In this discussion, Bob Wilkin and David Renfrow delve into the theological significance of circumcision as presented in both the Old and New Testaments. The conversation explores why circumcision was a pivotal ritual under the Abrahamic covenant and the law of Moses, and how its relevance shifts in the New Testament era. Using biblical references, the hosts articulate the transition from viewing circumcision as a physical mark of divine acceptance to understanding faith as the cornerstone of salvation.
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SPEAKER 04 :
Why is circumcision so important in the Old Testament, but not seemingly so in the New Testament? We’ll talk about it today here on Grace in Focus, and we’re so glad you’re joining us, friend. This is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We are located in North Texas, and our website is faithalone.org. Come visit us there and find our blogs and subscribe to receive them daily. You’ll find teaching and discussion there, much like this radio program, only in written form. Subscribe today at faithalone.org. Now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and David Renfrow.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think you’ve got a question about circumcision from John. Circumcision is found all through the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. It’s mentioned a lot. And John’s got an interesting question about it.
SPEAKER 01 :
When God threatened to kill Moses for neglecting to circumcise his son, if that was so important, then why in the New Testament is circumcision not important at all? Why is there the difference in God’s attitude toward this?
SPEAKER 03 :
This incident with Moses, this is taking place before the Exodus, correct?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
Before Mount Sinai and the giving of the law. Right. So this is all taking place before circumcision was commanded as part of the law of Moses. Right. So on what basis was Moses supposed to circumcise his sons? Had God actually said those who were descendants of Abraham through Isaac should be circumcised?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, the Abrahamic covenant.
SPEAKER 03 :
Abrahamic covenant. Right. So Abraham circumcised not only Isaac, but he circumcised Ishmael. And I believe this became part of Islam. So the Old Testament did have circumcision as basically a sign of the Abrahamic covenant and then later a sign also of the law of Moses. Right. It’s interesting. I remember hearing Arnold Fruchtenbaum talk about this. In his view, he thought that Jewish believers in the church age were required in obedience to circumcise their sons, not because of the law of Moses, because we’re not under the law of Moses anymore, but because of the Abrahamic covenant. And he said, because we are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we’re we should circumcise our sons in keeping with the Abrahamic covenant. To me, that doesn’t seem to fit because the New Testament says, well, I think you’ve written down some of the verses here, but neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything or is anything. What are some of the verses, like 1 Corinthians 7?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 18. Verse 18 is a question. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? let him not be circumcised. In other words, there’s no law to do that. Verse 19 says, and I think this is a very strong statement for Paul, circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. But keeping the commandments of God is what matters. And I think what he’s talking about there is instead of going through, you know, at this point, because we’re in the New Testament era, it would be pure ritual. And now that kind of ritual, there’s no such thing as you’re now righteous because you’re circumcised or some magical thing happens when you do the circumcision. And that’s why I think that’s why Paul was saying nothing. It’s not going to get you to heaven, and it’s not going to make you acceptable before God. It’s just we’re not under the law. We’re under grace.
SPEAKER 03 :
And there’s another verse in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. In Galatians, the issue with circumcision was there were people we now call Judaizers who were saying you can’t be saved simply by faith in Jesus. Yes, you need to believe in Jesus, but you also need to be circumcised. All the males need to be circumcised, and you need to keep the law of Moses. So you need to worship on the Sabbath. You need to keep the feast days, all this. All of it. And so the book of Galatians is all about the fact— Well, Galatians 2.16, a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Christ. Three times in Galatians 2.16, it says it’s by faith in Christ. Three times it says it’s not by works of the law. And so circumcision often is a symbol for the works of the law. Yes, we should be obedient to the commands of God, but we’re no longer under the law of Moses. We’re under the commands of the New Testament, which is called the law of Christ or the royal law or the law of liberty. Or in 1 John, it’s called the commandments. And we are called to keep the commandments of Christ and his apostles. But we don’t go to a temple anymore. We don’t offer animal sacrifices anymore. We’re not under the kosher food restrictions that were part of the law of Moses. And circumcision is not required. Now, Paul did circumcise Timothy. But there were others like Titus that he didn’t circumcise because he circumcised Timothy because he was going to be doing a lot of work among Jewish people. And his mother was Jewish. And so he felt that it would have hindered his ministry among Jewish people if he wasn’t.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
But as he talks about in Galatians 2, when there were people trying to force him to circumcise other people who worked with him that were Gentiles, it was, no, I’m not going to do that. And so I think it’s important for John to recognize, even before the law of Moses, circumcised was expected as part of the Abrahamic covenant. It certainly was expected during the Mosaic period.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it was the law.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. But it was never saving.
