TEXT: Galatians 5:11

SUBJECT: Passion of Jesus Christ #14: To Abolish Circumcision

Tonight, with God’s blessing, we’ll move in our study of John Piper’s little book, The Passion of Jesus Christ. The book was published several months ago to help us understand why the Father sent His Son to the cross.

The short answer is—to save us. But what does it mean, ‘to save us’? Does it mean ‘keep us out of hell’? It does indeed, but it means a great deal more than that. Piper names fifty things included in the little word, ‘save’. Some of them we know very well. Last week, for example, we read, Jesus Christ suffered and died to take away our condemnation. Two or three weeks before that, we found, He suffered and died for the forgiveness of our sins. The first chapter is To absorb the wrath of God; later it is To show His own love for us. These are facets of salvation we’ve often heard of and thought about.

But tonight’s topic is not nearly as well known. If I had written the book, I would have left it out, but Piper didn’t—and after thinking about it for a while, I’m glad he didn’t.

So, why did Jesus Christ suffer and die? Chapter 13 says,

The title is very strange, at the least, and may be misleading. Let’s break it down.

By the basis of salvation, Piper does not mean that anyone was ever converted by being circumcised or observing an Old Testament ritual, such as keeping the Sabbath, not eating pork, fasting on the Day of Atonement, or going to Jerusalem for Passover. These things, though commanded by God, do not impart spiritual life—and never did!

Here, the word, salvation, is used more generally; it means holiness or pleasing God. Under the Old Covenant, a devout Jew became a better man by keeping the Law and he pleased the Lord when he did it from the heart.

As for circumcision, Piper does not mean the act itself, but the act within the framework of the Old Covenant. Today, parents circumcise their sons—or don’t--for many reasons. For the Jews, however, it was not an option. Circumcision brought one into the Covenant and made him a member of the Chosen Race. The parents who did not circumcise their sons would exclude them from the Covenant and all the promises that went with it.

Piper, therefore, is not saying circumcision ever saved anyone. But, under the Old Covenant, it pleased the Lord and made one a member of God’s People.

From the time of Abraham until well after Pentecost, ‘circumcision’ was not an issue. Although not every circumcised man was a believer, every believer was circumcised. Why? Because every believer was also a Jew (with an exception here and there).

But a few years after Pentecost, this started to change. First, there was a stray Ethiopian, who was converted in Acts, Chapter 8. This presented no problem because he went back to Ethiopia. Two chapters later, Cornelius, an Italian soldier and his family were brought to Christ. We don’t know if this caused trouble or not. They may have worshiped together and become the first Gentile Church. But in Acts 11, something big happens: the Gospel is preached in Antioch—to both Jews and Gentiles, both believe, and start worshipping the Lord together.

For the first time—ever—the circumcised and the uncircumcised have fellowship with God and each other!

We shrug off the difference, but they didn’t. People on both sides saw it as extremely important. Piper says,

The question was not: Did God command circumcision? He did, starting in Genesis 17, and then over and over again in the Old Testament. The question was not: Did circumcision save sinners? It did not; the prophets said so, and the Apostles preached salvation in Christ alone!

The question was: Is Christ enough? Or, must you both believe in Christ and submit to the Mosaic Law? In other words, can you be a Christian only, or must you become both a Christian and, in effect, a Jew?

That was the most heated doctrinal controversy in the First Century, and also the most significant. Some issues can be ‘papered over’—but not this one. Choosing wrongly here would, in time, overthrow the Gospel.

In Acts 15, a Council met in Jerusalem to discuss the matter. We don’t know who belonged to the ‘Circumcision Party’. But they were very clear in their position, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

Were they denying Christ? Directly, they were not. Had you asked them if they were, they would have shouted, Of course not! But, indirectly, they were doing just that. I don’t believe they meant to, but ‘meant to’ or not, that’s what they were doing. Without using the words, their teaching (and practice) implied, Christ is not enough!

Thankfully, the other side won the debate. They sent out a letter to the churches in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, saying,

The Apostles were behind that letter, and this means what it said is true. Though no one is forbidden to circumcise his son or to keep other parts of the Mosaic Law, these things do not make you a holier person or more acceptable to God. Only one thing does that: faith alone in Christ alone.

Piper says,

On a superficial level, tonight’s chapter is a non-issue. No Christian (that I know of) now teaches the need for circumcision (though I think Bill Gothard says we ought to practice it, but not for salvation).

But, if you look an inch or two deeper, you find the issue is as alive now as it ever was, and every bit as dangerous.

We all have our preferences. Some Christians have a long list of do’s: To be a good Christian, you must keep the Sabbath or home school your kids, or conduct family worship, or believe the Five Points of Calvinism.

Others have a catalogue of don’ts: Good Christians don’t drink beer, they don’t watch TV, they don’t practice birth control, and they don’t vote for Democrats!

Some of these are my own preferences. But I have to face the fact that that’s all they are—preferences. The New Testament does not define a Christian as one who maintains family worship or believes in Calvinism or belongs to the Republican Party!

When I make these things into marks of holiness or tests of fellowship, I deny Christ. I don’t mean to, but I do it none the less.

The New Testament defines the People of God as those who believe in Christ, and show their faith by the lives they live. No one disagrees with this. But what life do they live? What does faith in Christ look like? Galatians 5:22-23 tells us:

Who’s the disciple of Christ? The kind Democrat or the unkind Republican? The joyful parents who send their son to school or the bitter parents who teach him at home? The longsuffering man who drinks a glass of wine at dinner or the impatient teetotaler? The loving Arminian or the hateful Calvinist?

This means: We ought to remember what matters most and what doesn’t. What matters most is Christ. Everything else is secondary--everything, including our very favorite preference!

If Christ matters more and other things less, we ought to love other Christians who differ with us in doctrine, practice, culture, politics, and so on.

By His death, Jesus Christ knocked down the middle wall of partition (Ephesians 2:14). Many think this ‘wall’ is between God and sinners; it isn’t. Paul means the ‘wall’ between Jew and Gentile—our Lord broke that one down! And, if Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ are One People, so are Republicans and Democrats, homeschoolers and public schoolers, birth controlers and rabbits!

If circumcision and other God-given rituals no longer divide the people of God, then man-made preferences don’t either!