Theological term
Circumcision of the Heart
8 sermons · All terms
Ask FGBC #21: Is baptism in the new covenant the new circumcision?
Is baptism the new covenant counterpart to circumcision? This episode argues the answer is no: the type-antitype relationship runs from circumcision to the circumcision of the heart, not to water baptism. Colossians 2:11-12 is examined closely to show that baptism in that passage is connected to the circumcision made without hands — an inward, heavenly work — rather than to physical circumcision. The Old Testament ritual washings and purity system are identified as the proper typological background for baptism, and Acts 22:16 is discussed as evidence that baptism signifies the washing away of sins as an outward sign of inward cleansing.
Live Stream - January 08, 2023
Colossians 2:11–15 teaches that believers are spiritually circumcised and made alive in Christ, finding their complete identity in union with him rather than in law-keeping, philosophy, or any other system. The circumcision made without hands — a heart-circumcision accomplished by Christ's death and resurrection — strips away the old man and brings the new man to life through faith in God who raised Christ from the dead. Christ's cross work simultaneously cancels the record of debt owed to God, removes the dominion of sin, and publicly triumphs over principalities and powers. Because the already-not-yet tension of inaugurated eschatology means remaining sin persists, believers are called to live as those who have died, been buried, and been raised with Christ — clinging to their identity in him rather than despairing under the weight of ongoing struggle.
All Of Christ For Justification
Philippians 3:1–9 presents the apostle Paul's radical revaluation of every religious credential he possessed, moving them all from the gain column to the loss column so that Christ alone might occupy the place of righteousness before God. This sermon expounds what it means to have no confidence in the flesh: that justification rests on Christ's perfect active obedience imputed to the believer, not on any combination of works, faith, and sincere effort. The loss column of sin is dealt with equally fully — Christ bearing the certificate of debt and nailing it to the cross, cancelling the debt in its entirety. Hearers are called to count all self-generated merit as rubbish and to rest, passively and completely, in Christ's righteousness received through faith alone.
Free Grace Baptist Church - April 10, 2019 Bible Study
Genesis 17:15–27 is examined within the framework of the Abrahamic covenant, with particular attention to the declaration concerning Isaac, the obedience of Abraham, and the theological relationship between circumcision and baptism. The study draws a careful distinction between the covenant of circumcision — which governed membership in Old Covenant Israel by a works principle (Genesis 17:14) — and the covenant of grace, arguing with Nehemiah Coxe that the two must not be conflated. Colossians 2:11–12 is then opened to demonstrate that spiritual circumcision (regeneration) is the antitype of physical circumcision, and that baptism is the retrospective outward sign of that inward grace already received through faith — a sign that presupposes faith and therefore cannot legitimately be administered to infants.
The Parable of the Vineyard, Part 2
Matthew 21:40–46 brings the Parable of the Vineyard to its sobering conclusion: Jesus draws three implications from the parable — the witness of the Old Testament (Psalm 118), the transfer of the kingdom from ethnic Israel to the church composed of Jew and Gentile, and the promise of crushing judgment on all who reject the Messiah. The sermon argues that this transfer of the kingdom is not replacement theology but fulfillment in Christ, the true Israel, in whom all the promises of God find their terminus. The patience of God that runs through the parable is not inexhaustible, and the only refuge from the coming judgment is faith in the Christ who was rejected, crucified, and vindicated as the chief cornerstone.
Deuteronomy 30
Deuteronomy 30 is not merely a conditional exhortation at the edge of Canaan but a programmatic prophecy of what God would accomplish through exile, return, and ultimately the new covenant in Christ. The chapter's pivotal verse — the circumcision of the heart in verse 6 — is shown to be the fountainhead of the same promise later amplified by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and fulfilled in the regenerating work of the Spirit. The sermon traces five realities embedded in the future blessing (verses 1–14): the certainty of exile, the return to Yahweh, the divine initiative in restoration, the obedient response of the renewed heart, and the empowerment that Paul draws on in Romans 10 to describe the righteousness of faith. The practical summons in verses 15–20 — "choose life" — is then heard not as bare moralism but as a call to embrace the God who is himself the life and length of days of his covenant people.
Peace Upon the Israel of God
Galatians 6:16–18 closes Paul's polemical epistle with a benediction of peace and mercy upon 'the Israel of God,' a phrase that has generated significant debate between covenant and dispensational readings of Scripture. This exposition argues that Paul is not reintroducing an ethnic distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers but is rather identifying the entire church — Jew and Gentile united in Christ — as the one Israel of God, in fulfillment of the prophetic promises of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets. The marks Paul bears in his body (v. 17) are not a lamentation but an apostolic badge of identification with the crucified and risen Lord who has inaugurated the new creation. The sermon closes by drawing together the epistle's central burden: justification is by faith alone in Christ alone, and the Christian's only boast is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoice in Christ! A Gracious Command
Philippians 3:1–3 opens with what Paul calls a gracious command — 'rejoice in the Lord' — issued to a congregation facing false teachers who demanded physical circumcision as a condition of acceptance before God. The sermon works through three movements: the command to rejoice (v. 1), the apostolic warning against the Judaizers (v. 2), and the defining contrast between the false circumcision and the true (v. 3). The true circumcision is identified not by ethnic descent or ritual observance but by three marks: worshipping God in the Spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and placing no confidence in the flesh — a threefold description that locates salvation solely in the sovereign, gracious work of the triune God from first to last.