Circumcision - Part 4 (Final Episode) with Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Join us "Around the Table" with Bro. John "Ernie" Perez, Sis. Patti Perez and Sis. Audia as he takes us on the study of Circumcision in the Old and New Testament.

Ever wondered why the apostles preached Christ from the law, the prophets, and the Psalms? We pull the thread from Abraham’s circumcision to the waters of baptism and show how the old sign becomes the new heart-mark in Christ. With Romans 6 and 1 Peter 3 as anchors, we explore baptism as burial and resurrection, not just a symbol but a covenant act that shapes identity, cleanses conscience, and signals a true break from the old life.

We walk through Acts like a field guide: Samaria believes and is baptized in the name of Jesus, then receives the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Cornelius’s household is filled with the Spirit and then commanded to be baptized. Ephesus hears the gospel, is re-baptized into Jesus’ name, and speaks in tongues and prophesies. Along the way, Ananias’s charge to Paul—“be baptized and wash away your sins”—clarifies the relationship between repentance and remission. We also unpack Colossians 2, where Paul calls baptism the circumcision of Christ, an operation without hands that marks a new covenant reality.

Our goal is clarity and courage. We argue that faith without obedience is not faith, that baptism is central to Christian formation, and that a robust grasp of Old Testament covenants unlocks the New Testament’s power. We keep the tone warm and practical, sharing stories, passages, and pastoral cautions so you can test the pattern for yourself and teach it with confidence.

If this conversation challenged or encouraged you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or question. Your feedback shapes our upcoming live Q&A and helps more listeners find these deep dives into Scripture.  (*Recorded on 1/12/2026)

Ways to Give at www.m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Welcome to Simple Simple Sibyl and Field Little Lum and Sister Lamb and I'm so glad to have you with us today. And we have a patty house today. So Brother Ernie, you're to my late.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Yes, ma'am. Good morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Brother, sister Patty. Sister Patty. Good morning. Sister Anne. Good morning. Sister Audia. Good morning. Sister Joyce is joining us today.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

Good morning.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Sister Tammy in the corner where she needs to stay. Helen. Sister Helen and Sister Sandy.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

And I wish Brother Mark or Brother Tony or Brother anybody would come and join. Brother anybody would come.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah. Yeah. So thank you everybody for being here today. Anyone got anything to share about what happened over the weekend? Did you have a good weekend? Was the service good? And it just seems like there's a lot going on, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Worship was awesome. We were able to attend Abundant Life Worship Center in Mesquite. A great word, great worship, great fellowship. What can I say?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Yeah. How about you, Mom? What's going on on your side of the world?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Well, I just feel that I had some things that needed to be worked out, and I was able to call everybody that was involved. And now my world is on the level. On the level for the moment.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

All right, Sashani. Anything going on on your side of the world? You had a birthday this weekend. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 2:18

You guys made it so awesome. We went to my favorite restaurant. I got to have Ann and I got to have a lot of oysters. And we came back and played some board games, and it was a lot of fun. It was really fun.

Framing The Study On Covenants

Why The Old Testament Still Anchors Faith

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yeah, it was a good day. It was a good day. So we have been studying this in-depth study on circumcision, and it's so powerful. And I know you don't like when I brag on you, but I'm going to brag on you. I think this is just one of the best that you've done. Because it really ties into everything we've been talking about with covenants and how God operated in the Old Testament, how He operates in the New Testament, and that's what you're going to continue today because it just links it all together. I think that people confuse the Old Testament covenants that they're done and over, and we don't need to pay attention to anything that God said back in the Old Testament. And I just love what you're doing with this. But we're going into the New Testament. But what I'm going to ask you to do, can you just do a synopsis, if you will, of what you've covered so far up till now?

