Circumcision or Uncircumcision?

The apostle Paul at this point swings his argument from works in general, to the specific act of circumcision. Just as today many “Christians” claim God’s favor and blessing based upon the act of baptism, so the Jews would claim righteousness based upon circumcision. Let’s read the scriptures to see what they say.

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:9-12

Paul knowing his audience quickly moves to cut off the argument of circumcision based righteousness. Paul states that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness and then explores how it was counted. He asks the question “Was it before or after he had been circumcised.” Quickly he answers that it was before he was circumcised that he was credited righteousness. A quick study of Genesis 15 – 17 will show that it was actually fourteen years before he was circumcised that God credited him with righteousness through faith.

Paul is correct when he asserts that circumcision was merely a seal, or an outward symbol, of the righteousness he received by faith. For as the Genesis account records: You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Genesis 17:11 Paul asserts that the reason for this was so that Abraham would be the father of all who believed without having been circumcised. The reason is that righteousness would be credited to them by faith as well. The point that the apostle is making is that Abraham, the father of the faith-full, is the father of those who are righteous and justified by faith, and not by works, whether those works be obeying the law, or being circumcised.

How then shall we apply this truth to our lives today? Is what Paul is saying here diminish the importance of our covenant sign with God, that sign of baptism? By no means does it do so, but rather it should serve to give us a deeper understanding of the sign of baptism. It should open up to us that our baptism is not what imputes righteousness to us, but rather our faith. Our baptism is merely a seal of that faith. Think of our baptism as a wedding ring that we have with the Lord. Husbands and wives wear rings as a seal, or sign, of their pledge. So to should we “wear” baptism as a sign of our pledge and God’s pledge. However never should we trust baptism as our means of righteousness, for to do so would put us into a grievous sin of trusting our works rather than what Christ did.

Many who claim to be Christians today would state their baptism as the means of righteousness. From many different cults, to even those in strongly evangelical churches. The misunderstanding the Jews had of the sign of circumcision is an oft repeated mistake we make in the church with baptism. We therefore should strive to keep baptism important as an ordinance in the church, without letting baptism replace repentance and faith, for if we are trusting anything other than the blood of Jesus, then we have a false hope which will ultimately lead us to destruction. For those who are not baptized, but are believers, get baptized. For those who are baptized, don't trust the water for salvation, but always Jesus only for your righteousness.

Gracious Father,
Help me to see the importance of baptism, without trusting in it for my salvation. Lord may I learn from those who have gone before me that righteousness and justification is by faith alone, and that baptism is merely an outward sign of an inward working of your Spirit in my life. May I continue to grow in understanding of you, and may you continue to reveal yourself to me that I might worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen!