What is the True Meaning of 'Circumcision' Recorded in the Bible? (Shincheonji Church)
📰The Bible is one of the best-selling and most widely distributed books in history, yet it is also considered to be among the least understood. The Bible, which is referred to as the New Covenant and Promise of God, in which 'the way to heaven and salvation' is presented, differs in theologians' interpretations that make it difficult to understand. These differing interpretations have been the cause of the rise of denominations with each one establishing their own doctrine. With the increase in online church services and gatherings resulting from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, there has been growing interest in the comparison of various church doctrine. This paper, therefore, attempts to provide readers with the opportunity to compare differing Biblical teachings without interpretation. Among a host of online sermons and Bible-based teachings, the contrasting doctrine between the established Church and Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has drawn public interest throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, is hereby compared and summarised. Best efforts have been made to provide a summary of Shincheonji Church of Jesus' understanding of the Bible. Judgment as to what is right or wrong is left to the reader’s discernment.
However, circumcision was both physical and spiritual. In the book of Deuteronomy, which details God's law and commands that the Israelites had to keep before entering the land of Canaan, God said that circumcision was not simply the removal of one's flesh, but removal of the impurities of one's heart so that one could love God and receive life (Deut 10:16; 30:6). Moreover, in the book of Jeremiah, God told the people to circumcise themselves by removing the impurities of their hearts and belong to Him (Jer. 4:4), yet they regarded God's word an offence and the ears of their hearts were closed (Jer. 6:10).
Therefore, the circumcision we must truly receive is not physical, but spiritual; that is, circumcision of the heart. The Jews, who did not practise true circumcision though being proud that they were God's people, were consumed by their own arbitrary interpretations and human teachings, and failed to recognise Jesus who came according to the Old Testament promise, persecuting and eventually killing him. Even though they practised literal circumcision by removing their foreskin, they were not truly circumcised. That is why, in Romans 2, Paul wrote that a Jew who is only one outwardly is not a real Jew, while one who is circumcised in the heart is.
According to the prophecies of the Old Testament, Jesus came and bore the cross. The Bible records that true circumcision is putting our old self to death through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross (Col. 2:11). And when Jesus died on the cross, he made a new covenant with his blood (Luke 22:20). When this new covenant - the book of Revelation - is fulfilled, those who believe and keep it become the people of God. This is the correct understanding of the eternal covenant established in Genesis 17; circumcision of God's people through blood.
The argument presented in the Bible is that, if one could become a child of God and receive salvation through the blood of Jesus simply by undergoing physical circumcision, then the atoning sacrifice of Jesus' blood would be of no value and there would be no need to believe. Indeed, if one insists on physical circumcision, then, in reality, it has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the Bible states that if one continues to insist on physical circumcision, then one should just do it (Gal. 5:2, 12).
In the book of Revelation, which contains the new covenant that is fulfilled today, what must be done in order for believers to believe and keep this new covenant?
At the time of Revelation's fulfilment, according to the prophecies in Revelation 2 and 3, the pastor of the promise (promised pastor) appears and fights and overcomes Satan's Nicolaitans, and delivers the word of revelation received in Revelation 10. At this time, hearing the word of revelation, cutting off one's untruths and thoughts of the flesh, and being born again through the word of revelation and the Spirit of God, is true circumcision that believers in God must keep today.
Just as the uncircumcised people always blasphemed the Holy Spirit and persecuted God's work because they did not know God's will (Acts 7:51~52), the Jews who persecuted and even killed Jesus at the time of his first coming were the uncircumcised people. Jesus and his disciples were the circumcised.
Likewise, today, those who persecute the 12 tribes of Shincheonji, created according to the promises of the Bible, are false believers who have not been circumcised and are captured by the thoughts of the flesh. The 12 tribes of Shincheonji, which is the kingdom of God that fulfils the will of God, is the place where the truly circumcised people gather.
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