Bible Studies

The Circumcision of the Heart

by Terry Barlow
03/15/14
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The essential identifying mark of the ancient Jewish male was circumcision scholars tell us.  It was accompanied by the naming of the child as well.   Launching from there it would seem to follow that the essential identifying mark of a child of God in New Testament times also involves circumcision, only circumcision of the heart this time.  It has everything to do with us receiving our true identity (being named) as Christians.  The epistle to the Romans chapter 2 verse 29 tells us, "But he is a Jew who is inwardly and circumcision is of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise not from men but from God." How is this inward circumcision accomplished, it is done over time by the razor sharp edge of the word of God. When Stephen was preaching in Acts 7 the scalpel blade of the word was being applied to the hearts of the listeners, but they refused it: " when they heard these things (about their fathers who had killed the prophets) they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with teeth. Stephen had just addressed them in this way: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers, so you." From this we are already seeing that one of the traits of a circumcised heart is submission to the Spirit of God. Deuteuronomy 10 v. 16 shows us also that the uncircumcised of heart are rebellious, and rebellion we are told elsewhere is "as the sin of witchcraft." (and stubbornness as idolatry) Circumcision cuts away our need to be in control so that we can trust the Lord instead. The very act of cutting away the foreskin in the Old covenant signified a people being cut out from the surrounding world culture, a people being cut off from the idolatry of that culture in the sense of being dead to it, and alive unto God in a new relationship. As we are circumcised inwardly we become more and more sensitized to the voice of God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are also more sensitive to the spiritual pleasures in his presence and at His right hand. Along with this we are much less vulnerable to the infectious inflammations of our lying spiritual adversary, the devil. As that surgical inward circumcision progresses we are much less easily offended or deceived, not nearly so gullible to his subtle lies and insinuations. Apart from this inner circumcision we are all so susceptible, like walking disasters primed, ready and waiting to happen! The circumcision of the heart also cuts away the callousness and hardness of our hearts rendering us more receptive to feeling our Lord's compassion for the suffering souls around us. The Deuteronomy 10 passage indicates that circumcision carries among its immediate effects a greater care and regard toward the widow, and the orphan and the stranger. The physical circumcision of ancient Jews was limited to the male gender.  It took place on the 8th day after birth,( the day medical science has since found is the day the blood first begins to coagulate.) But we know now in New Testament times that there is "no male or female in Christ" in the sense that girls and women are just as eligible for this sacred inner work of God as are boys and men, and just as likely to know God and be used of God. Praise the Lord! And just as Abraham was credited with righteousness BEFORE he was ever circumcised, so in the New Covenant we today experience regeneration and are then justified before the Holy Spirit ever applies the sanctifying scalpel to our hearts, in that sacred inner surgery of the circumcision of the heart!