Do Traditions Save?
There are strong
traditions that have been going on from the O.T. into the N.T. all the
way into what we call the church today. For many years, some of those
traditions were things such as the feasts, sacrifices, circumcision,
communion, tithing and even baptism.
But, today there are
really only two traditional practices I would like to focus upon which
is both “circumcision” and “baptism.”
As you might know,
“circumcision” was a very old tradition that was done under the old
covenantal system which verified if you were or were not a follower of
the one and only true God, and Israel, whom most churches call the
people who came from the seed of Abraham, was known to practice
circumcision. But, was it really just for the people who came from the
fleshly seed of Abraham or was it for anyone.
Understanding Circumcision
If we look at the
background on circumcision, there were these religious Jews who believed
“…that they were the people of God.” We have to remember that over 1600
years “…God dealt solely with the nation Israel.” It was thought
that in order to come to God, you could only come through Israel. They
actually believed they could maintain their covenantal position with God
in order to secure their salvation and the way they did that was by a
mark. Most bore a mark as actual off springs of Abraham and they thought
that “…affirmed their right to be called the children of God
supernaturally.” Just by that mark alone that Jews would assume that
they were secure in God. That mark is what is known as circumcision. “To
the Jews of Jesus and Paul's day, circumcision was a very important
mark.”
Just as some traditions
holds to the Creeds more sacred then the scriptures, when we know it was
the scriptures alone that help them make their Creeds, which can be
known as a “statement of faith,” so also “The Talmud was a collection of
Jewish writings that the Jews came to hold more sacred than the
Scripture. The Talmud said: ‘The commandment of circumcision is more
important than all the injunctions of scripture.’” That statement alone
“…shows the value they placed on circumcision. The Jews believed that if
a Jew was so vile and so evil that he was sent to Hell, before he could
enter Hell, there were angels at the gate that removed his circumcision.
The most important thing a Jew could do to secure his relationship with
God was to be circumcised.
To better understand
“circumcision” it would be best to read of it in Genesis 17:
Genesis 17:10-14 (NKJV)
"This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you
and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be
circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your
foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and
you. 12 "He who is eight days old among you shall be
circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in
your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your
descendant. 13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with
your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in
your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 "And the uncircumcised
male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that
person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
If we were to read
Genesis 15, we have the opening of the Abrahamic covenant in which “…God
promises to make of Abraham a great nation.” When God met with Abraham
He promised him “…that he would be a blessing.” “In this Abrahamic
covenant is the promise of a Redeemer, who is none other then Jesus
Christ, which would be how Abraham would bless all nations. If we would
jump all the way to the book of Galatians we can confirm that Christ was
the promise seed in which the O.T. was declaring:
Galatians 3:16 (NKJV)
“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say,
‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is
Christ.”
So, after reading from
Genesis 15, that is speaking of Galatians 3:16, we then jump over to 17
where God then gives to Abraham a symbol of the covenant so he won't
forget the promise that was made.
Today, most of us,
“…wear wedding rings as tokens of the covenant that we made with our
spouse. The wedding ring does not make us married or keep us married
it is simply a symbol of a covenant we have made. This is God's
token of the covenant - circumcision. The English word "circumcision"
comes from a Latin word, which means: ‘to cut around,’ it describes the
original biblical reference to a surgery that was performed on little
boys and often on adult males. The simple surgery removes the foreskin
from the male organ.”
“So, you can see from
this that it was God who instituted circumcision as a sign or
token of the covenant that He had made with Abraham.”
Circumcision was not
practice by just Israel; it was even found within many ancient cultures,
which was used as a rite of manhood, but God ordained it as a sign for a
spiritual reminder.
Man’s depravity is best
revealed “…in the procreative act.” Man is known as a sinner by what he
says, what he does, and “…by the attitudes that he carries.” Even by his
character or even the root of his existence he creates what comes from
the loins him which is wicked. “So nowhere is depravity so manifest;
when man procreates, he produces a sinner.”
Remember! “…Jesus
Christ had no human father…” which is why he was sinless…covenantally
speaking
Christ did not come
from the seed of man, who is Adam, for if he did then he also would have
inherited the fallen nature, which we all have, and would never of been
able to pardon us from our sin. But, thanks be to God that he was able
to bring it about when he said that He would bring enmity between the
man and women and between his seed and her seed:
Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your
seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise
His heel.”
As we know, women do
not have seeds for it is the man who determines if the child will either
be male or female, but right here in Genesis 3:15 we are told it is not
the man’s seed which can only be explained and understood correctly if
we read from Romans 5 which tells us:
Romans 5:12-19 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death
through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13
(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when
there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the
transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But
the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense
many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the
one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like
that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which
came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift
which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by
the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those
who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will
reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as
through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in
condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift
came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by
one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s
obedience many will be made righteous.
