²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Circumcision was virtually synonymous with the Law of Moses, the two being closely intertwined. Paul refers to this sixteen times in his letter to the Romans. Originally it was given to Abraham and his descendants as a sign, an identifying mark to distinguish the people of God from all others (Gen 17:10-14). Some today see a medical benefit in circumcision (though this is hotly disputed in some circles), but it nevertheless has been adopted in much of the present-day Judeo-Christian (as well as Islamic) world. The Jews placed great emphasis on it, even pride, as their mark of ownership by God and inclusion among the covenant people of God. It may seem barbaric, but in some regard no more so than the common practice today of piercing one’s ears.

Circumcision was a permanent mark in the males only, a cutting off of the foreskin of the penis, normally of infant children, or adult converts to Judaism. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you” (Gen 17:11). Women were spared this experience, but the sign had value nonetheless for them as well, though in a different way. A sign has value only when it is seen. The Jews made a big deal about it when a new child was born. After that, it would obviously be hidden in the normal public course of life. However, the circumcised penis would become poignantly visible during sexual intercourse, a reminder that in the act of creating new life the participants were expanding the population of the covenant people of God.

The sign of circumcision would become particularly problematic, however, when a Jew had sexual relations with a non-Jew. The Jewish man’s circumcision would become obvious to the Gentile woman or the Gentile man’s uncircumcision would become obvious to the Jewish woman—both would be a stark reminder that the covenant was being broken, for Jews were not to intermarry with non-Jews (Deut 7:3, Josh 23:12-13). Although sex is intended by God to be enjoyable, the very act is connected by design with marriage and for creating new life.

The Jews, however, took the sign of circumcision as a badge of pride. Paul himself spoke of how he could have boasted in his Jewish pedigree, beginning with his being “circumcised [on] the eighth day” (Phil 3:5). But we remind ourselves that He also wrote, “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil 3:7).

Lord, help me remain faithful to You, but not arrogant about my faith.