Question
Is circumcision necessary for salvation?
Answer
The short answer is NO, circumcision is not necessary for salvation at all. Some people have their sons circumcised for medical reasons, and that is every parent’s own choice to make. The Bible does not tell us to get circumcised for any reason at all, and especially not in order to be saved.
Circumcision first appears in the Bible as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. From that time on, circumcision was practiced on all male Jewish babies. The question of circumcision arose again in the time of the early church, after Jesus returned to heaven. The whole question came up as to whether non-Jews had to be circumcised before becoming Christians, when the apostle Paul was on his first missionary journey in Asia. Look at what happened.
Acts 15 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23 They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls,
saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
As you can see from the above passage, certain Jews came to Asia, where Paul was teaching, and said that all Gentiles (non-Jews) should be circumcised, in other words first become Jews, in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas disagreed, and took the matter to a full council of the apostles in Jerusalem. After discussions, they all agreed that circumcision was unnecessary, and wrote a letter to all the churches, stating the things that should not be done. Circumcision was excluded. This should have stopped it in its tracks, but the church at Galatia still had a problem with circumcision, and Paul wrote the entire letter of Galatians to them, to try and sort out the problem.
Galatians 5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Romans 2 25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
The Galatians were relying on their works of getting circumcised, to save them, which is impossible for any human being to do. Jesus Christ died for our sins, so we can receive salvation and eternal life, because of what He has done for us, not because of anything we have done or can do.
Ephesians 2 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Paul then tells them, that if they are starting to believe in salvation by works (circumcision), then they will have to keep the entire law perfectly as well, not that it will help them, as the keeping of the law does not save anyone, but only God’s grace. Trying to be saved (justified) by circumcision and keeping the law, will not work, but will also cut them off from God’s grace, which is the only method of salvation. Whether they were circumcised or not, would not save them, only God can, as it is impossible to be saved by our works, however wonderful they are.
Circumcision was a problem two thousand years ago, and seems to be still. Don’t let it, it is unnecessary for salvation.
I trust that this makes sense to you. God bless!
