Spiritology 1 - God Has Circumcised You
Circumcision can also be used metaphorically to refer to the removal of sin, impurity, or uncleanness.
Circumcision in the NT is about inward transformation, not outward show. In the OT it was an outward sign that a man belonged to God’s covenant people.
Deuteronomy 10:16 (AMP)
So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer.
This verse is striking because God is speaking to Israel (already physically circumcised), yet He tells them: So circumcise your heart. Circumcision is therefore cutting away what is unclean, stubborn, or resistant to God.
The problem is external religion without internal change.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (AMP)
“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing].
Here there is a shift, first God says “circumcise your heart” and then later He says “I will circumcise your heart”. God moves from command to promise. The purpose of the law was to prove nobody can keep it.
There is no contradiction here. You deal with your willingness, and God will deal with your nature. God eventually fulfilled His promise to circumcise our hearts in the New Testament.
In the New Testament God reveals the Spirit’s work in circumcision-
Romans 2:28-29 (AMP)
For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and [true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by [the fulfillment of] the letter [of the Law]. His praise is not from men, but from God.
The Holy Spirit did the work of circumcision in our hearts at the new birth.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP)
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (AMP)
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.
If only people will believe the word of God regarding His work of circumcision in our spirit/heart. I have heard believers tell me that they have stubborn hearts, they cannot forgive or they cannot believe. They are talking against God’s workmanship.
Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
When you talk against yourself, you are talking against God’s workmanship. Too many are taking sides against the Word.
Sin, stubbornness, and resistance to God is no longer part of you, so stop making it part of you, lest you bring demonic influence to your soul and body.
Read the above verses and take note of the following phrases:
He will remove the desire to sin from your heart
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you,
[true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit,
[the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away.
created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works,
The trouble with us is that we do not let the inward man dominate us. That is true spirituality, living from your new nature. Yet we tried to live right by our own strength instead of letting the inward man dominate us. We are dominated by our thinking and bodies. We are more soul and body conscious instead of spirit conscious.
Let’s get more spiritual. How? Start by believing the scriptures. Amen.
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