Jesus and Circumcision

It was written “in Moses’ Law” that “If a woman conceive seed, and bear a man-child, then in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:2-3). After Jesus had nailed Moses’ Law to his cross (Colossians 2:14), now all people are under Christ’s Law (1 Corinthians 9:21). Under Christ’s Law, not male babies but all Christians, both men and women, are told: “You were circumcised by him without hands: Christ’s circumcision strips off the sins of the flesh. You were buried with him in immersion, in which also you were raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:11-12).

Consequently, under Christ’s Law, “circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:29). Under Christ’s Law, Christians have been told to Beware of “…outward circumcision. We [Christians] are the circumcision, we who serve by the Spirit of God, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. We have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:2-3).