So as we can now
confirm “…the male organ, then, is the point at which human depravity is
most demonstrated. You see the nature of sin passed on to the next
generation. When God demanded that the male be circumcised, He was
giving them a symbol that the outward part of man's procreative organ
was cleansed to remind them that man needed to be cleansed of sin at the
deepest root of his being. Man needed a spiritual surgery to cleanse
him. Every time they circumcised a person, they were reminding
themselves of the fact that man was a wicked sinner and in need of a
cleansing. Even the blood shed that occurred in circumcision symbolized
the need for sacrifice to accomplish that cleansing. So, there was even
a picture of the pain and sacrifice needed to cleanse the sinner in
circumcision.”
So God “…intended it to
be a physical symbol of a spiritual reality. Circumcision, and
even baptism, “…was to be much more than just an outward sign. It was to
be the outward sign of an inward reality,” but so many have
“…lost the true meaning and kept only the outward sign:
Deuteronomy 10:16
(NKJV) "Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be
stiff-necked no longer.
Jeremiah 4:4 (NKJV)
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your
hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury
come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because
of the evil of your doings."
As we hopefully are
aware, circumcision was to be a spiritual thing. Many kept the outward
symbol, but they were missing the point of the spiritual significance
from it. The symbol can means nothing without the reality. “The Jews
were circumcised on the outside but not the inside. Circumcision is the
external symbol depicting the need for a total cleansing from sin, but
Israel had reduced it to a tribal tattoo. They felt as long as they were
circumcised, they had God's blessing. Then Paul comes along preaching
grace to the Gentiles. Paul is teaching that salvation is by faith
alone. So the Jews are getting very upset, and they trouble the new
churches with Old Testament ceremony. So in Acts 15, we have the first
church council to deal with the issue of circumcision:”
Acts 15:5-8 (NKJV)
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying,
"It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the
law of Moses." 6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider
this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and
said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God
chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of
the gospel and believe. 8 "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged
them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,
“Peter is saying that
the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit just like the Jews had, and they
were not circumcised. So the council decided that circumcision was not
necessary for salvation.”
Galatians 5:2 (NKJV)
Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will
profit you nothing.
What is actually being
said is that "Christ plus circumcision equals nothing."
Nothing can be added to
faith because if you do add anything towards faith then it is no longer
faith but works which then destroys the very faith that is suppose to
save you…which is by Christ alone, by grace alone through; faith alone.
Remember that in Col.
2:11:
Colossians 2:11 (NKJV)
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the
circumcision of Christ,
So now that we have
dealt with circumcision we can see that it was of the “…Mosaic
sacrificial system…” that was “…divinely instituted in the anticipation
of the atoning death of the Messiah of which the former of a pre-figure
or type.” Just through Christ’s death, the Mosaic system was fully
understood and even fulfilled which has brought forth an illustration of
what Christ would soon fulfill. So what we are saying is that the
meaning from the O.T. and the N.T. where objects, people, events,
institutions, or even ceremonies were concerned “….has come to be
referred to as typology.”
What about Water baptism?
Most might be wonder
about water baptism since most of this talk was on circumcision.
To start off let us
look at John 1:26-34:
John 1:26-34 (NKJV)
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands
One among you whom you do not know. 27 “It is He who, coming after me,
is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John
was baptizing.
29 The next
day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 “This is He of whom I
said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was
before me.’ 31 “I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed
to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” 32 And John
bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like
a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 “I did not know Him, but He who
sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the
Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with
the Holy Spirit.’ 34 “And I have seen and testified that this is the
Son of God.”
John Gill says about
verse 31:
“but that he
should be made manifest to Israel; who had been for many years hid
in Galilee, an obscure part of the world: and though he had been known
to Joseph and Mary, and to Zacharias and Elisabeth, and to Simeon and
Anna; yet he was not made manifest to the people of Israel in
common; nor did they know that the Messiah was come: but
that he might be known:”
Adam Clarke writes:
“But that he
should be made manifest to Israel - One design of my
publicly baptizing was, that he, coming to my baptism, should be shown
to be what he is, by some extraordinary sign from heaven.”
So as we can confirm
that it was John’s mission to baptize so he, John the baptizer, would
reveal that the Messiah has come.
If we would read at the
end of two of the four gospels, we can even see Christ’s command on
baptism:
Matt 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 “teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Luke 24:44-49 (NKJV)
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you
while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might
comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is
written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to
rise from the dead the third day, 47 “and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. 48 “And you are witnesses of these things.
49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in
the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Water baptism, as you
known, was basically practiced by John the baptizer, before Christ’s
death, and also many of those of the church, while the apostles were
around, but first after Christ, symbolically, baptized the apostles with
the Holy Spirit which is known as the third person of the trinity who
takes on the role of a convictor to convict the world of sin,
righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit is also our Helper:
John 16:5-11 (NKJV)
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me,
‘Where are You going?’ 6 “But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. 7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It
is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you. 8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and
of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 “of sin, because they do not
believe in Me; 10 “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you
see Me no more; 11 “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is
judged.
