The short answer to these questions is no, but to understand how circumcision could change without God’s law changing, we have to first talk a bit about the law: when it came to be, the different sections of it, and misconceptions associated with how the law is understood today.
The first time circumcision is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 17 with the institution of the Abrahamic Covenant that is promised to come at a later time through the seed of Abraham. The law of God was already well-known at this time, although official Mosaic Law did not come until approximately 600 years later (For more information on when the law was established, please click here). It is important to understand that circumcision was never part of the timeless and unending law of God, rather it was a sign of the covenant that Yahweh made with Abraham (Genesis 17:11). Likewise, the sacrifices that were made were never part of the law, according to Yahweh. Instead, they were the procedure to be followed for breaking the law to atone for the sins that were committed. Additionally, sacrifices were established immediately upon the fall of man. They were not first delivered to Moses or even Abraham. This is evidenced in that a sacrifice was made to atone for the sin of Adam and Eve eating of the forbidden fruit, and Cain and Abel brought sacrificial offerings to Yahweh (Genesis 3:21, Genesis 4:3-4).
Today, Jews attempt to follow 613 commands from Yahweh, but there is no literal list of 613 commands in your Bible. This list has been compiled from the interpretation of the Scriptures of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the prophets (the rest of the Old Testament). The problem is that they took every single thing that was commanded to them and put it all together into one thing called “the law”, and this is what people, in general, consider the law today. This is where much of the confusion about the law comes from. Rather than combining all of the commands into one list, distinctions should have been made. There is the actual law of God that is timeless and unending, and then there are the things that were commanded to show one was a part of the covenant, the procedures that explain what to do if you break the law, and the laws to govern the nation of Israel. Due to this lumping together of the law, Christians today are under the impression that if one part of what they perceive to be the law is not being followed in the same way as it was under the old covenant, then that must mean that the whole law was done away with. Yahshua (Jesus) was very clear that no part of Yahweh’s law would be done away with until heaven and earth passed away and that we are to teach this law to others (Matthew 5:17-19). Clearly then, this renewed covenant that we are now under does not do away with the timeless law of Yahweh. Rather, Hebrews 7 and 8 explain that Yahshua is our new high priest, his priesthood will last forever (Hebrews 7:24), and this change of priesthood comes with changes to the signs and procedures surrounding the old covenant (Hebrews 7:12). Accordingly, some sections of the Mosaic Law were fulfilled by Christ, some are no longer able to be practiced because there is no temple, some are to be administered in a different way with the new covenant, and some that are a mixture of these. To further explain this, let us look at the three topics of the Mosaic Law that changed in the ways mentioned above: sacrifices, laws to govern the nation of Israel, and circumcision.
First, sacrifices cannot be offered because they were to be offered in the temple only, and the temple was destroyed. This conveniently happened shortly after the ultimate sacrifice was made by our Messiah who offered himself as a blameless sin offering to cover the sins of man for all time (Hebrews 10:12,14). Clearly then, the parts of the Mosaic Law dealing with sacrifice have all been fulfilled (Hebrews 10:18) and could not be carried out even if they were not fulfilled due to there being no temple. Nevertheless, we no longer need to go to a temple to make a physical sacrifice or an offering. Instead, this has become spiritual. Under the renewed covenant, we must ask for forgiveness when we fall short and we must turn from our sinful ways (repent), relying on the spirit that we now have in us to make this possible. Hebrews 13:15 explains that our sacrificial offerings are also now spiritual rather than physical, “Through him (Jesus) then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually…” As we can see, the sacrificial laws were not done away with, they are simply no longer necessary because one sacrifice was made for all time.
Next, there were many laws that were intended to govern the nation of Israel. Since followers of God are not all in one place anymore, they are no longer responsible for, or capable of, setting or enforcing their own civil and criminal laws and punishments. However, we do still see the spirit of these laws carried out in our civil and judicial systems today. Currently, this portion of the law cannot be followed, but that does not negate its validity, or the fact that God’s law is still in full force and effect today.
