[Chapter 2-1] Introduction to Romans Chapter 2
In
this world, there are only two groups of people that believe in God:
the Jews and Christians. Among these two groups of people, the former
don’t believe in Jesus while the latter do. God regards the faiths of
those who do not believe in Jesus as useless. However, the most serious
problem Christians face is that they believe in Jesus somehow but have
not yet been remitted of their sins. The Apostle Paul talks about this
theme in Romans chapter 2 not only to the Jews and Greeks but also to
today’s Christians.
The Jews judge others easily
The
Apostle Paul reproaches both the Jews and Christians who have the same
kinds of faiths. In Romans 2:1, Paul, saying “O man, whoever you are who
judge,” reproaches those who are intoxicated with the sense of
superiority in being Jewish or Christian. Even those who have not been
born again after believing in God know what is wrong by the law of
consciousness in their hearts. That is why they tell others not to
steal. However, they commit adultery themselves and do not keep the
Lord’s words, yet guide others with God’s commandments while professing
themselves to be believers of God. These are the people, among Jews and
Christians, who have not been born again.
Those
who believe in God tell others not to worship idols or commit murder,
boasting that they keep the law of God. Therefore, they dishonor God by
breaking His laws.
People
who do not know God’s righteousness, but believe in Jesus, also say
that Jesus is their Savior. But their faiths are not based on God’s
righteousness, so they oppose the true righteousness of God that has
already blotted out all their sins. They themselves do not know that
they are opposing the true believers in God. We can see that many people
call themselves Christians but reject the gospel that contains God’s
righteousness, without knowing Jesus’ love, or the spiritual
circumcision. They claim to follow God’s will, but in truth they have
not accepted Jesus and have crucified Him to the Cross on a charge of
blasphemy that Jesus identified Himself as the Son of God.
The
Apostle Paul said that an outward Jew is not a Jew, but an inward Jew
is a genuine Jew. They claim that they are God’s people and that they
are a part of God’s nation. But how can the Jews believe in God when
they have rejected Jesus as their Savior?
The
Apostle Paul says, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit,
not in the letter” (Romans 2:29). Those who believe in the spiritual
circumcision are the true believers in God. They are righteous by faith.
From
whom should the believers of God receive recognition and praise? They
should receive it from God. Paul said, “Whose praise is not from men but
from God” (Romans 2:29). If we believe in God’s righteousness, we win
His praise and receive a reward from Him. If you believe in Jesus
outwardly yet hold sin in your heart, you do not believe in God’s
righteousness actually; you are only mocking Him. Therefore, you will
receive the judgment of an unbeliever.
Who
are those who ignore God’s truth? They are the people who follow human
words more seriously than God’s word. They organize themselves into
various religious sects in Christianity and oppose God. They reject and
stand against the righteousness of God’s salvation with their united
power. Can you guess what kinds of punishments will come down on these
people?
The punishment to those who oppose God
Verses
8 and 9 state, “But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness─ indignation and wrath, tribulation and
anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also
of the Greek.”
Tribulation
and anguish will come down upon each of the souls of mankind who do
evil. Here, the expression “anguish” is the punishment to be received in
hell. To those who commit evil, there are tribulations and hell’s
anguish.
What
kind of a curse do those who reject God receive? God brings down
fearful judgment upon those who reject His love. How do you expect those
who have opposed God’s love, which comes from spiritual circumcision,
to live peacefully in body and mind? Some people will live ruined lives
now and after death because they deserve God’s wrath. They have opposed
God’s righteousness and cannot hold true satisfaction in their hearts.
They do not know the love that comes from spiritual circumcision; even
when they go to church confessing that they believe in Jesus, they still
suffer from not having their sins remitted.
You
cannot know this secret just because you believe in Jesus. Only those
who believe in God’s righteousness know it. Be advised you wrong
believers in God that you should understand and believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, which is God’s righteousness. Then you will
be able to free yourselves from the suffering curse.
If
a man says that he has sin in his heart even when he believes in Jesus,
it means that he believes in the wrong way and has to believe in the
true gospel that bestows God’s righteousness. No matter in what
denomination people believe in Jesus, if they claim to believe in Him
somehow, yet hold sin in their hearts, they are committing the sin of
ignoring God’s righteousness. What is the right result of believing in
God? If you believe in Jesus as your Savior in truth, you will surely be
sinless. However, if you have sin in your heart even after believing in
Jesus, it means that you have not fully understood God’s righteousness.
