Christian circumcision resource

In today’s world people are questioning some practices that we seem to have taken for granted. For instance: circumcising your male children at birth. What is the origin of this practice and is it mandated for people of the Christian faith in this, the church age? Let’s take a look at the origin of this practice.

Genesis 17:9,10,11,12

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

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

12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations....

In the Old Testament, we see the males of the Jewish faith being set apart by the practice of circumcision. The Apostle Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, was a devout Jew named Saul prior to his conversion. Saul would have been circumcised on the 8th day of his life, as was mandated to those of the Jewish faith. Jesus also would have been circumcised, being a Jew. All of the Jewish Christians would have been circumcised already, at birth, and probably continued this practice on their young sons because of their heritage, not because Jesus commanded them to do so.

What was the purpose of this practice? Not that God needs to explain Himself to us, but we may speculate here. In verse 11 God states that the circumcision will be a sign of the covenant between He and the Jews. In a pagan world, this drastic measure would be proof positive that if a man said he was a Jew, he in fact, was one. Another reason may have been for the hygienic purpose involved. In the desert area, baths may have been few and far between, and the circumcision would be more hygienic.

When Christ came, and Jewish prophecy was fulfilled, the display of God changed. The human race moved forward from being under the law, which in itself was good,

although external, to being under grace. It was only by grace through faith in Christ that someone could come to God. Thus, as Paul expounds through the book of Romans, Christians are no longer under the Law (of the Old Testament). In this enlightened age, it is the heart issues that became more important than the external compliance to the laws. (Not that the Old Testament laws were bad, but they just couldn't make a person righteous.) As a result, the keeping of the Old Testament law, was not necessary for spiritual compliance with God anymore. Faith in Christ fulfilled all requirements, and to add anything to it was to make Christ's death of no avail. Those who gave their lives to Jesus were the ones whom He called "The circumcised of the heart" (Rom 2:29).

So, the debate rages on. For a Christian, however, it isn’t an issue of holiness. Our holiness is in Christ. If you feel, medically speaking, that you should have your son circumcised, you are free to choose to do so. But you are not mandated to do so to fulfill any spiritual requirements.