The Abrahamic–Israelite–Exodus Sojourn and Apparent Discrepancies in the Historical Record

Jósef Molnár, The March of Abraham (19th century)

Galatians 3:17 reads, “And this I say: A covenant having been previously ratified by God, the law having come into being after four hundred and thirty years does not annul [it], so as to abolish the promise.”¹

Similar to a secular will or contract (v. 15), once God has ratified a covenant, it cannot be altered or nullified. Therefore, whatever purpose the Sinaitic law was meant to serve, having emerged over four centuries after the Abrahamic covenant, it cannot invalidate the divine promise to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed (v. 16). 

Chronological Confusion

While not the main point of Paul’s statement, the passing reference to “430 years” has generated much scholarly debate and confusion. Other than trying to satisfy the curiosity of Bible-chronology geeks (like me), the chief concern here is the integrity of the biblical record in view of apparent chronological discrepancies.

From the beginning of Abraham’s sojourn to the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt was 430 years, sometimes rounded off at 400 (Gen. 15:13; Acts 7:6).² Abraham was seventy-five when his sojourn began (Gen. 12:4), and Isaac was born twenty-five years later (Gen. 21:5); Isaac was sixty when Jacob was born (Gen. 25:26), and Jacob was 130 when he and his family entered Egypt (Gen. 47:9), making a total of 215 years from God’s promise to Abraham until his descendants entered Egypt. Their departure from Egypt, therefore, was 215 years later (cf. Gen. 46:8, 11; Ex. 6:16-20; 7:7): thus 215 + 215 = 430 years. Josephus reports: “They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the lunar month; four hundred and thirty years after our forefather Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after Jacob removed into Egypt” (Ant. 2.15.2, trans. W. Whiston). 

Documentary Evidence and Textual Variation

The chronology, however, is not that simple. Exodus 12:40 (according to the Masoretic Text) indicates that the Israelites actually lived in Egypt the entire 430-year period (ASV, ESV, RSV).³ Yet the passage reads in the Septuagint (LXX): “Now the sojourning of the sons of Israel, which they sojourned in [the] land of Egypt and in [the] land of Canaan, [was] 430 years.” Note that the added expression “and in [the] land of Canaan” is not in the MT, although the writings of Josephus (noted above), the LXX, and the respective documentary sources upon which these readings are based predate the MT by hundreds of years.⁴ 

It is not insignificant that Paul was especially familiar with the LXX, and of the ninety-three OT quotes in his extant writings, fifty-one are in exact or virtual agreement with the LXX, twenty-two of which are at variance with the current Hebrew text.⁵ The Samaritan Pentateuch (which is also substantially older than the MT) agrees with the LXX reading.

At the same time, if the Masoretic version of Exodus 12:40 is deemed correct, the phrase “who lived in Egypt” could be parenthetical, describing “the children of Israel” rather than “the sojourn,” and should therefore read: “Now the sojourn of the children of Israel (who lived in Egypt) was 430 years.” This would not restrict the entire sojourn to the time spent in Egypt and is easily harmonized with the other chronological information.⁶

The 430 years to which Paul alludes dates the entire oppressive sojourn, beginning ca. 1920 BC with Abraham’s departure from Haran, to the exodus ca. 1490 BC (cf. 1 Kings 6:1).⁷ While conservative scholars have proposed a variety of dates for the exodus, ranging from about 1520 to 1440 BC, considering the antiquity of the event, this gap is relatively insignificant.

The Point of Galatians 3:17

Notwithstanding my pedantic curiosity about precision of dating, what point is Paul making in this passage? The judaizing instigators who had infiltrated the churches of Galatia, by elevating Moses over Abraham (cf. Acts 15:1, 5), were recklessly missing the essential nature of God’s covenantal promises. Paul is redirecting this misconstrued focus, away from the Mosaic law and its misappropriation and consequent divisive and burdensome distortion. Instead, the central feature of the argument is God’s long-established purpose in the promises made to Abraham centuries earlier concerning “the blessing of Abraham” coming to the Gentiles “in Jesus Christ” (v. 14), the promised messianic seed (v. 16).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation. The Byzantine Majority Text has the added phrase εἰς Χριστὸν (“in Christ”), probably borrowed from the previous verse. See Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. 2nd ed. (New York: American Bible Society, 1994) 525.

     ² Instead of considering the “400 years” as a rounded off figure, Philip Mauro argues that the thirty-year difference can be accounted for by starting the 400-year count at the weaning of Isaac and casting out of Hagar (Gen. 21:8-10; Gal. 4:29-30), which was about thirty years after the inauguration of the Abrahamic covenant (The Wonders of Bible Chronology [Ashburn, VA: Hess, 2001] 27-28).

