I've been reading a lot from the prophets in our series on Colossians, because I am convinced that Paul was keenly aware of the prophetic critique of Israel!
We'll be talking about the circumcision of Christ. So it would have been easy to read Genesis 17 – and talk about what circumcision was supposed to be!
But when Paul is writing to the Colossians, everyone knows that things are not as they should be!
Circumcision has failed. It was supposed to distinguish Israel from the nations. The seed of Abraham was to be separate – holy – set apart. "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless" – that's how Genesis 17 starts!
Paul says in Romans 4:11 that Abraham "received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was uncircumcised."
A sign points to something else. The sign of circumcision pointed to the righteousness that Abraham had by faith.
A seal confirms the authenticity of something. Circumcision functioned as a seal – depicting and confirming the righteousness that Abraham had by faith.
And so Abraham's descendants were also marked with that same sign and seal. But Jeremiah says that he can't tell the difference between an Egyptian and an Israelite. Because circumcision by itself doesn't change the heart: "all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." (v26)
If all you do is draw a straight line from circumcision to baptism, it may sort of make sense: they were outwardly circumcised, but what really matters is inward! But that is not Paul's point.
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