In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Parallel translations
- WEB in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
- BSB In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- NKJV In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
- NASB and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,
- NLT When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In Christ believers received a spiritual circumcision that strips away the sinful nature. Christ accomplishes inwardly what physical circumcision only pictured.
Overview
This 'circumcision not made with hands' is a heart-work of God, 'the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh.' It is 'the circumcision of Christ,' accomplished by Him for His people. Against any demand for physical rites, Paul shows the true, decisive change is the inward one Christ has already worked.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Rom 2:29But 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.
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
- Rom 6:6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
- Deut 30:6And 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.
- Gal 5:24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
- Eph 4:22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
- Gal 2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
- Col 3:8–9But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- Deut 10:16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
- Heb 9:24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
- Eph 2:10–18For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
- Jer 4:4Circumcise 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.
- Heb 9:11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
- Gal 4:4–5But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
- 2 Cor 5:1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
- Acts 17:24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
- Acts 7:48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
- Mark 14:58We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
- Luke 2:21And 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.
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