The Sign of Circumcision

"Every male among you shall be circumcised."
GENESIS 17:10
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The Sign of Circumcision
For what benefit, then, was circumcision given? To make known that the Savior was to be born from this circumcised nation and not from the Gentiles. He who was desired by all the nations did not become incarnate among all the nations; He became incarnate among this one people which had been commanded by God to be circumcised. And the special rite was instituted that it might be an outstanding reminder for the entire world that Christ would come from the Jews; for He had been promised to the Jews alone, even though the Jews would not be the only people to derive benefit from Him. . . . For us this statement remains certain: that we Gentiles are free from the Law and from circumcision, just as before the Law and in the Law many of the Gentiles were converted to God and yet remained free from the Law and from circumcision. . .. But we Christians are free from the Law and from circumcision to a far greater degree. We know that according to the Father's command it is the Son of God who must be heard, not Moses. Even though He was circumcised, He did not command us to be circumcised; He commanded us to be baptized. . .. But just as we no longer have any need of the Sacrament of Baptism when the promise of the New Testament is fulfilled in eternal life, so circumcision is no longer necessary, since the promise given to Abraham has been fulfilled through Christ.
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