CIRCUMCISIONS ~ KJB 1769

GOD GAVE THE CIRCUMCISION TO OLD COVENANT ISRAEL
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Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 

Genesis 17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 

Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 

Genesis 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 

Genesis 17:5 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. 

Genesis 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 

Genesis 17:7 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. 

Genesis 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 

Genesis 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 

Genesis 17:10 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. 

Genesis 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 

Genesis 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 

Genesis 17:13 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. 

Genesis 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

 

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God Gave Israel the Covenant and it required every man to be circumcised, otherwise that man would be cut off from his people and lose the promises of the covenant.

Many today still practice circumcision in the flesh ignoring that is not required, things have changed thanks to the Dispensation of Grace :

Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. ​

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In reality, the Circumcision of the flesh was only an external token of the desired CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART,
The Lord desired that they would be circumcised in the earth,separated by the rest of heathen nations,observing the laws and statutes He had given to them .

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 

Deuteronomy 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 

Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 

Deuteronomy 10:15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. 

Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 

Deuteronomy 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 

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Paul our Apostle wrote:
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 

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Even though Israel had kept the covenant of physical circumcision they had broken the law of inner circumcision by not submitting their hearts in obedience to God.
This is why Jesus took the kingdom away from unbelieving Israel and gave it to the believing remnant.
“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” – Mat 21:43
It is also why Stephen, filled with the Holy Ghost, calls unbelieving Israel “uncircumcised in heart and ears”.

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” – Acts 7:51
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Paul explains about hypocritical Jews that true Jewish circumcision was an inward circumcision of the heart. Their flesh circumcision was not sufficient for righteousness even though it was an outward obedience to the commandment.

“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” – Romans 2:29

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UNDER GRACE, there is a CIRCUMCISION without THE LAW and it is the WORK of GOD, not of man so that our flesh cannot glory.

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Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 

Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 

Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 

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This circumcision is not part of Israel’s covenants. It is not physical. Neither was it the inner circumcision of the heart which was commanded to serve the Lord “with all thy heart and soul” (Deut 10:12).

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 

Deuteronomy 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 

This mystery circumcision describes an operation of God, not of ourselves, lest any should boast. It is God circumcising us from the body of the sins of our flesh. This doctrinal separation was a part of our crucified identification with Christ (Gal 2:20, Rom 6:3-4).

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 


Glory of God’s Operation

It is only when God separated us from the body of the sins of the flesh that he could rightly declare us righteous in Christ. When our own body is cut off, then we are free to live in Christ without the sins of the flesh weighing us down.

This great mystery where we reckon our flesh dead and alive unto God describes a truth that has been performed already upon you by God the moment you believe. Like many grace truths, we learn about it after studying the mystery of Christ.

It is not the flesh circumcision that avails, neither is it the obedience of our heart to a covenant. While we were still sinners Christ died for us and when we put our faith in his finished work we are cut off from the old man. Glory to God!

Yes indeed to
GOD ALONE ALL THE GLORY!!!!