     ³ See C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the OT: The Pentateuch, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968) 2:29. The Masoretic text (MT) is the standard text of the Hebrew scriptures, copied and edited between the 7th and 11th centuries AD by a group of Jewish scholars known as masoretes (“transmitters”). This text is widely used as the basis for translations of the OT, although it differs from extant 4th-century AD copies of the LXX (translated from Hebrew to Greek in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC). The earliest extant fragments of the MT date from the 9th-10th centuries AD.

     ⁴ The Jewish masoretes, who were responsible for the MT, would almost certainly not have acknowledged Paul’s statement in Gal. 3:17 to help determine the correct reading of Ex. 12:40. For those who accept the divine inspiration of the NT writings, the information provided by Paul (and supported by the LXX and Josephus) is significant. Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, the oldest extant manuscripts of the Hebrew scriptures dated to the 9th century AD. The Qumran texts date as far back as the 2nd century BC and include at least portions of every OT book except Esther. While no fundamental biblical doctrine is affected by textual uncertainty, Frank S. Frick correctly observes: “Today the tasks of textual criticism are unfinished, and numerous textual questions remain unresolved. Modern scholars, however, have been amazingly successful in recovering a reliable text of the Hebrew Bible, and contemporary translations benefit from their work. When using any modern English translation of the Bible, we should be aware that behind the translation are hundreds of decisions regarding the reconstruction of the biblical text in the original language” (A Journey Through the Hebrew Scriptures [Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995] 18). See also David M. Rohl, Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest (New York: Crown Publishers, 1995) 329-32; Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of OT Introduction (Chicago: Moody Press, 1964) 31-58; Stephen L. Harris and Robert L. Platzner, The OT: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008) 21-38.

     ⁵ E. Earle Ellis, Paul’s Use of the OT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981) 10-12.

     ⁶ Since twenty years was the general age of maturation (Ex. 30:14; Num. 1:3), it is still possible for Joshua’s somewhat ambiguous genealogy in 1 Chron. 7:20-27 to fit into this timeframe. On the integrity and veracity of the text of the Hebrew scriptures, despite the minor variations between the MT and other versions, see G. L. Archer, Survey of OT Introduction 31-58; H. S. Miller, General Biblical Introduction: From God to Us (Houghton, NY: The Word-Bearer Press, 1937) 183-308; Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the OT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1970) 26-37; and various articles in the Gospel Advocate 7 (July 2008): 12-25.  

     ⁷ These dates are based on the chronology in K. L. Moore, Getting to Know the Bible (Winona, MS: Choate, 2002) 29-33; see esp. 32 n. 4.

Related Posts: How many times can Egyptian cows die?

Related articles: Alden Bass, Joe DeWeese, Kyle Butt, and Bert Thompson, “Questions and Answers,” RR (July 2001): 49-54 <Link>; Kyle Butt, “How Long was the Israelites’ Egyptian Sojourn?” AP <Link>; Jonathan Moore, "Date of the Exodus," AP <Link>, “Israel’s Sojourn in Egypt,” AP <Link>.

 

Image credit: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham

Faith Exemplified (Hebrews 11:1-40): Part 2

The Faith of Abraham and Sarah

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore” (Hebrews 11:8-12, NKJV).

“By faith Abraham¹ obeyed …” (v. 8a), affirming that biblical faith is working, active, obedient (cf. Jas. 2:14-26; Gal. 5:6; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11; etc.). Abraham’s faith did not rest on what he had personally seen or experienced (cf. vv. 1, 3, 6) but on what God had promised (vv. 8b-9),² though his faith made him just as sure and certain as if he had actually seen and experienced the fulfilled promise. And Abraham’s faith was so strong, impactful, and influential that it passed on to his son and grandson (v. 9b; cf. vv. 18-21).

Abraham expectantly waited [ekdechomai] for a habitation having foundations, whose architect/builder/maker is God (v. 10; cf. 8:2); “the city,” as opposed to the many fortified cities of the land of Canaan at the time, having “foundations” (plural) – large, immovable, and in contrast to Abraham’s temporary tent-dwellings (cf. 13:14). It is planned, prepared, and built by God. In Hebrews that which is God-made in contrast to what is man-made is “heaven itself” (cf. v. 16; 8:2; 9:11, 24). Abraham apparently had some realization and expectation of a reward beyond this life.