Romans 6 And Dying With Christ

Peter, Noah, And Water That Saves

Fundamentals Before The Deep End

The Command To Baptize In Jesus’ Name

Signs Of Believers And Spirit Baptism

Remission Of Sins And Baptism

Samaria, Cornelius, And Receiving The Spirit

Re‑baptism At Ephesus And Paul’s Story

Colossians 2 And New Testament Circumcision

SPEAKER_04 3:31

Okay, so what we talked about was when God first instituted circumcision with his covenant with Abraham, and the fact that it was for all generations, and then it was incorporated in the law of Moses, but that there are there are two statements, and I'm not going to go back to all those scriptures, but I recommend you find them. Get a reference Bible, get a strong concordance, get a study Bible, get into a commentary. And there are two particular references to where God says, once under the law of Moses and once, I believe, by the prophet Jeremiah, that circumcision, the real importance of it was to have a circumcised heart. So physical circumcision then becomes a prophetic statement. Not only a literal historical statement, but it is prophetic in nature, just like, you know, the seven feasts are real historical events. But they are each one prophetic of the church, of the Christ, of what God is going to do in the future. And so it's just a good idea for us to not get into this, I don't know how else to say it, false teaching, to where we say, I'm a New Testament Christian. I don't need to read the Old Testament. But all those letters you read in the New Testament, all the quotes that they make that are written there in order to undergird their statements about Jesus being the Christ, the resurrection of the dead, how Christians ought to live, are all taken from the law and the prophets and the Psalms and the Book of Moses. That's all they had to teach from. And they managed to teach repentance, water baptism, Holy Ghost baptism, healing, living a holy, separated life, consecrating yourself to Christ. They were writing all of that, but their only resource for study and commentary was the law, the prophets, Psalms. That's it. Or you read in the New Testament many times. I think it's Jesus said, Moses gave to you. Or somebody quotes, Moses said. It's written in the book of Moses. Without the Old Testament, we don't have the foundational proofs who Jesus is. So for that reason, we started our study on the object lesson of circumcision being in the Old Testament. Now we end it up, our last lesson, we were following up on Colossians chapter 2, verses 8 through 17, and we had gotten to Romans 6. We had read Romans 6, 3 through 6. So we'll start today with that, just a little bit of review, and then we'll continue forward. Romans chapter 6. And we'll read verses 3 through 6. Here we go. Paul writing to the Roman church, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ. So water baptism then does something with us and our identity being in Christ. We were baptized into Jesus Christ. We're baptized into his death. What do you mean by that? Verse 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. So when we come up out of the waters of baptism, we got to have a whole new intention on how to live life. The past is irrelevant, other than the fact that, yes, we have a genuine history that we need to learn from. Verse 5, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, just like any other corpse, wrought away, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Now the interesting thing here that I want you to look at, verse five. So I put to you this question What if we have not been planted in the likeness of his death? Because it's very clear. If we are planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. And there are people who believe, who go to church every Sunday, pray, love God, read their Bibles, and say you don't need to be baptized. That's not consistent with scripture. And we ought to be careful about what we're teaching, because it has eternal consequences. Eternal consequences, what we teach. That's why Paul told Timothy that those that handle the word do not need to be a novice. Now, all of us are new in some degree, but there's some basics in scripture that we need to get down. And if you don't know what those are, let me just, this is not in your lesson, so let me give you something to write down in your notes. If you don't know what those basics are, does the scripture at any place tell us? If you'll turn to the book of Hebrews, the first three verses of chapter 6, and then we'll say from verse 11 to 14 of chapter 5, you need to be familiar with that to understand that there are some basic requirements that we should be able to handle to go forward and grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And to underscore that, I'll go ahead and read the first three verses of Hebrews chapter six. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, and of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permit. Meaning, if we don't understand these things, we're not ready to grow in other areas. Everybody's talking about, I want to know the end of the world. Tell me everything about the book of Revelation. Well, that's biblical information for us for sure, and we do need it. But the newborn babe is on mother's milk. You don't give it a pork chop, you don't give it raw spinach, you don't give it rice and gravy. It takes mother's milk until its digestive tract is able to take in other food. It has matured, it has grown, it has had time. We want God to take us places. Well, then you better understand what a repentant life is. You better understand these other principles. And so that's one of the reasons we're doing this study on circumcision. These are foundational issues. When you get on a strong foundation, then you can go forward to learn other things. Be encouraged to study your old testament. And the more familiar you get with it, the more sense the New Testament makes for you. All right. So Romans 3 and 6, we have read that. 3 through 6, 6, 3 through 6, we've read that. Now, what coincides with Paul's teaching about being buried with Christ, your pipe, your your your past is buried, you got a new life with water baptism. You're identified with the death of Christ, you've died in him, it's a miracle, you've gone to the tomb, you've left your old nature there. Let's look at 1 Peter chapter 3. We're gonna find Peter teaching the same doctrine, using different phrases, same principle. 