Man, the title of my sermon this morning is The Sign of Circumcision, The Sign of Circumcision.
This is the chapter in the Bible where circumcision is introduced.
The Bible says in verse number five,
Neither shall thy name be called any more Abraham, I'm sorry, excuse me.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham.
For a father of many nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceeding fruitful,
and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their
generations for an everlasting covenant to be a god unto thee, and to thy seed after
thee.
Now, first of all, I want to point out from those three verses that the Bible in
the New Testament makes it crystal clear that the seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ.
And that's why the Bible says that Abraham would be a father of many nations, not
one nation.
That's what a lot of people believe today, don't they?
They look at the nation of Israel, or they look at the Jews, so called, and they say,
you know, Abraham is the father of these people.
But actually, Abraham was made the father of many nations, and the interpretation of
that in Galatians is because everyone who's in Christ is of Abraham.
Because Abraham, his seed is Christ, and if we're in Christ, we are Abraham's seed,
and we are heirs of the promises.
And so that's why he's the father of many nations, according to the New Testament book
of Galatians chapter 3.
But it says in verse 8, and I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee a land
wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession,
and I will be their god.
And God said unto Abraham, thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed
after thee in their generations.
This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee.
Every man child among you shall be circumcised, and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your
foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in
your generation, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger
which is not of thy seed, he that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with
thy money, must needs be circumcised, and my covenant shall be in your flesh for
an everlasting covenant.
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised,
that soul shall be cut off from his people.
He had broken my covenant.
So a covenant is an agreement or a contract, and God is making this covenant with Abraham.
People will often call this the Abrahamic covenant.
And the sign or symbol of that covenant is that Abraham and all of his sons, all of his
male descendants, and even those servants and people who live in his house would be
circumcised.
Now what does it mean to be circumcised?
Well if you just look at the beginning of the word circum, that's like our word circle,
right?
It's a prefix that means around.
And then scission has to do with cutting, right?
Like you think of a doctor making an incision.
It's where they cut into something.
So circumcision has to do with a man's reproductive anatomy.
It has to do with his private parts.
And it's a cutting off of the foreskin of a man's privy member for lack of a better
word.
And so circumcision is something that was commanded for Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, all
the people who lived in the house, and all the Jews, all the Israelites, they
would practice circumcision.
When a baby was born, if it was a boy, when he turned eight days old, then that's when
they would circumcise.
And the reason that they circumcise on the eighth day is because science tells
us that when a baby's first born, their blood doesn't clot as well, but that after
a week, then that clotting works out a lot better.
So they would be circumcised because obviously there's cutting and there's bleeding involved
when a man child is circumcised.
And then we come down to verse 22.
He left off talking with them, and God went up from Abraham, and Abraham took Ishmael
his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his
money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their
foreskin in the self-same day as God had said unto him.
Now this is one of the reasons why Abraham is such a great man, because he obeyed the
Lord right away, even when he's being asked to do something that's hard.
I mean this is not a fun thing that he's being asked to do, and it's not something
that's easy to do.
He's being given a difficult command.
He's being given a command that probably seems strange to him, probably seems strange
to his family and those in his house.
But if God said to do it, he didn't wait till tomorrow, he didn't sleep on it,
he didn't think about it.
I mean just right away, the same day, he says, alright everybody, we're getting circumcised.
Bad news.
The bad news is that God's made this great covenant with us, and he's going to give us
this land, and we're going to be blessed.
But the bad news is we're all getting circumcised today.
So anyway, he did it right away.
That's one of the reasons why Abraham was a great man of God.
He believed God, he obeyed God right away.
Look at verse 24.
Abraham was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
and Ishmael his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin
and the self the same day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son and all the men of his
house born in the house and bought with money of a stranger were circumcised with him.
Another thing that you see here is that Abraham was definitely in charge in his
home.
He definitely ruled his house because it doesn't look like this was optional.
You know, he said, look, this is what's going to happen.
And I mean if he can command his servants to be circumcised and they have to do it,
if he commands his children, his 13 year old, I mean this guy had his 13 year old
under control.
Amen.
You know, teenagers tend to be rebellious and especially at that age 13, they might
start trying to test the boundaries a little bit.
I mean Abraham's 13 year olds being told to do something that he probably didn't want
to do, but yet he's got his family under control.
He had his family in order.
