What is the Biblical basis for not making circumcision a requirement for Christians?

Question

I recently read an argument which was basically 'Paul against Jesus' type and was something like this:

Jesus said that He didn't come to abolish the Jewish laws but to fulfill them:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17, NET)

And we have this verse in OT:

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement. (Genesis 17:14, NET)

It is argued that even though Jesus was circumcised, it is not a requirement now for Christians because Paul preached so.

What is the Biblical basis for not making circumcision a requirement for Christians?

Answer 1

Scripture (and that I mean here the law) clearly tells us that the circumcision is not to be of only physical nature.

Jeremiah 4:4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment, you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the LORD.

In Jeremiah 9:25, scripture says that if we are not circumcised in our hearts than it is of no use. Here the argument of Paul verses Jesus is clearly defeated since Paul is basing his teaching on what was said in the law which Jesus was saying in Matt. 5:17 that He came to fulfill the law. Paul being a learned Jewish scholar knew all these prophecies which were being fulfilled in Jesus.

Jeremiah 9:25 The LORD says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 9:26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the LORD’s sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”

So above verses and following verses from scripture (law) rather tells us that we need to be circumcised in heart also.

Ezekiel 44:7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices.

Ezekiel 44:9 This is what the sovereign LORD says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.

Now coming to the New Testament, we see in verse of Act:10.45 that even uncircumcised believers were filled with Holy spirit.

Acts: 10:45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

And in Verse Act. 11:5 Peter’s vision tells us about to accept uncircumcised believers:

Acts 11:5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. 11:6 As I stared I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 11:7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!’ 11:8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 11:9 But the voice replied a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!’

Elsewhere also we see that there is a strong Biblical basis for not following the practice of circumcision in the following verses:

Acts 15:7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God chose me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message of the gospel and believe. 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, has testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 15:9 and he made no distinction between them and us, cleansing their hearts by faith. 15:10 So now why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 15:11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are.”

Romans: 2:25 For circumcision has its value if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man who keeps the law judge you who, despite the written code and circumcision, transgress the law? 2:28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the written code. This person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Romans 4:12, “And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”

So it is not Paul who stopped the circumcision on his own but his preaching was firmly based on the various verses in the law which Jesus came to fulfill and those verses are to be fulfilled by not circumcising physically but spiritually.

Answer 2

I'm assuming that by the word "requirement" you're speaking of the requirements for salvation specifically, and not for being a member of a church, or staying in good standing at work or with friends.

Short version: Circumcision is no longer required because Christ has already fulfilled the requirement.

Longer version: To be sure, the entirety of the law no longer applies to the Christian, on account of the fact that every requirement of the law has already been met within Christ. That means that the penalty that a Christian might owe for failing to be circumcised has already been paid for by Christ, who I would have to insist, though it doesn't directly say in Scripture, was circumcised.

That also means that it's not a requirement for Christians to "not murder", "not steal", "not lie", "not commit adultery", etc. etc. etc. While it's still a heinous thing to murder, steal, lie or commit adultery, it is no longer a requirement for a Christian's salvation to be free of these things. The penalty for all of them is paid for by Christ. Thus, for my salvation, I am no longer required to have avoided murder, adultery, stealing for my entire life in order for me to be righteous in God's eyes, because my righteousness no longer comes from myself, but from Christ's sacrifice instead.

So in other words, while circumcision is still "required" so to speak, if you were to try to attain salvation by your works, since we no longer seek to be justified by works, circumcision is no longer required.

In other words, through God's grace in giving us Christ, we are now freed from the requirements of the law. All of them.

It's also important to keep in mind what Paul says about living by circumcision in Galatians 5:1-6:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

We have been freed from the law by Christ. If we accept circumcision as a requirement for salvation, then we are no longer living by the grace of Christ, but we are living by the law. And if we're living by the law, then we are required to live by the WHOLE weight of the law, not just circumcision.

Therefore, since the penalty has been paid, and the judgement has been rendered, we are free, and no longer required to be circumcised.

Answer 3

Romans 4:9-11a NIV:
"Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

Paul here is saying that salvation happens before being circumcised. Circumcision is a sign of salvation (v11). Paul finishes verse 11 with

Romans 4:11b "he [Abraham] is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised in order that righteousness might be credited to them"

My understanding of this is that Paul is abolishing circumcision as a means of salvation. Paul talks about his own life in Philippians 3:

Philippians 3:4-7
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

Paul here mentions that he was circumcised as per the OT law, however he counts it as worthless to his salvation (he goes on to call it garbage in verse 8).

