Circumcision of The Heart

So circumcise the foreskin of your [minds and] hearts;

Be no long stubborn and hardened Deuteronomy 10.16

 

               This little article isn’t about salvation. It’s for those who are saved by God’s Grace through the Cross of Jesus Christ. And, it is not about mutilating [disfiguring, marring, defacing, damaging, maiming Leviticus 19.28; 21.5]the flesh [Ephesians 2:11 with Philippians 3.2].This is about the process of being saved…  

…but to us who are being saved it is the very power [manifestation]of God 1 Corinthians 1.18 [Amp]

      Note:  we can spend a lifetime accumulating human wisdom, even Scriptural wisdom, and yet not have an intimate soul-heart relationship with Elohim [Father, Son, Holy Spirit]  Isaiah 29.4; Colossians 2.8

the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes… Romans 1.16 [NLT]

 Note: this power is God’s eternal dynamite which can shatter the barriers of resistance to a stony, hardened heart Hebrews 3.7-8

 

This little article is about our heart, the core of our eternal soul’s identity.

 …nor is true circumcision something external and physical Romans 2.28 [RSV]

 

The Uncircumcised

          Sin in the life of a believer makes their outer works, that which proves us genuine [Ephesians 2.10; James 2.14-26], meaningless to God. An uncircumcised heart cannot sustain one’s submission and obedience to God’s Words. An uncircumcised heart’s works are intellectual, mental decisions based on physical strivings. Even then one cannot carry out what they intended [Romans 7.15-24].In recovery terms we call this ‘white knuckling’ it.

          White knuckling attempts in thought and action interfere with God’s Covenant relationship [Ezekiel 44.7,9] . An uncircumcised heart produces:

uncircumcised fruit - Leviticus 19.23-24

          When fruit trees [we are often compared to trees in Scripture] bear fruit in their early years they do not thrive. If the first blossoms are plucked by hand, in-other-words the new believer is not elevated to a leader position [1 Timothy 3.6; Isaiah 14.12-14], but given a beginner’s position, i.e., washing toilets, painting walls, etc….

     …in their later years the believer will bear sustaining, abundant fruit. They will know how to persevere and endure, rather than quit and abandon The Lord, The Word, prayer, their family, the church, their ministry when the going gets tough. And, it does! So, it seems to me that circumcision of the heart proceeds lasting fruit [Galatians 5.22-24].

uncircumcised lips or unskilled speech - Exodus 6.12, 30

                Uncircumcised Moses had received a Promise from the Lord [Exodus 6.6-8]. But, his uncircumcised heart left him with but his thinking-mind which focused on man’s (Israel’s)refusal to listen [Exodus 6.9]. Consequently, Moses could only project in his mind a similar rejecting response from the Egyptian king (Pharaoh)[Exodus 6.12]. Moses intellect expressed its doubts in his unskilled [amateurish]words to The Lord.

                Without the sensitivity of a circumcised heart we are left with but our intellect. And, our intellect can only project the future based on its past experience. A fleshly mind tries to figure things out without the sensitivity of a circumcised soul-heart. All our philosophies, intellectualism, human traditions [Colossians 2.8]can carry us off away from Christ - The Messiah. These are some of the consequences... 

loses to the uncircumcised [stubborn Deuteronomy 10.16; Acts 7.51] in heart Ezekiel 44.9

punishment to the uncircumcised [sinful Matthew 15.18-19; Mark 7.21-23] heart Jeremiah 9.25b

 

      A Side Note: man’s brain is but a computer receiving and storing information via our five senses [sight, sound, smell, taste, touch]. It’s the computer that runs our body sending messages to and from various functions. It’s to be educated (reading, writing, math, science, geography, history, etc.), and is to be technically trained (cleaning a floor, fixing a bike, driving a car, texting a friend, using a computer, playing an instrument, etc.). But, most importantly, it is to be renewed [Romans 12.2], renovated by God’s Words. This is so our inner-man (spirit, heart, soul), coupled with The Holy Spirit, can reach into the brain’s library-computer system and pull up the window of The Word that applies to that particular circumstance in life. Such as, to name a few:  

preservation in affliction Isaiah 43.2,4,5a

strength Philippians 4.13

clothing Zech 3.4-5

provision Psalms 37.25-26; Proverbs 10.3

shelter Deuteronomy 33.27; Joel 3.16

comfort Isaiah 51.3

companionship John 15.15

guidance Isaiah 42.16

God’s protecting care 1 Peter 5.6-7

hope Hebrews 6.18-19

assurance 2 Timothy 1.12

 

…We received the same Promises as those people in the wilderness,

but the Promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the Promises with faith.