Look if you would at chapter 21, Genesis 21 verse four, and we see where Isaac is circumcised
and Abraham verse four circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded
him.
Now flip over to Exodus chapter number four, Exodus chapter four.
So circumcision was a command of God.
It was part of the covenant made with Abraham and it was certainly not optional.
In fact, there's a story in Exodus chapter four where God is literally going to kill
Moses because Moses did not circumcise his son.
So God's pretty serious about this command of circumcision and especially a guy like
Moses who's going to be the leader of the whole nation, he needs to set the example.
I mean if his own son is not circumcised, then how can this guy lead the people if
he doesn't even have his family in order, right?
And that principles in the New Testament too that a pastor is supposed to have his wife
and children in subjection, they're supposed to all be faithful with him.
So it says in Exodus four verse 24 came to pass by the way in the end, this is Exodus
chapter four verse 24 that the Lord met him and sought to kill him, sought to kill
Moses that is.
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it
at his feet and said, surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
So he let him go.
And she said a bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision.
So his wife is complaining and begrudging.
She was the first intactivist ever in the history of mankind.
Now what do I mean by that?
Well there's a movement today called intact that says hey don't circumcise male children
and people who are an activist like that, they're called an intactivist.
Now later in the sermon, I'm going to explain why we do not practice circumcision
in the New Testament.
So let me just make that real clear right now.
We do not practice circumcision in the New Testament.
I'm going to prove from the Bible why we believe that way.
But let me say this, we've got to be careful though, some of these intactivists, they
end up being blasphemous though when they talk about circumcision.
You know it's great to be against circumcision in the New Testament in the year of our
Lord 2018 when we're not circumcising, but you want to be careful that you don't
say oh circumcision is barbaric, it's butchery.
What are you saying?
Are you saying that God is barbaric?
Are you saying that God is a butcher?
Because let's not forget that God commanded circumcision.
God is the author of circumcision.
God invented circumcision.
He commanded that to Abraham.
He commanded that to Moses.
The children of Israel did that.
So it's great to not circumcise but don't be blasphemous about any of God's laws.
Just because something was done away in the New Testament, we better be careful that
we don't blaspheme by saying that it was dumb or wrong or stupid or bad or barbaric.
And I've heard people talk that way and it bothers me.
Not in this church obviously, I'm just saying out in the world.
But if you would, flip over to Deuteronomy chapter 10.
What is the purpose of circumcision?
What did it mean?
Why did they do this?
Well circumcision symbolized obedience to God's covenant and God's laws.
That's what the sign of circumcision represented or symbolized, obedience to God's law and
God's word.
Now why would God pick something like circumcision to do that?
Well if you think about it, circumcision is difficult and keeping God's laws is often
difficult.
Circumcision is painful and keeping God's laws can be painful.
Also if you think about it, even though circumcision is something that's done outwardly
in the flesh, it's actually a private matter because of the fact that it's underneath
your clothing.
So no one really would know whether you're circumcised except you, right?
Because obviously you're not going to go out in public and people are going to see
that.
So basically this is something that's private.
And so what it pictures is a heart of obedience to God that follows the commandments of God.
So all throughout the Old Testament, circumcision is not just literal but it's often symbolic
of obeying God's laws, loving the Lord, keeping His commandments.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 16.
It says, Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.
And what does it mean to circumcise the foreskin of your heart?
And be no more stiff-necked.
So it's a sign of submission to God's will, following God's laws and obeying Him.
That's the circumcision of the heart.
So the circumcision of the heart is not a New Testament concept.
It's all the way back in Deuteronomy.
Circumcise your heart.
Look at chapter 30 of Deuteronomy.
Chapter 30 verse number 6 in Deuteronomy, it says, And the Lord thy God will circumcise
thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart
and with all thy soul that thou mayest live.
Go to Jeremiah chapter 4.
So the circumcision of the heart has to do with not being stubborn, not being stiff-necked,
but rather loving God, loving His commandments, being willing to obey, submitting to the will
of God.
Just like Abraham and his whole house said, all right, if God tells us to get circumcised,
we're going to do it.
It's hard, but we're going to do it.
It's going to hurt, but we're going to do it.
They all did it.
They obeyed.
And that pictures obedience to God's covenant and God's laws.
Look at Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 4.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye
men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire and burn
that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings.
Go to chapter 6 verse 10, just a couple pages to the right.
Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 10.
To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?
Behold their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken.