The
Lord who saved all the sinners from their sins has already come in
flesh, saved the sinners, and become the Savior of all believers. Then,
can a person who truly believes in the water and the Holy Spirit have
sin? The person should not have sin if he/she truly believes in God’s
righteousness from the moment he/she first believes in Jesus. But it is
because he/she ignores God’s righteousness while believing in Jesus
somehow that his/her heart comes to have sin.
Therefore,
you have to give up your stubbornness right now. “I have believed in
Jesus wrongly! Then in what way should I know Jesus and believe? I have
come to understand that the Cross is important in believing Jesus, but
His baptism is also very essential. Now I come to understand that Jesus
was crucified on the Cross and received vicarious judgment because He
took over all the sins of the world through the baptism.” You have to
realize these truths and believe them.
Those
who remain stubborn against the Lord will receive God’s retribution in
accordance. The result is being put into the fires of hell. That is why
Matthew 7:22 states, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done
many wonders in Your name?’” When the Lord comes again, those who do not
believe in God’s righteousness and have sins in their hearts while
outwardly pretending to believe in Jesus will be judged before God. They
will say to the Lord, “Have I not believed in You well? Have I not cast
out demons in Your name and spoken in tongues? Have I not served You,
Lord?”
However,
the Lord will say, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (this
indicates those who do not believe in God’s righteousness)! How can you
say that you believe in Me when you do not believe that I have blotted
out all of your sins by receiving baptism and dying on the Cross? Liar,
you shall enter the eternal burning fire. Your sin is that of a false
prophet and have led many people to hell.” Those who do not believe in
His righteousness and give up their stubbornness will receive God’s
fearful wrath.
The
biggest example of this kind of faith is of the Jews, and they still
remain stubborn before God. To this day, they do not believe in God’s
righteousness through Jesus Christ. Even among the Protestants, there
are so many stubborn Christians who say that their daily sins can be
forgiven every time they offer prayers of repentance. These people
should give up their stubbornness of not believing in God’s
righteousness in order to avoid His indignation.
Does
Jesus forgive those for their self-crimes whenever they repent and pray
for His forgiveness everyday? He doesn’t. John the Baptist, who was the
last High Priest of the Old Testament and the representative of all
mankind, baptized Jesus 2000 years ago and He shed blood on the Cross.
For thus, He fulfilled the righteousness of God and blotted out all of
mankind’s sins at once.
Where
did Jesus take over our sins? Jesus burdened himself of all the sins of
mankind all at once when He was baptized by John at the Jordan River.
He also saved the believers eternally from sin by going up the Golgotha
to shed blood on the Cross and receive vicarious judgment for all the
sins. But all the Christian-sinners are still stubborn and do not
believe in God’s righteousness. If their hearts have already been
cleansed of all sins by the blood on the Cross, then why do they have to
ask for forgiveness for their sins until they pass away? They are being
stubborn. Jesus’ blood on the Cross is important, but Jesus’ baptism
received from John is also so important that people should believe and
have their sins forgiven in one time in order to obtain God’s
righteousness.
Everyone
is stubborn! But before God, you should give up your stubbornness of
rejecting His righteousness. Those who believe in God should obey and
believe in His words. I am also a very stubborn person, but I gave up my
stubbornness before God and became righteous by His grace.
True
repentance is giving up one’s stubbornness and receiving the remission
of sins by accepting the righteousness of God in mind. After being
forgiven, we have to change our wrong ways and acknowledge our mistakes,
trying to live better lives spiritually in front of God. The latter is
the repentance in actual life of a born-again saint.
Those
who believe in Jesus, yet do not know God’s righteousness will be
destroyed. These people should give up their stubborn ways, repent, and
believe in the baptism and the Cross of Jesus for the remission of their
sins (Acts 3:19). The Lord gave us this commandment in order for us to
receive the remission of sins in one time by believing in His
righteousness. We have to listen to God and listen to His words so that
we can be perfectly righteous people and be forgiven for all our sins at
once by believing in the truth that Jesus atoned all our sins through
His baptism and crucifixion. When a person believes in God’s
righteousness, he/she will be forgiven for all sin and receive the Holy
Spirit as a gift. All the Apostles and disciples of Jesus believed in
God’s righteousness and received the remission of sins in one time. You,
too, should not be stubborn before the truth. You should be stubborn at
the right times. If you do not understand the spiritual circumcision
well, you have to learn and believe it. It would not do to remain
stubborn. You have to repent and believe.
