The Circumcision Of The Flesh

CIRCUMCISION OF THE FLESH

Listen carefully saints. The soul was condemned to perish by the law of God. The sins of the soul were committed or manifested in the flesh. If the soul is to be saved it must be separated from the flesh. This is the circumcision.

Colossians 2:10-11

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

There was a putting off of the body. Just as Abraham was instructed to cut away the foreskin, so God also cut away the flesh that covered us. The soul is no longer clothed in the flesh; it lives in the Spirit. If the soul is taken out of the flesh, then the body is dead. The soul gave up the life it had in the flesh and accepted a new life in the Spirit. The old man is dead. He is crucified with Christ. This is the thing that God did.

Galatians 2:19-20

19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Through faith my body is dead to me. I am instructed to reckon it as dead. This means that I am forbidden to use it to fulfill worldly pleasures. But the point that I want to carefully make here is that the body was crucified with Christ by the operation of God; and then resurrected again for His own purpose.

Romans 6:4-5

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

The mystery continues to unfold. Christ died, but He rose again. The Holy Ghost brought Him back to life.

Romans 8:11

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Now Christ is our example in all things. The same Spirit that raised Him from the dead has now raised our body from the dead. Again, for us it is dead regarding sin, but it is alive unto God and righteousness. Why did the Father bring the body back alive at salvation? Well, I can think of two very good reasons.

1 Corinthians 15:35-38

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

Christ, the Word of God, is the seed that has been planted in our resurrected bodies. He is here to continue the ministry of reconciliation. But He is not alone. We are in Him. Yes, we are in Him and He is in the body.

2 Corinthians 6:1

1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

The body belongs to God. It is the body of Christ. But He has made us stewards of His body. We are instructed not to defile it.

1 Corinthians 3:17

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

God can demand that we keep His temple holy because He has sanctified it through circumcision by the Spirit. Crucified are all of its affections and lusts. There are no motions of sin working in its members. It is circumcised by the removal of the spirit of iniquity that was able to work in the children of disobedience. And the law of the Spirit of Life has made it free from the law of sin and death.

1 John 3:8-9

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

There was a time when the devil could create lust in the flesh. This was easy for him because his spirit lived in us. Therefore, when we would have done good evil was present with us. Notice the 8th verse declares that Jesus was manifest in the flesh, our flesh, to destroy the works of the devil. Therefore, the body can no longer fall prey to evil concupiscence, that craving for sin. The seed of God remains in the flesh, and it can no longer crave sin on its own. If any of us experience lust after the new birth it is because we create it. James said we are drawn away by our own lust (James 1:14).

This is not the work of the devil. Jesus dealt with that by sanctifying the flesh. Now if we walk in obedience, it can be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord.