Legitimate Use Of Rituals Series

Intro

Last week we expounded Romans 4:9-12. There Paul used Abraham’s experience to prove circumcision is not a prerequisite for justification. In that study, we did not have time to talk about why God gave Abraham the rite of circumcision. If it is of no value for justification, then what is its value?

To answer that, let’s begin by reading Genesis 17:1-14 where God established this sacrament.

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ 9 And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days oldi among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.’”ii

The passage goes on to include the name change for Sarah that paralleled Abraham’s name change. Then it narrates Abraham’s obedience to God’s directive. Reading that portion of Scripture, it is easy to understand why the Jewish people put such emphasis on the rite of circumcision.

INTERPRETATION OF CIRCUMCISION AS A SIGN AND SEAL

With Genesis 17:7 and verse 13 referencing an everlasting covenant, how can Paul say in Galatians 5:15, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (NIV). On the surface, he seems to be contradicting the significance of circumcision. The apostles who met in Acts 15 were certainly knowledgeable of this passage. Why would they decide that the rite of circumcision was not necessary for gentile believers? Consider these three reasons:

(1) Circumcision was never intended as a means of salvation. From the beginning it was only given as a sign of spiritual realities. It is not the covenant itself; it is the external sign of the covenant. In Genesis 17:11 God says to Abraham: “and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.” Paul’s teaching is consistent with that revelation. Romans 4:11 begins: “And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised.”

The Greek word for sign is semeion. A sign is something less than the reality itself. It is only symbolic of the reality it depicts. It is often something visible that points to the invisible. The rainbow was not the covenant God made with Noah (Gen. 9:12). It was a visual reminder of that covenant. The animal blood smeared on the top and sides of the doorframes at the Passover was not the spiritual reality that saved those people from destruction. It signified that reality.

In Exodus 12:13 God said to Israel: “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” In the Septuagint, the word translated sign is semeion, the same word we find in Romans 4:11. In some contexts, that word is translated miracle because it is referencing an event that points to the supernatural activity of God. We must understand that physical circumcision was never intended to be a source of salvation. Abraham was declared righteous long before he was circumcised.