The Body of Christ’s Circumcision
Many Christians have a big misunderstanding when it comes to circumcision. This is not because the physical ritual is confusing, but because many believers fail to rightly divide between Israel’s covenants and the mystery revealed to Paul (2Ti 2:15).
Rightfully so, many see the clear instructions under grace against the spiritual necessity for physical circumcision peppered throughout Paul’s epistles, but especially in Galatians:
“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” – Gal 5:6
While most recognize that the physical act of circumcision no longer grants right standing with God as it did with Israel (Gen 17:5-14, Lev 12:2-3), confusion arises when Christians blend Israel’s required heart circumcision with the spiritual circumcision belonging to the Body of Christ. This blending usually comes from misreading two passages, Romans 2:26-29 and Philippians 3:3, and concluding that believers today are “spiritual Jews” or “spiritual Israel” and therefore inherit Israel’s identity, promises, and covenant signs.
When these verses are interpreted without dispensational clarity, Christians mistakenly assume that the inward circumcision mentioned in Romans 2 is speaking about the Body of Christ today, or that the “uncircumcision” counted as circumcision refers to Gentile believers in the current dispensation. But a careful reading shows Paul is speaking about Israel under their law program, not the Body of Christ. To understand our circumcision today, and to avoid collapsing Israel into the church, we must look at the context of these passages to see that we receive a completely different circumcision, one performed by God, not man, and rooted in the finished work of Christ.
Romans 2 Is About Israel’s Circumcision, Not Ours
“[26] Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? [27] And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? [28] For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [29] But 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.”– Romans 2:26-29
Romans 2:26-29 is often misunderstood because readers insert the Body of Christ into a passage where Paul is describing God’s dealings with Jews and Gentiles under the law, not under grace. This passage explains what constituted true Jewish circumcision in time past, and why Israel stood guilty before God.
Under the law, circumcision involved more than the physical sign given to Abraham (Gen 17:5-14; Lev 12:2-3). It also required circumcision of the heart, an inward humility and obedience that demonstrated genuine, sincere faith (Deu 10:12-16, Psa 51:16-17). A Jew who possessed the outward sign but lacked inward obedience was still condemned (Rom 2:25, 28).
Heart circumcision in this context was not a supernatural act performed by God, nor was it a new concept that hadn’t been established before under the law. It was a command Israel was expected to obey. This inward circumcision was a humility and sincere faith in God, resulting in obedience to their covenant with Him:
“[12] And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, [13] To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? [14] Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. [15] Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. [16] Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.” – Deuteronomy 10:12-16
However, Romans 2 also addresses uncircumcised Gentiles living under the law’s jurisdiction. Paul argues that if an uncircumcised Gentile “kept the righteousness of the law,” his uncircumcision would be counted as circumcision (Rom 2:26). Likewise, such uncircumcision “by nature,” if fulfilling the law, could even judge the circumcised Jew who broke it (Rom 2:27). Paul is showing that the real issue under the law was obedience in faith, not external identity.
In other words, Romans 2 presents a hypothetical legal scenario demonstrating that:
Circumcision becomes uncircumcision when the law is broken (Rom 2:25).
Uncircumcision becomes counted as circumcision when the law is perfectly kept (Rom 2:26).
This is a legal argument, not a description of salvation by grace or church identity. Paul is dismantling Israel’s self-righteous boasting by proving that outward circumcision offered no advantage when their works contradicted the law. The Gentile in this passage is not the Body of Christ; he is a hypothetical law-keeper used to expose Israel’s guilt. In reality, there was never a Gentile who fulfilled the righteousness of the law, for only Christ perfectly fulfilled it so He could be the perfect sacrifice for sins (Mat 5:17) and all are condemned guilty by the law (Rom 3:19-20).
Confusing the Gentile under the law in Romans 2 with Gentile believers under grace is the root of much replacement theology and creates copious amounts of confusion on important topics pertaining to salvation and the Christian walk.
Why Romans 2 Is Not About the Body of Christ
Several features of this passage make it impossible for Romans 2 to describe the Body of Christ.
First, the entire context is legal, and concerns those under the law. The Body of Christ is “not under the law, but under grace” (Rom 6:14). Romans 2 contains nothing about Christ’s finished work, faith in His blood, or salvation apart from works, but rather it speaks of keeping the righteousness of the law.
