If you read my post yesterday, then it should be clear that the phrase “circumcision of the heart” is NOT just some New Testament phenomenon…
…because right here in Deuteronomy, Moses is commanding the Israelites to “circumcise their hearts“…
…meaning to yield their mind and hearts over to HASHEM.
Now…if the “circumcision of the heart” is not a New Testament phenomenon, do you know what else that means?
It means the idea that faith in Yeshua equals a circumcised heart is false.
Just because you have proclaimed faith in Yeshua doesn’t necessarily mean you have 100% surrendered your mind over to God.
Check out these verses from the Book of Acts.
“When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”-Acts 8:14-17
Notice that there is a distinction being made between being baptized in the name of Yeshua and receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now couldn’t it be argued that one’s heart isn’t really circumcised (meaning one’s mind has been surrendered over to God) until they have received the Holy Spirit?
Going back to the Exodus, although the Israelites were already a redeemed or “saved” people once they celebrated their first Passover, their hearts still had not been circumcised.
How do we know this?
We know this because they had not yet received God’s laws and commands and also by the fact that they ended up committing great sins agains God out in the wilderness which resulted in thousands of Israelites losing their lives.
In fact, God had determined more than once to completely destroy all the Israelites due to their reckless rebellion.
And it just might have happened had Moses not intervened.
Just because the Israelites had been “saved” doesn’t mean their hearts had been circumcised.
And the same thing goes for those who have accepted Yeshua as Lord and Savior.
Just because you have accepted Yeshua, does NOT…
…and I repeat…
…it does NOT mean…
…your heart has been circumcised.
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