[Pastor Ezekiel]

WITHOUT REPENTANCE, THERE IS NO SALVATION!!

Scripture clearly teaches that circumcision in the flesh was a type of repentance, a type of obedience, or a type of sanctification. In DEU 10:16 we read, "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked." Do you see that the removing of the foreskin of the heart, removing the filthiness of the flesh from the heart is removing rebellion?

The rebellion, which was born in paradise, must be removed. What is the result of removing that rebellion? We will walk in the service of God. That is the lesson God is teaching Abram with the covenant of circumcision. He walked thirteen years in rebellion, and that stiffnecked, rebellious spirit had to be removed; it had to be cut off and cast away. Abram would then come back into humble service of God.

The principle that salvation is contingent upon circumcision, i.e., upon repentance, also comes through in DEU 30:6, "And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul [This is the first table of the law of love, is it not?], that thou mayest live." Circumcision is the seal, or mark of genuineness. Do you see how important this is? Without repentance, there is no salvation. Eternal life depends upon it. The circumcision of the heart, which purges the old sin by the removal of the foreskin of the heart, is necessary for eternal life. It points to the change of heart, that mark in the flesh, which is a change in one's walk of life and attitudes.

This circumcision of the heart involves everything, which pertains to the individual person. It becomes not only the type or sign but also the seal of genuine salvation. There is no life without that mark in the flesh, "...my covenant shall be in your flesh," that is in your attitudes and actions, in your walk of life which is the seal or mark of genuineness.

In DEU 30:6 we read, "And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul that thou mayest live." There is no spiritual life without this putting off the filthiness of the flesh.

It is so clear that the apostle Paul was contending with the Jews over this same point in ROM 2:28-29. "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, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Circumcision teaches us the necessity of repentance and a perfect obedience to the whole law of God. " . . . the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect," GEN 17:1b.

We are not able to satisfy God with our perfection of legal obedience. Circumcision points to the blessed perfect obedience of Christ as the substitute for His church. It was in perfect obedience that our Saviour "humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," PHI 2:8. His pledge in circumcision to render perfect obedience in behalf of His bride was perfect. When that perfect obedience is imparted into a person's heart, Christ is formed in him; that is his seal of a circumcised heart.

Circumcision teaches that no person may come under the blood of Christ without repentance. No person may claim salvation without repentance. Why? EZE 44:6-7 says, "And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations [The Lord is reproving them of their rebellion.], In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it . . ." Their heart had not been renewed nor had their walk of life been altered. They were walking in rebellion, yet they were claiming to be in God's service without a heart of love for God.

Their abominations were that they attempted to bring those who were uncircumcised in heart into God's family relationship without repentance. They were walking in rebellion. Their walk of life was not a type or sign of having been regenerated; repentance had not been worked in their hearts. The circumcised heart has a whole heart of love for God, and that was missing.

Now go back and read those two verses again while considering the following questions: Does the covenant of circumcision bring the unrepentant into the blood of Christ? Does the circumcision covenant seal the cleansing blood of Christ unto an unregenerate person? These attitudes contradict EZE 44:6-7.

Scripture unquestionably teaches that circumcision was the hedge built around Christ's vineyard to keep out the unrepentant. They may not come into the sanctuary until there is repentance. They may not be proclaimed under the blood of Christ until they have repented. Until there is that change in their walk of life, until the new heart is implanted in their soul, until they have been circumcised in "heart" and "flesh," i.e., their walk of life, they were not allowed to come under the blood. Amen.