Friday, March 27, 2020 -
This afternoon “W” and I were doing an impromptu study of Romans 2. The last verse led to an extensive discussion of the circumcision of the heart: “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men but from God.” I showed him that this was a promise from the time of Moses, when God promised, “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, in order that you may live” (Deut. 30:6). We know this was a promise of God’s sending His Son as our redeemer. But God told the people of Judah, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart,” (Jeremiah 4:4) and, “Behold, the days are coming, that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised” (Jeremiah 9:25). For we can be circumcised but yet our hearts remain unregenerate, uncircumcised due to lack of repentance and acceptance of Christ’s redemption through His own shed blood. “For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). “And in Him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:11, 13-14).
Stephen called those Jews who were about to stone him to death “stiff-necked and uncircumcised of the heart and ears, (who) are always resisting the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51).
After reading all of these Scriptures, “W” said to me, “You know what’s so neat about this analogy of the circumcision of the hearts is that circumcision can never be undone!” What a profound statement. I told him I’ve never thought about that! But think about it! God in His mercy chose the analogy of physical circumcision with our salvation. A circumcision of the heart that cannot be undone! Praise the Lord!
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