Behold the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach.
They have no delight in it.
So now he not only talks about the circumcision of the heart, but he talks about having a
circumcised ear.
And the person whose ear is not circumcised, it says that the word of the Lord is unto
them a reproach and they have no delight in it.
It's something they don't want to hear.
They have no interest in hearing it.
That's the uncircumcised ear, the Bible says.
Flip over to chapter 9 of Jeremiah.
So first of all, we said that circumcision symbolized obedience to God's covenant and
God's laws.
But secondly, in the Old Testament, let me make this very clear, in the Old Testament,
God demanded physical circumcision of the males and he also demanded figurative circumcision,
meaning the circumcision of the heart, the circumcision of the ear, kind of just a metaphorical
or figurative circumcision.
God required both.
Look at Jeremiah chapter 9.
This is one of my favorite scriptures in the whole book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 9, 25 and 26, underline this in your Bible.
This is kind of a go-to scripture for the Zionists, I mean, to defeat the Zionists.
It says in verse 25, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all
them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised, Egypt and Judah and Edom and the children
of Ammon and Moab and all that are in the utmost corners that dwell in the wilderness,
for all these nations are uncircumcised, watch this, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised
in heart.
And what's he saying?
Same punishment, same judgment, same condemnation for those who are physically uncircumcised,
Ammon, Moab, those type of people.
But then he said, you know what, Israel is uncircumcised in heart, same judgment,
same condemnation.
People today, they think that the Jews are somehow exempt from following Christ, believing
in Christ, believing in the word of God, that they're somehow just God's chosen people.
God looks at them as uncircumcised spiritually.
He looks at them as heathens.
He looks at them just like he would look at the Ammonites or the Edomites or the
Moabites or anybody else.
So God requires both physical circumcision in the Old Testament and figurative.
Go to Ezekiel 44, we're kind of working our way to the right in our Bible on the subject
of circumcision and just kind of hitting the highlights.
And we're working our way to the New Testament.
Go to Ezekiel 44 verse 6, and thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house
of Israel, dost say it the Lord God, O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of
all your abominations and that you've brought into my sanctuary strangers uncircumcised
in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my
house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant
because of all your abominations.
And you have not kept the charge of my holy things, but ye have set keepers of
my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves, dost say it the Lord God, no stranger uncircumcised
in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary of any stranger that
is among the children of Israel.
So right there it's pretty clear.
He demands both physical circumcision and figurative circumcision in the Old Testament.
Now let's go to the New Testament.
Go to Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7 verse 51.
This is where Stephen is preaching to the Jews and he preaches this same concept that
the prophets in the Old Testament had preached about having an uncircumcised heart, which
is a heart that does what?
It doesn't love the Lord and doesn't want to keep God's commandments, doesn't want
to obey God.
And having uncircumcised ears, meaning what?
They don't want to hear the word of God and the Bible says, they don't delight
in the word of God, the Bible says in verse 51, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye.
Now flip over to Romans chapter 2, Romans chapter 2.
And now I want to explain to you the fact that circumcision has nothing to do with
salvation and it never had anything to do with salvation, it never did.
It never had to do with salvation and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with
salvation now.
Why?
Because circumcision represents what?
It represents obedience to God's covenant and obedience to God's law.
Are we saved by keeping the law of God?
Are we saved by obeying the law of God?
No.
And that's what circumcision pictures, obeying God's law.
It has nothing to do with salvation because salvation is by believing in Christ, it's
by faith in the Lord, it's not of works lest any man should boast.
But the Bible says in Romans 2, 25, for circumcision verily profiteth, verily means
truly, profiteth means it has value, it's worth something, if thou keep the law.
So the Bible says, hey, circumcision is profitable if you keep the law.
But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision?
And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfilled the law, judge thee
who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law?
For he is not a Jew which is won outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is won inwardly.
And circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise
is not of men, but of God.
So what the Bible is saying here is that the sign of circumcision symbolized obedience
to the law.
So if you're going to get circumcised and then not obey the law, then it's not going
to be counted by God as circumcision.
And that's what we've been kind of seeing in a lot of these scriptures.
And then he said if the uncircumcised kept the laws of God, then their uncircumcision
would be counted for circumcision because of the fact that they're doing all the right
things, because it's the heart and the spirit that actually make us God's people.
Now look if you would at chapter 3 verse 29.
