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Amen. This evening I want to preach on the subject of circumcision. Circumcision look at Galatians chapter number 5 and verse number 1 the Bible reads here stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage behold I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing. Now circumcision of course is the medical procedure where the foreskin of a man's privy part is basically removed. This is something that we see consistently throughout the Old Testament and spiritually being mentioned in the New Testament as well and circumcision as I mentioned is covered throughout the Old both Old and New Testament and there's enough in the Bible regarding circumcision that we can pretty much know pretty well what the purpose behind it was as well as well as the symbolic nature behind it and let me just start off by saying we're in Galatians chapter 5 that we don't need to be circumcised physically today that was something that was obviously mandated and it was commanded by God in the Old Testament we'll explain why in just a bit but today in the New Testament starting off with the New Covenant that is no longer a requirement for anyone especially believers okay now look at Galatians 5 again verse number 1 let's read a couple more verses here as we read in verse 2 it says behold I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing now this doesn't mean that if you have already been circumcised if you've already partaken if your parents made you get circumcised that Christ you just can't get saved or something Christ is not going to profit you at all if this is something you already partook of obviously what's done is done this is referring to a group of people who are depending on the physical act of circumcision as a means to obedience for salvation you understand because of the fact that in the New Testament you have Judaizers going into churches and specifically we see here the churches which are in Galatia teaching people that they had to come under the law of Moses in order to be saved we'll see that later in Acts chapter 15 where they literally say that if they're not circumcised after the circumcision of Moses ye cannot be saved that's what they're teaching and so they're going through all the churches Judaizing the believers they're trying to teach them to come under the law and specifically that they had to be physically circumcised in order to be saved now notice that in the book of Galatians this is not just one church it talks about the churches of Galatia so who knows how many members there were in this region but a lot of people apparently bit into this false doctrine and they were getting circumcised okay now that sucks let me just tell you that okay because if you're already saved and you get circumcised and you realize hey you didn't have to do that you know it's just like you know sorry if you did you know but to these people who potentially maybe were not saved okay because remember Paul the apostle earlier and earlier chapters specifically said this I am afraid of you right lest I have a sword upon you labor in vain he said that he stood in doubt of them he said basically he was doubting whether they were saved or not and if these individuals who partook of this physical circumcision were not saved I mean Christ did not profit them at all you understand because they're depending on some physical ritual that they did in the Old Testament in order to be saved okay he goes on to say in verse three for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to the whole law he goes why is Christ not profiting you well because of the fact that if you think that circumcision can save you and circumcision was that ordinance that was given under the Old Testament law that would mean that you have to adhere to every every single other aspect of the law as well right he's saying you're a debtor to the whole law it's not like oh check circumcision is there I got it I basically fulfill the whole law wrong if you are gonna live under the law for salvation you better keep it all and the Bible says whosoever keepeth the whole law yet offended one point he's guilty of all you understand so if you've been circumcised he's basically telling them but you're breaking all these other commandments then obviously it was in vain okay he says in verse four Christ has become of no effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the law ye are fallen from grace now this doesn't mean you lost your salvation you know as a lot of uh Repentecostals right like to say you know oh we've fallen from grace means you lost your salvation now fallen from grace is synonymous with 1st Corinthians chapter 15 where it says that they believed in vain you understand they basically have made the grace of God null and void why because the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 11 verse number 6 that uh because salvation is by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace you understand and so if you add works to salvation you can't be saved and he's saying here if you're adding circumcision to belief in Christ for salvation then you're not saved okay he's become of no effect unto you you're falling from grace verse 5 for we threw the spear away for the hope of righteousness by faith for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love so the the main point that he's trying to make here is that the physical circumcising doesn't mean anything okay because you have people who are circumcised who will go to hell and you have people who are uncircumcised who will go to hell they will both go to hell because salvation is not based upon what you physically do with the foreskin of your body that has nothing to do with it okay look at chapter 6 chapter 6 says