Covenant Discipleship: Linking Circumcision, Baptism, and Communion

Doc Ryan of Expedition 44 and Brian Phillips of Grace Ops

Circumcision was part of the covenant God had with Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as "a token of the covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations, an "everlasting BLOOD covenant" (Genesis 17:13). Cutting of the covenant…

Similar to baptism it was an outward sign of who you belong to… your allegiance. The penalty of non-observance was kareth (Hebrew: "cutting off") from the people (Genesis 17:10–14, 21:4; Leviticus 12:3). Non-Israelites had to undergo circumcision before they could be allowed to take part in the feast of Passover…

the hundred foreskin dowry (1 Samuel 18:25–27) and the story of the Lord threatening to kill Moses, and being placated by Zipporah's circumcision of their son (Exodus 4:24–26), and the circumcision at Gilgal of Joshua 5

Walk –John says that if we claim to be in Christ, we must walk as He did. The Greek verb, peripateo, is a nice Hebrew idiom translated into Greek. In Hebrew, it would be halach, used figuratively to express a way of life.

In the Hebrew culture, what helps one helps all and what harms one harms all. The sense of community comes before any consideration of individual well-being. Maybe that’s why there are only two great commandments: love God first and love your neighbor second. It was God’s way of walking… to walk with others… discipleship.

‘When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.’ The true disciple is not simply an admirer. He is the person who will follow Jesus wherever he leads, even though that may mean pain, persecution and sacrifice. In the Roman world, the cross stood for pain, rejection, shame, and guilt.

We are to take up the cross ‘daily’. That is to say, habitually, and in the details of life. It sometimes seems easier to trust God with the ‘years’ of our lives than with the ‘days’. We have faith and obedience in general, but not in particular. But cross-carrying is a daily assignment.