1 Peter chapter 3, and I'm gonna read verses 20 and 21. And yes, at a later date, go back and read everything that comes before and comes after. Peter telling the church regarding Noah's flood and the people that died there, verse 20, which sometime were disobedient. When once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. Notice the structure of the language. But water judged the world, and water washed away all the sinful influences of Noah's world. That's right, it did. And that same water saved them. Verse 21 says, the like figure, in other words, this is a picture. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. Water baptism is a part of salvation. I taught you earlier, salvation is not an event, it is an experience, a lifelong experience. We don't enter into salvation and say now it's over, and from here on I can live like the devil and it's okay. I'll be saved. I can continue and lying and gossiping and stealing and idolatrous worship and whatever else, sin, because I was saved. Salvation is not an event, it is an experience. Not, verse 21, not putting away the filth of the flesh. It's not because you took a bath that it saves you, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it identifies you, as Peter says, with the resurrection of Christ and gives us a clean conscience toward God. Paul taught much the same thing in Romans 6 and in the Colossian letter. So these fellas are on the same page. Now, Noah's Ark gives us a picture of how God saved souls by water. There were eight people on the ark, the water that brought God's judgment on the earth lifted up those eight people that were in the ark above the judgment. So they were saved by the same water. Do you know that your life is a testimony? And what it does, people either take it and say, I need Jesus and walk away with it. And your life then becomes a saving factor in their life. Or they say, I don't need that and walk away. And now they're judged by their own words. They rejected Christ and your testimony of Christ. Do we receive God's instruction? Or do we reject it? Because Noah and his family went into the ark and believed in the judgment of rain of water, that same water kept them alive and separated them from their past. I'm looking for my next page here. Excuse me. Here we go. All right. Noah and the flood and the ark are a prophetic picture of New Testament water baptism. The filth of sin was washed away from the world. That happens for believers in water baptism. Believers are then left with a clean conscience towards God because they know they have obeyed God. Their faith has wrought obedience. Their repentance has wrought obedience. If you tell me you believe, you believed on the Lord, and you're not finding yourself having to live a repentant life and do away with hatred and gossip and bitterness and unforgiveness and wrath and learning to love God. What is it you have believed? It didn't change your life, it didn't cause you to say, draw me nearer to you, God. What have you believed? You believed nothing at all, or you've misunderstood what you needed to believe. Now, when you have obeyed God, you have a clean conscience toward God. So what are the commandments that we're talking about? New Testament commandments, not the Ten Commandments, commandments that Jesus gave either verbally or through the Holy Ghost or through the Holy Ghost via the apostles. What are the commandments regarding baptism? Write these down. Matthew 28, 18 through 20. I'll go ahead and do the reading. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, This is after his resurrection, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. I don't know how many times I've given you all this example. If all the water In the room is in this bucket, and we take a glass and immerse it into the bucket, then all that power is not only in the glass, but the glass is within all that power, isn't it? All power in heaven and earth is given unto me. This is what Jesus said. Verse 19, because of this, go ye therefore and teach all nations. In other words, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name, the name singular of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. That's one name. And teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Jesus didn't suggest you should go and make disciples and see how many of them want to be baptized. That's not there. Look at Mark's gospel. The last chapter in Mark is chapter 16. And I'm going to read for you verses 15 through 20. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe, not some. That's supposed to be a part of the everyday believer's life. They shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. Who shall? Them that believe. Don't let anybody tell you that when you're baptized with the Holy Ghost, not everyone speaks in tongues, at least in that first experience. Because that's not what scripture is teaching. That's not what Jesus said here. Them that believe. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. Lord, please don't send me to a place where I have to take up snakes. But if it happens, God is master of the animal kingdom also. You shall take up snakes if they drink any deadly thing, and that happened to my wife and I inadvertently. And people were amazed that it didn't affect us. We didn't know we did it. If we drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Probably everybody in this room. I don't care what kind of maladies you've got in your body. You've either had somebody lay hands on you when you were sick and you were healed, or you've seen somebody else you were there when they someone laid hands on them in Jesus' name and they were healed, because that's a reality in God's New Testament church. Then we're going to look in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, the end of the chapter, verses 46 through 49. And he Jesus said unto them, again after his resurrection, to the believers he was gathered with, thus it is written, thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins. Notice he didn't say when you repent, sins are committed. Or I'm sorry, when you repent, sins are forgiven. Remit it. No, repentance and remission of sins, as in also remission of sins, should be preached in the name of Jesus among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. How do I know Luke meant water baptism here? Luke wrote the book of Acts. When his first, when he wrote the second chapter and the first time salvation was preached in Acts 2, verse 38, when Peter was giving instructions to people who said, We believe, we believe we're in trouble. What do we do now? He said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And you could, this is not in your notes either, so you might want to write this down. You could say, well, that doesn't mean the water had anything to do with the removal of sins. Look at his message in Acts chapter 3 at verse 19 when he begins to give instructions how to respond to the message he has just preached. Repent ye therefore and be converted. Change how you think. That's what repentance is. That your sins may be blotted out. This is not a different instruction than Acts 2.38 for the remission of sins. Just like if your debt is remitted, it's wiped out. How was it wiped out? In in Acts chapter 2, verse 38 with water baptism. Here he makes it clear, and have your sins blotted out. And when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, he shall send, Jesus, the times of refreshing is a quote from Isaiah chapter 28. Go find it. Go find it. Because it talks about with stammering lips and another tongue will God speak unto his people. And this is the refreshing and the rest that God is sending them. Yet they won't hear it, they won't want it, they won't drink it, they won't take it. How many people do you know today that are rejecting the concept of being baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and manifestations thereafter of spiritual gifts? Don't listen to that. Yes, Jesus loves them. Yes, Jesus died for them, but that's incorrect instruction. It's not biblical. It's not because I'm so smart, it's because I can read the Bible. Now then, in Acts chapter 8, Philip preaches the gospel in Samaria. It's really an interesting thing. Verses 12 through 16. Acts chapter 8, verses 12 through 16. The people in Samaria, verse 12, Luke writes, but when, speaking of the people in Samaria, when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. So the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ are critical elements to Philip's preaching, and they heard that and believed that. Then they were baptized, both men and women. I'm going to be your disciple, Philip. Beholding the miracles and the signs which were done. Verse 14. Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Why? They've received the word of God, they've been baptized. Leave well enough alone. That's not their attitude. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. Has to be the same Holy Ghost that was received in Acts chapter 2, or else it ain't the Holy Ghost. Because God is not a God of confusion. He's not inconsistent. Now, Acts 10, 44 through 48. Now, what we're talking about here in the Colossian letter, Paul taught that New Testament water baptism was also circumcision under the covenant of Jesus Christ. We're following that water baptism has to do with remission, removal of sins. It is taught as that, just like circumcision was removal of the flesh, the filth of the flesh on the body. Now it's circumcision of the heart. And when we obey God in water baptism, don't say you have faith and you have belief that you're following God if you're not willing to obey Him. Where there is no obedience, there is no faith. See, you you know that your children are maturing when you don't have to tell them every day, take out your trash, tie your shoes, button your shirt. They learn to do these things because you have outer controls on them and they develop inner controls. And as they develop those inner controls, you know they're maturing and that they have confidence in what you say. That's how we demonstrate confidence to our Heavenly Father. We obey Him, we learn as we mature in the faith the value of forgiveness, the value of good works, which is prompted by the Spirit of God, the value of obedience which demonstrates to people we're not the folk we used to be. We do things differently. If there is no change in our lives, there is no faith. You just still don't need to be cussing and fussing. Oh, I goofed up and I said a bad word. Repent. Everybody's got issues. It's the consistent vulgar communication that gives you the understanding gives us the understanding, gives God the understanding. This person hasn't changed anything. It's the consistent pursuance of sin that we want to avoid. All right, so Acts 10, verse 44 through 48. The first time a whole gaggle of Gentiles come to Christ, Peter is preaching in the home of Cornelius. Now, Luke is writing the results of the sermon. Peter's through preaching. Because Luke writes, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Listen, if God interrupts the preaching, it's okay. The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision, the Jewish believers, which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because