for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision of circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature he's saying circumcision is not going to do anything for you uncircumcision is not going to do anything for you if you're in Christ you're a new creature you need to be a new creature in order to be saved and how are you a new creature well if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things have passed away behold all things have become new so by way of introduction just want to say that you know in the New Testament we don't have to partake in this at all you understand and I'll get more into that later on in the sermon go with me if you want to Hebrew chapter number 11 Hebrew chapter number 11 and then after that go to Genesis chapter 17 we're going to come back to Galatians in just a bit circumcision is the subject of the sermon tonight and the reason I want to preach on this is because it is a topic that is broadly covered in the Bible it's something that is important to talk about because both Old and New Testament hit on it and you know a lot of Baptists today for some reason think that it's still okay to physically circumcise your children whereas the Bible specifically says that this is associated with a form of the covenant that was that's already done away with you understand and of course they think it's for sanitation reasons and all these you know weird things or whatever and and obviously a lot of that is false okay and here's the thing when we look at things like that we need to make sure that we view it through the lens of Scripture you know if God says you know let not that person be circumcised according to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 we need to take into account and say well I guess God doesn't want us to do that with our children he doesn't want us to partake in that that's not what he wants okay now first and foremost let's look at where it first started off with well we obviously understand that circumcision the sign of circumcision was first given to Abraham okay and it was known as the sign of circumcision the covenant of circumcision let me read to you from Acts chapter 7 you're in Hebrew chapter 11 Acts chapter 7 verse number 6 says and God spake on this wise that a seed should sojourn in a strange land and that they should bring them into bondage and then treat them evil 400 years and the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge said God after that shall they come forth and serve me in this place and he gave him referring to Abraham the covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs so the first person that God really introduced this concept of circumcision physically circumcising was to Abraham now what did that represent to Abraham it represented obeying his commandments and if you look at Abraham's life his reputation in general was that he obeyed God okay look at look at Hebrew chapter 11 verse number 8 by faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with whom of the same promise for he looked for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God go to Genesis 17 if you would Genesis 17 so circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign of obeying God's commandments okay because he we're gonna see in Genesis 17 that he's telling them you shall keep this commandment and what characterizes Abraham throughout his ministry is obedience to God's commandment he said why would circumcision symbolize an obedience to God's commandments well think about this you know circumcision obviously is a painful procedure right I mean everyone alright out there it's a painful procedure right I mean I'm not saying you got to tell me by experience I'm just saying like just thinking about it it's a painful experience well you know what sometimes keeping God's commandments can be painful because it goes against the grain of who we are you understand the Bible says that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be you know it goes against our natural way right to obey God's commandments we have to be in the spirit in order to keep God's commandments and so you know circumcision can be likened unto keeping God's commandments because of the fact that it's difficult it's hard sometimes and it requires sacrifice on our part you understand it requires for us to give something up in order for us to keep his commandments you understand look at Genesis 17 verse 9 and God sent him to Abraham thou shall keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generations so notice what it says here he's telling Abraham you get circumcised but then I want everyone else in your sphere of influence to be circumcised as well what he's telling I want you to obey me but I want your children to obey me too this is why it's not just Abraham as being circumcised it's his children after him even those who are his servants in his household everyone who is in his sphere of influence is circumcised because God expects everyone in his sphere of influence of Abraham to obey his commandments okay look at verse 10 this is my covenant which he shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every man child among you shall be circumcised and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token a symbol a representation of the covenant between betwixt me and you and he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you every man child in your generations he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger which is not of thy seed he that is born in thy house and he that is bought with thy money must needs be circumcised and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant and the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised that soul shall be cut off from his people he have