Covenant Discipleship: Linking Circumcision, Baptism, and Communion

Doc Ryan of Expedition 44 and Brian Phillips of Grace Ops


Circumcision was part of the covenant God had with Abraham, his
descendants and their slaves as "a token of the covenant"
concluded with him by God for all generations, an "everlasting
BLOOD covenant" (Genesis 17:13). Cutting of the covenant…


Similar to baptism it was an outward sign of who you belong to…
your allegiance. The penalty of non-observance was kareth
(Hebrew: "cutting off") from the people (Genesis 17:10–14, 21:4;
Leviticus 12:3). Non-Israelites had to undergo circumcision
before they could be allowed to take part in the feast of
Passover…


the hundred foreskin dowry (1 Samuel 18:25–27) and the story of
the Lord threatening to kill Moses, and being placated by
Zipporah's circumcision of their son (Exodus 4:24–26), and the
circumcision at Gilgal of Joshua 5


Walk –John says that if we claim to be in Christ, we must walk as
He did. The Greek verb, peripateo, is a nice Hebrew idiom
translated into Greek. In Hebrew, it would be halach, used
figuratively to express a way of life.


In the Hebrew culture, what helps one helps all and what harms
one harms all. The sense of community comes before any
consideration of individual well-being. Maybe that’s why there
are only two great commandments: love God first and love your
neighbor second. It was God’s way of walking… to walk with
others… discipleship.


‘When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.’ The true
disciple is not simply an admirer. He is the person who will
follow Jesus wherever he leads, even though that may mean pain,
persecution and sacrifice. In the Roman world, the cross stood
for pain, rejection, shame, and guilt.


We are to take up the cross ‘daily’. That is to say, habitually,
and in the details of life. It sometimes seems easier to trust
God with the ‘years’ of our lives than with the ‘days’. We have
faith and obedience in general, but not in particular. But
cross-carrying is a daily assignment.