Outward circumcision and inward circumcision(Romans 2:25-29)

[瑤翰 김요한]

Jonah is good at thinking about the attributes of God, but he himself does not love Nineveh and would rather die than look forward to their salvation.

He said, that " Lord,  you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." (Jonah 4:2)

But the sight of Nineveh turning from evil and receiving their deliverance, greatly he disliked it, and became angry.(Jon 4:1)

Who is he like? Isn't christianity like that today? There are many Jonahs whom God is rich in love and slow to anger to themselves, but merciless to others.

It is because the idea of pluralism, which says that people will change if the Bible is taught as an educational method in the present world, has already entered the church.

However, the Bible says that the Word of God does not apply to humans born in Adam unless they kiss the crucified Christ and the resurrected Christ.

That is why there are Pastor Yonah, Elder Yonah, Elder Yonah, Deacon Yonah, and even missionaries Yonah all over the world. It is because the Korean church is a Jonah training center.

Q. Why is Jewish circumcision invalid?

“Circumcision has value If you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.” (Roman 2:25)

A. Paul said, 'You boast that you are circumcised according to the law; then isn't it true circumcision only when it has the effect of carrying out the law?' 

He is arguing, 'Is it circumcision to cut off only the flesh?'

In fact, 'for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availe any yhing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature' (Galatians 6:15).

True circumcision is to cut off the old self born of Adam in Christ and become a new creation by being born again in Christ.

With this in mind, Paul strongly insists that it is a circumcision made without hands, and that it is the circumcision of Christ who takes off the body of the flesh.

Therefore, the message of the cross that follows this must be proclaimed.

“Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?.” (Romans 2:26)

With this in mind, Paul is making Jewish circumcision into nothing.

Jesus also said, "It is the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing." (John 6:63)

Whether cutting off the body or attaching it, with that, the Word does not apply .

Human beings born in transgressions and sins in Adam are born again and become new creation and act in the spirit, so the Word is applied.

Again, the Lord said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if they dies, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?' (John 11:25)

Why is the Lord resurrection? Why life after the resurrection?

As people say, it is my life now and my resurrection later, isn't it?

The reason why the Lord must be the resurrection and the life is that all human beings died in sin and trespasses in Adam (Ephesians 2:1). Do you agree with this?

In order to save us from the dead, he must become my resurrection.

He must become life in order to continue to give us life.

Therefore, Christ is " the resurrection and life" present in existence.

Christ we receive is the resurrection and the life now.

Then, if Christ is in me, even if I die in Adam, it is resurrection.

Also, because He is life, He continues to supply life to those who live.

That's why Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life.

This word must be fulfilled for us right now.

'I was a resurrection. And I will be life'. This is not .

Neither the past nor the future.

'I am the resurrection and the life', so it is always present.

God is always real, always present.

He always speaks in the present about what will happen in the future.

Because He has decided and speaks of what will already be, He speaks of what has already become and speaks of what will become in the present.

That is the mystery of God's Word.

“In the beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1) He is always alive in the present tense.

It is said that It has already been done, and will be done. 

In John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

So don't look at eternal life only as a length of time. In eternal life are all the riches of salvation.

The fullness, conquest, and rule are contained in eternal life.

The tremendous spiritual blessing of God is given through the word eternal life.

Receiving the end of your faith, even  the salvation of your souls. (1 Pet 1:9)

People say that if we believe in Jesus, our souls will go to heaven at the very end.

According to the book of Hebrews we know, we entered the door by faith.

We entered the way to go to God by faith. 

We entered the truth by faith.

We got life by faith. 

With the life, we call, Abba, Father, and go forward.

How far do we go with our faith? We go to our father.

Have you seen heaven without Father?

Faith is to find the Father. Then, the end (theros) of faith is the Father.

So, Andrew Murray, introduced to us in the book of the New Covenant, said that all the blessings of God are given in eternal life.

And John Wesley asserted in his later years that the essence of christianity is life in Jesus Christ.

So please don't look at eternal life as just a length of time.

There is also the height of love that we can reach before our Father in eternal life.

There is also an infinitely wide spread. 

It is all in eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

Just as an apple tree exists within an apple seed, Jesus Christ is the seed of God who came into us with all the elements of eternal life.

So eternal life is the foundation and all of faith, the first and the last, the alpha and omega.

Therefore, believers must know how to give thanks with the basics.

The basics are incredibly growing.

The beginning (Arke) is the basic.

Together with all things, it is the mother of human beings.

The beginning is the womb of all things.

Because the Word in the beginning came into us and became eternal life for us, the end that we entered according to the Word is the basis.

That's why I'm saying that the basics are important in faith.

It is very sad to see people who weaken eternal life.

The wages of sin is death.

