Heart Circumcision (Rewritten)

Abraham’s spiritual life unfolds through three major turning points — three decisive moments that mark his growth in faith and obedience.

The first came when he was called to leave his country and his relatives at God’s command. This moment mirrors the call of the Holy Spirit that eventually reaches every sinner: a call to turn away from known sin as preparation for saving faith in Christ.

Putting Off the Body of the Flesh

"...in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ..." (Colossians 2:11 ASV)

Col. 2:11 contains a notable instance of the apostle Paul strengthening his assertion of the completeness of the cleansing of the believer, by the invention of a noun found nowhere else in the whole range of Greek literature. The word is ἀπέκδυσις (apekdusis), "putting off the body of the flesh" (R.V.), not "of the sins" of the flesh, as in the K.J.V., which is a gloss teaching deliverance from sinning. The R.V. teaches the greater deliverance from the sin-principle or tendency called original sin. Let us scrutinize Paul's invented compound noun, made up of two prepositions, ἀπό (apo) and ἐκ (ek), and the verb δύο (duo), all signifying the putting off and laying aside, as a garment, an allusion to actual circumcision. Meyer's comment shows the strength of this word:

Whereas the spiritual circumcision divinely performed consisted in a complete parting and doing away with this body [of sin], in so far as God, by means of this ethical circumcision, has taken off and removed the sinful body from man [the two acts are expressed by the double compound], like a garment drawn off and laid aside.

The italics are Meyer's. If this does not mean the complete and eternal separation of depravity, like the perpetual effect of cutting off and casting away the foreskin then it is impossible to express the idea of entire cleansing in any human language. This radical change of nature from sinful to holy is effected "by or by means of, the circumcision of Christ," i.e., which is produced through Christ by the agency of the Holy Spirit, procured by him. We do not accept the suggestion of Meyer that this Christian transformation is represented in its ideal aspect. God does not tantalize his children with unattainable ideals. He does not command perfection where it cannot be realized through his grace. He is not a hard master, reaping perfection where he has sown only imperfection. "His commandments are not grievous."

— edited and adapted from Half-Hours With St. Paul, Chapter 16.

Transition Points in the Life of Abraham

There were three remarkable transition points in the religious development of Abraham.

The first was separation from his kindred and country at the Divine command. The call of Abraham is typical of that call of the Holy Spirit, which sooner or later comes to every sinner, to turn away from all known sin as a preparation for saving faith in Christ.

The second point of transition in Abraham's life was his justification by faith. He believed in Jehovah; and He counted it to him for righteousness. St. Paul cites this as a conspicuous instance of justification by faith under the old covenant. Abraham had exercised faith in obeying the call to separation; but it was what theologians style prevenient rather than saving faith.

Can Love Be Commanded?

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. vi. 4, 5).

We are here met by the question, "Can genuine love be evoked by command? Is it not the free, spontaneous outflow of the heart towards the object for which it has affinity? How then can a soul void of all affinity for God, love Him supremely?" This question is more important than the theological puzzle, the origin of sin in a holy universe, inasmuch as the cure of an evil is of far higher interest to the sufferer than its genesis. If we turn to Romans viii. 7, we shall be appalled at the vastness of the multitude to whom the great command of both the Law and the Gospel is an utter impossibility, "because the carnal mind is enmity against God." But before we rashly accuse God of injustice, in reaping obedience where He has not sown ability, let us further read our Bibles and get the whole of the Divine purpose in this case. It is possible that a scheme of wondrous mercy may be found instead of severity. It is remarkable that most of those who find fault with God, have the least knowledge of His revelation. Turn again to the Old Testament at Deut. xxx. 6, and the difficulty vanishes, and God's moral character is vindicated. He proposes, by a direct supernatural interposition of His almightiness, with man's free consent, to perform a piece of spiritual surgery, to cut away the carnality which prevents love and invites enmity, and to clear the way for the natural up-springing of love, filling to the brim every faculty of intelligence and sensibility. "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live," or have real and internal well-being. Carnality in the least degree is obstructive of love of the purest and most perfect kind.

— from Mile-Stone Papers Part 1, Chapter 5.

Spiritual Crucifixion

QUESTION: The Telescope, my religious weekly, in an article on "Spiritual Circumcision" has the following sentences which I wish you to discuss: (1) "Paul makes no distinction between believers, saying that they crucified, while others are not." (2) "That spiritual crucifixion is in the past tense and refers to justification." (3) "There is no text in proof that a second work is required that the believer may be spiritually crucified."

ANSWER: (1) This does not harmonize with 1 Cor. 3:1-3, where "brethren," "babes in Christ," are described as largely carnal and very much in need of such a change as Paul testifies to in Gal. 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer (American Revision) I that live, but Christ liveth in me." Again, in Phil. 2:19-21, Paul sorrowfully complains that even in his company of Christian ministers only Timothy was like himself wholly consecrated to Christ and dead to selfishness, and that "all" the rest of them "seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ." This very plainly teaches that there is a wide difference between Christians, some being dead to self, while others are in great need of self-crucifixion, having a selfish regard for themselves, obstructive of their highest usefulness in places where they may have abundant occasion for self-denial and self-sacrifice in promoting the glory of Christ and the well-being of his Body, the church. The Telescope has made the discovery that "crucifixion and death mean only separation." This is well said and it implies a separation from the bent to sinning sought and found by one who is already forgiven and inspired with spiritual life. (2) Justification or pardon is an instantaneous work done for us. It takes place in the mind of God while the new birth and spiritual crucifixion are definite and momentary works of the Holy Spirit wrought in us, the past tense (the Greek aorist) denoting that each of these works is an act and done once for all. (3) 1 Thess. 5:23 is a decisive proof-text which no opponent can explain away. The Greek word "wholly" is used in the New Testament only here. It signifies "perfect, complete in all respects." "Entire" is in the Greek used but twice in the New Testament, "denoting," says Thayer, "ethically, free from sin, faultless." The aorist tense of "sanctify" implies that the act of entire purification is instantaneous and decisive. A similar text is 2 Cor. 7:1, together with the four preceding verses. What sin can be left after cleansing all defilement of the flesh (sins through the body) and spirit (mental sins)? There can be no other kind of sins. Finally, all prayers for entire sanctification and all exhortations to seek it imply its absence in many believers and the possibility of its immediate obtainment, are such proof-texts.

— Steele's Answers pp. 61-63.