Tag: Circumcision

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I’m in.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Apostle Paul makes a bold and unpopular statement for some in the first century Church (Judaizers). He writes to the Ephesians about their previous status among the Jewish community – they were outsiders. The Jewish males were the “cut ones” as in “cutting a contract.”

Starting with Abraham, God covenanted with him by having him remove the foreskin on his baby-maker. Each and every Jewish male thereafter would do the same. If a non-Jew were to convert to Judaism, the first thing they would do is be circumcised. It was a physical sign of keeping the contract with God. From very far back in history the Jewish people only saw two kinds of humans, those covenanted with God (circumcised) and those outside of His kingdom and His promises (uncircumcised). The uncircumcised were considered to be heathens or pagans (worshipping other gods).

Contracts back in ancient times were often “cut” with some kind of blood involved. Men would often place their hand on the inside of the other’s thigh and recite the promise, but it was sealed or certified by the blood sacrifice of a living animal. God made this kind of contract/covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Abraham, at 99 years old was circumcised and also told to make sure that every male from then on would also be circumcised. ”This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant” Genesis‬ ‭17‬:‭10‬-‭14‬.

We can clearly see how the Jewish people would come to understand only two groups of people – God’s covenanted and those not! What the New Testament Jewish people could not understand, because of their lack of belief in Jesus as the Messiah, is that Jesus’ death was the final and forever blood covering of sin and fulfillment of the contractual obligations for anyone who believes in Him, turning from sin and having faith in God.

Paul is simply reminding the Jews and Gentiles that Jesus has performed a completely different kind of circumcision – one of the heart! Now, as a non-Jewish person I am all in! A heathen, a sinner, saved by grace through faith alone, adopted into the family of God and grafted into the “root of Jesse.”

Prayer

​Dad,
Feeling like an outsider for the early part of my life, I am thrilled to be an insider as a part of Your family. Plus, I get to be TWICE adopted! Once at four years old and then at fifteen years old when was born again 🙌🏼. I love to see your covenant promises made and even more so to see you being faithful to keeping them from then and still today. Your love and faithfulness endure forever!

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A contract is a contract, and it must be paid in blood.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.” Ephesians‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The outsiders! New Living Translation plays this verse a little too fast and loose, the word “outsiders” is not in the original text. The translators are trying to make the point Paul is suggesting. I found an article that said there were approximately 4 million Jews living in the Roman Empire at that time. They had to have been a force to be reckoned with because a number of Roman emperors tried to eliminate them. But in the religious world, in this “new” messianic Jew era, the Gentiles, or the heathens were outnumbered. Paul takes another dig at a previously honored distinction- pride in circumcision. Saul/Paul had been circumcised. However, it had long been known that it was only a physical indication and no longer a matter of a heart that was separated unto God. God had even declared that the physical trait had lost its effect because of sin, stubbornness and disobedience. When the “insiders” control the rules of the game, then everyone else is seen as outside the “accepted by God”circle. But Paul wrote, you were “formerly” heathens. Did they get circumcised? Well, certainly not physically. Paul was referring to what Christ had done for every human being – his blood had circumcised their heart. The mark, the “physical” proof was cut, contracted in the heart, right where God said he would writes his laws upon human flesh.

Contracts were said to be “cut” in ancient days because each party would physically cut into their own body, producing a little bit of blood. This is also why God choose circumcision as a sign of covenant with His people. That blood covenant or contract was a visible, visceral statement that declared, if I don’t keep my end of the contract, my blood, my life will be given in return. Ancient contracts were blood pacts!

All the way back to the garden and the reality of death for disobedience caused a permanent rift, a tear a chasm between humans and God. God setup a way to repair that breech. The contract with Abraham was a blood pact and the contract with Moses was the temporary method for failing to keep our end of the deal. As humans we kept failing to keep our end of the contract so the blood of animals was the temporary “atonement” or really a promise to pay in full one day with our own blood, our own lives.

We all had this blood/death sentence hanging over us. It didn’t matter if humans believed in God, or even knew about the contract arrangements – it is a reality ever human would have to face. Let’s say you get pulled over for a traffic violation and the office gives you a ticket, a fine that must be paid. You know it does NO GOOD whatsoever to tell the judge, “I didn’t know it was against the law!” The judge will tell you, “ignorance is not a defense.” Ignorance is not a defense with this blood contract either.

God’s plan was to become human and be born in perfection, no sin, completely innocent – Christ was never under the contract because he never violated the agreement. However, being perfect, and human he was able to make THE payment that no innocent temporary animal could ever make with its own blood (Remember animals live in a sinful world, but they do not commit sin – they do not have a human soul thus they were never at fault for disobedience). Because they are NOT human, their innocent blood could only be a temporary peace offering, a promise for its owner to pay in full at some point in the future. Christ was born perfect and lived perfect, so his blood, his death was the only real solution to all of humanity’s big pile of “IOU’s!”

Now, the only way to avoid paying for your sin is to show the judge your “paid in full” receipt, not because a small amount of blood was “cut” in circumcision, but the paid contract has been cut in your heart, where you believe in God’s payment plan through Christ and show it by the way you live now as “circumcised” Gentile.

Prayer

Dad,
All I can say is thank you! Thank you for your plan, your salvation. Thank you for your law being written on my heart. Thank you for grace to look forward, live forward unafraid of death as my own payment for sin.