By faith Sarah herself conceived and bore a child in her old age (v. 11). She initially disbelieved (Gen. 18:9-15), but eventually her faith developed and conquered her doubts. The reason she was able to have a child was because she trusted in God to do what he promised to do (v. 11b). “Therefore” [dió], because of Abraham and Sarah’s faith, in the face of what appeared to be insurmountable odds God was able to accomplish great things through them; multitudes came from this once-barren couple (v. 12; cf. Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 32:12).

Knowing Beyond Seeing

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16).

Faith sees beyond present, physical circumstances (vv. 13-16). Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob all died without actually inheriting the promised land. But their faith enabled them to look beyond this temporal life, and even beyond any temporal promise; they were content to be strangers, pilgrims, and exiles on the earth (v. 13). Their faith kept them patiently marching forward through life (vv. 14-15):³ looking for something better and determined not to return from whence they came (cf. 3:8-12; 4:1-11; 6:6; 10:25-26, 35). Their ultimate goal was heaven (v. 16).

Demonstrated Faith

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Because of Abraham’s faith (vv. 17-19), he knew that God would keep his promises (Gen. 12:1-3) despite the inexplicable command to sacrifice his son. God was not asking Abraham to do anything that he was not willing to do himself! (cf. John 3:16; Rom. 8:32). This was a test of Abraham’s faith (v. 17), and Abraham believed in God’s power to raise the dead (v. 19; cf. Gen. 22:5). Note the parallels:

o   Isaac was Abraham’s monogenēs (“unique, one of a kind”),⁴ as Jesus was God’s monogenēs (John 1:14; 3:16, 18).

o   Abraham was to offer his son as a sacrifice, as Jesus was offered as a sacrifice (cf. 7:27; 9:12, 14; 10:10).

o   God had the power to raise Isaac from the dead (which he did figuratively, v. 19), as Jesus was raised from the dead (Mark 16:9; Acts 1:3; 2:24, 30-32; 3:15; etc.).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Cf. Gen. 15:6; Neh. 9:7-8; Rom. 4:1-3; Gal. 3:6-9; Jas. 2:21-23.

     ² “He tore himself loose from his own country, his family and his friends, venturing out on the call of God. ‘It was, therefore, no attractive account of Canaan which induced him to forsake Mesopotamia, no ordinary emigrant’s motive which moved him, but mere faith in God’s promise’ [Dods 355]. That he went out not knowing his destination – his faith was tested by the unknown – underscores the magnitude of his trust” (N. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today 209-10).

     ³ Great example of endurance, perseverance, steadfastness (cf. 2:1; 3:14; 4:11; 6:11; 10:23, 36).

     ⁴ Compare Gen. 16:15; 25:1-6.

Related Posts: Faith Exemplified Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

 

Image credit: https://kinmundychurch.org/abraham-sarah-isaac/

Righteousness, Circumcision, and Abraham’s Faith

“Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Romans 4:9-12, ESV). 

All people (whether Jew or Gentile) are justified according to the same kind of faith-response to the Lord, not reliance on ritualistic ordinances of the old law but on God’s righteous work in Christ, trusting him to do what he promised to do when we step out in faith and do what he directs us to do. 

Circumcision, as a highly valued “work of the law” among Jews and Judaizers at the time Paul composed Romans, was being promoted as a requisite of divine favor and blessings excluding so many ethnically diverse disciples and causing unnecessary division (cf. Rom. 2:25-29; 3:1, 30; 15:8).¹ Circumcision is thus highlighted here to distinguish between what had become a meritorious work of the flesh, on one hand, and the kind of faith that enabled Abraham to be justified, on the other. “Circumcision and the Law were separate in time and in origin. But from the moment of the institution of the Law they were co-extensive in their operation: for those under the Law were under Circumcision.”²

God pronounced Abraham righteous (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6) prior to his circumcision (Gen. 17:10-11, 24), so Abraham has become “the father of all” (both Jew and Gentile) responding to the Lord with the same kind of faith. The phrase rendered in English, “all who believe” (ESV), with two pronouns and a verb, is actually pántōn tōn pisteuóntōn (an adjective and articular participle) that should be translated, “all the believing [ones].” Paul is not telling non-Christians to get saved by merely believing without repentance and baptism; he is writing to penitent baptized believers whose faith-response has already included repentance and baptism (6:1-18). “Faith in Christ and baptism were, indeed, not so much two distinct experiences as parts of one whole. Faith in Christ was an essential element in baptism …”³

To “walk” [stoichoûsin – presently and continuously]⁴ “in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had” is not reliance on Jewish rituals (like circumcision) but living a life of obedient faith.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Cf. Acts 15:1-5; Gal. 2:12; 5:1-6; 6:12-13, 15; Tit. 1:10.

     ² J. B. Lightfoot, Notes on Epistles of St Paul 280.

