For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
Parallel translations
- WEB For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
- KJV For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
- NKJV For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
- NASB For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
- NLT It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.
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, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; what matters is being a new creation. It declares that the gospel makes us new rather than merely religious.
Overview
Paul summarizes the letter's argument: outward ritual, whether observed or not, has no saving value. What counts is the 'new creation,' the transforming work of God that makes a person new in Christ. This echoes the gospel's promise that union with Christ brings spiritual rebirth and a wholly new standing before God, the inward reality the Spirit produces.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Col 3:10–11and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- Eph 2:10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
- Eph 4:24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- 1 Cor 7:19Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.
- Rom 2:28A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Rom 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Rev 21:5And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 6:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.