What's in the Heart Counts
Jeremiah 4:4
“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath
will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done.”
[Editorial insert: http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/language_idioms.html writes the Hebraic idiom in this verse as "Remove the foreskin of your heart", and states its meaning as "dedicate yourselves fully to God".]
[Editorial insert: http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/language_idioms.html writes the Hebraic idiom in this verse as "Remove the foreskin of your heart", and states its meaning as "dedicate yourselves fully to God".]
Leviticus 26:41
“And that I also have walked
contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if
then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the
punishment of their iniquity:”
Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin
of your heart, and be no more stiff necked.
Deuteronomy 30:6
And 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, that you may
live.
Exodus 6:12
And Moses spake before the LORD,
saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then
shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Colossians 2:11
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:
Ezekiel 44:7
In that ye have brought into my
sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be
in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house,
Romans 2:29
“A Jew is one inwardly, and
circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.”
Galatians 5:6 ESV
For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working
through love
Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh."
1 Corinthians 7:19
Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
Acts 7:51 ESV
“You stiff-necked people,
uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your
fathers did, so do you.”
From "GotQuestions.org, about Acts 7:51:
"Paul is discussing the role of
the Old Testament Law as it relates to Christianity. He argues that Jewish
circumcision is only an outward sign of being set apart to God. However, if the
heart is sinful, then physical circumcision is of no avail. A circumcised body
and a sinful heart are at odds with each other. Rather than focus on external
rites, Paul focuses on the condition of the heart. Using circumcision as a
metaphor, he says that only the Holy Spirit can purify a heart and set us apart
to God. Ultimately, circumcision cannot make a person right with God; the Law
is not enough. A person’s heart must change. Paul calls this change
“circumcision of the heart.”
Comment
on this GotQuestions post:
“Circumcision of the heart is what
happens in the process of sanctification. As we grow in the knowledge of God we
surrender the things of this world, our fleshly desires which wage war against
the spirit of God. Circumcision can be painful just as circumcision of the
flesh is painful; however the fruit of circumcision brings us into a closer
relationship with God. If we want to walk in the will of God we need this to be
our daily prayer. .... God himself changes us from one
glory to the next.”
