Immediately after the Lord left off speaking with Abraham (Genesis 17:22), Abraham began to physically carry out the terms of the covenant (Genesis 17:23-27). For all intents and purposes, the covenant seemed to be a physical matter. Cut of a small piece of flesh, and one met the terms of the covenant and could expect the Lord to act, as though he was the God of that one’s life. On the surface it seemed to be a lot like becoming a citizen of a country. If one meets the demands the king or leader of that country placed upon the prospective citizen, then presto-changeo that one has both a new country and a new king, or in the case of circumcision, the king was the citizen’s new god.
Nevertheless, Paul tells us: not so fast, pilgrim, there’s more to it than that, (Romans 2:25; paraphrased). In fact, Paul claimed that, if a physically uncircumcised person behaved himself in a righteous manner, then his behavior counted as circumcision (Romans 2:26)! Therefore, the act, itself, was never meant to be a litmus test for one’s relationship with God. Instead, the physical act of circumcision was a physical token of a spiritual condition. The physical was something others were able see, if they had the opportunity, and if questioned as to why one was circumcised, then that one could point to his God, the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth and all things contained therein. Nevertheless, if one didn’t behave righteously, the thing to which the physical act pointed, vis-à-vis the token would then be a lie, because the circumcised man wasn’t walking with God. So, even though the token was present, the heart denied its meaning, and God looks upon the heart, while man looks upon what he could physically see.
We need to look at what the text says about Abram/Abraham. In Genesis 15:6 we are told that Abram believed God, and his faith was counted for righteousness. In other words, Abram walked with God, trusting him to do the things he promised to do, even though those things were not evident, and because this was true about Abraham, God said he was righteous. When the Lord appeared to Abram/Abraham in Genesis 17, he introduced himself for the first time as Almighty God, and he said his covenant was with Abram/Abraham (Genesis 17:4), because he had been walking with God out of the integrity of his heart (cp, verse-1). Paul made a distinction between the physical token and the reality of Abraham’s life. According to Paul, Abraham was already righteous before being circumcised, because he believed God (Romans 4:3), so instead of being justified by works (the physical act of circumcision), Abraham was justified by faith, trusting God would do whatever he claims he’d do (Romans 4:2-3).
If Abraham’s righteousness came, because he obeyed God and circumcised his son, his servants and himself, then, in such case, Abraham’s righteousness would be awarded him out of debt, vis-à-vis righteousness was something he earned, or it was owed him for obeying God (Romans 4:4). However, this wasn’t so in Abraham’s case. He was considered righteous, because he believed, not because he obeyed. Righteousness, in Abraham’s case was reckoned out of grace. In other words, it was bestowed upon him, because of a matter of the heart, vis-à-vis his faith or trust in God (Romans 4:4-5). In fact, David, himself, also described the righteousness that comes to man by grace, not works (Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 4:7-8).
So, what does all this mean in terms of Abraham’s walk with the Lord and the covenant of circumcision that the Lord made with him? Well, Paul shows us that the text concludes that Abraham was declared righteous by God, because Abraham believed him. Righteousness isn’t something we are able to attain through our behavior. Rather, the Lord declares us righteous, because of our faith in him. What circumcision does is express, in physical terms, what it means to be righteousness. Faith comes with a price. It costs us something, and physically cutting off a piece of flesh from our bodies expresses that price. It hurts our flesh to be identified with God. It costs us something to walk with him. James tells us, it is impossible to have legitimate faith without works (James 2:18).
The works, themselves, don’t make us righteous, but our righteousness demands that we behave a certain way. It cost Abraham his country, his relatives and his comfort to answer the call of God. He believed, yes, but his faith cost him. Long before Abraham became circumcised physically, he had cut off the flesh of his ancestry and his rights in the community of his birth. Circumcision was merely the physical expression of the price he paid, because he believed God. His faith was expressed in works, but his righteousness didn’t come by works, but by grace. Because Abraham believed God, not because he obeyed God, he was declared righteous by God (Genesis 15:6), and because he was declared righteous, God’s covenant or righteousness (circumcision) was with him (Genesis 17:4).
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