Paul never says don't get circumcised, and you could argue that if it was causing someone to stumble or not hear the gospel then you should get circumcised (I think Timothy was circumcised as an adult (Acts 16:3)).

What he is quite clear on is that circumcision is not a requirement for salvation and that non-circumcised Christians are equal to circumcised Christians.

Answer 4

Circumcision is the sign of the Old Covenant.

Christians generally believe that Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant (as quoted from Matthew 5), and established a New Covenant as foretold in Jeremiah 31, confirmed by Jesus in Luke 22, and referred to elsewhere in the New Testament (especially Hebrews 8 - 12). The issue is specifically addressed in Acts 15 that physical circumcision need not be a condition of the New Covenant.

As members of the New Covenant, we are instead "circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith." (Colossians 2:11-12).

Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant.

While this view is not universal, many Christians interpret the passage quoted from Colossions (in conjunction with other New Testament references to circumcision and baptism) to mean that just like circumcision was the sign of the Old Covenant, Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant. Depending on which group this could be infant baptism, adult immersion, or even simply baptism of the Holy Spirit. Most Christians will fall into one of these camps.^*

Even if you don't subscribe to baptism at all (or do believe in baptism but not as a covenant sign) it's still clear from the quoted text that circumcision happens in a different way under the New Covenant than under the Old.

^{_{* For disclosure, my personal belief is in adult immersion for the forgiveness of sins.}}

Answer 5

Galatians 5:6 clearly excludes circumcision as an act of faith in the church. What is circumcision? A God ordained Jewish distinctive for Jewish MALES. AND it is unnecessary for salvation. A Jewish christian may choose to circumcise his son, yet it will not save his son. The issue in the early church was this: "did adult gentile males and their sons all have to be circumcised to be saved? No they did and do not. We gentiles are grafted into the cultivated olive tree by faith in the Messiah, who is a Jew! But circumcision is powerless to save.

Galatians 5:6 American Standard Version (ASV)

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.

Galatians 5:1-6 The Message (MSG)

The Life of Freedom

1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

2-3 I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

4-6 I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

Answer 6

Thank you for asking this question. You do see that Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them." (Matt. 5:17).

What is missed is the "fulfill them" part. Holy God made it pure righteousness to perfectly execute the law. Therefore in his spirit he continually fulfills the laws that we transgress of to the perfection that he himself requires. People error in the thinking that by his death only, that this one act was all that was necessary to complete the law. What I tell you is that he magnifies in his ultimate glory everyday as he works to complete the law for the ones that have the faith that he will.

This also points out peoples misunderstanding of faith. The perfect law says eye for eye. Now if an aggressor takes out my eye, and I believe that God will remove the eye of the aggressor. I become Justified in my action because my trust in him. For my actions become circumcised, yet the law becomes complete because of "his righteous judgement".

Now in the Old Testament it states: "Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement." (Gen. 17:14). This is symbolic to what Paul is preached by saying "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people" (1 Corinthians 5:9 NIV). The actual circumcision of the flesh was meant as a permanent physical reminder that sexually immorality was to be rid of. No longer the flesh of all women, the flesh of the wife instead. A minimization, a separating, a cause to create specialization for the temple of the body, for Love.

No instead Paul preached a harder teaching. He said that the spirit was against the flesh (Galatians 5:17), and to crucify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:24). Since indeed the heart of this teaching being so much more severe. Satisfies the need for symbolization. So the symbol is no longer needed.

It is argued that even though Jesus was circumcised, it is not a requirement now for Christians because Paul preached so. Jesus I'm sure was circumcised for he was to be the expression to the meaning behind the law. So hear this now, the circumcision of the flesh is indeed necessary. So important that the penalty is that of death (Romans 8:6). Only now the circumcision exists inwardly instead of symbolically and outwardly.

What is the Biblical basis for not making it a requirement for Christians? A counsel was formed to determine what laws should continue now that the perfection offered by the works of God. In this counsel the outcome "You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell." (Acts 15:29 NIV). Notice that abstaining from sexual immorality continued on from the base of the law. For adding on sexual immorality into ones life they indeed are not slicing away that part of their flesh. But the separation of the flesh from the Spirit is relayed often.

Notice also "Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer." (Deuteronomy 10:16) and "No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God." (Rom 2:29)