Let’s read Genesis 17:13 again. “Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.”
Now let’s read it the New Covenant way, “No matter who you are, if you are a believer Jesus was circumcised for you. Jesus’ body bears the marks of God’s everlasting covenant to save all who believe.”
But there is a warning here as well. We saw this when we read Genesis 17:14: “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
The warning was that not to be circumcised meant that the person themselves must be cut off from the nation of Israel and would not be part of God’s covenant family, nor would they be recipients of God’s covenant blessings to the nation of Israel.
Likewise, all who wish to enjoy blessings under the New Covenant must submit to the circumcision that happens at the cross. We must receive the gracious act of God circumcising our hearts, cutting off our sinful nature, cutting off our “body of flesh,” for if we don’t undergo this circumcision, we have no place in the body of Christ; we forfeit all new covenant blessings. We do not have forgiveness of sins, removal of guilt, the gift of eternal life, etc..
But if you are a believer in Jesus, your old self, your entire old nature that loved to sin, as well as all your shame and disgrace have been cut off and discarded, left behind at Golgotha (the place where Jesus was crucified).
As you think about that today, isn’t that the most wonderful news? Jesus was “cut off and discarded” for you. Your shame and disgrace, because of the sinning of your “old self,” was circumcised off of you and put on Jesus, and then He was cut off in your place. Believe this! Receive this! Rejoice in this! Let your heart be cut and healed at the cross!
Question 6. Think of all that it means that your old self was cut off at the cross. What implications does this have for our struggle with impurity?
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Anthony writes, "It means I am separated for the old man I was and the shame and embarrassment that comes with being that old man."
Friend, this is essential teaching, because it has to do with your identity as a believer. It means that your entire past life of sin has been circumcised from you, and therefore, you no longer have an identity as one who was in bondage. Your guilt has been cut off. Your past has been cut off. Your shame has been cut off. Your deceptive heart has been cut off. Your whole past life has been cut off!
We are going to talk more about this in tomorrow’s lesson. We will see an amazing illustration of this circumcision of our old self, of our past life, of our deceptive hearts.
Question 7. What did you learn in this lesson, or what truths do you want to keep in mind?
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Anthony writes, "I am not the old person so I do not have to act like or talk like or think like that old person."