broken my covenant so he said again anybody in your household anybody in your sphere of influence needs to be circumcised because I expect obedience even from the people that you're around now how do we apply this as Christians okay well this is how we apply is because of the fact that you know God requires obedience from us and you know also he requires for us to be around people who are obedient to his commands as well you know God requires for us to obey his commands to keep his statutes to keep his testimonies but he also wants us to be around people who do the same you know the Bible requires for us not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers amen but even more so you know the Bible tells us not to keep company if a brother if any person who's called a brother be a fornicator the Bible says not to keep company with them not to even eat with them right why because it's someone who's not keeping God's commandments so what are we supposed to do with them you cut them off right you cut them off you sever that relationship you sever that friendship you sever that bff that that homegirl you got going on there you sever that individual who's not keeping God's commandments and you get away from them why because oh man that seems a little strict and I just don't know well it seems God was a little strict to Abraham he said everyone oh well you know I got this guy he's from Egypt we just hired him he's not very accustomed to circumcise him but he's not really accustomed if he's going to live in your house he's getting circumcised why because I expect him to keep my commandments now it's gracious of God to accept any nation right because any nation was able to be a part of Israel as long as they're circumcised as long as they're willing to obey his commandments you understand so yeah God's standard was strict as far as you know who's getting circumcised and you know the the man servants and all these people you know people who are just not accustomed to the the Israeli way of doing things here but the reality is this is that he expects the same from us as well he expects us to be surrounded by people who want to obey God's commandments you understand and and you know there's obviously a lot of applications to this you know this is why we should spiritually circumcise our children what does that mean we should make sure that they keep God's commandments as well that they obey them that they love his commandments we raise them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord and we expect them to obey his statutes and look folks hey young people you should have friends that obey God's commandments and in order to have friends who obey God's commandments that means you have to have Christian friends and more specifically probably should be Baptist friends who you know are on the same wavelength spiritual wavelength as you you understand but if you're hanging out with people who are involved in gross sin and they just want to you know commit all kinds of wickedness and they're trying to get you to do the same well at that point you're dealing with a spiritually uncircumcised individual so to speak okay so it represents the obeying of God's command go to Genesis chapter 18 just a couple chapters back was that like a bond or something what was that was that Adam in the pa booth who was that look at Genesis 18 and verse 17 now obviously Genesis 19 is a famous famous passage of scripture dealing with the sodomites right being destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed prior to that you know the Lord uh basically reveals himself to Abraham and discloses his plans against Sodom and Gomorrah okay look at verse 17 of Genesis 18 and the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him look what it says in verse 19 for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him God says I already know him because he's keeping that covenant his children are keeping that covenant the people in his household are keeping that covenant therefore we're going to disclose what we're going to do to Sodom and Gomorrah now let me just make something very clear is that Abraham's circumcision had nothing to do with his salvation right Abraham's circumcision had nothing to do with his salvation go to Romans chapter number four Romans chapter number four it represented his obedience to God's commands but had nothing to do with his circumcision how do we know that look at Romans 4 verse 9 it says here in verse 9 of Romans chapter number 4 cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham Abraham for righteousness how was it then reckoned when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision not in circumcision but in circumcision so excuse me but in uncircumcision so what do we see we see that salvation righteousness was imputed upon Abraham prior to God establishing that covenant with him prior to God establishing the covenant of circumcision the sign of circumcision with Abraham Abraham was already saved he believed God and was counted into him for righteousness was prior to that covenant being established which by the way that's the order of sequence right we get saved and then we need to start obeying God's commandments it's not like we got to obey God's commandments in order to be saved we don't have to keep God's commandments in order to have you know salvation to be justified wrong we have to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation after we're saved at that point let's start keeping God's commands because that's what God commands of us okay and he says there in verse number verse number 12 in the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only I'm sorry verse 11 and he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised that righteousness might be