People
reject the truth and mock it without knowing the truth of spiritual
circumcision. “That is wrong! How can a person become righteous when he
commits sins everyday? You know, God just calls the believers in Jesus
righteous even though they are still sinful. It is the Doctrine of
Justification. You are not called righteous because you really do not
have any sin in your heart.” However, you should know it is a very
erroneous teaching.
In
the Bible, God said that through the gospel of spiritual circumcision
that gives us the remission of sins, “I have blotted out all of your
sins. You are sinless now. Because I have taken over all of your sins,
you are righteous.” “Do you believe in My righteousness? If you believe
in the words of the spiritual circumcision, then you are one of My
people and you are sinless.” God talks about His complete deliverance,
but nominal Christians slander and mock the born-again Christians who
believe in spiritual circumcision. They say, “How can a person become
righteous when he/she commits sins ceaselessly? You can call a person
‘as sinless’ only through the Doctrine of Justification. How can we
think of a person as really sinless? A person cannot help but sin every
day.” They slander like this and remain stubborn because they do not
believe in the righteousness of God.
But
God gives eternal lives to those who are patient in doing good. Those
who seek glory, honor, and immortality by patient continuance in doing
good will become God’s children, but those who do not do so will receive
punishment. Everyone wants to become a child of God and live eternal
life. Jesus gives eternal lives to those who earnestly want to live
forever and have sinless lives.
“What
I truly want Lord is to believe in the remission of sin through the
spiritual circumcision so that I may live a life without anything
shameful in my conscience. I want to become Your child. I want to
believe in Your righteousness and make You happy. I want to become
sinless. Please save me from all my sins.” To those who seek God’s
righteous salvation and wishes to be forgiven for all their sins, God
listens to all of their wishes and forgives all of their sins by giving
them the gospel of God’s righteousness. To those who want to live
eternally, God gives eternal life.
What is the spiritual circumcision?
It
means the remission of sins accomplished through Jesus’ baptism and His
blood on the Cross. The blood of the Lamb is the vicarious judgment and
Jesus’ baptism from John means that the sins of the world were passed
onto Jesus. Even today, Christianity cannot ignore the Old Testament
because then, it cannot believe in the New Testament. In the Scriptures,
we can find that the spiritual circumcision and the blood of the lamb
at the Passover ritual are closely related.
In
1 John 5:6, it says that Jesus came “not only by water, but by water
and blood.” Jesus did not come only by water or by blood, but by both.
You have to believe in the spiritual circumcision contained in the words
of the water, the blood, and the Spirit in order to be delivered from
all your sins.
Reading
Exodus chapter 12, I had some questions about the spiritual
circumcision. What does Exodus chapter 12 mean? I looked carefully into
the entire chapter and all the related passages in the Bible again and
again. And I came to realize that the Israelites were able to
participate in the Passover Feast because they had received circumcision
and in the New Testament, it said that Jesus did not simply shed blood
on the Cross, but shed blood because He was baptized by John.
God
told the Israelites two ordinances for the lawful Passover Feast: to
receive circumcision previously and then to eat the meat of the Passover
lamb. This was the spiritual circumcision of the Old Testament! In the
New Testament, it said that our sins were passed onto Jesus by John’s
baptism and that He shed blood on the Cross. I found out that accepting
these facts resulted in the truth of receiving the spiritual
circumcision. Jesus Christ was baptized by John at the Jordan; that is
how He burdened the world’s sins and why He had to die on the Cross to
receive judgment in our place.
You
can experience the salvation from all the sins and iniquities by
accepting this truth in your heart. For a person to receive salvation
from all sin, he/she needs to believe in God’s righteousness, which can
give us the spiritual circumcision. People need to realize this truth.
You readers have to perceive the truth that the spiritual circumcision
in the Old Testament and the baptism of Jesus in the New Testament form a
pair when concerning the remission of sins. Jesus did not receive
judgment because He had sinned, but He died on the Cross for mankind
because He had been baptized and borne the sins of the world with His
body. This is the faith of those who have received the spiritual
circumcision.
Those
who believe in God’s righteousness through the spiritual circumcision
have no sin because they truly believe in Jesus. I pity those who
believe in Jesus somehow, yet have not received the spiritual
circumcision from God. They have to believe in the truth that Jesus took
over all the sins of the world when John baptized Him.
Unfortunately,
most Christians believe only in the Cross and not Jesus’ baptism. Thus,
they do not have the faith of believing in God’s righteousness. We have
to know that we must believe what God has told us in the Scriptures.
