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Jonathan Griffiths: Many potential consumers of religion would be horrified at the thought that a deity would make requirements of them. In a sense, when we hear the message of grace, we can imagine that such a free salvation provides us with exactly what we're looking for—a religion with free benefits and no obligations.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths, and we continue a message we began last time, "The Sign of the Covenant." Jonathan, you point out that very often we do tend to look at religion as potential consumers. We like maybe this aspect of that religion, that aspect of a different religion here, hoping that we get to, in a sense, set our own agenda, make our own requirements. But if we're going to have a genuine relationship with the God, the creator of this world, that is not the way it works, is it?

Jonathan Griffiths: That is certainly not the way it works. One of the things I think that we can stumble over is the nature of the Christian gospel and the nature of the offer of salvation in Jesus Christ. It's a free gift. And if we hear any faithful teaching of the Christian scriptures, any faithful proclamation of the Christian gospel, we will hear the truth that salvation is a gift, won for us at great cost through Jesus Christ and his work at Calvary at the cross, but freely given as we respond in faith.

That's at the very core of the Christian gospel. But sometimes we can stop there and in our consumer mindset think, "Well, that's wonderful. I like that. I like things that are free and that place no obligations upon me." And it is free; the gospel is free. But if we are those who come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we need to recognize that God calls upon us to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience and in faith and in trust and in faithfulness.

We need to reckon with that as well. It's free, but in a sense, following Jesus means we give him everything. We give our very selves to him in response. And in his own way, Abraham is learning that lesson in Genesis 17 in the passage that we're going to be looking at together today.

Steve Hiller: Let's do just that. Grab your Bible and join us there in Genesis 17 as we continue "The Sign of the Covenant." Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Friends, when you and I come to know God through Jesus Christ, we become new people. We become new creatures, part of a new creation. That's why Jesus went about renaming his disciples from time to time. We remember, don't we, Simon, who became Peter, a name meaning rock, a name pointing to the covenant purposes and promises of God? Matthew 16 and verse 18: to this weak and sometimes vacillating man, God says this: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

A change of identity. Friends, when you and I come to Jesus, we receive a new identity and we receive a new name. We were once enemies of God, but now he calls us friends. We were once spiritual orphans, but now we are sons and daughters of the King. We were once straying and lost, but now we are beloved sheep belonging to the Great Shepherd. We were once faithless people, but now we are called believers. We were once foolish and lost, but now we are disciples sitting at the feet of the Great Teacher.

We are Christians. We are the very people of God. And receiving the name which God will call us, being known as his people in the world, it speaks of the fact that we belong to him, that we trust in his promises. It speaks of the fact that our identity, our very being, is defined by knowing him and being known by him. God is in the business of renaming people because he is in the business of remaking people. He's in the business of giving entirely new identities to those whom he calls and to those whom he saves.

It's rather wonderful that the Lord does this for Abram and Sarai at this particular point in their story and in their lives. Chapter 16 was really a low point in the rollercoaster of their story of faith—their use and their abuse of Hagar, their folly in taking matters into their own hands. It was a complete mess. And as we felt at different points in this story, God could have given up on them. He could have just called it a day, called it quits.

But instead, what does he do? He renews his covenant commitment to them. He gives them new names. He calls them his own people, and he sets before them his great covenant promises, his plans for the future. And there's something so hope-filled and something so joy-filled about all this. And as I reflect on it, I wonder if there is something about this that resonates with your heart as it does with mine. I wonder if there is something about all this that actually touches a longing of your soul.

One of the great and wonderful things that the God of the Bible does, and he does it again and again, he takes a habit of giving people a fresh start with him. He takes messy and broken and sinful and flawed and failing people. He takes messy stories and he starts fresh and he makes them new. It may be your story is very messy today. Your track record in life, it may be very rocky. Your burden of guilt, it may be very heavy on your shoulders today.

The opportunity of a new start and a new identity, it actually thrills your heart and your soul. We've read the stories, we've seen the movies of people who through one crisis or another, they need to be given a new identity and moved to a new place and given a fresh start. Maybe they're in a witness protection program or something like that. But they literally start fresh at that point—new name, new story, new job, new contacts, new identity.

As those who come to the Lord for new life, we don't hide from our old contacts, of course. And the name on our passport, that doesn't change. But God does take delight in making us new. And for some here today, that opportunity, that offer, it thrills you. So let me say to you, if that is you, the invitation is truly on the table. This is what God does. The opportunity, the invitation, it is there for you today.

The invitation to come to God through Jesus Christ, to be made new, to be cleansed of sin, to be restored, to be called God's own child. I wonder if that's something you would consider, something you would like. Well, it is for you if you will receive it by faith in God's own Son who died for you. That's the offer of the gospel. For us who have received that, for us who are called followers of Jesus, disciples, Christians, the people of God, let's just make sure together that we are known by our new identity, known in the world by our new name.