imputed unto them also and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had been yet uncircumcised so again we see here again that his salvation was not based upon that physical act you understand that physical carnal ordinance that was set forth for him to do his salvation was not based upon that and it's a blessing that basically God gave him that covenant after he got saved so any Jew who wants to say you got to get circumcised in order to be saved if they're really children of Abraham then point him to this verse point them to the actual order of sequence of when Abraham got saved and when the covenant of circumcision was given to him thereafter go to Joshua chapter number five Joshua chapter number five so circumcision represents the keeping of God's commandments okay and this is something that we could apply spiritually to ourselves that in order for us to keep God's commandments is gonna it's gonna take sacrifice on our part we have to spiritually circumcise those who are in our household those who are around us making sure that they are keeping God's commandments as well we want to be around people who love the Lord who have zeal for the Lord who are in the house of God amen but then we also see that circumcision also represents just being set apart because even prior obviously the first time circumcision is introduced is to Abraham but then thereafter we have the mosaic law being instituted and Moses of course is circumcising according to God's commands in order to establish a people of God you understand look at Joshua chapter five I'm rooting for a couple other verses here John 7 22 says Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision not because it is of Moses but of the fathers and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man Exodus 12 44 says but every man's servant that is bought for money one now has circumcised him then shall he eat thereof referring to the Passover verse 48 and when a stranger shall sojourn with thee and will keep the Passover to the Lord let all his males be circumcised and then let him come near and keep it and he shall be as one that is born in the land for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof look at Joshua chapter five and verse number one so the second reason why is because of the fact that circumcision representing being set apart being sanctified being holy being God's people okay look what it says in verse one and it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until we were passed over that their heart melted neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel at that time the Lord said unto Joshua make these sharp knives and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time and Joshua made him sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins and this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of Egypt that were males even all the men of war died in the wilderness by the way after they came out of Egypt so remember they're being circumcised even prior to that to separate them to basically establish them as God's people but this is a continual ritual that they're doing right as children grow as children are born they grow they're circumcised you know people are added to the nation of Israel they're circumcised why because God wants people to understand that there is a difference between his people and everyone else okay this is why you see this term circumcised and the uncircumcised think of David when he says talks about the uncircumcised Philistine he's talking about this unsafe person this person who does not know the Lord right now here's the interesting thing you know in the old testament when you hear the circumcision it was a good thing when you heard about the uncircumcision it's a bad thing you know you think of the circumcision oh that's God's people uncircumcision is like some heathen person some unsafe heathen person in the new testament it switches the connotation is just completely different now because now when you hear about the circumcision it's like oh it's these unsaved Jews the uncircumcision of course could just be anybody whether saved or unsaved gentiles but we know for a fact that the circumcision is referring to a negative base it's a negative representation of unsafe Jews you understand and sometimes it just doesn't call them Jews sometimes it literally just calls them the circumcision okay and you so we see how that switches there but in the old testament this was meant to separate the people of God now why is that well because when you're circumcised physically you're separating the skin you understand you're taking it away you're putting it away you're cutting it off okay go to colossians chapter number three colossians chapter number three so notice this there is a separation of what the flesh in order for us to be a separated people spiritually speaking in order for us to be a holy people what do we have to do we have to put off the works of the flesh look at colossians three verse five mortify what is it more what is mortify put the death mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience into which he also walked some time when you lived in them but now he also put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth so we see here that God says you need to put these things off you need to cut them off you need to mortify the members of your body and it's not talking about the physical members it's talking about the works of the flesh the things that the flesh does and of course it lists those things so when we think of circumcision from an old testament perspective and what it represents to us today it's representing the fact that we're just a separated people okay we're willing to cut off okay that foreskin that spiritual foreskin that