Right! When they heard the gospel, they were ”cut to the heart.” This is why the gospel is the message of ”first importance” because it is the only message able to cut the heart and therefore change anyone from the inside out who hears its message. They first heard the message of the gospel (Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection) and we know they heard it and received it ”by faith,” because the message “cut their hearts.”
Now let’s notice how the New Testament epistles teach this “cutting”, this “circumcision” of the heart for all who believe:
Romans 2:28-29 ESV For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Colossians 2:11 ESV In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
Question 5: What role does circumcision have in “making disciples” in the church through preaching and teaching?
Friend, when we hear the message of the cross and believe it by faith our hearts are circumcised (cut) “without hands”; meaning this is a work done in the heart by the Spirit of God.
This “cutting” is evidence that you have believed the message of the cross, that “this Jesus” is the one who came to die for you. He bled for you and washed away all of your sin and shame. You were guilty before God due to sin, but He removed all of your guilt on the cross, as Jesus stood in your place. But actually, this Jesus didn’t stand in your place, He hung in your place as a criminal, giving up His life so you could have life. Then Jesus gave His spirit so you could receive the Holy Spirit, so you could escape the grip of death and the power of the enemy.
Peter’s preaching started with identifying which Jesus he was referring to, He said ”this Jesus,” the Jesus that was crucified. It was “this Jesus” who was buried but did not see decay. And it was this Jesus who has been raised from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God.
And in truly believing this message of the gospel, our hearts are cut, wounded and hurt, and are also healed and made whole, while at the same time we receive ”the promise of the Holy Spirit.”
Friend, did you notice the order? Peter preached a very powerful sermon filled with the Holy Spirit who gave a clear message of the gospel of Jesus Christ: His death, burial and resurrection. They heard and believed the message “from the heart”, and we know they believed from the heart because they were “cut to the heart.” This is how we make disciples of all Nations. This is our message we preach from the pulpit, share in Sunday schools and gather church leaders and elders around. The gospel is the only message that brings hope and has the power to raise up from being dead in sin to becoming alive with Christ. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
As we look at Scripture we see this message over and over and it overwhelms our hearts and fills us with new desires, sets us in a new direction and gives us a new identity in Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ is the anchor for our new life and identity, which is why we must never lose sight of the work Jesus did on the cross for us.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
In 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 we see that the cross of Christ is powerful in the hearts and lives of all who believe. It’s powerful because it is the message that cuts our hearts; that is, it wounds us as it cuts deeply, removing the sin that is bound up in our hearts since birth. This cutting off of our sin, the circumcision of our sin nature is what enables us to begin living for Him who died for us. It is the foundation for a new life lived in holiness and righteousness, the pathway to freedom from sin’s dominion.
Question 6: Why is it important that our hearts be cut through believing the message of the cross?
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Kelly writes, "Our hearts must be cut because it is how we know that we have genuinely believed it. This cutting is a divine work of the Holy Spirit as He takes the sword of the Cross and cuts our heart. If this cutting away does not happen, we will remain in our sins, our guilt, and unbelief.”
Miles writes, "If we do not allow it into our heart and remember it was our sin that crucified him the cross just becomes a nice religious story that has no power. When we focus and let it sink in that Jesus the son of God was tortured brutally and nailed to a cross for my sin and that God the father allowed it and watched his son be brutally tortured and die on a cross for me? Oh the cutting it does!! and gives the power to surrender our lives to him."
Question 7. You can see from Peter’s preaching why the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is of “first importance.” Why is it critical that the church only have this one message as their focus? Please share your thoughts.
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Kelly writes, “I am thankful for the Holy Spirit's work in my heart that has cut my heart with the Sword of the Cross. But it's not just a one-time thing for me. Each time I go to the Cross to feast my heart on Jesus' death and resurrection my heart is wounded and healed at the same time so that I can continually take hold of the righteousness that has taken hold of me.”