then on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost? How did he know that? Because they heard them speak with tongues and magnified God. Then answered Peter, when Peter saw that, he said, Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized? So he's saying, Why would we not tell these people about water baptism? It would be forbidding them something that they need, something that God has for them. That's why the word forbid is used. Why would we forbid that them that any man? I'm sorry, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? Verse 48, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed they him to tarry there certain days. It doesn't say he offered the option of believers' baptism. It doesn't say he didn't ask him, would you like to be baptized? It's really not necessary to be saved, but it's a good idea. It's an outward sign of an inward change. Of course it is. It is an outward statement, but that's the smallest part of it. Yes, that's real, but that's the smallest part. It's New Testament circumcision. It separates us from our sinful past. It marks us as separated unto the Lord. How? By our obedience to his command. Where there is no obedience, there is no faith. Acts 19. We're staying there now. Acts 19, verses 1 through 7. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, another preacher, Paul having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus. Oh, disciples in Ephesus are found. And finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? They said, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. A critical question as far as Paul is concerned. Verse 3, and he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? He's speaking of water baptism. How do we know that? They know that, and they reply, John's baptism. So it is about water baptism. Then said Paul, John verily or truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which had come after him that is on Christ Jesus. In other words, under John's baptism, if you're not going to believe in Jesus, it's an empty baptism. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They were rebaptized. Listen to me, if you have not been baptized in Jesus' name, and you were baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, I would never challenge your integrity for why you did that. You did that trying your best. But I would encourage you to go back and see how water baptism is done in the book of Acts, because no place is anyone baptized, no place is it commanded for them to be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Ghost. They interpret the name to be Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, verse 6, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied, and all the men were about twelve. I don't know if that is the establishment of the church at Ephesus, or is that just part of the believers that were coming in? Because these were disciples of John. And there was a church established in Ephesus, okay? Now, Acts 22, 16 is not in your notes, but turn there. Let me tell you this story. Paul has been arrested, falsely accused because of his life for Jesus Christ. He's accused of blasphemy. He's accused of bringing non-believers into the temple. And he's arrested because there's a riot afterwards. He's thrown in the streets, people trying to kill him. It's a huge riot. The Roman soldiers come to shut it down. Then Paul finally convinced them, let me talk to these people to try to calm down the riot. And as part of giving his testimony of when he was saved. And that story is written in Acts chapter 9. He is testifying about what happened to himself. How that Ananias had come and laid hands on him and witnessed to him. And verse 16, part of Ananias' conversation to Paul. And now, why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins. He's met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He asked him, Lord, what will you have me to do? He followed the instructions of Jesus, went into Damascus. He waited until Ananias, whom he'd seen in the vision, come, laid hands on. The man is repentant. He's having faith in who Jesus is. He's filled with the Holy Ghost when Ananias lays hands on him. And Ananias says, and don't forget, you need to be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. What's the name of the Lord? Jesus. So evidently both Ananias and Paul evoked, invoked, introduced the name and the authority of the name of Jesus Christ into the water baptism to wash away his sins. If his sins were removed when he said, Jesus, I'll do what you said, why are you having to remove them again? So repentance does not equal remission of sins. It is a good thing, it is changing your mind. Listen, when you first believe and you repent of your sins, that is a powerful experience. We talked about this earlier. It's like a woman, which was hard for me to grasp, when my wife said to me one morning, I got pregnant last night. I just thought to You can't do that. You don't know that. Does the handy pity pity thinking we can't even see it without a microscope to magnify it 3,000 times? And you're telling me you know it. It so frustrated me. And she said, marked it on the calendar. She said, mark this day. And then back in those days, you know, they killed a rabbit. And the woman took a urinalysis and then they mixed the stuff together. And it took them that long to see. Oh, yes, she's pregnant. So they killed a rabbit. Mama took the test. We waited six weeks on purpose. I'll be a cotton picker. She was pregnant. And how y'all could know that, I don't have a clue. It's just one of the many things that women totally confuse me about. I don't understand. So back to Colossians chapter 2. Don't get started with me, Ann. I'm teaching this class. Just let me say it to you right now, young lady, Jesus loves you, but I don't play that.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

