Under Mosaic law Israel had to be circumcised on the eighth day.
In the New Covenant those who believe and are born again become a new creation in Christ, and there’s profound change called the circumcision of the heart.
“Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter (Rom 2:29).” This means that it is not an outward fleshly cut but an inward change; a circumcision of the heart through faith.
So what does God mean by changing the idea of circumcision in the New Testament?
Clearly it was always His intention to reveal the true meaning of circumcision. Ultimately the cutting of the flesh would be seen as an outward sign, but God wants our dedication to Him to be inward, so if the flesh is cut but the heart is filled with sin it is of no real consequence.
The cross of Jesus and the ushering in of the New Testament changed everything for both Jew and Gentile. To be born again was to become circumcised in the heart.
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Colossians 2:11
A person could be cut outwardly and yet still steeped in sin. To avoid the sin issue we needed a new heart, and a new spirit. God redefined circumcision.
The cut of the cross
You see, it was Jesus who was cut on our behalf. His shedding of blood was for us. He was the circumcision for the New Testament and we are in Him through the new birth.
When we received His sacrifice into our lives we were completely changed on the inside. We received a new heart and a new spirit. The old sinful person was stripped away from us and we were purified through the blood of Jesus.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:5-7
Now He makes us the circumcision.
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Philippians 3:3
You see Israel was called the circumcision, being the chosen Nation of God, but God brings us, with them, into that place through Jesus Christ.
He has not done away with Israel. He has not replaced them with the Church as some believe.
He has united us in Israel, taking down the middle wall of partition that separated us. It is the circumcision that has changed. The Seed, who is Christ, was in Israel from Abraham, and is now sown in us through the Word of Christ.
Now the circumcision is in the blood of Jesus for all people, Jew and Gentile. He has made us one through faith in Him.
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Romans 2:28-29
He has not removed Jewishness, He has simply redefined it. We have not replaced Israel. We have been joined as one in Christ with Israel.
Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:11-13
Yes, you see He has brought us together with His chosen nation. Gentiles are the nations, those who were not Israel. We were alienated from the promises of God, but now He has brought us in.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:14-18
Oh, did you see that? “Through Him, Jesus, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” Both. Jew and Gentile.
Glory to God.
He is not asking us to be circumcised in the flesh. It served a purpose under the Old Covenant, but now it has no purpose in the New. We have been made free through the blood of Jesus.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
Galatians 6:15
It matters not whether a person is circumcised or not circumcised in the flesh. What matters to God is the new creation, the inner man, the born again believer.
Being born again means we have put on Christ, and we have been made a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things are made new.
If you’d like to be circumcised or already are, it’s not a problem, but it won’t change a thing spiritually. All that counts is being a new creature in Christ.
Selah!
