The bible and circumcision

The excitement the department of Health expresses at the number of young and old men going for circumcision cannot be faulted. Anything and everything that could help in the fight against the scourge that is ravaging communities is most welcome. The surge is indicative of a change of mindset particularly for those who go for circumcision in response to appeals made to help curb the HIV and AIDS pandemic.  

Of course, even the decision of those who do it purely for health reasons is laudable.  For tribes and nationalities that promote the circumcision as a passage into manhood, the image and beauty of the practice is greatly enhanced. In some of these communities, this culture has ascended to the level of attaining a religious status that is far above biblical standards.

Be that as it may, the Bible does not approve of attempts where God’s standards are substituted for traditions of man (Matt. 15:3). In the divine scheme of things, Jesus wishes that his people desired spiritual rebirth over and above circumcision (Rom.2:29).  
As much as physical circumcision of the foreskin in males had become a sign that distinguished a Jew from a Gentile, the Bible argues that submission to God far outweighs national identities and distinctions. In the Old Testament, the rite of circumcision was important in several ways.

Firstly, it distinguished the seed of Abraham from the Gentiles (Eph.2:11). Secondly, it perpetuated the memory of Jehova’s covenant (Gen. 17:11). Thirdly, it fostered the cultivation of moral purity (Deut. 10:16). Fourthly, it represented righteousness by faith (Rom. 4:11). Fifthly, it symbolised circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:29).  Lastly, it foreshadowed the Christian rite of baptism (Col.2:11, 12).

The Jews demanded circumcision as an entry requirement to the commonwealth of Israel hence the controversy that arose in the Early Christian Church which came as a result of those who converted from heathenism to Christianity (Acts 15:1ff).  In addition to baptism, those proselytising (converting to Judaism) had to undergo the rite of circumcision.  

In resolving that controversy, the Council in Jerusalem, under the chairpersonship of James, the brother of Jesus, ruled that circumcision should be excluded from the list of behaviors acceptable to the Christian Church (v. 21).
In this way, the Bible argues that “in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Gal.5:6). But while the New Testament disapproves the perpetration of the rite of circumcision as an entry requirement into the family of God, the initial design of the rite in the Old Testament remained intact.

The rite of circumcision was a sign of separation from the heathen world and of consecration to the true God.  Circumcision implied the renunciation and the forsaking of every sin in the life of a true Israelite.  It further meant the cutting off of everything that was offensive to God.
Similarly, whenever a person converts to the Christian faith, these conditions and principles must apply. If circumcision was a requirement before an individual could participate in the ritual of the Passover (Exod.12:48), it follows that a visible spiritual exercise must be required from everyone who wishes admission to the community of God’s chosen people.  

Biblical evidence shows that Jesus affirmed and commanded two religious practices for his Church, and these are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:26, 27).  While Baptism is a public declaration of an individual’s newly acquired status as a child of God, the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice for sin as well as a dress rehearsal for the Welcome Supper Jesus promised to celebrate with the redeemed in heaven (Matt. 26:29).

Whereas baptism is a public declaration of a person’s new found status in Christ, the Lord’s Supper is an act that reviews the beauty of that act but at the same time challenged to desire the best and the supreme in the hereafter. Whereas in baptism the person desiring to become a member of God’s family must vow to abiding by Christian standards at all times, the Bible regards the Lord’s Supper as the affirmation of the vows made at baptism.  
Whereas baptism symbolizes the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus (Rom.6:3ff), the Lord’s Supper dramatizes the motivating factor behind the new believer’s new birth experience (1 Cor. 11:25). Just as the persons taking vows in the wedding is not a claim of perfection, the taking of baptismal vows is not a claim to perfection as well.  

Christian living is a journey that requires one ‘to die daily’ (1 Cor. 15:31) hence the need for feet washing whenever the Lord’s Supper is held. Feet washing turns out to be a miniature baptism where the ‘dirt’ of sins collected along the journey gets washed away (Jn. 13:5ff).
The need for participants to go through a process of self-examination cannot be overemphasized. And speaking to this need, the Apostle Paul says: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the Lord’s body” (1Cor. 11:29).   

Critical in the verse is the use of the adverb ‘unworthily’ which has confused many into thinking that the ordinance is reserved for the sinless. The adverb is not descriptive of who but of how. The presence of the Holy Spirit as the ‘Advocate’ (1Jn. 2:1) connotes the fact that perfection is not absolute but relative. These ordinances presuppose that the participant is fully aware of the price paid for saving humankind, and that by all intents and purposes the person wants to live a life that responds favourably to that sacrifice.  

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