Scripture
Acts 14:9-“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”...“But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.’ The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’”
Observation
Of course, it would be the Pharisees and their followers that would apply everything to the letter of the law, custom, and tradition. Although circumcision in the Old Testament was an outward sign to be set apart to God and was founded in the covenant between Abraham and God; Peter reminded everyone that things had changed and that salvation through grace was the key to being saved. Thus, many of the mandates, laws, customs, and traditions were superseded by the new covenant in Christ. It is then, in Romans 20:29 where it says “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.”
Application
Redemption in the Old Testament was achieved by outward signs of sacrifice, rituals, and traditions. Yet, through Jesus dying on the cross once and for all, redemption became an inward and personal thing in claiming the blood of Jesus as the sacrifice. A priest does not have to intercede for us with sacrifices. However, it is the inward signs of action from and through the heart, guided by the Holy Spirit, that the heart is changed. When a heart is changed, one’s actions change. The law was the rule of the land in the Old Testament. Grace and mercy through Jesus Christ subsequently supersede the laws and is based on the heart. Why this resonates with me is that if I approach everything as a rule, a law, what I can’t do, and what I can do...I am basing my mind, my plans, and actions through mandates that become hard to keep since the battle is spiritual. It becomes a continuous battle that is hard to win consistently. However, it is my heart that when circumcised and changed by Christ’s love, has the power to overcome my flesh and mandates that are carnal. It is then that the Lord is able to circumcise and cut away my propensity to sin, through the grace and mercy of the heart of Christ. May I be a man after God’s own heart.
Prayer
Dear Lord, please guide me to be a man after your heart, that my heart would be circumcised to change, that I would be obedient, empowered by you, and not external rites.