     ³ F. F. Bruce, Romans 129.

     ⁴ Cf. Gal. 5:25; 6:16; Phil. 3:16; compare peripatéō in Rom. 6:4; 8:1, 4; 13:13; 14:15.

Related Posts: Questions About Baptism, Abraham Believed God (Rom. 4:3), Justification, Peace, Hope (Rom 5:1-2), Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4) 

Image credit: https://gladtidingsmagazine.org/father-of-the-faithful/

“Abraham believed God, and It was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3)

“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.' Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:1-5, ESV).

The Faith of Abraham

Among the first-century Roman Christians, prior knowledge of Abraham is presupposed.¹ Despite his pagan ancestry, Abraham was called and justified by God (Gen. 11:27–12:4; Josh. 24:1-3), something the Gentile Christians could appreciate. As the ancestral father of the Israelite people, he would have been highly esteemed by ethnic Jews. 

Dialogically engaged with a hypothetical Jewish discussion partner (cf. 2:17), Paul alludes to Abraham as “our forefather according to the flesh.” The term “flesh” [sárx] is descriptively linked to physical Israel and the rite of circumcision (2:28) and accompanying “works of the law” (3:20), later applied to human weakness involving sinful living (6:19; 8:4-13). Contextually, therefore, the “works” [érga] that are separate from and unrelated to justification are not just any active deeds (cf. 2:6-7) but meritorious works stemming from the Law of Moses, requisites of old-covenant Judaism, as per the foregoing discussion (3:19-20, 27-28).² It is this particular category of “works” that Paul consistently contrasts with “faith” (3:27; 9:32; cf. Gal. 2:16; 3:2-5). 

The Works of Abraham

Actively doing something is not discounted here (cf. 2:10). Rather, the issue concerns one who “works” [ergázomai] so he can “boast” [kaúchēma] (cf. 3:27) and earn “wages” [misthōs] regarded as something he is “due” [opheílēma]. But this is not how Abraham (or anyone else) was justified. According to “the Scripture,” quoting Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (also vv. 9, 22; Gal. 3:6).  

Abraham’s response to God was more than a mere passive, intellectual concession, as the English word “believe” might suggest. Up to this point in his sojourn, not only did Abraham mentally assent to God’s word but he trusted in God enough to do what God enjoined every step of the way: “By faith Abraham obeyed …” (Heb. 11:8, 17). And he continued to walk in obedient faith for the rest of his life. Paul goes on to describe Abraham as the father of those “who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had …” (Rom. 4:12), in line with how the Romans already understood active “faith” [pístis] (1:5, 8, 12). Paul never interpreted “faith” as simply a mental assent to a doctrinal truth without any active response, nor did he view the requirements of God as “works” that humans have devised to save themselves, esp. the works (deeds, actions) of humble obedience (Phil. 2:12). 

Genesis 15:6 is also quoted by the Lord’s half-brother (Jas. 2:23) to counteract a dead “faith” void of obedient “works,” concluding, “You see that a person is justified by works [érga] and not by faith alone” (v. 24). Paul and James, writing to different audiences grappling with different issues, are complementary rather than contradictory. The “works” highlighted by Paul relate to the ritualistic observances of the Mosaic Law, while the “works” in James pertain to non-meritorious demonstrations of faith, legitimizing the shared use of the same OT text. While “faith” [pístis] is our fundamental response to God (Rom. 3:27-31; 5:1-2), both James and Paul clearly show that saving faith is an active, obedient, working faith (1 Thess. 1:3; Jas. 2:14-16), i.e., “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).  

The Righteousness of Abraham

 For Paul, genuine “righteousness” (cf. v. 6) is appropriated through the avenue of faith and is almost always contrasted with what can be described as law-oriented works righteousness (4:11-14; 9:30-32; 10:4-10). At the same time, righteousness “obligates the redeemed one to serve God faithfully” (BAGD 197). In an ethical sense, it characterizes the life of faithful obedience that is expected of all baptized believers (6:13, 18, 19, 20).³ 

Conclusion

Paul wants his readers to know that we are justified by the same kind of faith by which Abraham was justified – a working, active, obedient faith as opposed to a Mosaic-law-oriented-meritorious-works-righteousness apart from the gospel of Christ. Saving faith is not void of obedience any more than saving obedience is void of faith. To conclude otherwise is to ignore the groundwork laid in the first three chapters of Romans.   

--Kevin L. Moore 

Endnotes:

     ¹ On the example of Abraham in the NT, see Acts 3:25; 7:2-17; 13:26; Rom. 4:1-25; 9:6-8; 11:1; Gal. 3:6-7; 2 Cor. 11:22; Heb. 6:13-15; 11:8-19; Jas. 2:20-24.

