A Changed Heart

Circumcision of the Heart
Have you ever sang this song, Change my heart oh God”? For us to really be in a right relationship with God and with others around us we need Jesus Christ to do for us what we cannot do ourselves. That is to change our hearts. Here in this passage of Scripture we will read Paul addressing Jewish Christians who were counting on their ethnicity and the outward sign of the covenant(circumcision) to get them into heaven. He raises from question that they would have asked as a result of reading the first two chapters of Romans. Let's read what he writes to the church.
For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. “Romans 2:25-29”
Paul is writing to the Jew Christian letting them know that if they can keep the whole law without sinning their circumcision is profitable. They are not able to keep the whole law therefore their circumcision is unprofitable. Notice the line of thinking that the Apostle uses. If an uncircumcised man is able to do this then his uncircumcision will be counted as circumcision. The problem is this, some of the Jews were counting on their ethnicity and circumcision to keep them from experiencing the righteous judgment of God. Today, I’m afraid that we are guilty of propagating something just as bad. We may be guilty of counting on our Christian heritage, the church we grew up in and our outward baptism we experienced as a child or an adult. If our heart is not changed by Jesus Christ none of this will get us into heaven. Let’s read the last sentence again. There is a heart matter that must be taken into account. Circumcision that matters is not the outward one that the Jew was counting on, nor the outward act of water baptism or sprinkling. The circumcision that matters is the circumcision of the heart. The baptism that matters is the baptism of the heart. If God has not baptized and placed you in the body of Christ you do not have forgiveness of sins, no power to live the Christian life today and no eternal home in heaven? Ask Jesus these two questions: Am I yours? Am I holy? The Holy Spirit of God will answer these two questions. If you belong to God you’re set aside for his purposes. When a person is baptized by God they hunger and thirst to know him, to know Jesus and to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. All who are saved by the Lord will grow to be faithful believers living for Christ. If you are struggling with sin I invite you to come to Jesus and ask him to change your heart. He can take the sin away and give you a new heart with the strength you need to walk with him.