#19 HCBC 2-18-07 AM
“Salvation is not by Ritual”
Abraham was Not Justified by Circumcision
Romans 4:9-12
Reading from MacArthur:
One word that certainly goes along with religious thinking and activity is “ritual.”
What does ritual mean? Does it signify a good thing or is it a negative word?
Dictionary: the established form for a ceremony;
a system of rites;
a ceremonial act or action;
any formal or customarily repeated act or series of acts;
So, a ritual is a ceremony with some meaning attached to it.
That does not make it a bad thing. It could be a good thing.
For us, the word “ritual” seems to have a lot of baggage with it.
Ritual taken to extreme is called OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!
We are not big on rituals. It is sometimes unclear what the meaning is behind a ritual.
So, it may be easier not to participate in a ritual rather than be misunderstood.
The ritual that Paul discusses in today’s passage, Romans 4:9-12, is circumcision.
The term is used nine times in these four verses!
The last time were looked at Romans together, we saw that in the opening verses of chapter four, Paul uses Abraham
as an example of one who has been credited with righteousness.
By referring to Genesis 15:6, Paul makes it clear that Abraham did not have righteousness, but, because he believed
God, righteousness was given to him.
So, in those opening verses, Paul makes it clear that this righteousness was by faith and not by works.
Likewise, in verses 9-12, Paul now makes it clear that this righteousness was not by the ritual of circumcision!
He begins with a question: Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?
What blessedness? Verse 6-8!
This is not the blessings that the world offers.
The world offers blessings to hold its victims!
These could include material things.
But, it could also be things such as reputation, success, or happiness.
But, one could have all these kinds of blessings, and more, and still be miserable –
If the burden of your sin is not lifted!
David spoke of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works!
1. Those whose transgressions are forgiven!
The word for forgiven here means to be sent away, or to be separated from.
The blessed person is the one whose sins have been separated from him!
Heb 9:24-28a For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one;
he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to
offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…
1 Pet 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Boice:
One of the ways the ancients sometimes punished the crime of murder was to bind the victim’s
corpse to the murderer so he was forced to carry about the decaying body of his victim until he himself
was destroyed. It is a horrible picture, but a true portrait of what it means to bear the burden of one’s
sin and guilt. It was what Paul was perhaps thinking of when he cried out, later in Romans, ‘Who will
rescue me from this body of death?’ Who? Paul gave the answer in the very next verse: God alone
through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And what bliss to be delivered! If you can keep the image of
the decaying corpse in mind, you may begin to appreciate what it means to be separated from the
corrupting influence of the sin you have committed and know the joy of forgiveness.
Horatio Spafford knew that joy when he wrote:
My sin – O the bliss of this glorious thought! –
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Those whose transgressions are forgiven!
2. Those whose sins are covered!
Covered = epikalypto used only here in this verse in the New Testament
This is because it is taken from the Old Testament
In the O. T. sins were “covered” looking forward to the coming of Jesus Christ when these sins
were placed upon him.
One the Day of Atonement, the priest took the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkled it on the
Mercy Seat, the covering of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark contained the law of Moses, which everyone had broken.
When the broken law was covered by the blood of the sacrifice, God saw that an innocent
victim had died in place of those who were guilty, his judgment was turned aside,
and his love was released to save sinners.
David tried to cover up his sin!
When he confessed it before God, it was covered!
Those whose transgressions are forgiven!
Those whose sins are covered!
3. Those whose sin the Lord will never count against them!
This is what it means to be forgiven!
To not have our sins counted, credited or reckoned against us!
Count is a bookkeeping term which means that God will not list our sins against us!
Jer 31:34 “…"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Ps 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
This became a reality when Jesus died on the cross and took upon himself the punishment for sin!
Are you suffering from guilt from some past action?
Does your mind return again and again to the wrong you have done?
Is guilt an ever present companion?
You need to come to Jesus Christ to have that guilt removed!