Just as it might have been a bit awkward for Abram to be known by the new name that signaled the promise when that promise seemed so far off, it is for us a matter of faith to be known as Christians in a world that would pour scorn upon that name. I was hearing just this week of one major public agency that reportedly is seeking not to hire Christians at the present time. They've made it clear internally that they don't want more of those Christians on the staff, too many of those already.

That's no real surprise, is it? We should expect more of that in the days to come. But brothers and sisters, we do have a new name. We have a wonderful name. It is a sign of the grace of God. It is a seal of the blessings of God. It is a promise of good things to come. God Almighty, he establishes the new identity of his covenant people. Finally, he establishes the requirements of covenant obedience.

We all love the idea of situations where we can receive benefit but have little or no obligation—the club, maybe the gym or something, that would give perks but make no demands of the members. The relationship, the friendship that will fulfill our need for companionship but require very little of us in return. The citizenship that would offer home and security but ask nothing of the people. The easy job that would provide a paycheck but demand nothing of us beyond bare attendance between 9:00 and 5:00.

We all love to receive. We are reluctant to be placed under obligation. We are all more naturally consumers than we are servants. I think that's the case for most of us, perhaps all of us. And while that is generally true in so many spheres of life, it is especially true in the matter of religion, in the matter of faith. As we said earlier, we so easily view ourselves as consumers in this great marketplace of religion, wondering how the various versions of the deity that are presented will just tempt us to sign up.

Many potential consumers of religion would be horrified at the thought that a deity would make requirements of them if they joined. In a sense, when we hear the message of grace, when we learn that God justifies sinners on the basis of faith, we can imagine that such a free salvation provides us with exactly what we're looking for—a religion with free benefits and no obligations. At this point in the story of Abram, we might, in fact, fall into a trap of imagining that that is precisely what is going on.

Remember that back in chapter 15, God made a great promise to Abram. Chapter 15 and verse 5: God brought him out on a clear evening outside and said, "Look toward heaven, number the stars if you're able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." And then we're told that Abram believed the Lord and he counted it to him, credited it to him as righteousness. God made this great promise to Abram. Abram believed the promise, took God at his word, and God counted that faith to Abram as righteousness, meaning that God would not count Abram's sin against him.

Abram would be declared to be a righteous man in the courtroom of God, with no fear of judgment or punishment. Abram was saved from all that by his faith, placed in good standing before God. Now we see Abram go on to do some pretty silly things, some frankly sinful things. And yet, he evidently remains in good standing before God. And we might reflect on that. I mean, we have to notice it in the text. We might reflect on that and think maybe God isn't actually planning on placing any real demands upon Abram.

Maybe this is the dream situation—all benefit, no obligation. And the consumer within us is stirred to delight. Well, if we had any misguided notions of that kind, if Abram had any misconceived ideas along those lines, Genesis 17 corrects them very sharply. The man whom God justified through faith is going to be called upon to walk with God in faithful obedience. Notice again how the chapter opens. God appears to Abram. He says, "I'm God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless."

That's what God desires. That's what he calls for. And the response of obedience is going to take a particular form for Abraham. There is going to be a practical and symbolic expression of this for him and for his family. Verse 9: "And God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and your offspring after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.'"

This will be applied to every male in the household, born or bought, as a sign of the covenant. Anyone who's not circumcised, verse 14, is going to be cut off from the family. After the debacle of chapter 16, after more than a decade of letting the dust settle, the Lord comes to Abram in no uncertain terms and tells him that he is claiming his life and making very concrete demands of him. Abram was already saved back in chapter 15. This is not about him gaining righteousness, earning righteousness. That was a gift; righteousness was freely given by God.

But this is now what it's going to look like for Abraham to live as a saved person, as a person set apart for the Lord. And the demand that is placed upon Abram is painful, it is personal, and it is permanent. Where Abram got into trouble in the sexual realm in chapter 16, when he got into trouble with respect to offspring, God is now placing a mark upon his body which will speak of faithfulness to him, holiness in the sexual realm, and a holiness that will be required not only of him, but of his offspring to follow. God places a claim upon Abram and his whole family.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths, a message called "The Sign of the Covenant" as we've been taking a look at God's establishing a covenant for his people—the timeline, the identity, and the requirements of covenant obedience. We're going to pause right here. We'll get back to this message in just a moment. But if you joined us late, you have to leave early, or you just want to go back and listen again, you can always do that by coming to our website. It's encounterthetruth.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free.

Again, our website address: encounterthetruth.org. Well, if you have just joined us, we're in the book of Genesis, chapter 17, so I hope you'll grab a Bible and meet us there as we get back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Now, the covenant of circumcision is the start of God's legal requirements for his people. More is going to come. We're going to have the Ten Commandments. We're going to have the Torah. All of it will be added on top. But here is the symbolic start. And the requirement, it says this, and it says it very clearly: the God who freely justifies is the God who demands the very lives of his people. He is the God who claims all that we are and all that we have as his very own. His saved people are his possession called to live in his way.