Finally, we come to circumcision. As mentioned, circumcision was a sign of the old covenant and was an outward declaration of what was happening on the inside of a person who had chosen to follow God. It was declaring one’s belief in the God of Israel and their dedication to serving Him; and if a stranger in the land of Israel (a Gentile) became Jewish, they were required to be circumcised, even as an adult.
Similarly, baptism is a sign of the renewed covenant that we are under as followers of Messiah (Christ) today. We get baptized as an outward declaration of what is happening on the inside of us. We are declaring to the world that we believe that Yahshua (Jesus) is lord and that Yahweh raised him from the dead, and we are becoming a new creation who serves God through his son.
In the Old Testament, water was used symbolically as baptism, seen in both the flood and in Moses parting the sea for Israel to cross through (1 Peter 3:20-21 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-2). The flood was used to cleanse the Earth of the sinful people in it and the eight people who were saved were brought safely through the water. Likewise, the Hebrews passing through the water (parted sea) was a symbolic baptism, as they crossed through it to safety and received their covenant on the other side.
In the New Testament, we see a reversal of things. Baptism has become physical and circumcision has become spiritual: “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried together with him in baptism, in union with whom you were also raised together with him through trust in the working of God, who raised him from among the dead” (Colossians 2:11-12). These verses tell us that we have been circumcised with Christ. The church is the body of Christ, physically and metaphorically, which is why the Bible says that Christians were circumcised with Christ (Colossians 2:11), crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), died with Christ (Romans 6:8; 2 Timothy 2:11), buried with Christ (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), and were raised and seated in the “heavenly places” with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Being part of the Body of Christ and therefore being in union with Christ means that from God’s point-of-view, whatever happened to Christ happened to each Christian. Therefore, we have still been circumcised, but the circumcision we have received as Christians today is a spiritual circumcision rather than a physical one (Romans 2:29).
In Acts 15:1, we see that the Jews of the day were teaching that salvation was not possible without first being physically circumcised. This is what Paul was speaking out against when he said: “I testify again to every man who gets himself circumcised, that he is obligated to do the whole law. You have cut yourselves off from Christ, you who are seeking to be declared righteous by the law. You have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:3-4). The reason Paul said this was not to condemn Yahweh’s holy law, which is what is often taught by mainstream Christianity, and it was not even necessarily to speak out against physical circumcision (as we know that Paul later circumcised Timothy in Acts 16:3), but rather to point out that if you are trusting in physical circumcision and following the law for your salvation, then you have put yourself under the old covenant and the Mosaic Law, including all the sacrifices in the temple, etc. (That is what is meant by “whole law” in the verse above). You have, in a sense, rejected Christ’s sacrifice made for you and taken yourself out from under the new covenant to join the old covenant again. We are no longer saved by following the law. We are saved by grace, so accordingly, we follow the law of God because we love Him, not to earn our salvation: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). (For more information on how the law affects Christians today, please read Are Christians Under the Law and What Exactly Does that Mean? and What Does it Mean to Have Faith?).
While it is not required that a Christian become physically circumcised under the renewed covenant as it is no longer the sign of the covenant, it is not condemned as long as it is not being done in an attempt to earn salvation. We see that Timothy chose to become circumcised (Acts 16:3), whereas Titus chose not to become circumcised (Galatians 2:3-4). Therefore, I would like to end by saying that circumcision that a baby boy receives in the hospital today is not biblical. According to the Bible, it must be performed on the eighth day. We now understand that this is to ensure the baby will not bleed to death, as vitamin K levels responsible for blood clotting have peaked at this time. Biblical circumcision is a small cut compared to what is considered to be circumcision today. Accordingly, biblical circumcision can still be performed today through a rabbi, if you feel compelled to show your faith through physical circumcision. But remember, the physical sign of the renewed covenant is baptism and our circumcision is now spiritual, which is what led Paul to say, “Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Each one should remain in that calling in which he was called. ” (1 Corinthians 7:18-19), and again, “For indeed, circumcision benefits you if you keep the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And the one who is physically uncircumcised but who accomplishes the requirements of the law will judge you who in spite of having the written law and circumcision are a transgressor of the law. For a person is not a true Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision outwardly in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a true Jew who is one inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart by the spirit, not by the written law. This person’s praise is not from people but from God” (Romans 2:25-29).
