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Abraham received circumcision as "...a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised," ROM 4:11. The word "seal" comes from the Greek word "sphragis" which, means "the mark of genuineness." What is the "righteousness of the faith?" In short, the Lord Jesus said "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad," JOH 8:56.
Abraham saw his acquittal in the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith. By faith, Abraham saw that when Christ was circumcised, He became a debtor to do the whole law. His perfect obedience was imputed unto Abraham. ROM 4:11 speaks of "righteousness of faith." That word "righteousness" comes from the root word "dikaios" in the Greek, which means "equitable in character or act, innocent, acquitted, not guilty."
The Lord Jesus did not violate the law, and being acquitted of any wrong doing, He is found to be perfectly righteous. By faith, Abraham was able to lay hold of that imputed righteousness of Christ. He looked forward to Christ's perfect obedience, to Christ who became a debtor to do the whole law for His church when He was circumcised. "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law," GAL 5:3.
What does that mean to the spiritual seed of Abraham? It means that if you have received a circumcised heart, if you have had true repentance wrought in your soul, it is the "sign", i.e., the proof, evidence or indication [as it says in the Greek] that God has begun a good work in the soul. Each individual will have a different experience; some may not have the liberty to tell of any experience at all, but if you know what it is to fear God with a holy reverence for His will, you know that you have a circumcised heart. If the filthiness of the flesh, i.e., the foreskin of the heart, has been removed, then you will know what it is to crucify the old man of sin.
A circumcised heart is the most positive mark of the genuineness of our faith; it is the seal of the covenant given by Almighty God. DEU 30:6 says, "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." Mark that: "That thou mayest live." Eternal life was contingent upon the condition of perfect obedience in the covenant of obedience; for that, we must look to Christ. Salvation was contingent upon perfect obedience under the covenant of works.
We must not believe that God is as a man that is given to change. The covenant that God made with Adam before the fall must yet be fulfilled, or there will never be eternal life. That covenant was never altered. It was by Christ's perfect obedience that eternal life was purchased for His church. By the shedding of His blood as an act of obedience, Christ appeased the Father's wrath upon our sin and removed the penalty, so He could fulfill the first covenant with perfect obedience. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," PHI 2:8.
In that humble obedience to the whole law on behalf of His church (which The Lord Jesus Christ pledged when He was circumcised), the Father was so glorified that He reached His ultimate glory in rewarding His Son for such obedience. As our Lord Jesus approached His death, He said, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," JOH 12:27-28. How did He glorify it again? By the reward He gave His Son for such humble obedience! "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," PHI 2:8-11.
Christ loved us unto blood, unto His death, whereby He obtained the propitiation of our sins. The word "propitiation" means the appeasing of the Father’s wrath. "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him," ROM 5:9. Our eternal life was purchased with Christ's perfect obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.
MAL 3:6 says, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." The covenant God made with man from eternity must still be fulfilled without one jot or tittle being removed. We see this in Christ's perfect sacrifice. God's just demands for perfect obedience, as the only condition for eternal life, certainly has never changed because of the disobedience of Adam.Is it reasonable to believe that God could accept the blood of bulls and goats as the propitiation or appeasing of His wrath upon the sin of man, allowing man to live on in sin, and yet be saved? No. It was man who sinned; therefore, for Christ to become our Substitute, He took our human nature upon Himself, and lived His life without sin so He could become that Substitute. If He had sinned Himself, He would have had to die for His own sin. To purchase eternal life for man, God required that Christ, in our human nature, must first fulfill all that He required under the covenant of obedience with the first Adam, and then pay the penalty for every violation of the law by His church.
It is without doubt that the burnt offerings were God’s pledge to his church that Christ's payment of the penalty of the law would be imputed to his church. Even so, the covenant of circumcision was God's pledge that the perfect righteousness, or obedience of Christ, is our payment in full of the just demands under the covenant of obedience, or the covenant of works. We need the imputed righteousness, or obedience of Christ as well as His death and resurrection to stand just before God. Amen.
These on-lines sermons are a ministry of Gospel Chapel located in Conrad, Montana. We also have a book ministry and a daily devotion. See also our sermon notes. We pray this sermon has been a blessing to those who read it. If you share this sermon with a friend, please let us know. Thank you.