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We clearly know from Gen 17 that circumcision was a sign of the old covenant. It was a token to show each generation of Israelites that the promised Messiah would come from the seed of Abraham, for the faithfulness of Abraham toward Yahweh. You could not come to the Messiah but through the seed of Abraham, and He did not say as to seeds as to many, but seed as to one, the seed of Yahshua, through Isaac alone (Genesis 17:21, Galatians 3:16).

Gen 17:11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. And it shall be a token of the covenant between Me and you.

Gen 17:21 And I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set apart time next year.

Gal 3:16 Now the promises which were made to Abraham and to his seed as a covenant. He did not say, “To your descendants,” as many but, “To your descendants”, as one, that is Messiah.

Circumcision was for a twofold purpose. One was as mentioned as a token of the covenant to show the bloodline of the Messiah would come through Abraham through Isaac. Secondarily, it was a law of Yahweh for clean and unclean for all male youths 8 days old (Leviticus 12:3).

Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

A covenant is a solemn oath or agreement made by two parties. Under the ancient covenant agreement both parties entering covenant relationship have an obligation to fulfill. In any ancient covenant ceremony there were 9 steps to take to ratify the covenant. Here are the nine steps of the ancient blood covenant.

1) Take off your robe or coat – The robe represents the person. I am giving you all of Myself. My total being and My life I pledge to you.

2) Take off your belt – I am giving all my strength and pledging all my strength and support in protection to you. Here is My strength and all My abilities to fight. He is taking off all His strength and giving it to us. This also represents the fruits of the Spirit.

3) Cutting the covenant – I am dying to myself, giving up the rights to my own life and beginning a new walk with my covenant partner unto death.

4) Raising the right arm and mixing blood – By mixing the blood the 2 become one and swear allegiance to each other. We become one (echad) with Yahweh, one in mind, soul, and thought.

5) Exchanging Names – We get a new name and become a part of the Yahweh family.

6) Making a scar – A permanent testimony to the covenant, to remind us of our covenant responsibilities to each other. The scar is our seal that testifies to the covenant.

7) Terms of the covenant – What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine – assets and liabilities. He takes all of our liabilities, physical and anything that’s contrary to the spirit of Yahweh. He took all the bad from us, only to give us good. The covenant is not the law, but it’s part of the terms of the covenant.

8) Eat a memorial meal – Symbols of bread and wine instead of eating the animal and the blood. The wine is the blood of grapes, it represents our own lifeblood. The bread represents our flesh. A loaf of bread taken and broke in two is symbolic of My body and I am putting it in you.

9) Plant a memorial – Yahshua was crucified in the Tree of Life, a living menorah. He plants His Spirit in us at baptism, and our new life is in Him. We are planted together with Him.

The third step of that covenant process is cutting an animal in half, shedding its blood, and walking through the pieces in a figure 8 and facing your partner to finalize the agreement.

Heb 9:17 For a covenant is affirmed over those dead, since it never has force when he who has made it is living.

Heb 9:18 For this reason not even the first covenant was confirmed without blood.

Heb 9:19 For when the whole ordinance had been propounded by Moses to all the people, according to the law; Moses took the blood of a heifer, and water, with scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled upon the scrolls and upon all the people;

Heb 9:20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which is ordained to you by YAHWEH.” (Ex. 24:8)

Heb 9:21 With that blood he also sprinkled upon the tabernacle, and upon all the vessels of service:

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are purified by blood according to the Torah; and apart from shedding of blood no remission occurs.

Abraham never ratified the covenant of Yahweh by walking through the split pieces of the animal in a figure eight, then facing his covenant partner and giving the oath. It was a smoking furnace and a torch of fire (Yahweh & Yahshua) who walked through the pieces, therefore showing that Abraham realized as a man that he could not be 100% faithful and keep covenant with Yahweh. He trusted in the smoking furnace and torch of fire (Yahweh and Yahshua) to perform what he could not, just as Yahweh did when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac and Yahweh intervened.

Gen 15:10 And he took all these for Him, and he divided them in the middle; and he laid each piece opposite its neighbor, but he did not divide the bird.

Gen 15:12 And it happened, as the sun was setting, and a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, a terror of great darkness was falling on him!

Gen 15:17 And it happened, the sun had gone down, and it was dark. Behold! A smoking furnace and a torch of fire that passed over between those pieces!

Israel did not follow Abraham’s example. Do to the lust of receiving blessings they did enter into covenant with Yahweh even though Joshua warned them not to because if they did, when they sinned there would be no way for them to be forgiven.

Jos 24:14 Now, then, fear YAHWEH, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and turn away from the gods which your fathers served Beyond the River, and in Egypt; and you serve YAHWEH.

Jos 24:15 And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve YAHWEH, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods whom your fathers served Beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve YAHWEH.

Jos 24:16 And the people replied and said, Far be it from us to forsake YAHWEH, to serve other gods.

Jos 24:17 For YAHWEH our Elohim is He who has brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves, and who has done these great signs before our eyes, and has preserved us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the people through whom we have passed.

Jos 24:18 And YAHWEH has cast out all the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land before us. We also will serve YAHWEH, for They are a holy Elohim

Jos 24:19 And Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve YAHWEH, for They are a holy Elohim; He is a jealous El. He will not lift up from you your transgressions or your sins.

Jos 24:20 When you forsake YAHWEH, and shall serve strange gods, then He will turn away and do evil to you, and consume you, after He has done good to you.

Jos 24:21 And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve YAHWEH.

Jos 24:22 And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen YHWH for yourselves, to serve Him (for they said, We are witnesses).

Jos 24:23 And now turn away from the strange gods among you, and incline your heart to YAHWEH the Elohim of Israel.

Jos 24:24 And the people said to Joshua, We will serve YAHWEH our Elohim, and we will listen to His voice.

Jos 24:25 And Joshua cut a covenant with the people on that day, and laid on them a law and a statute in Shechem.

Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of Elohim, and took a great stone and raised it up there under the oak by the sanctuary of YAHWEH.

Jos 24:27 And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the sayings of YAHWEH which He has spoken with us. And it shall be against you for a witness, that you not lie against your Elohim.

This is the whole problem with the Old Covenant. Under this covenant where faith was rejected and lust of material gain was sought after, when they sinned they were on their own. Since it was a covenant based solely on blessings and cursings for works of the flesh, there is no place in that covenant for the forgiveness of sins.

Heb 10:1 For the (Levitical) Law had in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the substance of those things themselves. Appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they never are able to perfect those who offered them.

Heb 10:2 Otherwise, if they had once been perfected they would have ceased to be offered? For from henceforth, their minds would not have driven them into the sins from which they had once been cleansed.

Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices they remembered their sins year by year,

Heb 10:4 for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away (the penalty of) sins.

Even on the Day of Atonement the sins were only covered, they were never removed, or why else would the high priest come year after year doing sacrifices for the same sins? And even on the day of Yom Kippur, in the old covenant there is no way to have the sin of idolatry, adultery, blasphemy or murder forgiven. These heinous crimes automatically brought the death penalty.

And what did the Messiah do when he came to magnify the Torah (law)?

Mat 5:17 Do not think that I came to annul the Torah or the Prophets; I did not come to annul, but to fulfill.

Mat 5:18 Truly I say to you, Until the heaven and the earth pass away, in no way shall one yod or one stroke pass away from the Torah until all comes to pass.

Mat 5:27 You have heard that it was said to the ancients “Do not commit adultery.”

Mat 5:28 But I say to you, Everyone looking at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

He showed that to Yahweh sin starts in the mind and that if we even had a thought of anger toward a brother, we already murdered him, if we even thought about lust of a woman, that we already then committed adultery. So far be it from doing away with the Torah, what the Messiah came to do was to show us that under the Old Covenant we are all liable to death. Israel signed and ratified this covenant at Mount Sinai and every Israelite through the bloodline of Abraham (remember the token of circumcision?) also had this written code of debt (Colossians 2:14 Cherographon in the Greek) hanging over their head.

Under the Old Covenant there was no way to lift this death penalty, so would Yahweh have the whole house of Israel perish? YAHWEH FORBID! No, He merely brought in a better hope. THE NEW COVENANT!

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Jer 31:32 not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was to be a husband to them, says YAHWEH).

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares YAHWEH, I will put My Torah in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.

Very clearly this was not the Old Covenant, but a new one.

Heb 8:7 For if that first was faultless, there would have been no need for a second.

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He said to them, “Behold, days are coming, says Yahweh, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah;

There is an Old Covenant and a New Covenant, and they are not the same covenant. The fault with the first covenant was not the law (Torah), but the people. Because of their fleshly desires and lack of faith to trust in Yahweh, they could not have him do the proper sacrifice required to have their sins forgiven. We still see this today that our brother Judah, due to pride, still refuses to see that he is a worthless sinner in the flesh and needs salvation to come from Yahweh alone. But he had to take a way, or better,” fulfill” the first, before he could establish the second.

Heb 10:4 for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away (the penalty of) sins.

Heb 10:5 For this reason, coming into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me.

Heb 10:6 You did not delight in burnt offerings and sin offerings.”

Heb 10:7 “Then I said, Lo, I come, as it is written about me in the beginning of the Books I delight to do Your will, O Elohim.”

Heb 10:8 Above, when He said, “You did not desire nor were pleased with sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins,” (which are offered according to the Levitical Law),

Heb 10:9 then He said, “Lo, I come to do Your will, O Elohim.” He takes away the first in order that He may set up the second;

Heb 10:10 by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Yahshua Messiah once for all.

Is the Old Covenant completely gone?

2 Cor 3:6 who also made us able ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter of the Torah punishes with death, but the Spirit makes alive.

2 Cor 3:7 Now if the ministration of death as contained in the letter of the Torah and engraved on stones, was so glorious, so as that the sons of Israel could not look into “the face of Moses” because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was not lasting,

2 Cor 3:8 how much more the ministry of the Spirit will be in glory!

2 Cor 3:9 For if there be glory in the ministration of condemnation, much more the ministration of righteousness shall exceed in glory.

2 Cor 3:10 Just as that which was not glorious has been made glorious, in comparison, this excels in glory.

2 Cor 3:11 For if that which was not lasting was glorious, much more glorious will be the thing which remains. (Remember the thing done away was not the Torah but the covenant agreement under the first covenant.)

Heb 8:13 In the saying, New, He has made the first old. And the thing being made old and obsolete is near disappearing.

No, it is near disappearing, but not completely gone. If it were completely gone Judah would have no hope, as they are still in the Old Covenant, and that is why they are trying to rebuild a physical temple and start animal sacrifices again that will once again not take away one sin, but only mock the spirit of Messiah’s sacrifice even more. But make no mistake, we are NOT UNDER the OLD COVENANT, we are under the NEW. Will Judah also have another chance to accept the Messiah?

Zec 12:10 And I will pour on the house of David, and on those living in Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of prayers. And they shall look on Me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they shall be bitter over Him, like the bitterness over the first-born.

Yes, at Yahshua’s return, the Jewish people will realize their rejection of the Messiah the first time and will repent and accept Him then. What are the differences of these two covenants besides the fact of the New being a covenant of faith, and therefore through faith being able to have my sins forgiven that could not be forgiven under the first covenant?

Act 13:38 Then let it be known to you, men, brothers, that through this One remission of sin is announced to you.

Act 13:39 And everyone believing in this One is justified from all things which you could not be justified by the Torah of Moses.

Is the law different?

Heb 8:10 Because this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says YAHWEH, I will put My Torah into their mind, and I will inscribe it on their hearts, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.”

Heb 8:11 “And they shall no more teach each one their neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, Know YAHWEH; because all shall know Me, from the least of them to their great ones.

Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and I will not at all remember their sins and their lawless deeds.

Very clearly NOWHERE in Scripture does it say that any part of the Torah (law) except the part that was added because of sin (Galatians 3:19 Levitical law with sacrifices) is fulfilled within the New. Just the opposite, it says the people will have Yahweh’s Torah written on their hearts and minds. Only the sacrificial law that was added due to sin, included with all the ceremonial washings and ordinances of it have been completely fulfilled through the Messiah and are no longer necessary, for where forgiveness is, there is no more need for sacrifice.

Heb 10:18 But where remission of these is, there is no longer offering concerning sins.

Also the ceremonial laws of mikvah were no longer required now that Yahshua has completely cleansed us from all sin.

Heb 9:7 But into the second the high priest goes alone once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and the ignorance’s of the people;

Heb 9:8 the Holy Spirit signifying by this that the way of the Holy of Holies has not yet been made manifest, the first tabernacle still having been standing;

Heb 9:9 And it was a symbol, for that time, during which oblation and sacrifices were offered that could not make perfect the conscience of him who offered them:

Heb 9:10 but only in food and drink, and various washings, and fleshly ordinances, until the time of reformation has been imposed.

Every day priests and Israelites would do what was called a “mikvah”. This was a ceremonial washing to cleanse them from an act of being unclean, such as coming in contact with a dead body or having a sickness such as diarrhea.

Lev 15:4 Every bed on which the issuing one lies shall be unclean. And everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

Lev 15:5 And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his garments, and shall bathe with water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

This was part of the ceremonial law. Some people and especially priests would mikvah (immerse in water) 5 and 6 times in a day. Again, this would never forgive one sin, just daily remind them that they are sinners. Then, once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and cover all the sins of Israel until the next year. Remember the sins were only covered, but not forgiven, as the Torah clearly states that when it comes to sin, that it is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In other words, that the punishment must fit the crime, they must be of equal value. And anyone who is honest with themselves will admit that the life of an animal does not equal the life of a human. Baptism is a type of mikvah, only it is the “ultimate mikvah”, for once you are immersed properly by the blood of the Son of Yahweh you never need to be immersed again.

John the Baptist’s baptism was a type of mikvah. Remember, John was the last of the prophets and the last of the Old Testament teachers. He made the bridge from the Old Testament mikvah into the New Testament baptism. Just as the mikvah washing, John’s baptism did not have with it the imparting of the Holy Spirit. This did not happen until Yahshua was crucified and resurrected.

Acts 1:4 And while He ate bread with them, He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, Which you heard of Me;

Acts 1:5 for John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days after.”

The Holy Spirit was the promise that would be received for all those that believed in Yahshua for the forgiveness of sins under the first covenant and were baptized in His name and had hands laid on them by an elder of Yahweh for the imparting of the Holy Spirit. Remember that a covenant is an agreement between two parties where each party has an obligation to fulfill. In the baptism or immersion ceremony, the person who is being immersed is going completely under water as a sign of him dying to the old self and coming up a new creation completely repenting (180 degree turn) from their old way of life.

Then, Yahweh uses His ordained elder to lay hands on the new believer for the imparting of the Holy Spirit. The water immersion is simply a sign of the person’s commitment to change, but the Holy Spirit is actually transferred into the person by Yahweh with the laying of hands of His true ordained elder.

Acts 19:1 And it happened, in the time Apollos was in Corinth, Paul was passing through the higher parts to come to Ephesus. And finding some disciples,

Acts 19:2 he said to them, Believing, did you receive the Holy Spirit? And they said to him, We did not even hear whether the Holy Spirit is.

Acts 19:3 And he said to them, Then to what were you baptized? And they said, To the baptism of John.

Acts 19:4 And Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe into the One coming after him, that is, into the Messiah, Yahshua.

Acts 19:5 And hearing, they were baptized into the name of the Master Yahshua.

Acts 19:6 And Paul laying hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in different languages and prophesied.

Notice they did NOT receive the Holy Spirit upon belief, but only when an elder of Yahweh laid hands on them. It should also be noted that the ceremony of water baptism and the laying on of hands is not just a symbolic ceremony, but is the time that the person is actually receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and joining the very family of Yahweh as a child of His.

Rom 8:9 But you are not in flesh, but in Spirit, since the Spirit of YAHWEH dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Messiah, this one does not belong to Him.

Rom 8:10 But if Messiah is in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of the One having raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, the One having raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies live through the indwelling of His Spirit in you.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim.

Rom 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship by which we cry, Abba! Father!

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of YAHWEH.

Rom 8:17 And if children, also heirs; truly heirs of Elohim, and joint heirs of Messiah, if indeed we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together.

Scripture tells us many are called and few are chosen and there are infinite millions that Yahweh’s Spirit is working with today, but the thing that makes someone a firstfruit in His Kingdom, and an actual child and family member of the Yahweh family is by joining covenant relationship with Yahweh through baptism and the laying on of hands by an ordained elder, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Mat 28:16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mount where Yahshua appointed them.

Mat 28:18 And coming up Yahshua talked with them, saying, All authority in Heaven and on earth was given to Me.

Mat 28:19 Then having gone, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son,

Mat 28:20 and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen.

Comment: Notice that Yahshua here is speaking to the 11 ordained Apostles. And even though all believers are part of the work of bringing the Good-news message of Yahshua to the world, it is clear from scripture that only an ordained elder has the authority to do the actual baptism and laying on of hands.

Is there another sign that covenant believers who are children of Yahweh must follow to show that Yahweh is their Elohim and Father and that they are His children Israel?

Exo 31:12 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,

Exo 31:13 And you speak to the sons of Israel, charging them, only My Sabbaths you shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you for your generation; to know that I am YAHWEH your sanctifier.

Exo 31:14 And you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you; the profaners of it shall surely be executed; for everyone doing work in it, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of his people.

Exo 31:15 Work may be done six days, and on the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to YAHWEH; everyone doing work on the Sabbath day surely shall be put to death.

Exo 31:16 And the sons of Israel shall guard the Sabbath, to observe and do the Sabbath for their generations; it is a never-ending covenant.

Exo 31:17 It is a sign forever between Me and the sons of Israel; for in six days YAHWEH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

Exo 31:18 And when He finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave to Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of Elohim.

The Sabbath day which was set at creation is a sign of Yahweh as the Sovereign of the universe and a sign to His children, the sons of Israel. When we repent of our sins and are baptized and have hands laid on us for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and become literal children of Yahweh as Romans 8 states, then we are now blessed to be able to enter His rest every 7th day and to be able to worship Him on His Sabbath day as a sign of who He is and who we are. (Please see lesson 4 for complete details of the Sabbath day)

So that brings us full circle to the question of circumcision. Remember circumcision was a twofold law. One was as a token of the bloodline of Abraham to bring us to the Messiah. This was not a law of Mount Sinai, but was given in Gen 17. There was no way to come to the Messiah but by becoming the physical seed of Abraham. But now that the Messiah is here there is no longer need for that token. All Israelites or those who became Israelites had to join that covenant by a token of their own blood through circumcision. But in the New Covenant do we join by our own blood or the blood of the Messiah?

Col 2:11 in whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Messiah,

Col 2:12 being buried with Him in baptism, and by Him you were raised with Him for you believed in the power of YAHWEH, who raised Him from the dead.

Col 2:13 And you, who were once dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has granted to live with Him, having forgiven you all your sins,

Col 2:14 and, by his mandates, he cancelled the legal contract of our sins, which existed against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His torture stake.

We join the New Covenant by the blood of the Messiah. In the old, a person could only come to the Messiah by becoming physically a seed of Abraham, but now one becomes a seed of Abraham through the Messiah. In the changing of the covenant from old to new, the token or sign of that New Covenant has also changed. Clearly from the New Testament we are told that Baptism and NOT physical circumcision is the sign of the New Covenant. It also tells us that baptism is a spiritual circumcision and through baptism we are partaking of the circumcision of the Messiah in putting off not the foreskin of our flesh, but of our sins.

We enter the New Covenant not by our own blood through physical circumcision, but by the blood of the Messiah through repentance and faith, water baptism, and the laying on of hands (Hebrews 6:1-3). This is why water baptism is a necessary requirement to join the New Covenant, because it is the sign of the New Covenant.

But wasn’t the covenant of circumcision forever?

Yes it is, to Israelites and not Gentiles. There is second reason for circumcision, as a law of clean and unclean in the Torah.

Lev 12:2 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If a woman has conceived seed, and has borne a male, then she shall be unclean seven days; as on the days of her menstrual impurity she shall be unclean.

Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

This is the only time in Scripture that circumcision is commanded as a law from Mount Sinai, and as a part of the Torah as a law of clean and unclean, all true covenant believers should circumcise their children on the 8th day of life. The vitamin K rises in a baby’s body on this day for clotting to form from the bleeding of the circumcision. Women also have less cervical cancer from circumcised men compared to those who are not circumcised. This is a law of clean and unclean, but not a required act by a male Gentile to join the New Covenant.

And what does the Apostle Paul say to those that are being Judaized and forced to be circumcised as the sign to join the covenant?

Gal 5:1 Then stand firm in the liberty with which Messiah made us free and do not be harnessed again with a yoke of slavery.

Gal 5:2 Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you are circumcised, Messiah will profit you nothing.

Gal 5:3 And I testify again to every man being circumcised, that he is under obligation to fulfill the whole Torah;

Gal 5:4 those of you who are seeking justification in the Torah, you have been severed from Messiah; you have fallen from grace.

Very clearly Paul warns that one who is circumcised instead of baptized to join the covenant is joining the Old Covenant, in which circumcision was the sign, and Messiah will profit them NOTHING. This is because again there was NO FORGIVENESS of sins in the Old Covenant and one cannot be saved as a member of that covenant. Also, according to the Old Covenant if you broke just one law then you were under a curse and a death penalty. Clearly there was no salvation in the Old Covenant.

Deut 27:26 Cursed is he who does not carry out to do all the Words of this Torah, to do them! And all the people shall say, Amen!

The apostle Peter also firmly taught Baptism and not circumcision was the sign of the New Covenant.

Acts 2:37 And hearing, they were touched in the heart, and said to Simon Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men, our brothers, What shall we do?

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, each of you in the name of Yahshua YAHWEH for the forgiveness of sins, that you may receive the gift of the Spirit of Holiness.

Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Master our Elohim shall call.

The Apostle Paul also firmly taught physical circumcision as a sign to join the New Covenant was not required on believers.

Rom 2:28 For it is not the one who is outwardly a Jew that is the real Jew, nor is circumcision that which is seen in the flesh;

Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew that is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not literally; of whom the praise is not from men, but from Elohim.

Did the other Apostles also firmly teach that a new Gentile convert did not have to be physically circumcised to join the New Covenant?

Act 15:1 And going down from Judea, some taught the brothers, saying, unless you are circumcised in the manner of the Torah, you cannot be saved.

Act 15:2 Then dissension and not a little disputation with them having taken place by Paul and Barnabas, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others of them to go up into Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this question.

Act 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with all the congregation, to send chosen men from them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas having been surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

Act 15:23 writing by their hand these things: The apostles and the elders and the brothers, to those throughout Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, brothers from the nations: Greeting.

Act 15:24 Since we heard that some of us having gone out have confused you with words, agitating your souls, saying, Be circumcised to keep the Torah, to whom we gave no command;

Act 15:31 And after they read they were encouraged and they rejoiced.

1 Pet 3:18 Because even Messiah once suffered concerning sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to Elohim; indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;

1 Pet 3:19 and he preached to those souls, which were detained in Hades,

1 Pet 3:20 which were formerly disobedient, in the days of Noah, when the long suffering of Elohim commanded an ark to be made, in hope of their repentance; and eight souls only entered into it, and were saved upon the water.

1 Pet 3:21 And you also are saved in that same manner by baptism, not merely when you wash the filth from the body, but by confessing YAHWEH with a pure conscience, and by the resurrection of Yahshua the Messiah;

As Colossians also stated baptism is a symbol of death to the old self and the flesh, which committed the sins of the first covenant that caused the Messiah to have to come and die for those sins. WE are therefore baptized into the death of the Messiah, in place of our death for the sins we have committed.

If one wants to have their sins cleansed by the everlasting sacrifice of Yahshua Messiah, the Son of Yahweh, he must repent of his sins, and be immersed (baptized) in the name of Yahshua Yahweh for the forgiveness of those sins, and then have a true qualified elder of Yahshua lay hands on the New Covenant person for the imparting of the Holy Spirit by our Heavenly Father. The Spirit is transferred by Yahweh, the minister is just simply the vessel that He has chosen to transfer His Spirit.

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news, the things concerning the kingdom of YAHWEH, and in the name of Yahshua Messiah, they were baptized, both men and women.

Acts 8:13 And Simon himself also believed, and being baptized was continuing steadfastly with Philip. And seeing miracles and mighty works happening, he was amazed.

Acts 8:14 And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the Word of Elohim, they sent Simon Peter and John to them,

Acts 8:15 who going down prayed concerning them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:16 For it was not upon any one of them yet, but they were only being baptized in the name of the Master Yahshua.

Acts 8:17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:18 But when Simon Magus saw that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, he offered them money,

Acts 8:19 saying, Give to me also this authority that to whomever I may lay on the hands he may receive the Holy Spirit.

You can see from the above scripture that not just anyone has been given the authority by Yahweh to do the laying on of hands ceremony, but only His set apart elders. This is simply for judicial order purposes and so one can be completely sure that He will be receiving the Holy Spirit and not being conned by a false teacher, such as Simon Magus.

Even Yahshua Himself was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness; for He would not command us to do something that He would not do Himself. If you have repented of your sins and want to be fully immersed in water (baptized) to enter covenant with our Heavenly Father and have hands laid on you by an elder of Yahweh for the receiving of the Holy Spirit, please write us and we will try to arrange for an ordained elder to come to you for this purpose. Remember Baptism and the laying on of hands is necessary to enter the New Covenant with Yahweh through the blood of Yahshua.

Mark 16:16 The one believing and being baptized will be saved. And the one not believing will be condemned.

Points to Remember

1. We are under the New Covenant by the Blood of Yahshua for forgiveness of sins.

2. Baptism and NOT circumcision is the sign of the New Covenant.

3. Sin and NOT Yahweh’s law is what Yahshua came to deliver us from.

4. We should still circumcise a male baby on the 8th day for clean and unclean laws.

5. Through the laying on of hands by the elder of Yahweh, the person actually receives His Spirit and becomes a literal begotten child of His.

6. Galatians 3:19, The only law added after creation was the sacrificial law because of sin. This is the law that is no longer necessary since the crucifixion of Messiah.