     ² A number of passages employ érgon (“work”) without nómou (“of law”) but have the same meaning (BAGD 308); e.g., Rom. 4:2, 6; 9:12; 11:6; and Eph. 2:9.

     ³ The converse – unrighteousness – is the result of disobedience (Rom. 1:28; 2:8; 3:3-5; 10:21), for which the antidote is God’s righteousness manifested in Christ and the saving power of the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17; 3:21-26). 

Related Posts: Faith and Works, Bookends of Romans, Righteousness, Circumcision, Abraham's Faith (Rom 4:9-12), Abbreviated Gospel, Baptism (Rom 6:1-4) 

Image credit: https://www.scottlapierre.org/similarities-between-isaac-and-jesus-sacrifice/   

 

Questions About Baptism (Part 4 of 4)

     Abraham, having been justified by faith before his circumcision, was later circumcised as a ‘sign’ or a ‘seal’ of his justification and is ‘the father of all those who believe’ (Romans 4:9-12). Since baptism replaced circumcision under Christ’s new covenant (Colossians 2:11-12), doesn’t it follow that a person is justified by faith before he is baptized and his baptism is simply an outward sign of the justification he has already received?  

     Remember that Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written to believers who had already been baptized (6:4). In the context of Romans chapters 2, 3, and 4, Paul was establishing the fact that the Jews now have no advantage over the Gentiles -- all are guilty of sin and stand before God on equal terms (cf. 2:6-11; 3:9, 22-23, 29-30). There was no need for Gentile Christians to be circumcised (or obey any other requirement of the Law of Moses), and the Jewish [circumcised] Christians needed to understand that works of the Law (3:20), including circumcision (2:25-29; 3:1), could not save them. To illustrate, in chapter 4 Paul showed that Abraham was not saved by the Law of Moses (v. 13) but by faith. And yet Abraham’s faith was an obedient faith (cf. Hebrews 11:8-19; James 2:21-24), and all of Abraham’s spiritual descendants exhibit the same kind of faith (Romans 10:17; 6:16-18; Acts 10:34-35; Hebrews 11:6; 5:9). To be “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” now requires an obedient faith which includes baptism (Galatians 3:26-29). Any conclusion to the contrary is a misapplication of Paul’s teachings.

     It is true that Abraham was justified prior to his circumcision (Romans 4:10), but circumcision was not a requirement at the time of Abraham’s initial justification and he was never under the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 5:1-3) wherein circumcision was a fundamental element. However, for the Jews who were amenable to the Law of Moses, as long as the Law was in effect, circumcision was essential (Genesis 17:9-14; Leviticus 12:3). 

     The purpose of Romans 4 was to show Jewish Christians that we are no longer bound to the Law of Moses (including circumcision), but this has nothing to do with gospel obedience in general or baptism in particular. And Paul addresses an entirely separate issue in Colossians 2, so to indiscriminately mix these two passages together in an attempt to prove a point is to distort Paul’s arguments. In Romans 4 Paul was addressing physical circumcision under the Law of Moses. In Colossians 2:11, Paul talks about spiritual circumcision, “made without hands,” under the law of Christ. While Paul links baptism with spiritual circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12), nowhere does the Bible suggest that baptism was a replacement for physical circumcision. Baptism is for all accountable persons who believe (Matthew 28:19; Acts 16:15, 33), while physical circumcision was only for male Jews (Genesis 17:2). The only similarities between OT circumcision and NT baptism are: (1) each was/is deemed essential for those amenable (Genesis 17:14; Mark 16:16); (2) each was/is considered necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God (Genesis 17:9-14; Galatians 3:27-29); and (3) failure to obey result[ed/s] in condemnation (Genesis 17:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; John 3:5).

     Paul affirms in Colossians 2:11-13 that “faith in the working of God” is demonstrated when we are buried and raised with Christ in baptism, by which we put off “the body [of the sins] of the flesh,” become dead in our trespasses, and are made alive with Christ through forgiveness of sins. We cannot be saved in our sins (Romans 6:16, 23). We can only be saved, by God’s grace, when our sins are forgiven and removed. This takes place when we exhibit our obedient faith through belief, repentance, and water baptism (Acts 2:37-47). We have this new life, free from sin, after (not before) we are buried and raised with Christ in baptism (Romans 6:3-5; Acts 22:16). The Bible never describes baptism as an alleged “outward sign of the justification already received.”

--Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Thief on the Cross, Questions About Baptism (Part 1), Part 2, Part 3