It says, is he the God of the Jews only?
Is he not also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it as one God which shall justify the circumcision
by faith and uncircumcision through faith.
So look, how does the Jew get saved?
By faith.
How does the Gentile get saved?
By faith.
How does the circumcised get saved?
The same way as the uncircumcised.
By faith.
So does circumcision get us to heaven or does it have part of getting us to heaven?
No, it never had anything to do with salvation because it's not what saves you.
In fact, in chapter 4 of Romans, if you want to flip over to verse 8, the Bible is crystal
clear that Abraham was already saved before he got circumcised.
That proves that circumcision has nothing to do with salvation.
Look at verse 8 of chapter 4, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
By the way, that's what it means to be saved.
Verses 1 through 7 are great on this, but for sake of time, I'm just going to focus
on verse 8.
If you want to know what it means to be saved, when we say I'm saved or this person
got saved, what do we mean by that?
We mean that the Lord will not impute sin unto that person.
Now why is that called salvation?
Because saved means there's some kind of a danger.
There's some kind of apparel, right?
If someone were saved from a fiery building, that makes sense.
If they were saved from drowning, saved from an earthquake that collapsed a bridge
on them.
Look, these are dangers.
Well, the danger is damnation.
The danger is hellfire.
The danger is dying in our sins.
And so salvation comes along and rescues us.
Another word for being saved is being rescued or being delivered, right?
We're saved by believing on Jesus Christ, and what that means is that God will not
impute sin unto us.
Because if our sins were imputed unto us, we'd all be doomed, because we'd have
to be punished.
We'd have to go to hell.
So not having our sins imputed to us is what salvation is.
It'd be sort of like if we had all these debts, and our credit report just showed
all these unpaid debts, right?
And all of a sudden it was just wiped clean.
That's what salvation is.
We have all these sins that we've done, all these debts, and it's just wiped clean.
Except salvation's even better than that, because we can't even incur future
debts.
None of it will be imputed.
It'd be like if no matter what you did with your credit card, it just would never
go on your credit rating.
You just sin will not be imputed unto you.
Now you say, well, wouldn't people just go out and just go crazy with their credit
card?
But that's why he said, you know, what shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Should we go out and just swipe that credit card of sin?
Well no, because God's going to punish us.
God will chasten us.
God will chastise us if we do that.
And obviously if we love God, we should want to keep his commandments anyway.
If we have a circumcised heart, amen, if we have circumcised ears, we want to hear God's
word and we want to do it.
We want to obey.
But that's what the Bible means here.
This is a powerful verse.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
This is found back in Psalm 130 when it says, if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquity,
O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
You know, if God were to keep track of our sins, we're all doomed.
We're all busted.
But thankfully the blessing is that he will not impute sin unto us.
Now look at verse 9 with that in mind.
Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also?
What's the blessedness?
The blessing of not having your sins imputed unto you.
The blessing of being saved.
Is that just for the circumcision?
Verse 9, at the end it says, for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
How was it then reckoned?
When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision?
Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which
he had yet being uncircumcised.
That he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised,
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.
So if you are saved today, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are justified,
you are declared righteous in the sight of God, not because of your works, not because
of your deeds, but because you believed in Christ, you're in Christ, and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is imputed unto you whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised, Abraham
is your father.
So whether you're black, yellow, red, white, whether you're an Indian, it doesn't matter.
You are a son of Abraham.
You are a daughter of Abraham.
So they say, well, you know the Jews, they're special because Abraham's their father.
That's not special because anybody who believes in Christ has Abraham as their father.
And in fact, Jesus Christ looked at the unbelieving Jews who did not believe on Jesus Christ
in John chapter 8, and he flat out told them that Abraham is not their father.
He said if Abraham were your father, you would do the works of Abraham, and he said
you're of your father, the devil.
So right here, it's pretty clear that Abraham is the father of all believers everywhere.
Verse 12, and he's the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father, Abraham, which he had
being yet uncircumcised.
Now flip over to Acts chapter 15.
Acts chapter 15, the next point I want to make this morning, we've already talked
about what circumcision is.
It was a symbol of the covenant between God and Abraham.
It symbolized obedience to the law, obeying God's commandments, obeying his covenant.
It was both a literal circumcision that God wanted, and he also wanted a figurative circumcision.
It had nothing to do with salvation.
It never did, and it certainly doesn't now.
