The following is the fourth in a series of blog posts on this topic that are meant to be read together. Links to the previous articles may be found at the bottom of this page. The series as a whole is also meant to accompany a collection of related articles currently being posted on the website Reformation21. Links to those articles can likewise be found at the bottom of this page.
I mentioned earlier that the circumcision of the heart refers to a change brought about in the human soul rather than the human body. A person circumcised physically is required to obey, but a person circumcised spiritually really does obey because the Law of God is written upon their heart. Scripture suggests that only a person whose heart is circumcised can follow God’s commands, which is why the Mosaic Law required such a circumcision. However, Moses also told the people that God Himself would circumcise their hearts. One passage in the New Testament sheds much light on this issue.
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:9-14
In these words to the church in Colossea, the Apostle Paul removed any doubt: circumcision of the heart was connected to faith and regeneration, and these works were performed by God. This passage has relevance for debates over the issue of baptism, but at this time it is more important to point out that this spiritual circumcision was and is performed by Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through God alone 1) the “body of the flesh” is removed, 2) we are “raised up with Him through faith”, we are “made…alive together with Him”, and 4) our transgressions are forgiven by a cancelling of “the certificate of debt”.
So if God alone can perform the circumcision of the heart, how could he command that they circumcise their own hearts? I would answer that, in fact, this is not the only place where scripture commands something that no human being born with a sinful nature can accomplish. In the same sermon in which he declared that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:20) Jesus concluded, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (v. 48) Can anyone born with original sin be perfect as God is perfect?
The answer must be no, for if the answer was yes, there would be no need for grace. This is the heresy of Pelagianism condemned by the early Church. One might argue that a person can reach a point where they no longer sin (and indeed many have argued as much), but even that does not change the fact that at some point in time, they fell short of the standard of perfect righteousness. The Apostle Paul wrote that “there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” (Romans 3:22-25) To fall short of the glory of God is to say that a person, through a lack of righteousness, has not met the standard of holiness demanded by God and must therefore be “justified as a gift by His grace” and experience propitiation with God—that is to say appeasement, conciliation, or the restoration of a favorable opinion.
In commanding the circumcision of the heart, God again demanded what could not be done without His own intervention. Now, to say that a thing cannot be done is not to say that it ought not be done. Ever since the creation of the world, human beings have been held responsible to follow the entire Law, by which I mean here not the Mosaic Law but the universal moral law. After the Fall, that has been impossible on both a theoretical and practical level. Not only can we not keep the whole Law, but we cannot really keep any of the Law without being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, even as a dead person can’t run a marathon. Again, I see a general agreement on this point within all branches of small-o orthodox Christianity. The alternative is Pelagianism.
In fact, the apparently contradictory statements in which God both 1) commanded that the Israelites circumcise their own hearts and 2) declared that He Himself would circumcise their hearts represent a clear of example of what the Protestant Reformers came to call the Law/Gospel distinction. When God places a command upon humanity, that is the Law. When He declares that He will pour forth His Spirit upon them and justify them by grace through faith, uniting them to Jesus Christ, that is the gospel.
Roman Catholics would freely acknowledge that there are elements of both Law and gospel in scripture, but here is where the divide occurs: they teach that the gospel is a revitalization brought about by the Holy Spirit through which a human being is able to fulfill the Law and be justified. Reformed Protestants, on the other hand, contend that the gospel is this: we cannot fulfill the Law at all, but it has been fulfilled on our behalf. Therefore, while a Roman Catholic sees the Law portions of scripture as things a person must do in order to be justified and can do with the help of the Spirit, the Protestant sees only multitudinous examples of our sin being condemned and ourselves being pointed to the work of Christ.
Thus, we find Martin Luther’s famous quote in the theses for the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation: “The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘Believe in this,’ and everything is already done.”[1] That is the difference between Law and gospel as understood by Reformed Protestants, of which I here count myself one.
The Apostle Paul taught that rather than bringing about life in us, the Law is actually a curse—a curse that was ultimately borne by Jesus Christ for all who would believe in Him.
“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:10-14
This was why Paul concluded that “the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” (v. 24) We are not justified by the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, the Law keeper. The commands of scripture are meant to show us our inability to be perfect as God is perfect and therefore cause us to throw ourselves upon the grace of God.
This distinction between Law and gospel is demonstrated clearly among the descendants of Abraham in that there are two progenies given two covenants. That is the subject I will turn to next.
All scripture passages are taken from the 1995 New American Standard Bible, copyright The Lockman Foundation.
[1] Luther, Martin. Theological thesis 26, 1518 Heidelberg Disputation. http://bookofconcord.org/heidelberg.php. Accessed 24 June 2020.
Other articles in this blog series in order of publication:
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Covenant with Abraham”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Requirement of Works”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Prophecy of Substitution”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: Two Progenies in Abraham”
Related articles hosted on Reformation21 in order of publication:
“Infusion and Imputation: An Introduction”
“Justification: The Roman Catholic View”
“Justification: The Reformed Protestant View”
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