31 Bible Verses about Circumcision, spiritual

Then the LORD your God will circumcise both your hearts and those of your descendants so that you can love him with your heart and with your soul and therefore live.

You see, heaven even the highest heavens belongs to the LORD, along with the earth and all that is in it, yet the LORD committed himself to love your ancestors and did so! He chose you their descendants after them from all the nations, as it is today. Therefore, circumcise your heart and stop being stubborn.

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskin of your heart, you men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds."

For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical. No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person's praise will come from God, not from people.

For circumcision is valuable if you observe the Law, but if you break the Law, your having been circumcised has no more value than if you were uncircumcised. So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision, won't it? The man who is uncircumcised physically but who keeps the Law will condemn you who break the Law, even though you have the written Law and circumcision.

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying God's commandments is everything.

for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised by that same faith.

In the same way, Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness." Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised. Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them. read more.
He is also the ancestor of the circumcised those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God.

Then some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can't be saved." Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. read more.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done through them. But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The gentiles must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses." So the apostles and the elders met to look into this claim. After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows everyone's heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between them and us, because of their faith-cleansed hearts. So why do you test God by putting on the disciples' neck a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we could carry? We certainly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that we are saved, just as they are." The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles. After Paul and Barnabas had finished speaking, James responded, "Brothers, listen to me: Simeon has explained how God first showed his concern for the gentiles by taking from among them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written, ""After this, I will come back and set up David's fallen tent again. I will restore its ruined places and set it up again so that the rest of the people may search for the Lord, including all the gentiles who are called by my name,' declares the Lord. "He is the one who has been doing these things that have been known from long ago.' "Therefore, I have decided that we should not trouble these gentiles who are turning to God.

Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. But when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who emphasized circumcision disagreed with him. They said, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them!"

While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message. Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too, because they heard them speaking in foreign languages and praising God. Then Peter said,

Then Peter began to speak: "Now I understand that God shows no partiality.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. read more.
But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?" We ourselves are Jews by birth, and not gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires, but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. We, too, have believed in the Messiah Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of the Messiah and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being will be justified by doing what the Law requires.

The Messiah has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again. Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you. Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised is obligated to obey the entire Law. read more.
Those of you who are trying to be justified by the Law have been cut off from the Messiah. You have fallen away from grace. Through the Spirit by faith we confidently await the fulfillment of our righteous hope, for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

But not even Titus, who was with me, was forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah Jesus so that they might enslave us. But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.

This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

You were running the race beautifully. Who cut in on you and stopped you from obeying the truth? Such influence does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough. read more.
I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of this. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God's judgment, whoever he is. As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching the necessity of circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish that those who are upsetting you would castrate themselves!

These people who want to impress others by their external appearance are trying to force you to be circumcised, simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of the Messiah. Why, not even those who are circumcised obey the Law! They simply want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your external appearance.

Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil workers! Beware of the mutilators! For it is we who are the circumcision we who worship in the Spirit of God and find our joy in the Messiah Jesus. We have not placed any confidence in the flesh,

For there are many people who are rebellious, especially those who are converts from Judaism. They speak utter nonsense and deceive people. They must be silenced, because they are the kind of people who ruin whole families by teaching what they should not teach in order to make money in a shameful way.

In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah. When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

In him there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah is all and in all.

although I could have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he can place confidence in the flesh, I have more reason to think so. Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee. As for my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As far as righteousness in the Law is concerned, I was blameless.read more.
But whatever things were assets to me, these I now consider a loss for the sake of the Messiah. What is more, I continue to consider all these things to be a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness of the Messiah, the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith.

In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah. When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them.

Now the one who makes us and you as well secure in union with the Messiah and has anointed us is God, who has placed his seal on us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,