But in the early church, there were false teachers who crept into the church and started
teaching, hey, you have to be circumcised in order to be saved.
You have to be circumcised, and you have to believe in Jesus Christ.
And what they're basically teaching is a works-based salvation, salvation by the law.
Because if you're going to get circumcised, what are you saying?
You've got to keep the whole law.
You've got to follow everything.
So it says in Acts 15, verse 1, and certain men which came down from Judea taught the
brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot
be saved.
And therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them.
That means it was a big dissension and disputation.
They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question.
Now turn over to Galatians chapter 2.
This was not a question to Paul and Barnabas.
Paul and Barnabas weren't wondering about this.
They said, no way.
But some of the people are like, well, let's go ask the other apostles.
We don't trust Paul and Barnabas's judgment.
Let's get it from the original 12 disciples.
Let's see what Peter and let's see what James and them have to say, the Lord's brother
James and John.
Let's see what those guys say.
It was questionable unto them, some of the people who heard this.
But unto Paul and Barnabas, man, they were just like, no, this is false.
This is wrong.
You do not have to be circumcised to be saved.
Now this story is referred to in Galatians 2.
So we can get a commentary from the Holy Spirit in Galatians 2 on the events of Acts
15.
Look at Galatians 2 verse 3.
But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in.
So what's he calling these certain men from Judea?
He's saying these are false brethren who creeped in, right, crept means like they're creeping
in, sneaking in, unawares to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that
they might bring us into bondage.
To whom we gave place by suggestion, no, not for an hour that the truth of the Gospel
might continue with you.
He's saying I didn't even put up with these people for one hour.
Not even for one hour did I tolerate this or go along with this.
They were just immediately shocked and horrified by this false doctrine.
They fought it and they went to Jerusalem to humor the people who said, well, let's
go ask them.
Okay, fine, let's go ask them.
But they weren't asking for themselves.
They already knew what the Gospel was, salvation by grace through faith.
Look at chapter 5 where Paul really elaborates on this of Galatians.
So in chapter 2, he says, look, these guys are false teachers, false brethren, and
they were spies.
They were traitors.
They are creepy, you know, and they're lying to you.
Look at chapter 5, verse 1, stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made
us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you
nothing.
Now that's a pretty strong statement.
What does he mean by that?
Now we already showed scriptures earlier that said you could be saved if you're circumcised
or uncircumcised.
Either way, you could be saved, right?
As long as you believe in Christ, that's all that matters.
Why is he saying here, well, if you're circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing?
He's not talking about people who are already circumcised.
What he's saying to the Galatians, who are what, Gentiles, he's saying if you guys
go out and get circumcised because you think that that somehow is necessary for salvation,
then you know what, you're not even saved.
I mean, look, if Christ profits you nothing, you think that means you're saved?
No way.
He's saying you're not saved.
Why?
Because he's saying, look, salvation's by faith, and if you're like, well, just
to be saved, I better go out and get circumcised just to be saved.
You know what, that shows you don't have your faith in Christ.
You don't think what Christ did is enough.
You feel like you have to go do this other thing.
And so when he says here, if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing, he's
talking to people that are not circumcised that are doing it because they think it's
part of salvation, that they have to add this.
Because remember, that's the heresy he's dealing with in Acts 15 and Galatians chapter 2.
Look at verse 3.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he's a debtor to do the
whole law.
Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.
You're fallen from grace, for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith.
So again, this is a great passage that salvation is by faith, not by the works of the law.
Now, even though this scripture is about circumcision, you could pretty much insert
any work of the law here and say, hey, if you think that you have to also do this
other thing, whether it be getting baptized, whether it be living a good life, whether
it be joining the church, repenting of all your sins and following God's commandments,
quit drinking, quit smoking, quit fornicating.
You know, if you're going to add works of the law, if you're going to add works of
the flesh, if you're going to add things that you have to do in addition to faith
in Christ, then Christ is going to profit you nothing.
See a lot of people, when they hear that whosoever believeth in him should not perish
but have eternal life, when they hear that, a lot of them think like, okay, so
if somebody believes that salvation is by faith alone, they're saved.
And if somebody believes that salvation is by faith plus works, well, they're still
saved because they're still believing in Christ, wrong.
Because when the Bible says believe in Christ, it doesn't simply mean believe that he exists.
When the Bible says believe in Christ, it means you are trusting in Christ.
