Circumcision

This page is an overview of the articles that I have written on circumcision, which is a very poorly understood topic in most of Christianity.

The primary source of confusion comes from misreading the conclusion of the Acts 15 conference. This is where it was decided that the Gentiles coming into the church did not need to be circumcised as adults in order to be part of the Church. The wrong conclusion that many draw here is that circumcision and the entire "law of Moses" was abolished, but that is not the case!

After setting the record straight on Acts 15, I explained the origin of circumcision. It was actually not introduced as part of the so-called "Old Covenant law," but began much earlier as the sign of the covenant with Abraham. This covenant is the foundation of both the Old and New Covenants! The New Testament writers made extensive allusions to Christians becoming "sons of Abraham," which was necessary in order to receive the promises given to Abraham.

Therefore, I undertook a study of the nature of circumcision, which was (and still is) the sign of the covenant with Abraham. Through a number of scriptures relating to circumcision under the Old Covenant, I showed that circumcision has always been a spiritual matter rather than a physical one. Additionally, I showed that a Christian must be spiritually circumcised in order to be a part of God's people.

Next I examined what it means to be spiritually circumcised as a Christian. The New Testament speaks of a "circumcision made without hands," and the "circumcision of Christ," and the scriptures very plainly show that this is referring to repentance. The symbolism of cutting away the foreskin is the same as cutting away the sinful desires of our flesh.

As a conclusion to this study, I explain what is the value of physical circumcision and why I think that Christians today should be circumcising their sons.