We
have to tear down no matter what doctrines and teachings of
theologians, and only believe in God’s words that will lead us to His
righteousness. This is because words without His righteousness are not
truly God’s words. The gospel without the spiritual circumcision is not
complete. That is why in the Bible, God spoke so frequently about the
circumcision in the Old Testament and the baptism of Jesus in the New
Testament. In other words, it talks about the circumcision and the blood
of the Passover lamb in the Old Testament in parallel with Jesus’
baptism and His blood in the New Testament. We have to believe in this
truth to receive the spiritual circumcision. However, if we do not
believe in this truth, we will be set aside from God’s Kingdom.
Is
God’s righteousness fulfilled only by His blood on the Cross? This is
not so. God’s righteousness was completed both by Jesus’ baptism and His
blood on the Cross. So, we received the spiritual circumcision in our
hearts not only by His bloodshed on the Cross, but by the baptism He
received from John. The spiritual circumcision can be possible for us
since Jesus actually blotted out all our sins through His baptism and
His atoning death on the Cross.
Circumcision means to cut out
Isaiah
prophesied that the Messiah, Jesus Christ would receive the vicarious
judgment for our sins by being wounded and bruised. Therefore, there is
something we should know before we go on. Why did Christ have to be
crucified on the Cross?
In
the Old Testament, a sinner had to lay his/her hands on a sacrificial
lamb to pass on the sins and then had to kill the lamb. Then, the priest
took some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on
the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and poured the rest of its
blood at the base of the altar (Leviticus 4:27-30). A sinner of the Old
Testament Age could be remitted of his/her sins this way. Then wouldn’t
Jesus, who came as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) to save us from our
sins, had to have had hands laid on His head as in the Old Testament in
order to take all of mankind’s sins?
Then,
when and how did the Lord take the sins of the world? Is that not shown
in Matthew 3:13-17, where John baptized Jesus at the Jordan? This is as
in Leviticus of the Old Testament where it continuously says the sinner
“shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering” (Leviticus 1:4,
3:8, 4:29) to pass on the sins. The High Priest in the Old Testament had
to lay his hands on the head of the lamb and pass on his and all the
Israelites’ sins (Leviticus 16:21). Then, he took some of its blood and
put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and poured its
remaining blood at the base of the altar. They received the remission of
sins this way.
In
a way like this, our remission of sins was made possible by Jesus’
baptism from John and His blood on the Cross. This was God’s
righteousness and the spiritual circumcision that God wanted to give us
within the Bible. Therefore, we who believe in God’s righteousness had
our sins cut off by Jesus’ baptism from John and His blood on the Cross.
When we perceive the meaning of Jesus’ baptism in the New Testament in
relation to the circumcision in the Old Testament, we come to believe in
God’s righteousness and we truly come to receive the spiritual
circumcision in our hearts.
The true spiritual circumcision in the New Testament
Let
us see Matthew 3:13-15. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the
Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I
need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus
answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.”
John
the Baptist baptized Jesus at the Jordan. He laid his hands upon Jesus’
head and baptized him. (To baptize, ‘baptizo’ in Greek, means to
immerse or to submerge under water.)
In
order for Jesus to die on the Cross for our sins, He first had to take
our sins through the baptism. So, He was baptized by John first, and
then submerged under water. Why was He baptized? It was because when He
was baptized, all of God’s righteousness could be fulfilled. It was just
and fitting that He took mankind’s sins through baptism and that He
became our God and Savior. It was very suitable for Jesus to die on the
Cross bearing all our sins on His body through His baptism.
The
first thing Jesus ever did in His public life was to receive baptism.
Baptism, ‘baptisma’ in Greek, implies “to wash, to bury, to transfer and
to pass over.” In the Old Testament, the 10th day of the seventh month
was the Day of Atonement of the Israelites, and Aaron laid his hands
upon the sacrificial goats to pass on all of the sins of the Israelites.
Of the two goats, one was offered to God and the other was made as an
offering for atonement in front of the Israelites (Leviticus 16). In the
New Testament, Jesus received all of our sins by being baptized by
John.
On
the next day of His baptism, John pointed his finger at Him and said,
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John
1:29)
You have to admit that the spiritual circumcision is not possible only by the faith in His blood.
Let
us see starting from 1 John 5:4. “For whatever is born of God overcomes
the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world─our
faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus
is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood─Jesus Christ;
not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who
bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and
these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the
Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is
the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in
the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God
has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God
has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:4-12).