It means your faith is in Christ to get you to heaven.
So if a person says, oh, I believe in Jesus but I'm going to heaven because I'm
a good person, that's not faith in Christ.
That's faith in Jesus and you.
Or if somebody says, well, I'm sure I'm going to heaven because I've believed in Christ
and I got baptized and I attend church regularly.
That's why I'm going to heaven.
What are they doing?
They're adding.
Just like if somebody said, well, yeah, I'm going to heaven because I'm circumcised
and I believe in Christ.
Is that person saved?
No, because they're trusting something else.
And what does circumcision represent?
Obeying the laws of God.
And he says, look, you can't just single that out.
If you're going to get circumcised, then just plan on keeping the whole law.
And good luck with that, buddy, because all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God.
There's not one person who can do that.
So if somebody goes out and gets circumcised and says, oh, this is going to get me to
heaven.
You know, I'm following the God of Israel.
Okay, well, just be prepared to follow every commandment of God blameless.
And you know, I guarantee you're going to fail and then you're going to have to go
to hell to be punished for those sins.
Or you can trust Jesus Christ as your savior.
The Lord will not impute sin.
You're saved, you're sealed, and you're going to heaven, not by works of Christ
as what you've done, but by the mercy of God, by his grace, by salvation through
faith.
And then I want to point out the last thing here, because we've talked about the fact
of what circumcision is, the literal, the figurative.
We talked about the fact that it's not about salvation and never had anything to do with
salvation.
But now for a very important part of the sermon where we talk about why do we not
circumcise our children in the New Testament.
Why don't we do it?
Why do we not circumcise?
Now, the Bible is very clear in the New Testament that we should not circumcise our
children.
Now, I grew up being taught that we still circumcise our children.
So I'm circumcised and, you know, when I was younger, I thought, yeah, you know,
you get circumcised even in the New Testament.
That's how most Baptists today believe.
And when I, you know, announced to family members that, you know, we were not going
to be circumcising our children, they were kind of shocked and horrified by that.
And people were kind of like, what in the world?
You're not circumcising your children.
You know, you're some kind of a heathen, Philistines or what, you know.
But let me just prove this from the Bible.
You know, the Bible is our final authority.
And I think if you just take a look at some of these scriptures, you'll see it's pretty
clear that we don't practice circumcision in the New Testament.
Now, we do have the circumcision of the heart and the spirit.
We should have circumcised ears, but we do not physically circumcise children in
the New Testament.
Look at verse 6.
We'll look at a bunch of evidence, but Galatians 5, verse 6, for in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.
Now, that verse makes it pretty clear that it doesn't matter whether you are or not.
And we already saw some verses like that in Romans, didn't we?
You know, hey, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything.
Look at chapter 6, verse 12, because if you just had that, you might say, well,
maybe it could go either way.
Maybe we should do it if we want to.
But I'll take it a step further.
Not only is circumcision not required in the New Testament, I actually believe that
it's against God's will for you to even circumcise your children.
So not only do I think that it's not required, I think it's actually wrong to
circumcise your children in the New Testament.
And obviously, people have already done it, you know, obviously there's no going back
on that.
But the point is, though, that going forward, I don't believe that God wants us to do
that.
And let's look at more evidence.
Galatians 6, verse 12, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but
a new creature.
So we have the same repetition from chapter 5 of hey, neither circumcision or uncircumcision
availeth anything, but this time he explains to us that it's false teachers and false
prophets who want you circumcised.
He's warning about a false prophet telling you to get circumcised.
He said they want you circumcised.
Look at verse 13.
They desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
So that's a warning.
But let's look at a clear scripture.
First Corinthians, chapter 7.
First Corinthians 7.
So we have a lot of scripture in Romans and Galatians that just says hey, it doesn't
really matter whether you are or you're not.
It means nothing.
It's faith in Christ that saves you.
Don't worry about it.
Don't do it.
And then we have a statement in Galatians 6 that says hey, false teachers, they want
you circumcised.
And then we have the statement in Galatians 2 where he specifically says that Titus being
Greek, I didn't tell him to get circumcised.
I didn't compel him to get circumcised.
So we have the fact that Titus, who is a great man of God, who has a book of the
Bible named after him and addressed to him where the apostle Paul trusted him as
one of his proteges in the ministry, and we have the clear statement that Paul
at that point in his ministry told Titus don't get circumcised.
