Romans 4:11,12

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.  Romans 4:11,12 ESV

Paul, having disproved that circumcision had anything to do with Abraham being justified, now explains the purpose of circumcision.

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. 

While an entire study could be done on this topic, I would like to briefly break this down to give us a better understanding of what was going on here.
We see here that there were two purposes of circumcision:

1. It was a sign.
2. It was a seal.

Circumcision was a sign for Abraham, and his Jewish descendants, that they were God's chosen people. This was a result of Abraham's faith, but we must not for a moment think that as God's chosen nation, the Jews automatically entered eternal life. They enjoyed God's blessings, but eternal life was and always will be through faith alone - no other way. Paul deals with this a little more later.

The Jews were, as Paul said earlier in Romans 3:2, entrusted with the oracles of God. Through God's covenant with Abraham, He used His chosen people to introduce all of the laws and ceremonies that revealed who He was, what He was going to do, as well as many types and shadows of Jesus Christ.

Circumcision was also a seal of Abraham's righteousness, that he had by faith - before circumcision took place. This seal, instructed by God, confirmed Abraham's righteousness. It was by faith, not tied to any act of his, and was indeed true, saving faith in God that results in salvation.

Paul has described the two things that circumcision was for - a sign of Abraham's faith and a seal of Abraham's righteousness as genuine - neither purpose had anything to do with providing salvation for Abraham's descendents.



The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,

It was so important for Paul's Jewish audience to understand that Abraham, being justified before circumcision, was not just a "father" of faith to the Jews, but to ALL of God's children. This needed to be grasped by the Jews in order for them to release their grip on their heritage as the basis for salvation. They could not love as Jesus commanded with the idea that they had one up on those that were not of the same background. 

We cannot cling so tightly to our heritage, whatever it may be, that we are blinded to Truth.

Paul is clear when he says "so that righteousness would be counted to them as well."  Just as faith needed to be, and was counted to Abraham as righteousness, the same is true for all who come know Christ as their Lord and Savior - regardless of circumcision or any other act.



And to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Here, the Jews are bluntly confronted with the error of their belief - Paul calls them "merely circumcised." The ritual they clung to as a way to lift themselves up in relation to the Gentiles around them was considered empty in the eyes of Paul. It had been so abused that it had become a hindrance instead of the reminder it was intended for. 

We, as humans, are capable of taking any part of the Bible and using it out of context to fit what we want to believe about God - just as the Jews did.

It's so important that we ask God to guide us clearly, free from any biased human opinions that would give us a skewed view of God's direction, convictions, or commands in our lives. This is the only way to truly seek out Truth, which results in God being most glorified through us. 

The Jews that Paul was addressing were very passionate about what they believed - they spent their lives making sure they got the "rules" right. The one thing lacking was what Paul included at the end of of verse 12 - "who also walk in the footsteps of faith that our father Abraham had." No amount of passion for what a person believes, no amount of self sacrifice, no amount of rule keeping, no amount of giving, no amount of "confession" is worth anything if it is not accompanied by true faith that the God of Abraham was, is, and always will be who He says He is in His Word. 

We need to make sure we are not constructing a god that fits our beliefs in place of the God of the Bible. The Bible is so clear in describing who our God is, we just need to turn there so often to learn and be reminded about Him. We will never know all there is to know about our God, but that DOES NOT mean that we stop trying to learn about Him, to know Him more, to fall more in love with Him everyday!