represents the works of the flesh okay that represents the old man so to speak and this is important folks i mean the bible tells us that we need to put off the old man and put on the new man which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness a lot of problems sometimes that people face in the christian life a lot of struggles a lot of internal struggle stems from people just not putting off the flesh something that has to continuously happen okay and let me just say it's like you got to be circumcised every day right you got to cut off the flesh daily you got to die daily you got to put off the works of the flesh daily you need to put off the old man daily in order to succeed in the christian life okay now go to jeremiah chapter four if you would jeremiah chapter number four let me continue reading here from colossians 3 and verse number 10 it says in that and have put on the new man which in which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him where there is neither greek nor jew circumcision nor uncircumcision barbarian scithian bond nor free but christ is all and in all so we see that representation there not only represents the keeping of god's word but it also represents the separation of god's people okay be being willing to separate ourselves from the works of the flesh what else does it represent well it also represents just having a tender heart okay let me read to you from deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 16 it says circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff neck now look folks the heart the physical heart does not have foreskin okay who said true it's true amen what this is telling us here is that a person who spiritually has foreskin over its heart is hardened through you know from the hearing of god's work they're blocked from receiving the things of god you understand and you say well how do i know if i have a hard heart how do i know if i have a a gross heart as the bible puts in the book of psalms how do i know well how do you respond to preaching do you even listen to preaching or do you read the word of god are you delighting in the word of god if not you might have a hard heart you might have an an uncircumcised excuse me oh yeah an uncircumcised heart a heart that is not willing to listen to god's word it's stiff-necked okay you know obviously you know it's hard to receive certain things from god's word you know because we can't understand everything some things are hard to be understood they're deep things but there are certain things that are just practical commandments of god that sometimes people just don't want to receive you know they don't they don't like the teaching hey we talk about divorce and the wickedness of divorce and remarriage some people don't like to hear that and like well i don't agree with that you know why because they have an uncircumcised heart that's why they're not willing to listen to that okay they don't like to receive it you know you hear uh you know about fornication you hear about adultery you hear about drunkenness and you're like well i don't really agree with that okay that's because you have an uncircumcised heart then you're being stiff-necked okay you know ladies hear about submitting to their husbands you know not my husband though not the way he is not this and that well you just have an uncircumcised heart then because a heart that is circumcised is willing to adhere to god's commandments receive the teaching no matter how hard it is and say you know what amen to that i'm going to submit to my husband i'm going to submit to him and i'm going to obey him and i'm going to love it because that's what god told me to do but if some of you are listening you're just like excuse you then you just have an uncircumcised heart a heart that does not want to listen to god's word it does not want to listen to his commands okay and like man or even the man okay anytime you feel like your toes are being stepped on and you feel like well there he goes again i don't agree with that it just shows you have an uncircumcised heart okay and so you know we need to make sure that we have a tender heart and this is why he tells them circumcised therefore the foreskin of your heart he said how do i circumcise the foreskin of my heart well you use the sword of the lord you chop that thing off the word of god is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces even to the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit joints in the marrow and is a discernment of the thoughts of the intense of the heart so when he says circumcised the foreskin of your heart it's talking about what god's word and this is why i preach hard this is why i yell and scream and tell you what the uncomfortable truths because it's god's word that needs to pierce your heart and uncircumcised and circumcised that thing so you can receive god's word to be blessed because of it you know a lot of churches today are filled with just uncircumcised hearts liberal churches filled with uncircumcised hearts they just they don't want to hear anything radical they don't want to hear anything hard they don't want to hear any hard spiritual truths about their marriage heart spiritual truths about their kids heart spiritual truths about themselves they rather just not listen to it they want to be stiff necked okay wait who told me they're stiff neck today someone physically someone told me they're physically stiff neck who told me that oh hike that's right hi come here i'm gonna use you as an example i'm just kidding yep stiff neck man jeremiah chapter four and look at verse number four he's gonna be destroyed by the end of the night it says here in verse number four circumcise yourselves to the lord and take away the foreskin of your heart you men of