Romans 4:9-12
Paul’s question is key to the point he is making about having righteousness credited to us.
Does the blessedness of having one’s sins forgiven depend upon being among the circumcised?
Or is this blessed condition available to those who are uncircumcised?
Who is this blessedness for? vs 9
Who is offered the forgiveness of sin?
Is it only for those who have participated in this ritual?
We have already seen that the blessed position of being forgiven is credited, or given to, Abraham because of
his faith!
To establish his point, Paul now brings up the question: “What about circumcision?”
This ritual was commanded to Abraham and all the males among God’s people!
Genesis 17
But Abraham was declared righteous some fourteen years earlier!
How is the blessedness obtained? vs 10
So, when Paul asks, in verse 10 of Romans 4, “Under what circumstances was it credited?”
He elaborates as he goes on: “Was it after he was circumcised or before?”
And Paul answers his own question: “It was not after, but before.”
Genesis 15:1-6
So, if a man receives righteousness by faith, what is the point of circumcision?
Most Jews in New Testament times were thoroughly convinced that circumcision was not only the unique
mark that set them apart from all other men as God’s chosen people but was also the means by which
they became acceptable to God.
Rabbis taught that Jews were “saved” by being circumcised!
Many people of Jewish background tried to carry this thinking over to Christianity!
Circumcision and following the law of Moses became such issues that a special council of the apostles
and elders was called in Jerusalem to settle the matter.
The unanimous decision, expressed in a letter sent to all the churches, was that obedience to ritual,
including circumcision, was not necessary for salvation.
A person who trusts in circumcision, or in any other ceremony, ritual, or work, nullifies the work of Christ on
his behalf.
Gal 5:2-6
So, if circumcision has no value in achieving a right relationship with God, what is its purpose!
In verse 11 of Romans 4, Paul explains:
And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
What is a sign? vs 11
Circumcision is a sign:
A physical mark of identity!
“Welcome to Hollis”
A Curt Shilling shirt
The sign is not the same as the thing that it signifies!
What is a seal? vs 11
Circumcision is a seal:
A seal is an authentication.
In the case of circumcision, God was placing His seal on His chosen people.
God was indicating that these were His chosen people.
When God makes a covenant, it is guaranteed to be fulfilled!
He puts a seal on it!
The seal is not what earns God’s guarantee, it indicates that God will keep His covenant!
Who is Abraham the father of? vs 11-12
So, when Abraham was credited with righteousness because he believed God,
Verse 11 says that he is the father of all who believe, but have not been circumcised,
so that righteousness might be credited to them.
Not only that, but verse 12 says that Abraham is the father of those people who are circumcised and
walk in the footsteps of the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised.
So, Abraham is considered the father of all who have faith, whether or not they are among the circumcised!
What Paul is saying here is that man cannot put himself right with God by rituals, rites, sacraments or ceremony!
Interestingly, some Jewish men who were followers of Jesus had this very problem that Paul is addressing.
John 8:31-56
Is Abraham your father?
Abraham can only be our father if we have come to salvation without ceremony!
What are you trusting in?
Have you been baptized? If not, why not?
If you have been baptized, what did it mean?
Why did you do it?
Did someone do it to you?
What was the meaning behind it?
Did it make you right with God?
Did it save you?
Was it a sign?
What about the Lord’s Table?
Do you share in the Lord’s Table on a regular basis? If not, why not?
If you do, what does it mean?
What is the meaning behind it?
Does it make you right with God?
The big issue here is: “Is anyone saved by ceremony?
Paul is saying that Abraham was not saved by circumcision.
Abraham was saved because, when he believed God, God credited righteousness to him.
Every person who ever came into a right relationship with God came the same way – by faith alone!
It is interesting that God has made it so simple, but mankind has complicated it so!
Man has devised so many religious systems whereby they must do something to gain God’s favor.
But the simpliest thing is the hardest thing, and that is to admit to God that He is right, we cannot do it,
and simply trust Him because He has done it!