Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart… Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham, mention of which we have in Genesis 17, and which the first martyr, St. Stephen, quoted in that remarkable address in Acts 7:8, where he said, "And He gave him the Covenant of Circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day." And St. Paul in writing to the Romans 4:11, speaking of Abraham, says, "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also." This sign was also made with Abraham's seed — that is, Christ — as St. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16. This was then the Covenant of Grace, the Gospel which preceded the law. To Israel this covenant was an outward sign that God would give them rest in Canaan; and to all of us it is a sign continued in Christian baptism, and a seal that "God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city." This rite of circumcision was performed by the cutting off of the flesh of the foreskin; this was cut off and cast away, to show that the body of the sins of the flesh must be put off; a list of what some of these are we have in Colossians 3:5. On this account we are told in Deuteronomy 10:16, "Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts," and in the text, "Circumcise thine heart." Ishmael was circumcised although the covenant was made with Abraham and Isaac, for the children of believing parents must be sealed with its seal for the reasons given by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:14. The act of circumcising the male child was a painful ceremony, and was full of meaning, suggesting then what the New Testament teaches now, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost." This rite of circumcision was administered to a child who could know nothing except pain. What good was it? How unreasonable! and how cruel — we would be prompted to ask. Following our own reason, no child would have received the rite; but we should remember what Locke says, "Whatever is Divine revelation ought to overrule all our opinions, prejudices, and interests, and hath a right to be received with full assent. Such a submission as this of our reason to faith, takes not away the landmarks of knowledge, this shakes not the foundations of reason, but leaves us that use of our faculties for which they were given us." But God's commands upon this subject far outstrip man's reason and man's feelings upon the subject. For there was a penalty attached to disobedience; the child not circumcised was to be cut off from his people, he was to die. In Colossians 2:11, 12, we are told this of baptism, which now answers to the rite of circumcision, "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. 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." This rite of baptism is equally for babes as well as for those of mature years, even for those only a few weeks old. Parents ought to see that their children receive it. I shall now endeavour to show you in what two points circumcision differs from baptism. 1. Baptism in its literal sense, taken as an outward rite, is of universal and continual obligation, that is, as long as this dispensation (the dispensation of the Spirit) lasts, though it is only in the first of these that it differs from circumcision. 2. Taken in its literal sense, circumcision was the initiatory rite of the old covenant, as baptism is of the new; both are placed at the threshold of church privileges. In circumcision a man was pledged to keep the whole law (Galatians 5:3), whereas in baptism a man is pledged to put on Christ. The case of the Ethiopian eunuch.As there are two points of difference between circumcision and baptism, there are on the other hand three points of resemblance. 1. In a spiritual sense both have the same signification, both point to the renewal of the heart, which is required of all. 2. Neither circumcision, nor baptism, are of value as mere rites, unaccompanied, by the spiritual grace which they typify; "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." 3. "Baptism doth also save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Above all, the Spirit of God is all essential. The truths which circumcision teach us, and the blessings of which it was the pledge, are the birthright of every real child of God. It taught what baptism now teaches us, the total depravity of the human nature, its inability to please God, and its unfitness to partake of His mercy. Circumcision was also like our initiatory sacrament baptism — a sign and pledge of the remedy which infinite love has devised for the depravity of the heart. "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." "I will be their God, and they shall be My people." All these blessings are now communicated to every genuine member of the Christian Church. Our blessed Lord therefore submitted to the rite of circumcision. It was right that He should bear the evidence of being a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. Although He had no personal pollution to put off, yet His submitting to circumcision was an essential part of His humiliation, and of the obedience by which He fulfilled all righteousness. It was also one of those sacred actions in which He sustained the character of the representative of His people. Now, what are we to learn from all this, and more especially those that are parents and guardians? As circumcision was originally an admission unto covenant relationship with God, Jesus, the Son of the Highest, submitted to it the eighth day, when Joseph exercised his parental right over Jesus, as man, in giving. Him His name, and by His baptism by St. John, He fulfilled the law by obedience. From the manger at Bethlehem to the Cross on Calvary, He did the will of God till it was finished. What an example for us all to follow in His blessed steps. In order to do so, we must see that our hearts are circumcised. In like manner baptism as the covenant of grace, of which it is the symbol, is higher than that of the law, with greater privileges and blessings. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The last act of grace is, as the promise under our consideration implies, ensured by the first act of grace. The primary change of heart effected by the operation of the Holy Spirit, is the pledge of the final accomplishment of the purposes of sovereign love. "The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart that thou mayest live." (C. T. Buchanan.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. |
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