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Circumcision is a practice of the Jews using a flint knife to remove the foreskin of the male penis at age 8 days old. God’s command to Abraham was: “For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.” (Gen. 17:12). The command was given in the context of God’s ongoing covenant relationship with Abraham following the establishment of the Covenant in Gen. 15. Circumcision was required by God for a physical expression of faith which distinguished those who belonged to God from those who do not. It was a necessary physical indicator of God’s chosen people – the Jews. The LORD told Joshua to get the Jews to rededicate themselves by circumcision prior to entering the Promise Land after their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness on leaving Egypt (Jos. 5:2). Simply stated, circumcision was an integral part of Jewish life that linked their spiritual covenant with God by a physical mark that was instituted and required by God.
There was the call in the young Jerusalem Church by the Jewish believers led by the party of the Pharisees: “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). What was good and required of the Jews since Abraham was surely good and required of the newly believing Gentiles who were turning to God by faith in Jesus. They contended that circumcision was a necessary physical mark for salvation. Faith in God was a spiritual act between the believer and God and the best way to confirm this was by the physical mark of circumcision as God commanded Abraham. Spiritual faith in God (covenant) confirmed by a physical act by man (circumcision) to complete salvation.
This requirement became a source of considerable tension and debate in the young Jerusalem church as shown by Acts 15 and the letters of Apostle Paul (esp. Galatians). Thankfully, the debate was clearly resolved by the Jerusalem Church leadership that confirmed that salvation was “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15:11). The Holy Spirit in the lives of believers confirmed by the physical act of believer’s baptism became the new way for all believers to be united into the body of Jesus Christ. We are saved “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” and confirmed by the physical act of believer’s baptism – Praise the Lord!