What Does Paul Mean About Circumcision?

Whole books and dissertations have been written about the apostle Paul's messages on circumcision. But this is only a simple note about why Paul preached on circumcision, and why he mentioned castration.

A short answer to that question is that people in ancient times, same as many people today, believed that cutting away the flesh helped people to be clean and to stop sinning.

But Paul's message, from Heaven, was that cutting flesh away may have some affect but that it doesn't save anyone from going to hell. Cutting away flesh doesn't save souls. Cutting away flesh doesn't give anyone a heart for Jesus.

Jesus taught that, when people are very prone to sin, it's best to cast them away from the church. That's what he meant in saying that, if your eye or hand offend, to cast it away. Jesus referred to members of the church as parts of His body, and He described some members as the eye of the church body, and other members as the hands of the church body.

Paul did the same, describing members of the church body as eyes, hands, and feet.

But, when it came to talking about actual flesh, or anyone's actual body, Paul cautioned against cutting the body, because he knew that wouldn't spiritually change anyone. For a person to live in Jesus, in the Spirit, there needs to be spiritual change, which happens through repentance and growth in faith.

When Paul taught the Galatians, that was a very difficult task. The Galatians were some of the worst sinners, ever. But Paul tried to help them understand, patiently.

In Galatians 5, Paul said to live freely in Jesus and not submit the body of the church to a yoke of sin. And he added to his other messages about the law. At other times, Paul had said that the law is for lawlessness. But, in Galatia, he tried to help the church appreciate being free in Jesus, by telling them not to sin and wind up bound by the law.

The law, at that time, included circumcision and even castration -- castration in cases where people were determined to sin. So, Paul preached to avoid castration by not sinning but by living freely in Jesus, instead.

Don't sin against a neighbor, he preached. You wouldn't want a neighbor to sin against you, so don't sin against a neighbor. Love works no ill, Paul preached to the Romans. So, don't sin against a neighbor, he told the Galatians, also.

It's not a change in flesh that helps us be free in Jesus, but it's people's decision not to do harm, not to assault but to treat others as respectfully as you would want them to treat you.