What Is Spiritual Circumcision

Male circumcision is an ancient Biblical tradition that ensures purity. Given that Christ has risen from the dead, how important is this practice today?

(General Overseer, Full Salvation Believers' Assembly Int'l, Nnewi, Anambra State) Pastor Ezekiel Joel

The subject of male circumcision may be traced back to the Bible's Book of Beginnings, when God lectured Abraham on the covenant he had made with him and warned him that breaking it would result in grave repercussions.

What is the meaning of circumcision in the Bible?

Circumcision is clearly stated in the Old Testament as a covenant between God and all Jewish males.

The New Testament makes no mention of circumcision as a requirement. Christians are encouraged to be “circumcised of the heart” by trusting in Jesus and his cross sacrifice.

Jesus was circumcised because he was a Jew (Luke 2:21; Colossians 2:11-12). Circumcision, on the other hand, was a major issue in the early Christian Church. Adult Greeks, in particular, who converted to Christianity, were averse to the invasive procedure.

Circumcision was not required among non-Jewish converts, and some even considered it to be against the Christian faith. It became a symbol of division between circumcised Jews and new Christian converts.

The Didache, one of the first Christian manuscripts unearthed, disputed the topic.

What the Bible says about spiritual circumcision?

In the United States, somewhat more than three-quarters of boys are circumcised as newborns. Circumcision of the heart, while not a life-saving procedure, will change lives. Please understand that the heart I am writing about is the spiritual heart, the seat of our emotions, our mind, our thoughts, the thing within us that inspires our actions. Before you start thinking there is some new medical procedure for the physical organ we call the heart, please understand that the heart I am writing about is the spiritual heart, the seat of our emotions, our mind, our thoughts, the thing within us that inspires our actions.

While the Bible's narrative are accurate, the rules and religious ceremonies were frequently tangible manifestations of spiritual reality. Take, for instance, the night of the Passover. The firstborn of every house without the blood on the door died that night after the Hebrew households killed a lamb and placed the blood on the doorposts of their homes. The Passover is a tangible picture of spiritual truth: those who do not have the blood of the Lamb of God on their heart's doorposts will die spiritually.

Now let's get down to business: spiritual circumcision. Spiritual circumcision is discussed throughout the Bible. Each section builds on the one before it, providing us a comprehensive picture of the problem.

Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 10:17, Deuteronomy 10: “Circumcise your heart's foreskin, and don't be stiffnecked any longer.”

This poem does not teach us much, yet it does teach us something. It must be something we can do on our own since God tells us to do it. He also argues that we would no longer have a pompous or stubborn demeanor as a result of this.

30:6 (Deuteronomy) “And the LORD thy God will circumcise your heart, as well as the hearts of your descendants, to love the LORD thy God with all of your heart and soul, that you may live.”

The Bible clearly states that God will circumcise someone's heart here. This statement is not a contradiction to the prior verse, which states that we can accomplish it ourselves; rather, it is a clarification. We can change if we are determined enough. Anyone who has abstained from alcohol or drugs is a prime example. God, on the other hand, circumcises the heart in this verse. As a result, we have a complete love for God. When these two texts are combined, we can understand that it is God's circumcision that brings life. We can't save ourselves even if we turn over a fresh leaf.

What is the circumcision of God?

As explained in the popular 14th-century text The Golden Legend, Jesus' circumcision was historically considered as the first time his blood was spilt, and therefore the beginning of the process of man's salvation, as well as a demonstration that Christ was fully human and obeyed Biblical law. This was constantly emphasized by medieval and Renaissance theologians, who also emphasized Jesus' suffering as an evidence of his humanity and a foreshadowing of his Passion. These ideas were carried on by Protestant theologians such as Jeremy Taylor, who claimed in an essay published in 1657 that Jesus' circumcision demonstrated his human character while also obeying Moses' law. Taylor also points out that if Jesus had been circumcised, Jews would have been much less receptive to his evangelism.

The “Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord” is a Christian commemoration of the child's circumcision, which took place eight days (according to Semitic and southern European reckoning of days) after his birth, and on which the child was formally given his name, Jesus, which is derived from Hebrew and means “salvation” or “saviour.” Although it was undoubtedly long-established, it was first mentioned at a church council convened in Tours in 567.

The feast day is observed on January 1st in the Eastern Orthodox Church's liturgical calendar. It is also commemorated in the pre-1960 General Roman Calendar and is observed by Anglican Communion churches (though many revised Anglican calendars, such as the Episcopal Church's 1979 calendar, tend to associate the day more with the Holy Name of Jesus) and nearly all Lutheran congregations. On this Feast, “Beschneidung des Herrn” (“Circumcision of the Lord”), Johann Sebastian Bach composed many cantatas, notably Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190, for 1 January 1724 in Leipzig.

It has been superseded on January 1 by the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, in the current Roman Calendar of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, although it is still commemorated by Old Catholics and conservative Catholics who worship according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (that follows the General Roman Calendar promulgated in 1962).

It was once united with the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on January 1 before the two were split, and now that the Feast of the Circumcision has vanished from the official Catholic calendar, the other feast may be considered to be celebrating it as well.

What does Romans say about circumcision?

Romans 2:23 establishes a concept on which Paul and his interlocutor will agree: whoever disobeys the identical law about which he boasts dishonors God. All of this sets up the trap that Paul intends to make for his gentile interlocutor, who boasts about and preaches circumcision but does not practice it.

Judaism and circumcision

Circumcision is a Jewish newborn baby's entrance process. This is traditionally done at a Brit (or Bris) milah ceremony, which is attended by family and community people. Milah is the Hebrew word meaning circumcision covenant.

The rite is a 3,000-year-old tradition that Jewish parents have followed for generations.

Because of the significance of Brit milah, it can be performed on the Sabbath or a holy day, even though Jewish law prohibits the drawing of blood on these days.

Abraham was required by God to circumcise himself, the male members of his household, his offspring, and slaves in an everlasting covenant, according to the Torah (Genesis 17: 9-14).