by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Circumcision was the cutting off of the foreskin of the males in Israel. Why was it done? It was a daily reminder that the offspring coming through these people (Israel) would one day bless all nations through the “seed of Abraham” (Genesis 12:1-4), and this mark in the flesh was to remind each man daily to keep himself clean for such a holy Redeemer. The Gentiles (non-Israelites) were not blessed with such a mission. Circumcision was a daily reminder for the Jews.<\/p>\n
After the Messiah came, circumcision was no longer important. The Seed had come (Galatians 3:16) and now circumcision “is nothing” (I Corinthians 7:19). To bind circumcision now on others is to fall from grace (Galatians 5:1-4) and obligate one to do all the things enjoined by the Law of Moses on Israel. You couldn’t just pick out circumcision and bind it alone. It is all or none.<\/p>\n
Circumcision also had a typological value for Israel. As it illustrated cutting away uncleanness of the flesh, it pointed to the cutting away of sin that God would do for us in Christ. Physical circumcision required human hands to do the surgery. In Christ, when we are baptized into Him, God performs a surgery “without hands”. He cuts away our sins (Colossians 2:11-12). He performs a spiritual circumcision of removing sins from our lives and our record.<\/p>\n
Christians are circumcised in this spiritual way, and they form God’s holy nation (I Peter 2:5-9). We form a spiritual nation, not a physical one, and we have a spiritual circumcision, not a physical one. We have a spiritual house instead of a physical house as the Jews formerly had in earthly Jerusalem. Our spiritual circumcision happens when we are baptized into union with Christ (Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-6).<\/p>\n
Fleshly circumcision is nothing to God now. It served its temporal purpose, preparing for the real circumcision we could have in Christ after Jesus’ death on the cross provided the means of justly removing the sins of the penitent, baptized believer.<\/p>\n
Have you had this circumcision that happens without human hands? Have you come to Christ on His terms for this greater circumcision?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton Circumcision was the cutting off of the foreskin of the males in Israel. Why was it done? It was a daily reminder that the offspring coming through these people (Israel) would one day bless all nations through the “seed of Abraham” (Genesis 12:1-4), and this mark in the flesh was to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[52,480],"class_list":["post-48821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-circumcision"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2465,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-christians-are-spiritual-israel-shouldnt-they-be-following-the-ten-commandments\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":0},"title":"Since Christians are spiritual Israel, shouldn’t they be following the Ten Commandments?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the current age, Christians are spiritual Israel. Hence, the Ten Commandments would still apply to us just as they did to physical Israel. Answer: This point alludes to\u00a0Romans 2:23-29: \"You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For \"the name\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-paul-talking-about-physical-circumcision-or-something-else-in-galatians-53-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":1},"title":"Is Paul talking about physical circumcision or something else in Galatians 5:3-4?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi. I've read some of your articles and they've been helpful. Thanks. I'm a kind of confused about what is written in Galatians 5:3-4 \"I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/timothy-was-circumcised\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":2},"title":"Timothy Was Circumcised","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong When you move from Acts of the Apostles 15 into chapter 16, the question naturally arises: has Paul just contradicted himself? In Acts 15, circumcision as a requirement tied to the law is clearly rejected. Yet in Acts 16:3, Paul the Apostle circumcises Timothy. The answer lies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7858,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-christians-considered-to-be-israelites\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":3},"title":"Are Christians considered to be Israelites?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are those who are now under the new covenant, Christians, considered to be Israelites now? Are we the part of the nation of Israel? Figuratively speaking, of course. Answer: Christians are not physically Israelites, but we are the spiritual equivalent. \"For he is not a Jew who is one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-command-circumcision\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":4},"title":"Why did God command circumcision?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did God command Abraham to cut off the foreskin? Answer: Many of the commands that God gave man early on appeared to be meaningless at the time it was given. Only later did God reveal the meaning of the practice. As an example, God commanded that the Israelites\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-circumcision-necessary\/","url_meta":{"origin":48821,"position":5},"title":"Is circumcision necessary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you consider male circumcision a necessary intervention in life - young or old? I only ask because some Christian denominations believe so. I was circumcised as an adult. I only ask for your guidance. I accept that Jesus was circumcised. It was my Sunday School teacher who broached\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}