What
is the proof of the spiritual circumcision? It is the faith of
believing both in Jesus’ baptism and His blood as our salvation. The
victory that has overcome the world is the water and the blood. “This is
He who came by water and blood─ Jesus Christ; not only by water, but
also by blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit
is truth. And there are three that bear witness on the earth: the
Spirit, the water, and the blood.” These witnesses, that show God is our
God and our Savior, testifies that God came to earth in human flesh,
took all of our sins unto His body through His baptism, shed blood on
the Cross on our behalf, and thus delivered us from all our sins.
In
the New Testament, the gospel of the spiritual circumcision consists of
the water and the blood. In the New Testament, the water is the baptism
Jesus received from John and the blood means His death on the Cross.
Jesus’ baptism is the counterpart to the circumcision in the Old
Testament. Jesus’ baptism from John is proof that our sins have been
passed onto Him by it. Those who believe in the truth will be able to
stand in front of God and say, “God, you are my Savior. I believe in
Your righteousness, therefore, I have no sin. I am your flawless child
and You are my God.” What is the basis in the Scriptures that let’s you
confidently shout in this way? It is the faith in Jesus’ baptism and His
blood on the Cross, which constitute God’s righteousness. Accepting
God’s righteousness as my righteousness cannot be possible only by
Christ’s blood. Both His baptism and blood create it.
Let
us look at the passage about the indispensability of Jesus’ baptism in
our salvation. 1 Peter 3:21 is the proof of this truth. “There is also
an antitype which now saves us─baptism (not the removal of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
The
Apostle Peter is now talking about the doubtless evidence of our
salvation. Jesus’ baptism is the circumcision in the Old Testament. Do
you understand? As the Israelites cut off their foreskins for
circumcision in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, Jesus was
baptized by John and took all the sins of the world, enabling us to
receive the spiritual circumcision. The baptism and the blood on the
Cross created God’s righteousness. The spiritual circumcision and the
baptism mean the same thing. You have to understand that Jesus’ baptism
implies the spiritual circumcision to all of us.
“There
is also an antitype which now saves us─baptism.” How do we receive
God’s righteousness? By believing that Jesus was baptized and died on
the Cross for our sins. Matthew 3:15 states, “For thus it is fitting for
us to fulfill all righteousness.” Because all of mankind’s sins have
passed onto Jesus’ head, sinners’ sins are blotted out absolutely. Every
sinner becomes righteous by believing in Jesus’ baptism and His blood.
Jesus Christ shed the blood of judgment on the Cross after bearing all
the sins of the world; all of mankind’s sins were atoned this way.
Believing that Jesus took over the world’s sins by being baptized and
that He received vicarious judgment on behalf of us is to have faith in
the truth that will bring God’s righteousness to believers. Believe in
this truth.
John
1:29 states, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world.” Jesus is God’s Son and as our Creator, He fulfilled His promise
of circumcision by taking all sinners’ sins. This is the true faith that
brings in our hearts the spiritual circumcision, which is God’s
righteousness. Jesus is our true righteousness. We must thank Jesus. We
must thank Him for His baptism and blood that enables us to receive the
spiritual circumcision.
1
Peter 3:21 continues, “Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but
the answer of a good conscience toward God.” A person’s filth of the
flesh is not removed just because he/she believes in Jesus as his/her
real Savior. You can receive the remission of sins by believing that all
your sins have been passed onto Jesus by His baptism and His blood shed
on the Cross. Receiving the remission of sins by confessing Jesus as
your Savior occurs in your heart. It takes place in the believer’s
heart. If you believe in the Savior with your heart, you will be
remitted of your sins, while your flesh is still filthy and commits
iniquities everyday; but there is no sin. You receive God’s
righteousness by believing that when Jesus was baptized, all of the sins
were passed on to Jesus and that there are no more sins in your heart.
You have to believe in the truth to make it yours
In
John 1:12, it says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
What
words have you received and accepted? You have to accept the things
that were done by God’s Son. What was God’s work? God’s Son came to
earth in the likeness of sinful flesh, and when He was thirty, He got
baptized to take all of mankind’s sins and gave us the spiritual
circumcision so that our sins would be blotted out. Then He died on the
Cross as the Lamb of God and made atonement for us. The Lord became the
eternal sin offering for all sinners and saved us eternally. This is
true faith. We become righteous by believing in this truth.
