“Circumcision is Nothing”


BIBLE READING:1 Corinthians 7

Three times Paul made this statement, each time concluding with a powerful statement, "keeping the commandments of God." In Galatians 5:6, it is "faith working through love"; and in Galatians 6:15, it is "a new creation." Basically, what this means is that circumcision has no bearing on final salvation.
Circumcision had initially been practiced by the Jews to separate them from the rest of humanity.  In the Gospel Age no one was commanded to be circumcised.  Paul says it didn't matter.  Let them remain as they are.  However, all men were to obey the commandments of God.  It is erroneously said by some that this has reference to the Ten Commandments, but those commandments had been taken out of the way.  Even though this is true, all of these commandments have been repeated in the New Testament save, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex 20:8). 
Today we are admonished to keep the commandments of God that appear in the New Testament.  In John 14:15, Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  These were Jesus' commandments.   The Law of the Old Testament has been done away with.  Those laws were physical and the Jews understood them that way. 
In keeping Mosaic Law, the Jews thought that they need to do something to be saved, and it was like being under a yoke of bondage.  Paul condemned circumcision and says that if anyone is of the belief that circumcision is necessary for salvation or for justification, the obsession of such thought will not profit them and Christ and his blood is of nothing to them. Everyone who is circumcised becomes debtor to the whole law, and Christ and His sacrifice has no meaning for him.
Circumcision does good if we are able to keep the Mosaic Law in its entirety.  If we break Mosaic law, it is equivalent to being uncircumcised.  We are reckoned as righteous by faith in Jesus and saved by His grace. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything to a believer in Christ.  Circumcision has relevance if the heart is pure and if we are separated unto God to worship Him in spirit and truth. In Romans 2 Paul condemns the thought that circumcision can save a person. (Romans 2:27-29)







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