Sure he does.

Timothy, Titus, And Wise Application

Final Exhortation And Study Mandate

SPEAKER_04 41:25

Mama, give me a sprout. Colossians chapter 2 back to verse 13. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, have he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it away, nailing it to his cross. When, according to verse 12, when you were buried with him in baptism, wherein you were also risen with him through faith, the operation of God. Is not circumcision a surgical procedure, an operation, but the operation of God was spiritual. And God executed it when we obeyed him in water baptism. So all believers are dead in their sin and the uncircumcision of their flesh, but have now been made alive, Paul's telling the Colossian church through the operation of God that occurred in water baptism, the circumcision of Christ, that Peter confirmed, worked, that Ananias confirmed. For the apostle Paul, wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord, be baptized. Listen, the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, this is so. How many witnesses have we touched? How many more do we need? You could have somebody tell you, yes, but on the other hand, what other hand? How many hands you got? I only have two. Verses 14 through 16 of Colossians chapter 2, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So it's just as good as our sins being nailed to his cross, and they were. And then buried in his tomb, and he rose without them. So when we come up out of the water, we rise in the newness of life without our sins being imputed to us. 15. Having spoiled, that's like a pirate spoiling or robbing a ship, having spoiled principalities and powers. That is, he robbed Satan and the demons who had power over certain areas. He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. That gives the indication that Jesus threw Satan on the ground, put his foot on his neck, and every devil in hell had to watch. Verse 16. Let no one therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, in other words, nothing pertaining to the law of Moses. Verse 17, which are or which was a shadow, which is a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ. The reality is repentance, water baptism in Jesus' name, infilling of the Holy Ghost, and New Testament circumcision is water baptism. Now, under the covenant of Abraham, if you weren't circumcised, you were estranged from the covenant. The blessings of the covenant were not yours. You were outside of the ark of safety. Under the law of Moses, if you were not physically circumcised, you were outside of the covenant, estranged from the blessings of the covenant. Is this the reason Paul taught that water baptism was New Testament circumcision? So that you wouldn't start to follow God and then be left standing outside of the covenant? And outside of the covenant promises? This is why. This is why you don't need to be a novice when handling the word of God. Acts chapter 16, verses 1 through 3. I'm not going to read it. I'm going to let you read it. When you have an opportunity, I'm going to give you a narration. It's just a short verse. I don't know how much time I have left, so I'm trying to make sure we finish on time, so forgive me. The apostle Paul took a young man by the name of Timothy to travel with him in ministry in Acts chapter 16. Timothy had a believing mother that was a Jew. The scripture doesn't say that his father was a believer, just says he was a Gentile. He may have been saved, he may not. It probably would have said, you know, he was a believer, but we can't say for sure. Okay? We're not told whether or not his father is a believer. But Paul had Timothy circumcised and submitted to circumcision. He didn't have to do it. He submitted to it, not for his salvation's sake, but so that when he was trying to testify to Jews, and they said, Yeah, but you don't even believe in Moses, he said, Hey, I'm circumcised. You're not a true child of Abraham. Well, I didn't. I'm a circumcised believer. But Titus didn't have to be circumcised, according to Galatians chapter 2, verse 3. Go check those things out. Now, this study will mainly benefit those whose heart is already seeking God. But you need to go through this study, Bible in hand. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, 2 Timothy 2, 15. I heartily recommend all believers study thoroughly the Old Testament. Get a good understanding of Levitical law. You don't have to master it. Get a good understanding of the covenants of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David. Get familiar with the Psalms, the Proverbs, and the prophets, because that is the foundation for the letters written in the New Testament. God bless you. Thank you for your time and attention.

Host Wrap‑Up And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 48:36

All right. Woo! That's just a powerful. That's powerful. That's good stuff. I believe it's good stuff. And I really want everybody to get this lesson on your socials. Share it, share it, share it, share it. Especially today. This is this is just a powerful lesson. I think that everybody needs to hear it. And I and I want to talk to you about something. I'm going to pick some of the stuff that you said, but I want to do it on a different podcast. Okay. Because I want us to do some QA with you on this. So this is if you're listening to this today, there's another one that's going to come and follow this that's going to have some questions that maybe you have that you would ask uh Brother Ernie as well. And we're going to try to set up when we get our new room ready in a couple of weeks that we can do an actual live where people can call in. So we're going to we're going to attempt to do that.

SPEAKER_04 49:26

So we need to do that podcast before my memory washes away.

SPEAKER_01 49:30

It ain't going to wash away. You have the mind of Christ. You have the mind of Christ.

SPEAKER_04 49:35

Yeah, but it's getting old.

Community CTA And Closing Blessing

SPEAKER_01 49:37

Yeah, give me the old. Give me the old. Okay, so thank you all. Thank you all for being around the table. Thank you, class, for being here today. And I hope that you learned something great from this. And please share this. This is a powerful word that we all need to get out there. But as we close, everybody ready? All right. Yes, we always end with this. To go show love, show some compassion. Give mercy and go be Jesus today. Hey STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? And we would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org, scroll to the more tabs, and select contact us. There's several ways that you can give whether it's interesting to check the order. I want you to remember this. They've given you the most precious gift because they can never ever get it back. Thank you for sending the stay with me. We love you to see you soon.