REAL CIRCUMCISION Devotion 17 of 39 If we remove signs and seals, or outward evidences, as a basis for confidence, the sophist will object that this removes hope from all people. It is quite true that the world reasons, "Seeing is believing," "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and "I had rather see a sermon than to hear one." But the world is wrong. Seeing is NOT believing, but believing is seeing (Heb 11:27)! A bird in the hand is not worth two in the bush, for we are "saved by hope, and hope that is seen is not hope" (Rom 8:24-25). Seeing a sermon is not to be preferred over hearing one, for "faith comes by hearing," not seeing (Rom 10:l7). Outward evidences DO exist, and they are not to be despised. However, they are not a foundation for our faith. – Tomorrow:
"For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Rom 2:25-29, NKJV)
How can we account for the acceptance of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David? The Spirit shouts back to us that they were accepted because of their "FAITH." In fact, that is the point of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. The word "circumcision" is not mentioned a single time in that text, even though most of those cited were Jews, with the exception of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Rahab – out of sixteen individuals, and two groups (Israel and the Prophets). In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, none of the offspring of Abraham were commended because they were circumcised. None of them are said to have trusted in their circumcision. Through faith, all of them reached out to realities that extended beyond flesh and blood, while the sign of circumcision was confined to flesh and blood.
Apart from faith, all is hopeless. That is the point of our text, for faith alone can appropriate the righteousness of God. That is why Paul pressed toward the mark "to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is FROM GOD BY FAITH" (Phil 3:9).
Some object, saying "works" are part of salvation. But this is not so. The salvation of God is not a mixture of God's works and man's works, or grace and work. "Salvation is of the Lord" in its totality (Jonah 2:9). When at last the saved stand before the Lord, they will see all things plainly, and will know as they are known. When they speak of salvation, here is what they will say. "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb . . . Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God" (Rev 7:10; 19:1). With death swallowed up of life, no flesh will be there, and, consequently, none of the evidences in the flesh will be there either! None will hesitate for a moment to declare salvation is of the Lord.
Indeed, works do have a place among the saved, but it is not a foundational part, nor are those works an integral part of God's great salvation. They are not what supports the tree, nor are they the primary evidence of Divine grace. Works valid works – are the fruit, and not the root. They are what we are recreated for, not the cause of our recreation. As it is written, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10)! They are the evidence of righteousness, and not the cause of it. The one who "does righteousness" IS righteous (1 John 3:7). In the case of holy works, righteousness is the cause, not the effect. Furthermore, the means through which righteousness is conferred is faith. This sharply contrasts with the Law, which promised to confer righteousness upon the basis of doing, and doing alone. Apart from the Lord Jesus, there has never been a single person who was righteous because he fulfilled the law.
Armed with this understanding, hope begins to blossom. Faith tells hope "that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). When hope grow feeble, faith shouts the louder, "He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness" (Rom 9:28). When it seems as though we do not have sufficient to finish the race, or even to do what we know we should do, faith and hope sing a duet to our hearts. Verse one says, "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil" (2 Thess 3:3). Verse two affirms, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). And, verse three says, "God is able to make him stand" (Rom 14:4).
Now, which one of your works can gender such confidence and assurance? And which one of those marvelous promises are contingent upon some work or works you have done? Like all of God's exceeding great and precious promises, they are apprehended by faith (Heb 11:33). Believe God, reader! Believe God! Have faith in Him, and build yourself up in your most holy faith (Jude 1:20). That will make you a more ardent worker than you have ever been before, and yet you will not trust in a single work you do, but in the Christ who loved you and gave Himself for you.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for the sanctifying power of faith, and for the spiritual energy with which it charges both my emotion and will. In the name of Christ, help me to be strong in faith, doubting nothing.