SPEAKER 01 :
No, it was never something a person had to do in order to be saved. No, it was a I think it was an outward symbol of being essentially tied to God. Right. Yahweh.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, the specific case he asked about is kind of strange because Moses is with his wife and he has a son that’s not circumcised. And God’s going to take Moses’s life.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And his wife ends up and circumcises the boy. And it’s a weird incident.
SPEAKER 01 :
When I did my research on this, Moses’ wife was a Midianite, which means she was not Jewish. And the Midianites did not circumcise children. They circumcised male adults.
SPEAKER 03 :
So they did circumcise, but they didn’t circumcise babies and they didn’t circumcise boys.
SPEAKER 01 :
They circumcised men. In fact, my impression is that most of the cultures in the ancient Near East did not circumcise infants, babies. They circumcised men, grown men. And if that’s true, and I think it is, what Moses is doing, which was, I think, the great sin and God was angry, was he was worried about his family that he married into, the Midianites. Right. He was compromising. And he was compromising his own faith with the Lord to satisfy the family. Instead of satisfying God. Yeah. Instead of pleasing God, he was pleasing people. Exactly. And that’s what made God angry enough to say, okay, it’s time for you to go.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and by the way, the exact opposite, well, the same principle, but the opposite is found in Galatians chapter 1. In Galatians verse 10, Paul says, Right, you’re serving men rather than Christ. And so he later on in the book says, look, if I were still practicing and urging people to be circumcised, well, then why am I being persecuted by the Judaizers? They’re persecuting me because I don’t say you need to be circumcised to be saved.
SPEAKER 01 :
And he’s not there to please the Judaizers. You know, he’s there to please God.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I’ve got a verse for you, David. Look up Acts 15 and verse 1. And this is when Paul and Barnabas were ministering among the Gentiles and leading Gentiles to faith in Christ. And what happens?
SPEAKER 01 :
It says, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now, that’s pretty strong.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s pretty strong. And it led to the Jerusalem Council, which starts in verse 6. Well, actually, earlier than that, I guess it starts in verse 3, right? Yeah. And the Jerusalem Council is where the message of justification by faith alone, apart from works, the message that Paul and Barnabas were preaching was authorized and endorsed by James and the Jerusalem Church. And it became, of course, it already was the official position of Christianity because of the ministry of Jesus that he taught that regenerations by faith alone, and therefore we are preaching the same message. But there were some people, verse 1, and by the way, Luke doesn’t call them believers. In verse 5, there were some people he calls believers of the Pharisees who were saying that they should be circumcised, but not to be saved, but as part of sanctification.
SPEAKER 02 :
And so…
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it’s important to answer John’s question that circumcision in the New Testament is not required because it’s not part of the law of Moses. I mean, because it is part of the law of Moses, and we’re not under the law of Moses.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right, and it’s not necessary to please God.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, right. In fact, it could be displeasing to God.
SPEAKER 01 :
It could be.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, of course, in America, back when we were born, it was very common to circumcise boys because it was thought to be important from a health perspective. Right. And I talked to a friend who’s a doctor recently, and he said, yeah. And then there became a time when they thought, well, it’s not that important. Now it seems to be swinging back to where circumcision is on the uptick again among American doctors and the boys. serve because they feel it is helpful from a health perspective. But it wasn’t done from a health perspective under the law of Moses or the Abrahamic covenant. It was simply done as a sign that they were under the Abrahamic covenant, a sign that they were part of Israel. And if they didn’t do that, well, then they would be excluded from the worshiping community. That’s right. Well, thanks so much, John. Great question. And thank you, David. In the meantime, let’s all keep grace in focus.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
The preceding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.