Can
we receive the spiritual circumcision only by Christ’s blood? No, we
cannot. Jesus’ baptism cut out the sins from us and the judgment He
received on the Cross by shedding blood for the sinners was the
vicarious judgment for you and me. We are saved from sin and are exempt
from judgment because we believe in the gospel of God’s righteousness,
that is, the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and blood on the Cross. Receiving
Jesus as the Savior can blot out all the sins in a sinner’s heart.
Receive the spiritual circumcision in your hearts. Then, the
righteousness of God will become yours.
True spiritual circumcision should take place in the heart
In
Romans chapter 2, the Apostle Paul says, “Circumcision is that of the
heart.” How do you circumcise yourself in your heart? This is possible
by believing that Jesus Christ came to earth in human flesh, that He was
baptized to take all “the sins of the world,” that He died shedding
blood on the Cross, and that He resurrected again to be our eternal
Savior. The Apostle Paul said that circumcision should be done in the
heart, and you can be circumcised in your heart by believing in Jesus’
baptism. If you want to receive the spiritual circumcision in your
heart, believe in Jesus’ baptism. Then, you will truly become one of
God’s children. Righteous is the person who believes that Jesus’ baptism
and blood delivered him/her from all his/her sins. Amen.
Until
He was 29 years old, Jesus lived a private life supporting His family,
but when He became 30, He started living His public life. During His
public life, He blotted out all of mankind’s sins and delivered all the
sinners from their sins. The first thing He did was to receive baptism
in order to deliver the sinners from their sins and make them righteous.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by
him” (Matthew 3:13). Why did Jesus try to be baptized? We have to know
that He did this in order to take all the sinner’s sins. We must not
misunderstand the true meaning of His baptism. Baptism is to wash away
sins by transferring them. That is why Jesus, in order to take sinners’
sins, asked John to baptize Him.
Who
is this John who baptized Jesus? John is the representative of all
mankind. This is explained well in Matthew 11:11-14. “Assuredly, I say
to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than
John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the
kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are
willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.”
Starting
from the days of John the Baptist, the age of God’s Covenant ended.
This is because Jesus, the Person who was to fulfill His promises, had
come. Then, who were the persons that were to fulfill the promises in
the Old Testament? They were Jesus and John the Baptist. John the
Baptist passed the sins onto Jesus. John the Baptist was the last
prophet in the Old Testament who was sent to pass all the sins onto
God’s Lamb, who came in the New Testament. John did this task by laying
his hands on Jesus’ head according to the lawful way established in the
sacrificial system. All the sins of the world were cut off and
transferred onto Jesus when He was baptized. “For thus,” God gave the
spiritual circumcision in all the hearts of mankind.
Hold
fast Jesus’ baptism and His blood as your atonement. Jesus has already
taken all of the sins of the world and has also born all of the
judgment. The gospel of God’s righteousness is the truth that Jesus was
baptized and shed blood to atone all our sins. Now, we can receive the
remission of sins just by accepting God’s righteousness in our hearts.
If you receive it, you will be able to enter “the genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” There are people who
already know of God’s righteousness and those who do not and are still
outside of Jesus Christ. The sun is going to set. Believe in Jesus’
baptism and enter Him. The faith of believing in the baptism will become
your oil prepared for the wedding feast. I hope you know the secret so
that you can prepare the oil for the lamp to meet our second coming Lord
Jesus just by believing in Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross.
Jesus
received baptism so that He would blot out everyone’s sins. Jesus is
the Son of God and God Himself. He is our Creator. He came to the earth
with His Father’s will in order to adopt us as God’s children. Who do
all the prophecies in the Old Testament talk about? They prophesy about
Jesus. They were prophecies about how He would come to earth and take
over our sins and eliminate them. As the prophecies in the Old Testament
said, Jesus came to earth about 2000 years ago and took over all of our
sins by being baptized. He had borne all of mankind’s sins, starting
from Adam and Eve, down to the last person.
Receive
the spiritual circumcision in your hearts. “Circumcision is that of the
heart” (Romans 2:29). When you believe in Jesus’ baptism, you will
automatically receive the circumcision of the heart. Circumcision of the
heart means the elimination of the sins in our hearts when we
acknowledge that all the sins were passed onto Jesus by His baptism.
Have you received the circumcision of the heart? By believing in the
circumcision in the heart, “all the sins will be cleansed by faith.”
Do you really accept the truth of the spiritual circumcision in your heart?
