Romans 4:11 : "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto them. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant made with Abraham; it was to be perpetuated as a sign of membership in that covenant. It did not bring one into the covenant, as some think. Every child of Jewish parentage was a member of that covenant by virtue of his descent from Abraham. "And the un-circumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul sha" be cut off from his people; he bath broken my covenant" (Genesis 17:14). It could not be said that a person broke the covenant by failing to be circumcised, if he were not in the covenant. But circumcision was more than a sign to Abraham; it was a seal of the righteousness of his faith, a stamp of God's approval of his faith. To the Hebrews it was sign of the covenant to Abraham only was it a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had in uncircumcision. Something was done that Abraham might be the father of all who believe, both of Gentiles and Jews. What was it? It does not seem possible that Paul meant that Abraham was circumcised that he might be the father of the uncircumcised believer. Evidently, it was the righteousness of the faith which he had in uncircumcision that constituted him "the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto them" that is, he is the father of the Gentile believers, though they be not circumcised. And God reckons righteous-ness to them without circumcision.