Now earlier in his ministry he circumcised Timothy because he hadn't learned all this.
But then he got to a point with Titus where he's like no, Titus don't get circumcised.
Look at 1 Corinthians 7 verse 17.
But as God hath distributed to every man as the Lord hath called everyone, so let
him walk, and so ordain I in all churches.
Is any man called being circumcised?
Let him not become uncircumcised.
Is any called an uncircumcision?
Here's a clear statement for you.
Let him not be circumcised.
So what's the Bible saying?
If you're already circumcised, he said, don't worry about it.
You know, don't try to get uncircumcised, which I don't know how that would even work.
But he basically says, look, if you're circumcised, okay, fine.
Don't try to be uncircumcised.
Don't worry about it.
You know, it doesn't bother me that I'm circumcised.
Shouldn't bother anybody, right?
It's just like, so what?
But he clearly says, look, if you're not circumcised, don't get circumcised.
Isn't that what the Bible says?
Don't do it.
So if people are like, hmm, should I do it?
The answer's no.
He said, is any man called being circumcised?
Let him not become uncircumcised.
Is any called an uncircumcision?
Let him not be circumcised.
Pretty clear scripture, right?
And then Colossians 2, 11 explains it this way.
It says, in whom also ye are circumcised.
This is what he's saying to the Gentiles in Colossae.
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh.
Watch this.
By the circumcision of Christ.
So just as all of Christ's works are imputed unto us, right?
All of our sins were put on Christ on the cross and he died for our sins.
But then all the good works of Jesus Christ were imputed unto us.
The righteousness of Christ is imputed unto us.
We're saved by his life.
We're saved by his righteousness.
Not our own righteousness.
Well, the Bible says that his circumcision is imputed unto us.
That's why we don't have to get circumcised in the New Testament.
Because our circumcision is the circumcision of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, wasn't he?
Study the Bible.
You know, of course, John the Baptist was circumcised.
All the apostles.
But the Bible's clear.
The Bible says that Mary took Jesus down to the priest and had him circumcised on the
eighth day.
And it's the circumcision of Christ and his perfect obedience to the law, right?
That's imputed unto us.
We don't have to be circumcised ourselves.
Now when I was growing up, I was taught this thing of, well, you know, circumcision
is sanitary.
They said, you know, it's going to prevent STDs and stuff like that.
Well, here's how you prevent STDs.
You get married, right?
You stay a virgin until you get married.
And then you stay with that one person until death do you part to have and to hold
and keep yourself to them only.
That's a great way to prevent STDs.
You know, we don't need some surgical procedure to prevent STDs.
You know, we need to be pure to prevent STDs.
Now I've seen evidence of this in Africa.
Because when we were in Africa, when we were soul winning in Botswana, they had the mobile
circumcision mobile, okay?
I kid you not.
When you go to other countries, you see some weird stuff, okay?
I took pictures of it because nobody would believe me.
But we're driving down the road and there's like a semi tractor trailer, like the trailer
part of it that was parked in a parking lot.
And it was like a big party going on.
Like they're blasting music.
There's a DJ.
All these cars are there.
Everybody's there.
It's like, what's going on?
Big party announcers talking and everything.
And it was like a big sign, get circumcised.
And they were circumcising people in the back of that trailer.
Now I don't know if I would trust that in Africa.
That's sanitation right there.
But anyway, it looked a little shady.
Who saw that?
Were you with me, Paul, when we saw that?
Yeah, you saw that Teresa as well.
And not only did we see the mobile circumcision mobile where they're circumcising, because
they're saying, hey, it's going to prevent STDs or whatever.
So they're trying to just circumcise Africans for whatever the reason.
Well, not only that, there were just signs everywhere like billboards, advertisements
saying like, hey, get circumcised and just trying to just drill this into people to
get circumcised.
I believe we saw it a little bit in Guyana, South America.
But I might be mixing a few mission strips.
But I know I definitely saw it in Botswana.
It was a big thing.
But here's the thing about that.
The Bible says neither circumcision avail anything, neither uncircumcision avail anything.
So I'm not going to sit there and say, well, it has a health benefit that we need
to give our children.
Well, the Bible said it didn't avail anything.
And if you're uncircumcised, don't do it.
So to me, it's just end of story.
Now, could there be some truth to that aspect of sanitation or STDs or whatever?
Well, apparently, it's not important because God told us not to do it in the New Testament.