judah and inhabitants of jerusalem lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings yeah so that's a good motivation to circumcise your heart and your ears why because if you don't god's judgment will come upon you so here's the thing you know when you're covering your ears and you're covering your heart and you're like i don't want to hear it you can't play ignorance when god's judgment comes god's judgment is going to come it's your responsibility to circumcise your heart so that you know that it's coming you get right with god you understand and so he says that there look at jeremiah chapter nine jeremiah chapter nine you know because people have this attitude that well you know the jews they're you know they should still keep that you know they're actually you know circumcised they should still keep that ordinance it was given to them and all these things you know today and so they still have that special covenant but look at verse 25 it says in verse 25 behold the days come saith the lord that i will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised so it doesn't look like god has any favor with these jews who are circumcised he's like let me just cover both bases i'm gonna destroy both of them he says egypt and judah edom and the children of ammon and moab and all that are in the uttermost corners that dwell in the wilderness for all these nations are uncircumcised and all the house of israel are uncircumcised in the heart so yeah you know you might have a bunch of jews who are physically circumcised or adhering to that old testament law but god sees the heart and he sees it as being uncircumcised showing you that he doesn't care what you physically have he cares really more so about the heart you understand go with me if you would to uh go to act chapter 15 i'm sorry go to roman chapter 2 roman chapter number 2 roman chapter number 2 if you would so circumcision represents the keeping of god's commands as it was given to abraham okay it represents obedience to god's command excuse me as we saw with abraham circumcision also represents um it represents having an uncircumcised a tender heart having an uncircumcised excuse me a circumcised ear to hear the word of god so that you're not resisting the holy ghost you're not resisting the truths that are coming from god's word it represents being separated right from the world unto the lord but it also represents salvation okay now how do we know it represents salvation well let me read to you from colossians chapter 3 and verse number 10 it says and ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of christ now why is it the circumcision will represent salvation well circumcision in the old testament was obviously an ordinance given along with many other ordinances right jesus christ fulfilled all those ordinances so through his circumcision we are circumcised spiritually speaking just as through god's key or jesus christ keeping or being righteous so are we made righteous that's why when we get saved righteousness is imputed upon us not because of anything that we've done we basically take on the perfect record of jesus christ so unlike manner we're circumcised with the circumcision made without hands and that circumcision is that of christ okay look at romans 2 verse 28 he says here in romans 2 28 for he is not a jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter no when it says letter it's referring to the law letter and law are used interchangeably synonymously so he's saying this circumcision of the heart is not necessarily that which is pertains to the law it's of the spirit whose praise is not of men but of god so what do we see here god views jews real jews according to the bible as those who are saved because he says the real jews are not these people who have done it outwardly who have been physically circumcised they're outward in the flesh things that are done with hands no that's not a real jew according to god he says the real jew is the person who has been circumcised in the heart and he's referring to that salvation by christ alone and then he says at the latter end of that verse whose praise is not of men but of god now why does he say that well because of the fact that the judaizers of that day wanted the churches to get circumcised because they wanted the glory in their flesh it's like oh you're one of us now you've been circumcised now like you're like a real jew well hold on a second the real jew is that which is not praised of men but the praise comes from god who's recognized of god as being a true spiritual israelite the israel of god a true jew according to the bible okay but think about this you know another reason why circumcision represents salvation is because once someone physically gets circumcised you can never like make them not circumcised wouldn't it be impossible to do that like once someone gets circumcised it's it's impossible to reverse that it's done right just like when someone gets saved you can't unsave them yeah you can't reverse that process because once you're saved you're always saved once the old man has been put to death so to speak has been crucified with christ once the new man has moved in at that point that process or that that uh that event is irreversible you understand now go back to galatians chapter five galatians chapter number five i preached for a very long time this morning a very long time so i'm not going to preach very long and i know i every time i say that i preach for like another 40 minutes i promise you this time i'm not going to do that okay all right i'll do it then all right sounds good i already got permission roman six six says this knowing this that our old man is crucified with them that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin galatians chapter