It
has been about 2000 years since Jesus came to earth, was baptized and
died on the Cross. We should only accept this fact and receive it in our
hearts today. “Circumcision is that of the heart.” We can receive
circumcision in our minds and hearts by faith in the truth. We all have
received deliverance by believing in God’s righteousness. Even if God’s
judgment on earth comes, we will not be afraid. Those who believe in
God’s righteousness do not receive God’s judgment. God’s judgment falls
upon those who have not accepted God’s righteousness in their hearts.
Why
do Christians today believe in Jesus, yet go astray? Why do they live
in agony? It is because they believe only in Jesus’ blood for their
salvation. Now you should admit that you have inflicted God with your
stubbornness and return to the truth that Jesus took all of our sins by
being baptized at the Jordan. Then, the spiritual circumcision will take
place in your heart.
If
you believe both in Jesus’ baptism and His blood, the spiritual
circumcision will take place in your heart and you will not receive
God’s judgment, but become one of His children. God will become your God
and you will become one of His people. If there are those among you who
believe in Jesus but are dependent only on Jesus’ blood, I would like
to ask you a question. Is our spiritual circumcision and God’s
righteousness only by the blood of the Cross? Our salvation is completed
not by the blood only, but by Jesus’ baptism, His blood and the Spirit.
God’s righteousness attained by being united with Christ
Let
us study Romans 6:3-8. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the
likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection, Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer
be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we
died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
Verse
5 states, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His
death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, that is, whoever has sin
will perish and go to hell. Did not all of you have sin before believing
in the truth of Jesus Christ completely? ─Yes.─ Even if you have the
slightest amount of sin, you will go to hell and receive the judgment of
“the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 21:8). If we were
to pay the wages of our own sins, which is death, we would never be
able to be saved from sin at all. So, God sent Jesus Christ to this
earth and passed all the sins to Him and judged Him instead of us.
God
saved us all because He loved us so much. God the Father sent His only
begotten Son to the world, passed all the sins of the world onto His Son
through the baptism, and crucified Him with nails so that He would shed
blood to atone all the sins. Believing in this is being united with
Jesus. The wages for sin is death. We all had sins in our hearts and
were supposed to go to hell because of those sins. But instead of us,
who were destined to go to hell, Jesus took care of the sins in the
Jordan by being baptized and punished vicariously on the Cross. Thus,
His death became our deaths because His baptism took away all our sins.
This is the faith of uniting with Christ.
Many
people still believe in Jesus in the “religious” way. They go to church
and shed tears while confessing their sins, asking for forgiveness.
Stop doing that right now and believe in God’s righteousness, and you
will gain the peace from God in your heart. Jesus was baptized and died
on the Cross in order to save us, and I hope you believe in this gospel.
God
taught us through Moses about the remission of sins. Moses accepted
God’s command that he go to Egypt to deliver the Israelites, His people.
So, he went to Egypt with his wife and child on a donkey. That night,
God’s messenger appeared and tried to kill Moses. Then, his wife
Zipporah, hastily took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son
and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of
blood to me!” (Exodus 4:25)
The
truth in this passage is like this. Even Moses’ son would not have been
considered as one of God’s people if he had not yet received
circumcision; therefore, God was going to kill him. God said that the
Israelites would not be considered His people if they had not been
circumcised. The circumcision in the Old Testament was a sign of being
one of God’s people. God had to make Moses realize this. So, Moses’ wife
quickly cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it saying, “Surely you are
a husband of blood to me!” God tried to kill Moses because of his son’s
uncircumcision.
Even
if a person were Abraham’s descendant, he would be cut off from the
Israelites if he hadn’t been circumcised. Only the circumcised could eat
the meat of the Passover lamb and strike the lintel and the two
doorposts with the blood of the lamb. Like this, only the spiritually
circumcised can participate in the Holy Communion. Those without this
faith can never enter God’s righteousness and therefore, will not be
able to participate in God’s glory.
The
Apostle Paul was a Jew. He was circumcised when he was eight days old
and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. He was proficient in the Old
Testament. So, Paul understood well as to why Jesus Christ had been
baptized at the Jordan River and why He had to die on the Cross.
Therefore he could preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit in much
assurance. That is why he said, “Circumcision is that of the heart”
(Romans 2:29).
Of
course, the Apostle Paul talked more frequently about Jesus’ death on
the Cross. Why? Because even if Jesus performed our spiritual
circumcision of taking our sins; if He had not been sacrificed on the
Cross, in other words, if He had not received judgment, we could not
have been saved. That is why Paul spoke about the Cross more frequently.
