What is Paul saying here....

[Georges]

1Cr 7:18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

Is Paul affirming James proclamation of Acts 21? In other words...is Paul telling the Jewish Christians to continue in their Judaism?

Paul does have Timothy circumcised at one point.

Is Paul breaking a Torah commandment by telling Gentile converts not to become circumcised?

Exd 12:48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.


1Cr 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Is Paul saying that the Law (the law he claimed to have kept in Acts 28), should not be observed anymore in regard to circumcision? Is verse 19 a contradictory statement? Is this an example of Paulish doublespeak?


Can anyone tell me what the importance of circumcision was? When was it introduced? What did it mean? Was it a Law or an act of Indentification, or both? Why was it stopped by Gentile Christians yet practiced by Jewish Christians?

 

[belovedwolfofgod]

Paul was saying to them that those who are Jewish, let them remain Jewish, but those who are not, let them follow Christ. This was the dispute between Peter and Paul and one of the issues brought up in the Council of Jerusalem (in Acts).

The practice of circumsision came from God to Abraham

7: And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8: And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
9: And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10: This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11: You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Genesis 17

 

[Georges]

Paul was saying to them that those who are Jewish, let them remain Jewish, but those who are not, let them follow Christ. This was the dispute between Peter and Paul and one of the issues brought up in the Council of Jerusalem (in Acts).

So Peter who was circumcised and a practicing Torah observent Jew, wasn't following Christ? Maybe Paul wasn't following Christ by not requiring Gentile Proselytes to identify with the Abrahamic promise by means of circumcision, or at the most observing Mosaic Law.

The practice of circumsision came from God to Abraham

7: And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8: And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
9: And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10: This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11: You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Genesis 17

So was circumcision a law, or was it a act of identification? Big difference....one is out of "have to", the other is out of "want to"....

 

[mutzrein]

As a circumcised gentile (my parent's choice) I haven't dwelt on it too much but I have always understood that circumcision symbolised a 'doing away with the flesh'. I guess to the Jews, this would not have been understood since they lived by the code, but to those who live by the Spirit, there is much significance in 'dying to the flesh'.

So, since circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant given to Abraham then it speaks to those who are circumcised of heart, who live by the spirit in order that they may die to the flesh. These are people of faith who are children of Abraham.

And so to those in Christ, circumcision counts for nothing. And so does uncircumcision.

 

[Georges]

As a circumcised gentile (my parent's choice) I haven't dwelt on it too much but I have always understood that circumcision symbolised a 'doing away with the flesh'. I guess to the Jews, this would not have been understood since they lived by the code, but to those who live by the Spirit, there is much significance in 'dying to the flesh'.

So, since circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant given to Abraham then it speaks to those who are circumcised of heart, who live by the spirit in order that they may die to the flesh. These are people of faith who are children of Abraham.

And so to those in Christ, circumcision counts for nothing. And so does uncircumcision.

I think there is more to it....

Hate to be graphic here...and this is to the men of the forum....Ladies, avert your eyes....

Men....can you think of anything more painful then an adult circumcision? Especially without anethestic? Just the thought of it sends chills up my spine (not in a good way).

To freely, by choice, undergo such an painful act, is the highest show of dedication to a faith.....

It would show that you are "serious" in your act of faith and identification.