God sealed His covenant with Abraham, and then later with Israel, by requiring all males to be circumcised. I don't want t imagine how painful that must have been! Oh, sure, I was circumcised as a baby, so I don't really remember the pain. Abraham felt and remembered the pain! Yet, he submitted to it anyway. The covenant was just that important to him.
Under the new covenant we also have a seal. It is not made with human hands, but with the circumcision of our hearts through God's Holy Spirit. This is not to say that we have no part. Quite the contrary! When we submit ourselves to the water grave of baptism we are showing an outward appearance of our commitment to the covenant, just as surely as Abraham did with the outward act of circumcision. However, our outward sign is not so painful. Kind of makes you wonder why some would resist such a simple act of joining into a demonstration of our agreement with a Lord who has given us His all.
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