CIRCUMCISION: A MATTER OF THE HEART (26 OF 48)
Scripture: Genesis 17:1-8, Genesis 17
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Circumcision: A Matter of the Heart (26 of 48)
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 17:1-27
Introduction
By the amount of time I've brought up circumcision from the pulpit over the past months you'd think that Teresa was having a boy. We began talking about it in Romans 4, certainly continued on with it in Galatians 3 and even in James 2. And what do you know here we are again in Genesis 17 talking once more about circumcision. I mean, man, the Bible has quite a bit to say about circumcision...what is the big deal? We find the word 'circumcise' or some variation of it 86 times in the whole Bible. Compare that to the fact that we find the word obedience only 12 times; evangelist only 3 times; justification only 3 times. Clearly, there is something significant about circumcision that we seem to have missed as Gentile readers. Genesis 17 shows us, however, what that something significant is.
Now as we read earlier this morning in Romans 2, the Jews did not have a problem with emphasizing circumcision, their problem was that they had a poor understanding of what it really was. As I mentioned back in our study of Galatians 3, the Jews considered circumcision an ethnic badge. Paul tells us in Romans 2 that it was a physical mark which Jews believed would allow them to skip God's judgment. Quite simply, it was an outward form of religion that they believed made them right with God. We saw earlier Paul response to this belief.
Thus, we see that circumcision is important but not as a cover-all action for our salvation. I think we get this as a church this morning. Whether this morning is your first exposure to studying the Bible or you've been a believer all your life, being in a different cultural context we understand that simply removing the foreskin from our men cannot possibly be sufficient for eternal life. I mean when you say it out loud it sounds foolish. And yet, how many things we have created in Christianity that functio ...
Series: Kingdom Foundations - Genesis
Patrick Edwards
Genesis 17:1-27
Introduction
By the amount of time I've brought up circumcision from the pulpit over the past months you'd think that Teresa was having a boy. We began talking about it in Romans 4, certainly continued on with it in Galatians 3 and even in James 2. And what do you know here we are again in Genesis 17 talking once more about circumcision. I mean, man, the Bible has quite a bit to say about circumcision...what is the big deal? We find the word 'circumcise' or some variation of it 86 times in the whole Bible. Compare that to the fact that we find the word obedience only 12 times; evangelist only 3 times; justification only 3 times. Clearly, there is something significant about circumcision that we seem to have missed as Gentile readers. Genesis 17 shows us, however, what that something significant is.
Now as we read earlier this morning in Romans 2, the Jews did not have a problem with emphasizing circumcision, their problem was that they had a poor understanding of what it really was. As I mentioned back in our study of Galatians 3, the Jews considered circumcision an ethnic badge. Paul tells us in Romans 2 that it was a physical mark which Jews believed would allow them to skip God's judgment. Quite simply, it was an outward form of religion that they believed made them right with God. We saw earlier Paul response to this belief.
Thus, we see that circumcision is important but not as a cover-all action for our salvation. I think we get this as a church this morning. Whether this morning is your first exposure to studying the Bible or you've been a believer all your life, being in a different cultural context we understand that simply removing the foreskin from our men cannot possibly be sufficient for eternal life. I mean when you say it out loud it sounds foolish. And yet, how many things we have created in Christianity that functio ...
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