Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Circumcision and Baptism—Different on the Outside, Same on the Inside

Whether or not you believe that baptism replaces circumcision, you must at least agree that they both symbolize the same thing—regeneration of the heart, cleansing from sin, and the work of the Holy Spirit.  Here's just some of the evidence:

Regeneration

Deut 10:16; 30:6--Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.; The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Jer. 4:4; 9:25--Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.; "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh.

John 3:5-- Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

Titus 3:5-6--He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Cleansing from Sin

Ezekiel 36:25-- I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

Acts 22:16--And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'

Col. 2:11-12--In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

I Peter 19-21--God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Ezekiel 36:26-27--And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 

Mark 1:8-- I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

John 3:5--Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

Acts 7:51--“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Romans 2:29-- Circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.

Philippians 3:3--For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

Titus 3:5-6--He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.

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