| Circumcision George Poulo 12/10/05 Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, Uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised In flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary... Ezek44:9 The sign of consecration to the God of Abraham was circumcision. Circumcision separated the Jewish people from the Gentile. For St. Paul, circumcision followed faith, "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Rom4:3) and circumcision sealed the covenant. What circumcision was for the Jew in the Old Testament is what Baptism is for the Christian in the New Testament. (In the New Testament, however, there is neither male nor female.) Circumcision and Baptism are both an outward sign of an inner grace. But what is circumcision of the heart? If circumcision of the flesh cut the foreskin of the penis, what does circumcision of the heart remove? And who does the circumcising? But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, And not of the letter, whose praise is not of men, But of God. Rom2:29 Circumcision of the heart is circumcision in the spirit. It is not performed according to the Law by men who would be praised, but the praise is of God who circumcises the spirit and makes spiritual Jews of both natural Jew and Gentile. Spiritual circumcision is an act of God and as we have seen is a condition for entering the sanctuary and thus heaven as well. In whom also ye are circumcised with the Circumcision made without hands, in putting Off the body of sins of the flesh by the Circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in Baptism Where in also ye are risen with him through the faith Of the operation of God who hath raised him from the Dead. Col 2:11-12 The circumcision of Christ, the circumcision of the spirit, removes the sin nature of the believer when he receives the Holy Spirit at new birth. In order to enter the sanctuary, sin cannot be present. To enter the kingdom of God, one has to be born-again (John 3:3) One has to have had his sin nature removed spiritually (cut away) and one must receive a righteousness nature, the very Spirit of God to enter heaven. It is to be risen with Christ. Then we need to recondition our soul, transform our minds, by setting our affection on things above because we are dead (to sin) and our life is hid with Christ in God. (Col 3:1-3) We are new creatures in Christ, old things have passed away, and all things have become new. (2Cor 5:17) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who Knew no sin: that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor 5:21 Once we were dead in sin; now we are established in righteousness. To enter the kingdom of God we must have a righteousness consciousness, a righteousness nature, and we must have had our sin nature cut away in the spirit. (When we are born again we are no longer sinners, have a sin nature. If we sin, we repent. It is the consequence of our conditioning not our nature.) Even if God willed people not born again, not circumcised in spirit, to enter heaven, they cannot, because their sin prevents them. Only by being washed in the blood of Christ and thus being circumcised with the circumcision of Christ can one enter the kingdom of God. What circumcision of the spirit is in the Old Testament is what being born of the Spirit is in the New Testament. Have you been circumcised by Christ? Do you live and walk in the Spirit and not follow the lusts of the flesh? If not, receive Christ and the remission of sin and become a new creature in Christ. Amen. |
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