five again says stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage behold i paul saying to you that if that if ye be circumcised christ shall profit you nothing for i testify again to every man that is circumcised he is the debtor to the whole law christ has become of no effect unto you whosoever are you are justified by the law ye are fallen from grace now this is important because of the fact that today you have a movement known as the hebrew roots movement and the hebrew roots movement is a modern day judaizing movement it's the same judaizing movement that we see here in the book of backs or excuse me in the book of galatians okay and even throughout the book of acts it's a movement that is seeking to bring people back under the law not just by keeping the sabbath but by circumcising you as well and isn't it funny how you know they tell you you know you got to keep the law but the first thing they bring up is keeping the sabbath yeah you know but once they hook line and sink you with that then they bring in the circumcision afterwards you know why because it's kind of hard to evangelize people when you bring up right off the bat to be circumcised right you know they don't want to they don't want you to know that right off the bat because of the fact that it right now according to the bible that's null and void you understand and you know people are not just going to be willing to like yeah i gotta get circumcised in order to be saved like what in the world is this crazy and even though you know it seems like a far-fetched idea which it is this is something that people were literally preaching in the book of acts chapter 15 okay where they were telling them if you're not circumcised you cannot be saved and what we see here look at verse five for we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith for in jesus christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love go to first corinthians seven first corinthians chapter number seven if you would first corinthians chapter seven and here's the thing is that most of these people who believe in this hebrew roots nonsense they don't even know what they're talking they don't even know all the commandments that they have to keep they just know like the major ones you know they know the ten commandments they know about the sabbath they know about circumcision but they don't promote that you know why because it's a cult and cults typically keep the information from you you understand you see one reason why we're not a cult amongst many reasons number one not number one not in this particular order but you know number one would be this you know we don't keep anything from anyone everything that we believe is out in the open right everything's online we make sure we we have it on youtube we make sure we put it on our website we make clips about it you know it's out in the open people make videos about it we're like cool that's great expose us for who we are put our preaching out there show how hateful we are show my doctrine show what i believe why because we're out in the open about these things whereas the hebrew roots movement you know you're not going to have him make a video and evangelize you saying hey uh you got to be circumcised you know and by the way i mean think about this these people were teaching this in the book of acts chapter 15 when they said unless you be circumcised after the man of moses you cannot be saved what about the women how do they get saved i guess all women go to hell according to these judaizers right i mean did anybody think to ask them that like what about my wife i was like oh sorry man i mean i mean what are you gonna say well that doesn't really you know account for her folks salvation is the same for everyone if that's what it is but it only pertained to males because those males were the only ones who got circumcised which shows you that has nothing to do with salvation so it's nonsensical to say well you have to get circumcised in order to be saved well you know you must hate women or whatever you know because they obviously can't be circumcised it's nonsensical now i don't believe you should get circumcised or i don't believe your children should be circumcised i don't circumcise my children okay and i believe it's for a biblical reason but regardless if you've already done it or you know you haven't it really doesn't matter because look at first corinthians 7 verse 18 says is any man called being circumcised let him not become uncircumcised now obviously he's just kind of like i don't know what he's i don't know i don't know how to do this because it's like i don't know if they had a procedure back then or something or what i think he's basically just saying like if you were already circumcised you know you shouldn't care uh you know because obviously he's speaking to people who are hearing about these Judaizers telling them right or they're now seeing that oh man i shouldn't have been circumcised okay and they're seeing the people coming like oh man i'm glad i didn't get circumcised you know paul said we don't even have to according to god's word we don't have to be circumcised but they had already done it or something he's just telling them well i guess it is what it is it doesn't really matter okay he's not saying let him not become uncircumcised like let's go do some other let's go do some stitching okay okay or something he's just saying like it's kind of too late just live as it is okay is any man called being circumcised let him not become uncircumcised is any called an uncircumcision let him not be circumcised now what does it mean by called he's referring to the fact that is anyway if any person gets saved whatever stage of life you're in when you when you first get saved however you are god says