Romans 4:11
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
Truth to Learn
Abraham’s circumcision was a seal of his righteousness.
Behind the Words
The Greek word translated “sign” is sēmeion, which means “a sign, a mark, or a token.” The same word is used of Jesus who performed many signs in the form of miracles which “marked” Him as the true Messiah.
“Seal” is translated from the Greek word sphragis, which means, “a signet or a seal which is used as an indication of genuineness.”
Meaning Explained
In the previous two verses we learned that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness while he was still uncircumcised. As noted in the previous verse study, it was probably about 15 years after his experience of faith that God reaffirmed His covenant with Abram (exalted father), renamed him Abraham (father of a multitude), and commanded him to circumcise himself and every male in his household who was at least 8 days old (read Genesis 17 for the details).
Why was there such a lengthy period between Abram’s being declared righteous and Abraham receiving the sign of circumcision? Perhaps God did this so that there would be no doubt that faith was imputed well before circumcision. And, according to this verse, circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign that he had a special covenant relationship with God.
In the current verse we see that it was also given to Abraham as a “seal.” It was God’s guarantee that He had proclaimed Abraham righteous through faith. That makes Abraham the spiritual father of everyone who believes without being circumcised.
This righteousness, which God declares for a person as a result of faith, comes regardless of whether a person is circumcised or not. Based on Paul’s line of reasoning and the carefully laid argument and evidence that he has just placed before the predominantly Jewish Christians in Rome, there is no way they could ever again insist that a person had to become a Jew and be circumcised in order to become a Christian.
One more thing to notice from Genesis 17:1: when God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision, he also commanded Abraham to be “perfect” (“blameless” in some translations). The Hebrew word tamiym means “to be without blemish” or “to be morally clean.” This was not commanded of him until well after he was declared righteous. In other words, Abraham didn’t earn his righteousness by being morally pure; it was commanded of him after he was declared righteous. This is another piece of evidence that we don’t earn our salvation (righteousness), it is given to us!
Application
Righteousness and moral purity are things that God expects of us. But, as long as we have this sin nature we will never be righteous or morally pure by ourselves. Praise God that He declares us righteous when we believe the good news about Christ’s sacrifice for us. And He gets all the glory!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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