You have to keep in mind that the Cross is the conclusion and
completion of our spiritual circumcision. However, most Christians today
do not have the slightest idea of the causality between Jesus’ baptism
and His death on the Cross, and thus are doomed to hell. If the power of
faith in the spiritual circumcision had been passed on well through
generations, today’s Christianity would not have been this way.
Some
people are very grateful when they first meet Jesus, but they become
disappointed at their immutable infirmities and become worse sinners as
time passes by. Ten years may pass after first believing in Jesus, but
they may have become worse sinners. Can they be sinners even after
believing in Jesus? They sing the hymn just in words.
“♪Weeping
will not save me! ♫ Though my face were bathed in tears, ♫ That could
not allay my fears, ♫ Could not wash the sin of years! ♫ Weeping will
not save me! … ♪Faith in Christ will save me! ♫ Let me trust thy weeping
Son, ♪Trust the work that He has done; ♪To His arms, Lord help me run:
♪Faith in Christ will save me. ♫”
They
sing, “Weeping will not save me. Faith in Christ will save me.” But,
that’s in word only. They pray shedding tears every time they sin. “God,
please forgive me. If you forgive me this time, I will be good from now
on.” When a Christian sins, he/she confesses, cries and asks for
forgiveness, and then feels better. But a person who repeats this for
years becomes more sinful in his/her heart than when he/she first
believed in Jesus ten years before. That person regretfully asks the
question, “Why did I believe in Jesus so early? I should have believed
in Him when I turned 80, or just before my last breath. I believed too
early.” It is because he/she was supposed to live according to God’s
will, but didn’t.
To
every person’s sin, there must be a judgment. That is why Jesus was
baptized and judged on the Cross, shedding His precious blood so that He
could save us from our sins. He arose again from the dead in three
days. God the Father raised Jesus to life again. A person who believes
in the spiritual circumcision can and has to live the life of spreading
the gospel. Spiritual circumcision is the evidence that we have to
become God’s children and it is God’s righteousness. Jesus’ baptism is
the evidence that our sins have been passed onto Him, and His precious
blood on the Cross is the evidence that He has paid all the wages of our
sins by receiving the vicarious judgment.
Do
you believe in Jesus, yet remain sinful in your heart? That is the
faith of a heretic. Titus 3:10 states, “Reject a divisive man after the
first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and
sinning, being self-condemned.” Those who have heretical faiths are
self-condemning sinners. They insist that they are being sinners even
when they are threatened with death. They are too stubborn to change
their misunderstanding. God tells these sinners, “You are a heretic. You
are a sinner; you are not My child and you will enter the eternal fires
of hell.”
Those
who believe in Jesus, yet have not accepted God’s righteousness, or the
spiritual circumcision of Jesus’ baptism and blood, are heretical
Christians and the great sinners who cannot but confess their sinfulness
before God. Sinners who do not believe in Jesus’ righteousness cannot
enter His Kingdom.
Those
who have become righteous after believing in Jesus have the evidence of
receiving the spiritual circumcision in their hearts. The following are
the evidences: Jesus is God who came in a flesh of a man, and He was
baptized and shed blood on the Cross. Jesus came to the earth and was
baptized by John the Baptist in order to take the sins of the world; He
received judgment on the Cross to make perfect the faiths of those who
believe in the spiritual circumcision. He resurrected from the dead in
three days and became our living Savior. This is the very correct
salvation of God’s righteousness that is not only by the blood, but by
the water, the blood and the Holy Spirit. These are the conclusive
evidences of the spiritual circumcision that bears witness to His
perfect salvation of us.
My
dear Christians, accept in your hearts that our salvation was not made
possible only by Jesus’ blood, but by the water, the blood, and the Holy
Spirit. God has cut off the sins of the world and completely eliminated
the condemnation from us. Not only did He cut off my sins, but also the
sins of the world, starting from Adam’s to the sins of the last person
on earth. He took them all with His baptism and blood. Receiving the
spiritual circumcision will save whoever believes in God’s
righteousness, which was fulfilled by Jesus who came by water and blood.
All
the sins of the world have been cut off by Jesus’ baptism from John.
Now those who believe in the spiritual circumcision cannot have sin in
their hearts. Jesus rose again among the dead and raised our souls that
had been lost with sin with His righteousness. God is looking for us
with the gospel of Jesus’ baptism, His blood, and the Spirit, and we now
can be saved by the spiritual circumcision. The spiritual circumcision
was God’s plan in Jesus even before Creation, for those who believe.
Now, you who believe in God’s righteousness have also received the
spiritual circumcision.
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