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INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this page is to document the differences between circumcision of the heart and circumcision of the flesh.

I would also like to show the relationship of this practice to one's salvation and that this is NOT a New Testament concept.   The idea of circumsising one's heart began in the Old Testament Torah (TeNaKh).

Finally, I have included some relevant material about the religious practice of circumcision.

Now, what does it benefit Ishmael that he is circumcised? What does it benefit Edom that he is circumcised — Edom who, moreover, is descended from Isaac, who was set apart, and not from Ishmael? What does it benefit Midian and his brothers, born of Keturah, that they are circumcised? They are, for all of that, not God's people; neither their descent from Abraham nor their circumcision, commanded by God, helps them. If circumcision does not help them in becoming God's people, how can it help the Jews. For it is one and the same circumcision, decreed by one and the same God, and there is one and the same father, flesh and blood or descent that is common to all. There is absolute equality; there is no difference, no distinction among them all so far as circumcision and birth are concerned.

Martin LUTHER : On the Jews and Their Lies pg 11c.

Some prominent righteous people in Scripture who were not circumcised:

  • Job, descended from Nahor. God did not impose circumcision on him and his heirs. And yet his book shows clearly that there were very few great saints in Israel who were the equal of him and of his people.
  • The prophet Elisha did not force Naaman of Syria to become circumcised; and yet he was sanctified and became a child of God
  • The prophet Jonah, who converted Nineveh to God and preserved it together with kings, princes, lords, land, and people, yet did not circumcise those people.
  • The prophet Daniel converted the great kings and peoples of Babylon and Persia, such as Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, etc., and yet they remained Gentiles, uncircumcised, and did not become Jews.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

Genesis 17:11

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

Circumcision is a token of the covenant.

Leviticus 26:40-42

... their uncircumcised hearts ...

40"If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;" (KJV)

41"And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:" (KJV)

42"Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land." (KJV)

Deuteronomy 10:16

16'Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.' (KJV)

This is not just a B'rit Hadasha term but goes all the way back to Torah.

Deuteronomy 30:6

6'And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.' (KJV)

circumcise the heart

This is not just a B'rit Hadasha term but goes all the way back to Torah.

Jeremiah 4:4

4'Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.' (KJV)

Jeremiah 6:10

... their ear is uncircumcised ...

6"To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." (KJV)

Jeremiah 9:25-26

25'Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; ' (KJV)

26'Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.' (KJV)

Judah & Israel will NOT be spared punishment.

Ezekiel 44:9

9"Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel." (KJV)

Luke 2:21

21'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.' (KJV)

The Messiah was circumcised.

JESUS/YAHUSHUA

Romans 2:25-29

25'For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.' (KJV)

26'Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?' (KJV)

27'And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?' (KJV)

28'For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:' (KJV)

29'But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.' (KJV)