https://youtu.be/i-zuh7L9ymg
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans last time we completed our exegesis of Rom 4:10; with the Expanded Translation "How then was it credited? While he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision but in uncircumcision."
We noted that Abraham was not circumcised until he was 99 years old. He believed in Jesus Christ at least 25 years before his circumcision. He was 75 when he left Ur. He was saved sometime before that.
Abraham was a Gentile Semite, an Acadian, living in the third dynasty of Ur when his salvation adjustment to God's justice occurred.
That means that a minimum of 25 years elapsed between his salvation adjustment to God's justice by faith alone in Ur and his maturity adjustment to God's justice by advancing in doctrine in Canaan that became the predicate for his circumcision.
Abraham was saved as a Gentile in Ur and did not become a Jew until his circumcision that occurred least 25 years later in Canaan that later became part of Israel.
That means that Abraham believed in Christ as a Gentile. When God's righteousness was imputed to Abraham he was a Gentile. When God's righteousness was imputed to his son Isaac he was a Jew.
Abraham's circumcision was related to his maturity adjustment to God's justice that occurred at least 25 years after his salvation and it occurred when God was ready to give him the promised heir because he had reached spiritual maturity
The Jewish race, the fourth race, was not started on the basis of Abraham's salvation but it was started when Abraham had made maximum adjustment to God's justice at spiritual maturity. It is therefore obvious historically and doctrinally, that his salvation had nothing whatever to do with circumcision.
That means that salvation by ritual is completely ruled out. Abraham was justified by faith in Christ alone, not by any ritual, including circumcision.
Circumcision was a ritual to commemorate Abraham's maximum relationship with God's integrity, his ability to have children and the point at which the new race began.
The ritual was related to maximum doctrine resident in the soul at a time when Abraham was sexually dead and therefore totally helpless as far as doing anything about fulfilling the promise of the Abrahamic covenant.
Circumcision was a ritual that represented Abraham's complete confidence in God's integrity. Ritual without reality is meaningless. Abraham had the reality of maximum doctrine resident in his soul that was the basis of his maturity adjustment to God's justice.
God's justice was free to give the uncircumcised Gentile Abraham God's righteousness and justification at the moment he believed in Christ. God's justice was free to give justified Abraham capacity for sex, sexual prosperity and an heir at the point of spiritual maturity.
Imputed righteousness was the foundation on which the superstructure of blessing and advantage were provided to Abraham in spiritual maturity. His circumcision directly relates to his spiritual maturity it does not relate to his salvation.
This verse teaches us that imputed righteousness from God's justice and salvation must precede any direct blessing from God.
Rom 4: 11; "And he received" the emphatic use of the conjunctive particle "kai" (and) that can be translated "In fact." With it is the aorist active indicative of the verb "lambano" (to receive) that means to receive something on the basis of grace without earning it, deserving it, or doing anything for it.
The aorist tense is a constantive aorist that describes a momentary action. The active voice: Abraham produced the action by receiving. This is a declarative indicative for one of the most unusual moments in human history.
"the sign of circumcision" the accusative singular direct object of "semeion" (sign or semaphore) that refers to a token, or a distinguishing mark, or in this case a ritual mark. Circumcision as a ritual mark is a memorial reminder that God always delivers on His promises.
Circumcision was a ritual mark for Abraham in spiritual maturity. It was a memorial that if understood would remind the entire Jewish race throughout human history that God's integrity always fulfills His promises. God had promised Abraham an heir from his and Sarah's own gene pool when they were sexually dead and God's justice provided the blessing that enabled them to have Isaac.
We see from this situation with Abraham that there is a right time and a wrong time for God's justice to provide blessing. Only God's integrity knows the right time. God's blessing and timing are perfect. The doctrinal challenge to the believer is to confidently wait on God.
God's blessing was provided from God's justice on the basis of the fact that Abraham possessed God's positional righteousness and therefore justification and in addition Abraham had developed capacity righteousness from maximum doctrine resident in the soul and as a result had the capacity to enjoy the blessing rather than being cursed by the blessing.
The ritual of circumcision memorializes God's provision of this special blessing because thereafter every Jewish male was commanded to be circumcised eight days after they were born.
"a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised" the accusative singular direct object from the noun "sphargis" (seal) referring to something that confirms or authenticates and therefore validates what it is attached to.
A seal is attached to something of importance. In thirteen years Abraham had learned that while procreation was only means of providing the fulfillment of God's promise it was not the issue. God's faithfulness was the issue because with God all things are possible.
Abraham understood circumcision as a seal from God that meant that God was going to solve his problem with procreation. Abraham understood that circumcision was a seal from God that represented God's solving Abraham's problem of no heir from inability to procreate.
A seal is no good without the substance or the reality so you don't put a seal on something of no value. God could not put the seal on Abraham unless he first had capacity righteousness from God's word in his thinking. He had to have the potential plus the capacity from "the righteousness," the direct object "o dikaiosune" (the righteousness).
The reality is found in the fact that Abraham had capacity righteousness because he had believed God's Word of Truth and he believed God's promises in spite of empirical evidence to the contrary.
Circumcision was therefore a ritual that not only commemorated the beginning of the Jewish race in super-grace Abraham, but at the same time it brings into focus the principle that our potential must become our reality but potential does not become a reality without capacity because reality requires both potential and capacity.
Potential = God's righteousness imputed at salvation. Capacity = maximum doctrine resident in the soul that establishes maturity adjustment to God's justice. Reality = direct blessing from God.
Next is the ablative of source from "pistis" (faith or from faith). Plus the genitive of possession singular from the definite article "ho" (the) used as a relative pronoun, with the preposition "en" (in) followed by another article "ho" (the) the phrase is literally (the in the) "akrobustia" (uncircumcision).
The phrase translated "the in the" means in the status of so it is translated in the NASB as (which he had) or in better English it can be translated, "the faith that he had or that he exercised." This phrase is italicized in the KJV to show it is not translated word for word.
This is a reference to the fact that there is no such thing as direct blessing from God unless you have God's righteousness. In other words, God's justice only provides direct blessing to God's righteousness.
Expanded Translation so far Rom 4:11; "In fact he received the ritual mark of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness from the faith that he exercised in uncircumcision."
We see from this that Abraham was uncircumcised at the time of faith in Christ. So he was in uncircumcision when he received the potential from the imputation of God's righteousness that is one half of God's integrity resulting in His being justified.
The possession of God's righteousness is the predicate for direct blessings from God's justice that was memorialized by the ritual of circumcision in Abraham's case.
Circumcision is a ritual that memorializes Abraham's direct blessing from God's justice that came long after the imputation of God's righteousness that occurred while he was uncircumcised in Ur.
This means that circumcision had nothing to do with Abraham's salvation so the Judaizers completely misunderstood it. The same principle applies today because ritual cannot save.
Under satan's influence the Judaizers distorted salvation into a system of legalism by conflating faith in Christ and ritual circumcision for salvation.
Today satan does the same thing with the ritual of water baptism when he gets people to conflate water baptism with faith in Christ for salvation.
Satan distorts truth and creates legalism when he gets people to conflate overt ritual with doctrinal reality. Always remember that if the unbeliever can do it its not spiritual because only doctrinal truth combined with the invisible power of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is spiritual.