In our consumer mindset, we imagine that God gives and he will never take. You know, we come and we sit in a comfortable church building like this one and we meet for an hour or two in the week with perfectly pleasant people and we step outside when the service is done, and we might imagine that our lives are now ours to live as we please for the rest of the week. As Western consumers, that kind of outlook, that kind of model, it holds a great deal of appeal for us.

Many of us perhaps live that way. We like our Christianity to be like that. But Genesis 17 tells us that the God of the Western consumer, the God who kind of fits in around our lifestyle, he is not actually the God of the Bible. No, the God of the Bible claims his saved people as his very own. He calls upon us to commit ourselves to him in ways that are costly and permanent and sometimes painful as we seek to obey him. That's what Abraham learned that day and that's the lesson of God's word for us here today as well.

Now, we need to be very careful as we say that to understand that we do not live today under the covenant of circumcision. We share in the promise that Abraham received. We are justified by faith even as he was in Genesis 15, but the whole matter of circumcision, it is set aside in the new covenant in Christ. The specific requirements of Genesis 17 are not for us today. But at the same time, we need to be very clear that the God of Genesis 17 is the God whom we know and we trust and he has not changed.

He still calls his people to be set apart, to be obedient, to be holy, to be devoted to him. The God who called Abraham to be circumcised in Genesis 17 calls his people today to be baptized. And I wonder if you've taken that step of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ—to be publicly set apart for him and sealed by the gospel. He is the same God who in Christ calls his disciples to deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow him.

He is the one who in his great Sermon on the Mount called us in very practical terms to live a life of holiness, honesty, sexual purity, forgiveness, and grace to our enemies, and so much more besides. The God who freely gives us all things in Christ teaches us as well that our money is not our own and he calls us to generosity to his people and his work. Friends, in our culture, in our day, and in our age, we are in such danger, I believe, of being mere religious consumers rather than the true people of God.

I wonder, has that truth sunk in? Has it sunk into your heart and to mine that the God who saves souls is the God who claims lives? That the God who shows grace is the God who demands obedience? Where are you and I in danger of falling short of our calling to be his covenant people today? For all his failures and all his weaknesses, for all his folly and for all his sin, Abraham has so much to teach each one of us about the life of faith. When the Lord spoke to him, just notice how Abraham responded, and we're going to close with this.

Notice it with me, verse 22: "When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him." Down to verse 28: "That very day, Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised." For all his frailty and for all his sin, Abraham responded without hesitation or delay to the word of God.

I wonder as we close, where is God by his word calling you today to faithful obedience? Where is he placing his claim upon your life and where is the delay in the response of your heart? I don't know where that call to obedience lands for you personally today, where it lands upon your heart, where it lands upon your life. Maybe it's upon some area of known sin that you haven't dealt with. Maybe it's your use of your time and your money. Maybe it's your handling of some relationship.

Maybe it's the way in which you might be serving him but are not serving him. I don't know where the call to obedience lands for you personally today, but friends, let's not be those who delay in heeding and responding to the call of the word of God, the call of the word of the God who saved us in his grace and daily leads us in his love. Let's pray together.

Our Father, we thank you that you are the God of astounding grace in Jesus. Thank you for the gift of your Son who saved us through his death and resurrection. We pray that you would help us by your Holy Spirit to be an obedient people who honor you with all that we are and all that we have, that we might be a people set apart for your glory in a lost and dying world. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Steve Hiller: Amen. Well, thank you, Jonathan, and thank you for listening today. Our message is called "The Sign of the Covenant." We've been taking a look at God's establishing a covenant for his people—the timeline, the identity, and the requirements of covenant obedience. If you missed any part of this broadcast or the series we're calling "The Blessing," you can always come to the website and listen online. Just stop by encounterthetruth.org.

Encounter the Truth is able to be on this station, make the podcast available, and much more because of your generosity. So thank you for giving to and supporting this ministry. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called *Don't Waste Your Life*. It's written by John Piper. And Jonathan, who would you say that this book would be really useful for?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I think it's useful for anyone at any stage of life who wants to make sure that they're using their time well and investing their life in the best possible way. So that's all of us. And I'd love to get this book into the hands actually of every listener to Encounter the Truth. It's got a special value, I guess, for younger people who are thinking, "What am I going to do with my life? How shall I invest my energy and my time?"

I think this is a great book to read in particular at that stage of life. So if you're a young adult, you're a young person maybe studying at the present time and you're looking out at the open road before you and wondering what to do, I'd love you to read this book. But maybe you're a parent or a grandparent of such a person and you'd love to prayerfully encourage them to spend their life in the Lord's service and to invest their life in the best possible way. Get hold of this book and give it to them as a gift. I don't think you'll regret doing that one bit.

Steve Hiller: Well, this book is our gift to you as we say thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at encounterthetruth.org or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH. That's 1-833-998-7884. Or again, our website is encounterthetruth.org.

You can also write us at Encounter the Truth, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 0A1. Or in the US, at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, number 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.