CIRCUMCISION, BABY BAPTISM AND THE NEW COVENANT
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote to me, it read something like this:
“How does the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament and babies of the New Testament work?
Is it true, that the baptism of babies replaced circumcision?”
Before I answer this two in one question, let me share with you a little about the origin of circumcision, as we find it in the Word.
The origin of circumcision came about through a covenant between Abraham and our Lord:
GENESIS 17:9-14
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Did you see?
Only men are circumcised. No circumcision of whatever kind was applicable to women.
GEN 17:10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Circumcision only applied to every male Hebrew which was born and every other male person from another nation who became a member, for whatever reason, of a Hebrew family/household.
GEN 17:12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
In my opinion it is very important to know, if you want to make a comparison between circumcision and the baptism of babies in the New Testament, that not only is it male babies and sometimes also adults males that are circumcised, but – and this is very, very important to remember: You are circumcised whether or not you wanted to serve our Lord, or whether you wanted to have anything to do with our Lord.
You are generally circumcised because you are a Jew/Hebrew, or you had/have some or other connection with a Jew/Hebrew.
GEN 17:12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
Where according to the New Covenant in the New Testament you must believe and be saved before you may be baptized in the Christian way.
ACTS 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized (Then and then alone), every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the New King James Version (NKJV) this verse reads as follows:
ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent (then afterwards), and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Later we read:
ACTS 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized (which babies and small children can or could do), and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Still later we read:
ACTS 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women (not one baby or child).
We read the following about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (castrated) and with this I understand the aspect of the matter:
ACTS 8:35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
In the New King James Version this section reads as follows.
ACTS 8:35-38
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
Then also those people who preach loosely about the baptism, or christening of babies which replaced circumcision, must also go and re-look at the following which my great hero Paul wrote about circumcision, namely:
GALATIANS 5:2-6
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Further:
GAL 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
GAL 6:15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.
In other words you can also read GAL 6:15 as follows:
GAL 6:15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.
So my friends.
Any baptism of any kind has no meaning at all, if you have not even accepted Jesus as your Redeemer and Saviour. Everything, to put it that way, begins there:
JOHN 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In closing I must greatly emphasize the following for those people whose babies were not baptized / christened:
Certainly, your children have lost nothing because he/she were not christened.
It is very clear to me from the Word, that all children, even if their parents are not believers –
Yes, every child which has not reached the age of accountability, to put it that way, are assured of their place in Heaven.
Whether it is a miscarried baby, an aborted baby, a still born baby or child which has not according to this life, has not reach or may not reach the age of accountability. They are, up to the age of accountability, assured of their place in Heaven.
After that, through the use of my free will, which I have, because I am made in the image of God and just like Him I have my own free will. Then I use my free will, to accept our Lord as my Redeemer and Saviour or not to accept Him as my Redeemer and Saviour.
MARK 10:13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.
MARK 10:14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
So, regarding the question asked of me:
“How does the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament and babies of the New Testament work?”
Circumcision and or christening/baptism has for a baby under the new covenant, which concerns the redemption of his/her soul, no, absolutely no meaning.
Regarding the question:
“Is it true, that the baptism of babies replaced circumcision?”
There is no section in the Word, which you according to my opinion, comes close to being used to ‘prop up’ that statement.
In other words, it is a human invented thought/statement, which can place people under a false impression, that you are saved.
I know.
I was there.
I was also baptised/christened as a baby.
I was confirmed.
I was accepted and put forward and I also thought that way that I was on the road to Heaven.
I even, on my so-called road to Heaven, at an occasion in the church, when I was married.
I was, to put it that way, blissful in my false blissfulness, on the road to hell.
How wonderful to have this lovely certainty of this knowledge today:
JOHN 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Greetings,
Sakkie