And it could also have something to do with the fact that maybe back when they're
in the wilderness or in the desert, living in tents and everything is a little different
than our modern society anyway.
So maybe that has something to do with it.
But I would tend to just kind of disregard the talk about the health benefit or whatever.
Because there's a lot of things that they're pushing on Africans that aren't necessarily
a health benefit.
They also push a lot of radical vaccine schedules on Africans.
Doesn't necessarily mean it's the best thing for them.
Just because they're taking it to a third world country and getting everybody circumcised.
Can you think of another motive to go to a third world country and just trick everybody
into getting circumcised?
How about money?
Because somebody's paying for the circumcisions, even if they're offering free circumcision.
Somebody's paying for it, right?
They're taking donations from somebody or they're taking it from the government.
Somebody's paying the bill for those circumcisions.
And so it could be a financial motivation.
Also, human foreskins, even that are harvested in the United States, are used in women's
makeup.
Foundation is made from human foreskins.
Now, I'm sorry to ruin your day, ladies.
But actually, look it up on the internet and it's been going on for a long time.
They use tissue from foreskins.
Because they don't just throw it in the trash.
They use all that stuff.
When they circumcise babies in the United States, it goes to be used industrially.
And it goes into makeup.
And that's not a wild-eyed, weird conspiracy theory.
If you actually look that up and fact-check that, you will see that that is a true story.
Because I don't just believe everything I read or come out with this kind of crazy
wild-eyed stuff.
I did a lot of research on it and it's true that makeup contains human foreskins.
That's pretty gross and maybe it'll make you think twice about putting on foundation.
But you can see a motive, can't you?
For circumcising, in order to make money off the procedure itself, charge the insurance
company, right?
Everybody's got health insurance, just charge them a few hundred bucks to do it.
And then the other motive could be to sell the foreskins.
I mean, you thought it was weird when David had to bring 200 foreskins to Saul.
At least Saul probably threw them in the trash.
He didn't use them to produce makeup and foundation.
But you can see some motives.
And then I've heard something else, and I don't know if this is true, I've heard people
say, like, oh, well, you know, Jewish doctors during World War II pushed circumcision in
the United States.
They pushed the health benefit because they wanted everybody circumcised so there wouldn't
be, like, another Holocaust, you know.
Which obviously you'd have to have a first Holocaust in order to have another Holocaust.
But anyway, the point is they would basically push that.
Because here's the thing.
In my grandpa's generation, Christians weren't circumcised, to my knowledge.
So my grandpa was born in the early 1920s, he was born in the year 1920.
He was uncircumcised.
That whole generation was.
But then when it got to my dad's generation, in the 50s, everybody started being circumcised.
And if you look at statistics, it was like World War II era, I don't know if it was
just solidarity with the Jews or something, hey, let's all get circumcised.
That's kind of when it started in the United States, being a big movement.
And now it's starting to go away again.
You know, when I was a kid, everybody was getting circumcised.
I think it was like 90-some percent or whatever.
But now people are starting to say, hey, wait a minute, let's back off from this.
And so if you're not in third world Africa, it's not really being pushed in the United
States, to my knowledge.
Most people are actually pushing back and saying, hey, you know, it's unnecessary.
So anyway, just throwing those last few things out there, just food for thought.
At the end of the day, what really matters is what the Bible says.
You can talk about the health concerns or what it's like, the fact that they're making
it into makeup and everything else.
But at the end of the day, what it really comes down to is that God's word ordained
circumcision for Abraham, for the Jews, for Israel.
Back then, it was right.
But that in the New Testament, there's a change in the law, the Bible says, in Hebrews,
and that we are not under the old covenant.
We do not practice physical circumcision.
And I even will take it a step further and say, I think it's actually wrong because
you're disobeying God's clear command that says, if you're called an uncircumcision,
don't get circumcised.
And that we have the circumcision of Christ.
So it's totally unnecessary.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for salvation and for saving us, not by our works or
our own righteousness, but through the faith of Christ.
And Lord, I just pray that everyone who's here would understand what's been preached.
And if there's anyone here who's not saved, Lord, I pray that they would put all
their faith and trust in you before it's eternally too late.
And I pray that everyone would go away with a better understanding of this important
subject of circumcision and an important understanding that people who are trusting
in works or things like this to be saved, you know, Christ will profit them nothing.
And we need to get them the message of salvation by faith alone.
And in Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.