Second, Jew and Gentile distinctions are fully operative in the passage. In the Body of Christ, these distinctions do not have any value (1Co 12:13, Col 3:11). Paul’s entire argument in Romans 2 depends on the distinction, which means it cannot describe the church where that distinction is abolished.
Third, Paul’s use of the uncircumcised law-keeper is a legal device, not a doctrinal description. He is not teaching that Gentiles become spiritual Jews, nor that the church inherits Israel’s sign of circumcision. Rather, he is showing that Israel’s boasting was empty because obedience from the heart, not ritual, is what the law demanded.
Therefore, Romans 2 is not the ground of the church’s identity. It is the foundation of Israel’s guilt and the precursor to what we learn in Romans 3 that none, Jew or Gentile, is righteous (Rom 3:10).
Understanding Circumcision in Philippians 3:3
Another verse often misunderstood is Philippians 3:3:
“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Paul is not referring to the heart circumcision of Romans 2 at all, which required law obedience and faith, nor is he speaking of the heart circumcision that God will perform upon Israel as part of their New Covenant in the future, which will help them keep all His commandments (Deu 30:1-8, Ezk 11:17-20).
He is not identifying the church as spiritual Israel. He is describing the Body of Christ’s spiritual posture, not asserting that we possess Israel’s covenant circumcision. This passage contrasts the flesh-based confidence of “the concision” (Php 3:2) with the Christ-centered worship of the Body. Philippians 3:3 does not mention the law, covenants, Israel, or physical circumcision at all; it shows a circumcision not defined by what you see.
So what circumcision do we have? While this passage describes the proper spiritual posture of those in Christ, if we want to understand our circumcision in Christ today, we need to look in Colossians 2.
The Body of Christ’s Circumcision
The circumcision belonging to the Body of Christ is described in Colossians 2:11-12:
“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. [12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”
This circumcision is:
Spiritual, not physical (“made without hands”).
Performed entirely by God (“through the faith of the operation of God,” Col 2:12).
Pertaining to our death and resurrection through Christ’s death and resurrection (“putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him”).
Our circumcision is simply our identification with the crucified and risen Christ, resulting in our own death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-6, Gal 2:20). It is not inward moral reform or continued covenant obedience; it is the complete cutting off (“circumcising”) of the old man by Christ Himself. When we trust the gospel, we are sealed with the Spirit who subsequently baptizes/identifies us with Christ, not with water, but with His death and resurrection (1Co 12:13, Eph 1:13-14).
Israel’s heart circumcision depended on their faith, humility, and obedience to the law. Our circumcision depends solely on Christ’s finished work. Israel’s circumcision was a covenant requirement; ours is a mystery truth.
Why This Matters
Misunderstanding circumcision leads directly to conflating Israel’s program with the Body of Christ. When believers insert themselves into Romans 2 or misunderstand Philippians 3:3, they quickly begin claiming Israel’s promises, signs, judgments, and kingdom instructions. This includes attempting to
cast out demons (Mar 16:17), miraculously healing the sick (Mar 16:18), selling everything you have (Luk 18:22), or expecting God to freely feed, clothe, and provide all your physical needs without any work as He will in Israel’s future kingdom (Luk 12:24-34 vs. 2Th 3:10-12).
Moreover, wrongly believing you are spiritual Israel means your forgiveness is conditional and requires you do endure to the end to be saved (Mat 6:14-15, 10:22, 24:13, Joh 15:4-10), your salvation is yet future (Rom 11:25-27) and that you can lose your sacrifice for sins after willfully sinning (Heb 10:26-27), along with many other contrary doctrinal instructions that don’t pertain to the Body of Christ today.
Such confusion disappears when we rightly divide the word of truth, understanding the context of who is being written to and about what in the Bible (2Ti 2:15). Israel today is blind and fallen (Rom 11:11-15, 25-28). The Body of Christ is not Israel, physical or spiritual. We are something entirely new: “one new man” (Eph 2:14-16), a “new creature” (2Co 5:17, Gal 6:15), according to the revelation of the mystery of Christ delivered through Paul and found in his epistles (Eph 3:1-10, Col 1:25-27, Rom 16:25-26).
Our circumcision is not Israel’s heart circumcision. It is the circumcision of Christ, performed without hands, applied by God, rooted in Christ’s death and resurrection, and received by faith in the gospel of Christ.