The church is a place that does the business of life, sharing eternal life by preaching the gospel, but it is doing the business of death by driving people into useless work.

The wages of sin is death, and it continues to produce death.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

This eternal life is not an ordinary blessing.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. (John 7:38)

He speaks in the present tense.

So do not weaken eternal life.

For the Jews, circumcision is a pride.

It's very important. It's Jewish pride. To convert to Judaism, you must be circumcised. But Paul makes circumcision seem like nothing.

At that time, Paul was a Jew, and to make circumcision a straw was to prepare for death.

For Jews, circumcision is the highest rite.

But Paul is now crushing the Jewish circumcision. That's it.

For us, Immersion Baptism and Sprinkling Baptism , all of this is a ridiculous story.

Baptism, in a nutshell, is baptism when he says, "I will die without hesitation" when he asks to die with him because his love is so great and he is so great.

'I believed in him and was baptized, and I was forgiven of sins' is not the whole meaning of baptism.

The Lord has come to call me and asks me to go with him. Then I will have to pass through the river of death. Where You die, I will die, and where You live, I will live with you. Your God will be my God, and I will not leave you except when I die. This kind of determination like Ruth is the attitude of those who are baptized.

So Peter tells them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Do you really have your own grave?

Do you have the faith to be buried with Jesus Christ?

After that grave, the complete forgiveness of sins comes and the Holy Spirit comes as a gift. (Acts 2:38)

This is the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15).

He went out with his portion, and after arguing with the pig over food, he completely gave up his portion and came back saying, “It’s okay even if it’s not your son, just feed me.”

So, the father said that this is my son who died and was brought back to life, and accepted him. (Luke 15:24)

However, the son inside the house is a son, but he can't eat a single goat.

Many christians today cannot make God's things their own.

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and by him we cry, "Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15-16)

Heavenly Father is my father.

He has the privilege of a son, so why can't he eat a single goat.

Because he's making himself a servant.

He is forgetting that he is a son.

Because the Jews are like that, the apostle Paul is making the circumcision of their flesh null.

Q. How did the uncircumcision fulfill the law and what was the result?

“The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law  will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.” (Romans 2:27)

A. When the Gentiles receive the new covenant, the law is fulfilled and the Jews are judged.

Originally, the word uncircumcised refers to the natural uncircumcised.

It's a Gentiles. Because the Gentiles believed in Christ and accepted Him in them, a new covenant was established in which they received the circumcision of their hearts.

Anyone who is circumcised in heart hears the word of God.

Because the new covenant becomes the law within us and our thoughts within us, we become sheep that obey Christ and follow the Lamb everywhere.

If you are not circumcised in your heart, your neck will be stiff, your ears will be dull, and your mouth will be mute.

It is like the reason that a deaf person becomes mute because he cannot hear.

No matter how beautiful a plastic rose is, it is not as good as a single chaesonghwa in a flower bed.

That's why Apostle Paul said, "You boast in circumcision of the flesh, but I will boast in circumcision of the heart," and he is attacking the Jews who regard circumcision as life.

So he said, “For he is not a Jews, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;  and circumcision is that of  the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;  whose praise is not from men, but of God” (Rom 2:28-29).

Speaking of christianity today, not everyone who has been baptized is a christian.

Because the Spirit of Christ dwells in them, they become christians. (Rom. 8:9)

In the end, it means that faith itself that does not lead to action is lifeless faith.

Because there is no internal work of Christ, it does not appear through outward actions.

The inward Jew is the inner man, the hidden man in the heart is the new man.

The Bible speaks of the outward man and the inward man.

That is why it says, our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.(2 Corinthians 4:16)

Whether it is the inward man and the outward man, it refers to the existence within us.

In the words of the world, it is not that the human spirit is good and the body is evil.

What the Bible says is flesh is not this body that is visible on the outside, but the old self, that is, the old self that received the fallen image of Adam.

The new self is one who has been born again and being a new creature by the Spirit of Christ.

Therefore, the genealogy recorded on paper is not the true genealogy of Abraham, but the genealogy engraved in the heart through Jesus Christ, who came from the tribe of Judah, is the true genealogy.

That name is written in the book of life.

It is written our names on a white stone. 

The white stone, the shining stone, that is Jesus Christ.

Because of that, it means that the Lord's recognition and praise are to God.

Therefore, we must clearly understand the New Covenant in Hebrews 8, Hebrews 10, and Jeremiah 31, and realize that the Lord Jesus Christ circumcised our hearts so that we do not save ourselves, but we must realize the way of salvation accomplished by the Lord who is within us.

And now, not as a ministration of letters, but as a ministration of the Spirit, we are able to fulfill the law, and we should always give thanks and praise to God who has blessed us with the ability to reach a higher level of righteousness that we can surpass, whoever we call Pharisees and scribes.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION