Hello David -
I actually said this --
Gentiles did not have to become Jews to worship the true God. That was never an OT demand.
Gentiles were told to observe the Sabbath in Isaiah 56:1-8 but never told that they had to be circumcised to be saved or to worship the one true God.
Exodus 12:48 -
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it;
and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Joshua 5:2 - At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and
circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
I'll also mention Abraham getting circumcised. Since you're arguing only Jews, or Israel needed to be circumcised, yet, Abraham was neither, and still got circumcised.
This (Joshua 5:2) was referring to Israel. I'll note, Israel at this time was made up of the offspring of both, natural born, and grafted Egyptians. Both were made to be circumcised. He made no distinction, meaning we can be safe in saying it was to all of the children of both the former Egyptians, and the first Israelites.
As we see even in the NT among NON-Christian Jews the uncircumcised gentiles worshiped the One True God in the Synagogues in Acts 13, Acts 17:1-4, Acts 18:1-5
All mankind to come before God "from Sabbath to Sabbath" and bow down in worship Isaiah 66:23 -- but never do we see "all mankind circumcised" in OT or NT.
Hence Paul's statement here
"circumcision is nothing and uncirumcision is nothing but what matters is keeping the Commandments of God" 1 Cor 7:19
We have to look at this in context, because right before this, he was disputing Judaizers that claimed that
the only way to be saved, was to
first be circumcised, but he pointed out Abraham. That, first he had
faith, and
then he solidified that faith and sealed it by circumcision. Just as Abraham was, he said we are to be. He was making an example, saying, we are saved and justified
by faith alone, but that eventually that faith would cause us to get circumcised. Not
to save ourselves, but because we already were saved by Jesus - through faith.
Indeed -- a "bait and switch" on your part having nothing at all to refute the much more general statement
Gentiles did not have to become Jews to worship the true God. That was never an OT demand.
As we see even in the NT among NON-Christian Jews the uncircumcised gentiles worshiped the One True God in the Synagogues in Acts 13, Acts 17:1-4, Acts 18:1-5
Because your equivocation between the special case of 'Passover participation' with my more explicit statement about "never told that they had to be circumcised to be saved or to worship the one true God. " is much more transparently disconnected from "in order to celebrate Passover" then you may have at first imagined to yourself.
As I keep pointing out - over and over.
Joshua 5:5 - Now
all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people
that wereborn in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt,
them they had not circumcised.
This verse says that "all the people" that came out were circumcised. Came out of where? Egypt. All those that came out of Egypt. Egyptians also came out with Israel, and they were counted as Israel, because they followed after YHWH. This doesn't say, all natural-born Israel, except those born in Egypt. No, it said that
all that came out of Egypt. This is including the
Egyptians that came out as well.
It then goes on to describe those that
weren't circumcised, as those that were born along the way
after they had come out. So, since all the first generation was dead, and the second generation was alive, most of them from the second generation weren't circumcised. This makes no distinction between natural born, nor foreigner, because as Torah says constantly, they shall be to them as one
born IN the land. That they shall be
as a NATIVE born.
There is not
one law for the Israelites, and
another for gentiles. Otherwise, as someone else so wisely pointed out on one of these forums. If this was the case, then God would have had
no ground to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because they weren't part of Israel. They were gentiles. Nor would He have any grounds to give Israel the promised land, because as He says, it's not for Israel's righteousness that He gives them the land, but because of the unrighteousness of those being removed. They wouldn't be expected to live up to the standards of the law not given to them. His law has no limitations to who it applies to. It applies to all flesh, because His law is the only way we know what sin is, meaning, if it was only given to Israel, no one else would be sinning, because the very definition of sin wouldn't even be applicable to them.
