“ For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.  “

Let’s continue.

“ For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. “

The Greek word “ peritome “ translated “ circumcision “ can be either in the figurative or literal sense, referring to the rite, the condition or the people.

Webster defines circumcision as - “ being circumcised, either as a religious rite by the Jews, Muslims, etc…or as a hygienic measure, A cleansing from sin. A festival on January 1 commemorating the circumcision of Jesus. “

People in the Bible who were circumcised.

1.) Jesus

“  And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. “   Luke 2:21

2.) John the Baptist

“ And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. “  Luke 1:59-60

3.) Paul

“ I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. “  Acts 22:3

4.)  Timothy

“  Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. “      Acts 16:3

5.) Abraham

“ And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. “          Genesis 17:9-11

Here is how the ritual of circumcision all got started.

“ And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. “   Genesis 17:9-14

The Hebrew word “ basar “ translated “ flesh “ means the pudendum of a man, nakedness.

It is meant to imply something to be ashamed of.

Webster defines pudendum as - “ something to be ashamed of. The external genitals of a man or woman. “

No doubt the reason God told Abraham to perform the ritual of circumcision in this way to all males either of direct descent or just merely living within the land, whether they were Jew or not it did not matter, was to be an act of humiliation before God. This ritual was not meant to be an enjoyment or something to cause a human being to gloat with glee.

No matter how degrading it is, this ritual as performed was meant to be a covenant God gave to Abraham…and his descendants.

Now listen up!!

The ritual of circumcision in itself was never intended to be the source of salvation or the cleansing of personal sin. That is a man made religious invention of the rite…it did not come from God.

Nowhere in the entire Bible was circumcision ever described as the source of salvation, cleansing from sin, or gaurantee of making it to Heaven.

This is sadly proven by Paul’s statement when he said that only a remnant of Jews will actually make it to Heaven.

“ Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: “   Romans 9:27

Isaiah said;

“ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. “  Isaiah 10:20-22

This is sad, my friend.

But according to Jesus these kind of statistics as to how many actually make it to Heaven is for all human beings… “ few “

The mistaken concept of the ritual of circumcision being the source of salvation and cleansing of sin became introduced by what Jesus called Jewish “ tradition “ along with countless other mistaken concepts adopted by descendants of Abraham.

Righteousness was credited to Abraham through his faith, not through the ritual of circumcision or in doing any other work.

“ And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. “  Genesis 15:6

Yes my friend, Abraham was justified before the ritual of circumcision and even before the Law of Moses!

Abraham’s salvation was based entirely on his faith. And through his faith he was made the righteousness of God.

Who did Abraham rest his faith in?

Jesus!

If you remember in my earlier study on the book of John, Jesus said this about Abraham;

“ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. “    John 8:56-59

Praise the Lord!

We do not have to earn salvation or be credited with righteousness by attempting to earn it.

It is through faith. God’s grace is only given in response to our faith in Jesus.

If our faith ceases or we change it to believe in someone or something else, then we are no longer under grace, since God’s grace is given in response to our faith in God’s Son Jesus Christ.

Biblically, that is the way it works, my friend!

Then what was the reason for the ritual of circumcision??

God told Abraham;

“…and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ”  Genesis 17:13

The word covenant means an agreement made between 2 or more individuals.

Notice God called this covenant His own covenant…not His and Abraham’s.

“…and my covenant …”

This was a covenant, a promise from God to Abraham that his seed would multiply, that he would be a father of many nations, and that God would be his God and to his descendants.

“ And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. “   Genesis 17:6-9

This is what the ritual of circumcision was all about.

It had nothing to do with crediting Abraham or any of his descendants with righteousness, since Abraham was already credited with righteousness because of his faith… before circumcision.

It has nothing to do with salvation either.

Jesus said Abraham knew and understood about Jesus even in his day, and believed.

This is what saved Abraham…not the ritual of circumcision.

The ritual of circumcision did not credit righteousness nor did it save Jesus, Abraham, John the Baptist, Timothy or Paul.

I’m not done with this verse.

I will continue with this same verse in the next study.

Wayne Brown