Basically in my own
conviction, at this time, I can only see literal water baptism only as a
symbol of a soon inward reality which was about to come upon the people
of those days while they were waiting for the complete ending of the Old
Covenant Age and the full realization of the new covenant age
Salvation was a future
hope for them but is an inward reality for us today.
Romans 13:11 (NKJV)
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out
of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first
believed.”
“We were baptized
(identified) into Christ's death. When Jesus Christ died, we died
with Him. We are one with Him, and His death is ours.”
I would like to close
by read the story from the late L.E. Maxwell from Three Hills, Alberta,
Canada which might help us identify who we are in Christ:
During the Civil
War, George Wyatt was drafted into a unit, soon to be called into
battle. This was an unfortunate day for Wyatt. For he had a lovely
young bride and an infant that he might never see again if he went to
war.
It also would be
impossible for her to care for the crops and farm. This was a great
problem for Wyatt. He could not find an easy answer. He would have to
go to war or face prison. For him, there seemed to be no other
rational choice.
Not long after
the draft notice, an old friend of Wyatt's, by the name of Richard
Pratt, dropped by. Pratt was a hunter and had been an outdoors man all
of his life. He had cut out a small piece of land in Montana and
returned home to find a bride, get married, and raise his family in
that beautiful wilderness.
When Pratt
arrived at the Wyatt's home, he found a family broken in spirit. After
hours of talking, shouting, pacing, crying, there was a deep silence.
Pratt broke the utter stillness and said, 'I'll take your place! I'll
go, and you can stay.' Wyatt said, 'That's impossible! My name is on
the draft notice, I have to go. There is no way to get off that list.'
Wyatt thanked Pratt for the suggestion and asked him to forget it and
spend the night in their home and use the daylight hours to do his
business.
They finally went
to bed. However, sleep failed them all. The night was short. In a few
hours, Wyatt got up without a word and went out into the morning
moonlight to cut stove wood for cooking and warming the cold morning
hours. His young bride began tending to their restless infant while
their friend, Pratt, was alone in the living room, immersed in
thought.
Suddenly, a knock
came at the door. Startled, Pratt said, 'I'll get it!' When he opened
the door, the men asked, 'George Wyatt?' 'Yes! What can I do for you?'
Pratt pretended to be Wyatt, for he knew who they were. They explained
their mission of taking every man on the list to the court house to
sign in and get suited up for the Confederacy. With his hand on the
door, blocking their entrance to the home, Pratt looked back and said,
'Bye, honey!' He closed the door before she could answer, and Pratt
left the farm house, with the men thinking he was Wyatt.
At the court
house, Pratt signed the usual papers under the name of George Wyatt
and took Wyatt's gun, clothes, and horse. After a briefing and bit of
training, he went into battle and was killed at the siege of
Vicksburg. He was buried on the battlefield. After the battles of
Shiloh and Gettysburg, the conflict had grown more hopeless. The
frantic draftsmen were going to every house and demanding that every
man prepare to go to war. For it looked like Richmond might fall soon.
They came to the farm house of George Wyatt. Wyatt met them at the
door and asked,'What do you want?' They said they were drafting every
man that was alive. Wyatt smiled and told them, 'I have died.' They
asked what he meant. Wyatt paused for a moment and told them the story
of what happened on the day of his draft. He told them that his
friend, Pratt, had gone to the Court House and signed in as George
Wyatt.
Wyatt told them
to go to the courthouse and check out their own records. He said,
'You'll find that the Judge recorded my death and added to the record
that I was buried on the field of battle, near Vicksburg.' Wyatt took
a big breath and said in a strong voice, 'You can not draft me because
your judicial records say that I am dead.' George Wyatt was never
drafted and could not be sent to war.
Wyatt was dead to
the Confederacy just as you are dead to sin. The Confederacy had no
authority over a dead man. Likewise, Christ went to the cross in your
place, signed your name and died as your substitute. It is written in
the document of the Heavenly Court that you died on a cross in the
service of God to satisfy the unalterable draft of the law of sin and
death.
“Just as George Wyatt
was freed from the Confederacy draft…,” so also “…the cross of Christ
has freed us from the law of sin and death.”
1st Cor.
15:56 (NKJV) “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is
the law.”
Matt 5:17-18 (NKJV)
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did
not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you,
till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no
means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
If “heaven and earth’
did not yet pass away then I can only confirm that we are still, to this
day, living under the old Mosaic system of things and we need to right
now get aboard the next flight and head off to Israel and start
performing the symbolic sacrifices and circumcision, which was a daily
reminder of something greater which was about to come, for “…not one jot
or tittle…” would be able to pass away until all was fulfilled.
1st Cor.
`15:57 (NKJV) “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
