Romans 4:9-12

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. -Romans 4:9-12

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Who is Abraham?  Why is circumcision even talked argued about in Christianity?

Many consider Abraham to be the father of the Jewish people.  God told Abraham to leave his home country and basically start a new nation.  And Abraham obeyed.  God wanted this new nation to be distinct from all the nations in the world so he made the guys get circumcised.  So circumcision now has become the mark of whether or not you belonged to Abraham’s new nation.  The mark showed that you were part of God’s people.

Fast forward 1600 years.  Abraham’s new nation is no longer new.  They are called Israel and they continue to practice this circumcision tradition.  But now the tradition itself has become so important it’s replaced faith.  Israelites falsely believe that you’re God’s people if you are circumcised.  Faith is not even part of the equation!

Now before you hound on the Israelites, we Christians today do the exact same thing.  We think that going to church makes us a Christian.  We think having Christian parents make us a Christian.  We think standing up in an altar call during a praise night makes us Christian.  NONE of those things do.  In the end, it’s faith.

Before God told Abraham to perform the mark of circumcision, Abraham already was part of God’s family because Abraham had faith.  The Apostle Paul was trying to emphasize this using a history lesson about Abraham.  Abraham’s faith came BEFORE God gave the mark of circumcision.

Going to church, going to Harvesters or AYL, or even reading your Bible or praying doesn’t make you a Christian.  You need to have faith that comes BEFORE doing any of those things.  Faith is matters.  It’s how you connect to God’s Insta, or FB, or TikTok, or whatever.  It starts with faith.

Are you starting with faith or do you falsely believe that the things you do will save you?