In the Footsteps of Faith

As for circumcision, God commanded it for Abraham, but it was not circumcision that justified him. Righteousness was credited to him before he was circumcised, and circumcision was nothing more than a sign and seal for the righteousness that he already possessed apart from circumcision. Therefore, Abraham is the “father” of the uncircumcised who receive righteousness through faith and who remain uncircumcised after they have received righteousness through faith. And he is the “father” of those who are circumcised only if they “walk in the footsteps of faith” of him who received righteousness without circumcision.

This doctrine is a stern rebuke against those who would attribute an inordinate significance to mere signs and seals, such as baptism and communion, when God himself has already credited righteousness and granted his Spirit to his chosen ones apart from them. Even though these signs and seals were commanded by God and ought to be applied, to elevate them to a level that God has never placed them, or to assign powers to them that God has never associated with them, is to commit an evil akin to the preaching of another gospel.

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