In the Old Testament, the act of physical male circumcision was a command given by God to Abraham and the Jewish people, in order to set them apart. It was to be a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. God had said,
“This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”
Genesis 17:10 & 11
Yet after Christ’s death, burial, and subsequent resurrection from the dead, the Apostle Paul now refers to this same act of physical circumcision as “the mutilation.” Showing, that something had significantly since changed. What was once an act of obedience to the Lord in the Old Testament, after Christ’s death and resurrection, had become an unnecessary requirement for those who now choose to worship and follow the Lord; because Christ, in Himself, had made the way.
Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees
When the apostles found out that some in their midst, of the sect of the Pharisees, had been teaching ‘unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’; they sent a letter, accompanied by Paul and Barnabas and leading men among the brethren, to the Gentile converts of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: to settle the matter once and for all. (please see Acts 15:1 – 21).
“Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’ —to whom we gave no such commandment—it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
Acts 15:24– 29
Heart Circumcision is Required by the Lord
It is the circumcision of our hearts, or the symbolic cutting away of our flesh life that now matters. Showing, that we have died to our flesh, or our own fleshly desires, in order to follow after Christ.
- The act of physical circumcision was an outward expression of a heart attitude.
- Circumcision of the heart is a work of holiness required by the Lord.
“Without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Hebrews 12:14b NIV
The Lord said through Moses,
“Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.”
Deuteronomy 10:16
The Ground Needs to be Broken to Drink in the Word
The prophet Jeremiah foretold,
“Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.”
Jeremiah 4:3 & 4
Paul explains to the faithful brethren in Christ at Colosse, that there is now a circumcision of Christ, in a figurative sense, that is not made by human hands. By putting off our body of flesh (seeing it as dead with its dead works) and putting on the new man of Christ (in whom there is eternal life) we come into agreement with the finished work of the cross. Heart circumcision happens as a result of us fully believing in Christ for the propitiation of our sins. Meaning, that Christ has paid the penalty so that we can now walk in freedom. When speaking of Christ Jesus, the Apostle Paul says,
“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. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Colossians 2:11 – 15
— See also “No Longer Captives but Free” in the dedicated prophecies section at the top of this page.
The Blessings of Obedience
The circumcision of our hearts, is also one of the blessings of obedience given by God to His people through Moses. In returning to Him, the Lord promises us,
“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.”
Deuteronomy 30:1 - 3
“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Deuteronomy 30:6
- The circumcision of our hearts and that of our children’s, is part of the covenant keeping power of God!
Jesus Christ is the Only Way
At the time of Christ’s death on the cross, when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit, the temple curtain was rent in two from top to bottom. This indicating, that through Christ’s death, once and for all, God had made the way to reconcile man to Himself. The blood of the Lamb, who was Christ Himself, being fully sufficient for the redemption of all mankind. The gospel of Matthew shares,
“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, ‘This Man is calling for Elijah!’ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, ‘Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”
Matthew 27:45 - 54
- Jesus Christ made a way where there was no other way
We are Free From the Curse of the Law
The Apostle Paul states in his letter to the churches of Galatia,
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:13 & 14
In his letter to the believers in Rome, concerning our need to be walking in the Spirit, the same Paul said,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1 – 4
The Apostle John also confirming,
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7
Put no Confidence in the Flesh
The Apostle Paul, who once persecuted Jewish believers, but now a follower of Christ himself, declared he could no longer put any confidence in the flesh because of what Christ had accomplished on the cross. The power of death being fully defeated. Paul confessed,
“Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
Philippians 3:4 - 9
His fullness was of God!
Lastly, the Apostle Paul importantly reminds us of the power of this resurrected life.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Romans 5:1 - 11
To the saints in Ephesus he wrote,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8 & 9
No Other Way but Jesus
We can either try to come to God through our own merits, which are insufficient and will fail us every time; or we can come to God in faith, believing, that by grace, through the finished work of the cross, He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
Jesus Christ still says to all those who will hear Him,
“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28 - 30
