“And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.” (Rom 4:11, NIV)
One thing that I missed about Australia while travelling was the incredibly unique road signs that we have here. They are so unique to this great south land of ours that as soon as you see one you know exactly where in the world you are. I’ll give you a clue as to what I am speaking about; our black and yellow animal road signs. Now if you have grown up here and you see one, usually you know exactly what to do. Basically BEWARE and drive carefully because that animal is in the area. Now it goes without saying, we all know that the animal printed on these signs is not the animal itself; these signs are not that unique. I mean you don’t drive down the road, see the yellow sign with a solid black kangaroo on it and slow down just in case that solid black kangaroo jumps out in front of you. No, that would be crazy and we don’t do that because we all know that the sign only points to a reality and that the sign is not the reality itself.
This is the sort of thing that Paul had in mind when writing to the Romans all those years ago. Okay maybe he wasn’t thinking about marsupials on road signs, but he certainly had the concept in mind, and that was that a sign (which was circumcision in this case) wasn’t the reality itself but symbolised something. Let me say that another way, the sign of circumcision on the body didn’t save anybody because circumcision wasn’t salvation, no it was only a sign that pointed to a reality beyond itself, which was salvation received by faith. That’s Paul’s argument in Romans 4:3, Abraham believed God and “it was credited to him as righteousness.” You can’t get much more clearer on the core message of salvation than that; believe God’s Word and salvation is credited to you.
Now the question might be asked? Why do we need a sign at all? Well for the Jews under the old testament circumcision reminded every male that they were in covenant with the God of their fathers (Gen 17:10-14, Lev 12:3) and it was ALWAYS given to men in the covenant community. But notice this, the sign was commanded to be given to their boys as well, meaning it was given when they were too young to understand who God is or what a covenant was (Gen 17:12, Lev 12:3 c.f. Acts 7:8). That’s right, the sign of salvation, the sign that pointed beyond itself was to be given to every little lad before he even knew he had a God who was out to love and save Him, before he could even believe God’s Word. So why give it to a baby at all? Well because as it’s been said, the sign points to a reality and reminds the recipient of that reality. So you might say that God wanted every Jewish boy growing up and being testified to, being reminded of what was his if he believed God’s Word. That’s why it is vital to understand that the sign is not the reality itself, no it only points to a reality that is received by faith and clearly that sign was to be given before that vital faith was present (Rom 4:16).
Today we live in the new testament, and the sign of circumcision has been replaced by baptism (Col 2:11-12) which isn’t just given to Jewish males, but to Jews and Gentiles alike, to both males and females because God’s new covenant in Christ is so much more encompassing. It’s as Peter preached all those years ago, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you (and notice the language here) and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39). We are so glad that you could join us today, when a little one among us is going to receive the sign by water that she has a God that is out to love and save her. Might we pray that she grows up to put her faith in the very real reality that this sign represents.