Sunday, May 4, 2008
(18) CIRCUMCISION
(GEN.17:1-14)- (Excerpts) When Abram was 99 yrs old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be perfect (upright, sincere). I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham and thou shalt be a father of many nations. I shall establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee for an everlasting covenant. I will give thee and thy seed all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.This is my covenant. Every man child among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant. He that is 8 days old shall be circumcised. The uncircumcised man child shall be cut off from his people./ Abraham was circumcised and Isaac was circumcised the 8th day. Abraham's son by the Egyption maid, Ishmael, the eventual father of the Arabs who adopted Islam, was circumcised at 13 yrs old. I understand that today they circumcise boys at 13 yrs old. Others circumcise for Hygiene to prevent disease. This was the establishment of the Old Testament (Old Covenant). The Law was introduced later to guide God's people in righteous living until the Messiah came. When the Church began in (ACTS 2), the Covenant of Circumcision of the flesh was suspended. Now God's people are not identified by the 'Circumcision of the flesh', but by the 'Circumcision made without hands', the 'Circumcision of Christ'. the 1st is a Type & the 2nd is the Antitype. The 1st was prophetic and the 2nd the fullfilment of that prophecy. Under the 1st, God's laws were written on stone; under the 2nd God's laws are written on the heart. (COL.2:11-13)- In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherin also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses./ Circumcision of the flesh is symbolic of cutting off sins of the flesh. (OT believers emphasized the ceremony, but failed to apply the spiritual meaning) We actually put off the sins of the flesh. (Forgiveness) And, we put off the body (sinful nature) of the sins of the flesh. Notice the 'colon' after 'circumcision of Christ:' in (COL.2:11). What follows the colon, explains what was before the colon. 'Buried with him in baptism' (Water Baptism) is the symbol of the circumcision of Christ and this is when Jesus spiritually cuts off our sinful nature from our spirit.(ROM.6:4-8)- We are buried with him by baptism unto death (Water Baptism) and we are raised up to walk in newness of life. If we have been planted in a likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. He that is symbolically buried with jesus in this manner will also be in the likeness of his resurrection. We are symbollically dead with Jesus. He that is dead is freed from sin. (ACTS 2:38)- We are baptized for the forgiveness of sin. (When we are symbolically cleansed, then Jesus does the real cleansing./ We still have our sinful nature, but with the Holy Spirit now dwelling in our spirit, our sinful nature is now in our soul (the life of our body) and now there is continual conflict between our soul & our spirit.(1 THESS. 5:23) We are body, soul & spirit. (HEB.4:12)- The Word of God (Jesus) is sharper than a two edged sword piercing even to the dividing of soul & spirit. Jesus does this when He saves us. There is a more complete explanation in Blog (7) BORN OF THE SPIRIT (SEE BELOW) Con
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6 comments:
Hello Con,
Two things. First, Scriptures say that God's Law was not only given to guide people until the arrival of the Messiah but was given so that we would have a knowledge of sin and would be a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Second, I have a problem with your description of Baptism (once again). Just when I think we agree, then one of us blogs about it and we are in disagreement again. We've gone over this before, but the Scriptures seem pretty clear that we are cleansed from our sins at salvation which is by grace through faith. You do mention on occassion that God isnt legalistic and if someone believes on Christ but dies before having the opportunity to be baptized by water, they are saved. How can the unbaptized believers be saved if they arent cleansed from their sins (which I believe you claim occurs at baptism) and do not have the seal of the Holy Spirit? I've heard these arguments quite a bit from those belonging to the Church of Christ. Do you belong to that group? Just curious.
Thanks for the comment Con. I do agree that Christ fulfilled the Law and I'm not suggesting that we need to keep the Law for salvation. However, the Scriptures say that the Law serves the purpose of showing a lost soul what sin is (Romans 3) and consequently (through the Holy Spirit working on their conscience) leads broken sinners to Christ (Galatians 3) by showing them their need of a Saviour. To use your line: Whadda ya think?
