32
Acts 7:8 THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION MADE WITH
ABRAHAM
Introduction:
Stephen
is still defending himself of the charges made against him before
the Sanhedrin Council. In this text he talks about the Covenant of
Circumcision
which
God made with Abraham.
I.
The circumstances involved in our text
Stephen
was not a preacher. He was a
deacon. But like the twelve
apostles,
he witnessed to many people about Jesus Christ and many people were
saved
at his witness. He testified that Jesus
had been raised from the dead.
He testified that Jesus is the Christ, the
Savior of men. He testified that
those
who believe in Jesus as Savior get into the
Also,
like the apostles, he was given the power to perform miraculous
healing
of the sick and afflicted. Many people
were brought to him. Many
people
got healed and many people got saved.
The
leaders of several Jewish synagogues in
arrested
Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin Council. They charged him
with speaking against God,
speaking against Moses, speaking against the temple
of God and speaking against
the law of Moses.
In
this text Stephen defended himself by making mention of the Covenant of
Circumcision which God made with Abraham.
II. The Covenant of Circumcision which God
made with Abraham
V.
8, “And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so [Abraham]
begat
Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac [begat] Jacob; and
Jacob [begat] the twelve patriarchs.” The Covenant of Circumcision which God
made with Abraham was not a
second covenant which God made with Abraham.
It was
actually
a part of the covenant which is recorded in Genesis chapter twelve.
According to this chapter God called upon
Abram (Abraham) to leave
Chaldees to serve Him, the only true and living God.
God
made a covenant with Abraham. God
promised Abraham a son. God
promised
to make of Abraham a great nation through that son. God promised
Abraham that He would give a land to
Abraham and to his descendants born through
that son.
Abraham
left
to go to the promised land,
but at the age of ninety-nine he still did not have
the promised son. At the age of ninety-nine God instructed
Abraham to be
circumcised. God instructed Abraham that when the promised
son was born that
son was to be circumcised on
the eighth day. Furthermore, all of his
son’s sons
should
all be circumcised on the eighth day and all of their sons and their
son’s
sons down through the years should be circumcised on the eighth day. Even
the male servants of Abraham
and their sons should be circumcised.
Any
male uncircumcised was to be banished from among his people. He was
not to live in Abraham’s nation
nor to be permitted to live in the land which
God had given to Abraham and his
seed.
Circumcision
was not a new and different covenant with Abraham. It was a
part of the covenant in which
God had promised Abraham a son, a nation and a
land. In Genesis
covenant
which God had made with him and his descendants in the covenant nation.
It was a token that this people were the
rightful heirs of the land which God
promised
Abraham and the only rightful heirs.
Stephen
said that Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob who begat the
twelve
patriarchs. Abraham’s circumcision was a
token that God would keep the
covenant
which God had made with him. Isaac’s
circumcision was a token that God
would
keep the covenant that God had made with Abraham and had confirmed with
him. Jacob’s circumcision was a token that God
would keep the covenant that God
had made with Abraham and had
confirmed with Isaac and with himself.
The
circumcision
of the twelve patriarchs was a token that God would keep the
covenant
which He had made with Abraham.
This
nation,
nation
which can rightly inherit the land which God has promised to Abraham and
to his seed. Circumcision is the token that the Israelite
man and his family
are rightful heirs to a part of
that land.
II. What this statement about circumcision
has to with Stephen’s defense
Stephen
had been charged with speaking against the law of
Moses. He
hadn’t. He was not guilty as charged. What Stephen had done was that he had
told people that they could not
get into the
of Moses. Stephen said that there was no way to enter
the
through
faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This meant that Stephen was
telling
the people that one cannot get into heaven by circumcision or by keeping
any other part of the law of
Moses. The circumcision which Abraham
had
instituted
at God’s command was not a part of the law.
But circumcision had
later
been incorporated into the law of Moses.
The Jews believed that they had
to keep the law of Moses to
get into the kingdom of God and that this included
circumcision.
Many
of the Jews who heard Stephen say that salvation does not come by
keeping
the law and, therefore, not by the law of circumcision misunderstood
what Stephen was talking about. They thought that Stephen was speaking
against
the law of Moses. They particularly thought this since he did
not think that
circumcision
is necessary to get into the
Stephen
is now defending himself against the false charges by showing that
he did believe that all male
descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob is
necessary
to be a rightful heir to the covenant which God made with Abraham
concerning
being a rightful heir to the
circumcision
was a token of being in the
certainly
did not believe that it is necessary to get into the
It is not necessary to get into
heaven.
IV. What the New Testament teaches about
circumcision
Since
the Apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament, I will confine my
remarks
chiefly to what Paul said about circumcision.
Paul said that it is not
the circumcision of the flesh
which gets one into the
the circumcision of the heart,
which is “the circumcision made without hands,”
Col. 2:11.
Paul
said that circumcision of the flesh does not help to get one saved
and that the lack of it does
not hinder one from getting saved, Gal. 5:6.
Paul
said that salvation does not come by one’s efforts to keep the law,
but rather by placing one’s
faith in Jesus Christ, Eph. 2:8-9.
Circumcision
was commanded by the law of Moses, but Paul gives two
reasons
why salvation is not obtained
by keeping the law: (1) Man cannot keep
the law,
Rom.
schoolmaster
to bring men to Christ.
Being
circumcised physically does not help one spiritually in any way
whatsoever. What God requires for salvation is the
circumcision of the heart
by faith in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:
Jesus
said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest, Matt. 11:28. You must trust Jesus Christ as your Savior
and God
will give you an inheritance
which is far better than an inheritance in
land. It will be an inheritance in heaven. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house
are many mansions.” If you will trust Jesus to save your soul He
will prepare a
place
for you and He will come and get you and take you to that place.