About Circumcision
(My response to a friend's question about if circumcision is important in the life of a believer)
First of all we must understand the concept of circumcision.
It was a sign of being in covenant with God. That is, people who were
in covenant with God had a sign on their body to show it.
The problem was now that so many people began to feel that for you to
be a child of God you must be physically circumcised but that was not
what God said and that was not why God asked Abraham to be
circumcised. The Jews who had been physically circumcised even began
to call themselves the circumcision, like we see in Col.3:11 and Col.
4:11.
Having a sign does not always mean that you have the substance.
The fact that a man has been physically circumcised does not have any
effect on his Spirit and Soul.
We must also remember that many things in the Old Covenant and even
before the Old Covenant were just shadows or symbols.
What God wants us to circumcise is our heart, Rom.2:29.
Colossians 2:11 - tells us that Christ has already circumcised us spiritually.
Christ has cut away the power of sin and the flesh from us.
In response to what Christ has done, we crucify the flesh and cut away
from our lives everything that doesn't please God.
Galatians 5:6 and 1Corinthians 7:19 show us that right now physical
circumcision of a male does not mean anything for a believer.
Philippians 3:3 shows us that we who believe in Jesus (and not the
Jews who have been physically circumcised) are the real circumcised
ones. It also says we worship God in the Spirit and we do not have any
confidence in our flesh.
The Jews who call themselves the circumcision base their relationship
with God on the fact that they have been physically circumcised and
they become proud and boast about what they have done (which doesn't
mean anything) instead of humbly basing their faith on Christ and what
He has done for them.
This is God's desire for us: that we have faith in Christ and what
Christ has done for us and that we cut away sin and all evil from our
lives because Christ has cut them off for us.
It was a sign of being in covenant with God. That is, people who were
in covenant with God had a sign on their body to show it.
The problem was now that so many people began to feel that for you to
be a child of God you must be physically circumcised but that was not
what God said and that was not why God asked Abraham to be
circumcised. The Jews who had been physically circumcised even began
to call themselves the circumcision, like we see in Col.3:11 and Col.
4:11.
Having a sign does not always mean that you have the substance.
The fact that a man has been physically circumcised does not have any
effect on his Spirit and Soul.
We must also remember that many things in the Old Covenant and even
before the Old Covenant were just shadows or symbols.
What God wants us to circumcise is our heart, Rom.2:29.
Colossians 2:11 - tells us that Christ has already circumcised us spiritually.
Christ has cut away the power of sin and the flesh from us.
In response to what Christ has done, we crucify the flesh and cut away
from our lives everything that doesn't please God.
Galatians 5:6 and 1Corinthians 7:19 show us that right now physical
circumcision of a male does not mean anything for a believer.
Philippians 3:3 shows us that we who believe in Jesus (and not the
Jews who have been physically circumcised) are the real circumcised
ones. It also says we worship God in the Spirit and we do not have any
confidence in our flesh.
The Jews who call themselves the circumcision base their relationship
with God on the fact that they have been physically circumcised and
they become proud and boast about what they have done (which doesn't
mean anything) instead of humbly basing their faith on Christ and what
He has done for them.
This is God's desire for us: that we have faith in Christ and what
Christ has done for us and that we cut away sin and all evil from our
lives because Christ has cut them off for us.
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