Tyson (tolheiser@gmail.com)
(18) CIRCUMCISION
Tyson, Thanks for your questions. I must clarify my opinion or modify it. I'll try to explain. In (GAL.3:24-25)- The Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Paul & the Galations were brought to Christ by the Law. They lived under the Law, but no one living today also lived under the Law, so that doesn't apply to us. The Gospel brings us to Christ. The Law was taken out of the way & nailed to the cross. Water Baptism is difficult to explain without sounding extremely legalistic. The Bible plainly teaches (1)- We are baptised for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), (Titus 3:5), (Acts 22:16), (John 3:5), (Rom.6:4-8) & (Mark 16:16). (2)- We definitely must believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. (Mark 16:16), (Acts 16:31). (3)-We must repent, or perish. (Luke 13:3) (4)- We must confess Christ. (Matt.10:32-33), (Rom.10:9-11). All of these things we must do, according to scripture, and then Jesus baptizes us with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. -(1 Cor. 12:13), (Acts 2:38). Now, if we want to be legalistic, we'll claim that each step must be done as stated. Here it gets more difficult. I'm not legalistic and Jesus isn't either, but Jesus will be our judge and He expects obedience to the best of our knowledge & ability. Jesus saved the thief on the cross without baptism, and John preached water baptism for the forgiveness of sins also. I was a member of the Church of Christ for several years in the '60 s, but then I've beena member of several denominations. I have never found one I completely agree with, but I think most of us like to think for ourselves. We definitely don't want to follow the spiritually blind. (Phil.2:12)- Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (2 Tim.2:15)- Study & rightly divide the Word of truth.
These discussions help both of us. I was a long haul Truck Driver (Owner Operator) & I picked up a lot of hitch hikers. Many liked to talk Bible. The more I explained, the more I learned. I learned much by teaching Sunday School. Then, you have to study.
Con
Jesus fills us with the Holy Sprit when we are saved. That is a type of baptism in itself. Then we desire to be baptised by submersion as our expression of faith. We are commanded to go and baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You can not be baptised without first being saved. So we must preach the gospel, then baptise anyone that accepts Christ. That's how I see it.
In Christ,
Thomas
You say, "The law serves the purpose of showing a lost soul what sin is". The law served that purpose in the OT, but not now. The Gospel of Christ serves that purpose now. (Rom. 10:17)- Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. When Jesus gave the Great Commission (Mark 16:15), Jesus said "Preach the Gospel". There is no use for the Law in salvation now.
Con
Thomas,
Thanks for jumping in. You are right in saying that Jesus fills us with the Holy Ghost when we are saved. I think everyone agrees with this. We dissagree about the order of happenings in the process. We are saved, even if our understanding of the order of the process varies. But, I like to consider the process according to scripture. When Jesus baptises us with the Holy Spirit is referred to in (John 3:5) as born of the Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:13)- By one Spirit we are all baptised into one body. / The word 'by' could have been translated as 'in' or 'with'. With is the proper word because in (Matt.3:11) John the Baptist said, " He (Jesus) will baptize you 'with' the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit doesn't baptize us Jesus does in giving us the Holy Spirit. This is being 'born of the Spirit'. But Jesus said (John 3:5), "a man must be born of water & the Spirit". It is usually said that born of the water means the first birth from the womb, but Jesus said we mut be born 'again', of the water & the Spirit. Born means brought out from, brought into being or brought into existence. Wnen you are brought out from the water (Baptism), you are born of the water. Jesus said (Mark 16:16) he that believes and is baptised shall (after you do this) be saved. To go into more detail, (Heb.4:12)- the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, even to dividing of the soul & spirit. We are body, soul & spirit (1 Thess. 5:23). The soul & spirit make up our mind. Water baptism is symbolic cleansing. When we submit to symbolic cleansing, Jesus does the real cleansing. He divides our soul from our spirit and indwells our spirit with the Holy Spirit, then we rise up to walk in newness of life. -(Rom.6:4-8)
PS- From then on, our soul (sinful nature) & our spirit war against each other until we leave this body of sin & death.
Con
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