Circumcision
“A cutting around”
Summary
The rite of cutting off the foreskin, instituted by God as a token of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
☩Institution and Purpose
Circumcision was appointed by God as a token of the covenant made with Abraham and his seed, and a seal of the righteousness of his faith. Moses established it as a national ordinance, and Joshua carried it into effect before the Israelites entered Canaan. Every male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day, even if it fell on a Sabbath, the law of circumcision taking precedence. Foreign slaves were also required to submit to it upon entering an Israelite's household.
☩Spiritual Significance
Circumcision signified the cutting away of corruption inherent from birth and symbolized separation from nature's defilement to consecrated fellowship with God. The shedding of blood was essential, representing life being offered to God—no covenant was ratified without blood. Scripture speaks of 'circumcision of the heart' as true inward purity, in contrast to mere outward observance. Stephen charged the Jewish council with being 'uncircumcised in heart and ears.'
☩The Apostolic Controversy
The question whether Gentile converts must be circumcised threatened serious division in the early church. Judaizing Christians taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation, a position Paul and Barnabas opposed. The Jerusalem Council decided that Gentiles were not required to be circumcised, though they were to abstain from practices offensive to Jewish brethren. Paul warned that those who regarded circumcision as possessing spiritual virtue made themselves debtors to the whole law.
☩Christian Understanding
Christians are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands—the putting off of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. This spiritual circumcision represents identification with Christ's death and resurrection through baptism. Paul calls mere outward circumcision without spiritual change 'concision,' while the true circumcision consists of those who worship God by the Spirit and have no confidence in the flesh.
Related Verses64 mentions
References
- 1.George Morrish, "Circumcision," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Circumcision," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Circumcision," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Circumcision," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 5.James Hastings (ed.), "Circumcision," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).