And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin;
and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you. Genesis 17:11
Circumcision was a covenant with the Lord, the outward display of dedication to the Lord
signifying purification and cleansing. Then, God went further. He wanted the heart to be involved.
Isn’t that just like God? Circumcision had a much deeper meaning.
It is a dedication to the Lord to stay pure and clean and keeping Him as the focus.
Putting aside evil and to be consecrated to God in the deepest sense, not just outwardly,
but with a sense of reverence and holiness.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart,
ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem:
lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it,
because of the evil of your doings. Jeremiah 4:4
Similar to when the Lord Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.
Or when He talked about how futile it is to wash the outside of the cup.
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:
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross;
And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:11-15
Baptism is representative of the cleansing and the power of God in new life in Christ Jesus.
An outward display of faith and an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit begin the cleansing of our flesh
as we commit to Him to die daily to the flesh so His Spirit may live in us.
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 1 Corinthians 15:31
Whether circumcision or baptism or fasting or prayer,
none of it will matter without the inner cleansing of the Holy Spirit
who changes us from glory to glory in His likeness.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18