision as merely an outward as merely an external sign by which you can pride 268 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:12.660 yourself on being holy and being obedient, you are totally missing, totally misunderstanding, 269 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:22.569 what circumcision actually is. Circumcision is not the pride of a man standing 270 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:30.130 before the world as one who is marked as holy in and of himself and 271 00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:34.400 in his obedience to the law. Circumcision is the promise that God will make 272 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:41.119 us holy, to cause us to walk and be obedient, to change and 273 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:48.190 circumcise our hearts. It teaches us the promises of God it teaches us. 274 00:26:48.269 --> 00:26:53.750 The Gospel Circumcision teaches us that it is, it must be, the Lord 275 00:26:55.950 --> 00:27:00.740 who cuts off the fleshly parts of our hearts and that he will do that 276 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:10.700 and has done that through his promised offspring. We no longer circumcise the males 277 00:27:10.859 --> 00:27:18.490 of God's Covenant Kingdom, because the sign of circumcision has now been fulfilled in 278 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:30.720 Christ, in Rist who took on sin and was cut off so that we 279 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:37.039 might have our sin cut off. In Him, God fulfills his promises in 280 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:44.119 the offspring that was promised, Jesus, Our Lord, who knew no sin 281 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:49.990 and yet became as a sinner, not an actually committing things, but being 282 00:27:51.109 --> 00:27:56.390 a substitute, and this our savior. He was delivered up for our trespasses, 283 00:27:56.710 --> 00:28:03.539 he was raised for our justification. He was cut off from God, 284 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:10.420 his people and the living in order to make us alive, the people of 285 00:28:10.539 --> 00:28:18.289 God, the living. That having happened, we don't apply the old covenant 286 00:28:18.410 --> 00:28:22.890 sign anymore, or not the old covenant sign, but the the the Abraham 287 00:28:23.089 --> 00:28:27.039 the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. We don't apply that sign anymore, but 288 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:32.759 we look to the fulfillment of the one who fulfilled that sign. In that 289 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:37.400 way, we still are looking to circumcision, but we are looking to it 290 00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:42.269 on the cross, the one who fulfilled all of these things that God was 291 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:47.869 pointing forward to, and as we do so, we put our faith in 292 00:28:48.029 --> 00:28:52.349 him. We put our faith in the very same promises that Abraham did just 293 00:28:52.470 --> 00:28:57.700 amazing, which means that all the inheritance and all the promises that were promised 294 00:28:57.740 --> 00:29:10.490 to Abraham become our promises, not because of some accident or something that doesn't 295 00:29:10.490 --> 00:29:15.210 make sense, but because we are believing in the same things. We are 296 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:23.319 receiving the promises in the same way. Abraham received these things by faith and 297 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:29.039 it was counted to him as righteousness. The same is true for us. 298 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:37.000 So, as you encounter circumcision in the Old Testament, as you consider its 299 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:44.069 place in the people of God, understand these things, understand what it is 300 00:29:44.349 --> 00:29:48.109 God is promising, how he has fulfilled these things, and give God your 301 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:56.380 praise, because while we are faithful faithless, he remains faithful. God has 302 00:29:56.500 --> 00:30:03.539 kept his promises and will continue to keep them until the very end. So 303 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:08.089 trust in the Lord, walk by faith and not by sight. He will 304 00:30:08.170 --> 00:30:11.730 not fail you. Let us pray