If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. Hebrews 4.1 [Mess]

 

Circumcision

           Physical circumcision does have a positive effect. It is hygienic. And, it makes the reproductive organ wonderfully sensitive. But, hidden in the original act of physical circumcision is the symbol of cleansing mankind’s inner man’s soul-heart. The cutting away of the covering, the cleansing and purifying, makes our soul-heart magnificently, brilliantly, fantastically, delightfully sensitive to God’s Spirit and Words. I found this example to be true in Abram’s life.

Circumcision A Covenant Seal [Genesis 17.9-27; Acts 7.8].

          At 75 Abram [highly exalted father]was given a promise from God [Genesis 12.2-4]. Abram mentally and behaviorally chose to follow God and HIS instructions. Sounds like salvation to me. Though Abram by faith believed the Promise [verified in Genesis 15], he failed a number of times to follow The Lord’s instructions. Twenty four years later, at 99, Abram faced his heart problem. He needed circumcision-surgery to his heart.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appear to him and said,

I AM the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before ME and

be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete)…and

you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and

it shall be a token or sign of the Covent between ME and you. Genesis 17.1, 11[Amp]

          It seems to me that Abram becomes Abraham [the father of a multitude]when his soul-heart is circumcised (cutting away, separating from unbelieving, gentile roots). So let me see if I understand this…

1. We come to Christ through an intellectual decision. We believe by faith and are ‘reckoned to HIM as righteous’ [Romans 3.28].
2. Like Abram to become holy (whole = mature, perfect within)we must endure the circumcision-surgery to our soul-heart.
3. Then, we become more like Abraham affecting a multitude for Christ. This sounds to me that we become risk takers, taking the Gospel into the unseen (by the natural man)world of satanic prisons of darkness where people unknowingly are headed to the eternal lake of fire (specifically designed for the satanic trinity, fallen angels, and demons).

 

The warning:     Jeremiah urges citizens to remove the foreskins of their hearts to avoid God’s wrath because of their evil ways. He indicates that…

uncircumcised inner ears [Job 42.3-6]of the soul-heart

are not sensitive to the Words of the Lord Jeremiah 4.4

The Promise:    Moses exhorted the people to circumcise the foreskins of their hearts…

separate yourself, put away, stubbornness and hardness

The How To’s = getting honest with The Surgeon

1. Read God’s Word daily not only as a promise, but as the cleansing agent exposing the condition of your mind (thoughts)and heart (feelings) - as a start slowly read and meditate from Acts 2 through to the end of Revelation 5.    
2. Accept the conditions of your life, they have filtered through the Hand of Christ to reveal the state of your soul-heart - notice the attitudes of your mind that cover the feelings of your core soul-heart.
3. Humble (an action)yourself before Christ accepting and confessing your condition - prayer, communicating truth of your condition begins the circumcision surgery.
4. Allow conviction, recognize that the flesh man wants to anesthetize, satisfy, ignore, and cover up your heart condition - flesh is basically centering on self, rather than on The Triune God.
5. Crucify your flesh man, and do not distain your heart condition, though everything in you wants to avoid embracing the hurt, the pain, the emptiness, the ugliness (the leprosy) of your soul-heart.   
6. Submit to the cleansing Atoning Power of The Word and The Spirit of God allowing their flow into your soul-heart producing inward grace [Romans 2:29].

 

“The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring,

so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul”

Deuteronomy 30-.6 (rsv).

 

“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and

you shall be clean from all your uncleanness; and

from all you idols (self) will I cleanse you.

A new heart will I give you and

a new Spirit will I put within you, and

I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh…And

I will put MY Spirit within you and

cause you to walk in MY Statutes, and

you shall heed MY Ordinances and

do them.” Ezekiel 36.25-27

 

 

Gayle