i'll take you as is it doesn't really matter because it doesn't really matter how your physical body is okay when you get saved he says let him not be circumcised verse 19 circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but look what it says but the keeping of the commandments of god it's basically the keeping of commandments of god is really what matters more than anything else not these meats drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances that were already fulfilled in christ okay let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called so what does he say in other words if you if you're born a mexican don't try to become something else don't try to bleach your skin if you if you're born in the south side mexico where's julius yeah if you're born in oaxaca you know don't try to change it that's who you are that's who you are if you if you're if you're born with a lot of white skin you know don't don't spend hours and hours in the tanning salon because you want to get a little darker yeah i gotta cancel your membership you know don't you know don't don't try to change who you are why because can the thing form say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus he's telling us abide in the same calling wherewith you are called because god does not care how you look you know he doesn't care if you're born with smaller ears bigger ears or small head big head small body little body it doesn't matter you are who you are god is not concerned with it who is he concerned with the inward man okay he doesn't care how tall you are how short you are how wide you are how thin you are these are not things that he cares for okay because to to him you're a vessel that he can use unto honor to be me for the master's use you know so don't put an emphasis on what you have to change outwardly for spiritual reasons you understand like well i gotta look a certain way in order to be spiritual or i need to make sure that you know i gotta like uh you know do something my face or i gotta grow a beard or something hey folks if you can't grow a beard you can't grow a beard you're not an ungodly person if you can't grow a beard okay and and you know the opposite was the problem back in the old ifb whereas like if you had if you could grow a beard you were like ungodly like if you're able if you're able to produce facial hair in large amounts you are just a godless person if you didn't shave it like every day or something they would get on you a lot for that and it's just like you know i remember like because i had to shave every day and then you know once i joined the new ifb i grabbed my razor and i just ate it no i'm just kidding i just i never touched it thereafter but i remember being in bible college and like you just have like a five o'clock shadow and you're like people would just freak out on you you know they're just like you can't have a beard you can't have a beard i remember this one missionary came and then you know i had a five o'clock shadow and you know i grow hair quite a bit in my face and so he came and he shook my hand he pulled me and he just looked at my face i'm like what the heck's wrong with this guy and he's basically trying to shame me for having facial hair you know and you know that was just the culture in the old ifb where it's just like if you have facial hair is a shame but folks you know it doesn't matter either or you know obviously it's stupid to say that you're godless or you're like you're you're you're not right with god or you're like a hippie if you have you know facial hair because jesus had a beard it's like you know they make such a huge deal about a beard on someone's face it's like your savior had a beard what i'm saying is this is it regardless i don't even know how i got off from that you know if you can't grow a beard don't try you know uh road gain on your face don't try like i gotta change something something's got something's gotta go i gotta eat more guacamole sometimes it's just genetics folks it's hard to break it to you you know it's heartbreaking for some people they're just like you know you can you can boost your testosterone you can deadlift as much as you want you can do everything imaginable but if it's not in your genetics it's just not gonna happen sometimes okay you understand and so you know it's not a bad thing just abide in the same calling where in you you're called just mark you're just a smooth man i'm just kidding i'm kidding what i'm just basically saying is be content with who you are don't try to mortify or modify your body because you know and say well that's what determines my godliness because that's what the jews did that's what the jews did circumcision phylacteries you know broadening the borders of their garments it was all these outward expressions to show how spiritual they were but in actuality they're they're unsaved okay and they're children of the devil and so you know here he's telling us it doesn't matter what race you are what shade you are what width or breadth or length you are it doesn't matter how much facial hair you have or don't have you know abide in the same calling wherein you're called and just recognize that the circumcision of the heart is really the most important thing amen that's right hasn't have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and lord help us to continue to be circumcised in heart as far as having a tender heart towards god's word and lord help us to adhere to the teachings of your word lord and when we feel like we're straying away in our in our acceptance of your teachings of your word may you use the word of god the sword to remove the foreskin of our heart so we can hear that which the spirit has for us and i pray god that you bless our evening in jesus name we pray amen