CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

From the West Meadow
By Pastor Wesley Higgins

Acts 15 is a very interesting chapter. In it, Paul and Barnabas take the question of circumcision of the Gentiles to the apostles and church leaders in Jerusalem. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of commentaries and heard sermons discussing just what was going on here and what the rulings by the apostles and elders really meant.

Simply put, what was decided was that the Gentiles were not under the physical requirement of circumcision; proof being God had already been giving them conversion and the Holy Spirit without their being circumcised. Though not actually mentioned, in this chapter circumcision, Paul said, was a matter of heart rather than of body (see also Romans 2:28-29).

Some scholars tell us that by these statements the Gentiles, and subsequently all Christians, were cut loose from any need to obey or even understand the Old Testament laws and statutes. What they fail to remember is that God has always desired His people to relate to Him on a spiritual level rather than a physical one. “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments.” (Deuteronomy 5:29) Also, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart...to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 30:6)

The point that is often missed is that the Gentile converts no longer needed the physical outward sign of circumcision to prove they were spiritual descendants of faithful Abraham (see Romans 4:9-12). They now had the spiritual inward sign of a repentant heart given by the Holy Spirit.

There is no suggestion here that the Gentiles reject or ignore Moses and the writings. In fact, verse 21 suggests just the opposite, that for them to learn more about Moses and the Old Covenant all they had to do was attend the synagogues every Sabbath.

In Acts 15:20, the Gentiles were also told by the elders to “abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.” It has been suggested that the reason for this statement was so the Gentiles would not offend the Jews.

There is another answer.

The things listed in verse 20 were all associated with pagan worship. The Gentiles were being admonished not to mix pagan worship with their new Christian lifestyle. Just as God admonished Israel upon entering the promised land,. “Do not inquire after their gods (the nations they were displacing), saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.” (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

Acts chapter 15 reminds us that our God, who does not change (see Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8), desires a relationship based on the spirit and not on the flesh (John 4:24), a relationship that is not encumbered with the religious trappings of this world.

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