In whom also you are circumcised with circumcision not made by hand, in despoiling of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ:

“Moreover, we learn from the Scripture itself, that God gave circumcision, not as the completer of righteousness, but as a sign, that the race of Abraham might continue recognisable. For it declares: "God said unto Abraham, Every male among you shall be circumcised; and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, as a token of the covenant between Me and you." This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with regard to the Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord, that sanctify them." And in Exodus, God says to Moses: "And ye shall observe My Sabbaths; for it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations." These things, then, were given for a sign; but the signs were not unsymbolical, that is, neither unmeaning nor to no purpose, inasmuch as they were given by a wise Artist; but the circumcision after the flesh typified that after the Spirit. For "we," says the apostle, "have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands." And the prophet declares, "Circumcise the hardness of your heart."”

“To attain the knowledge of God is impossible for those who are still under the control of their passions. Therefore they cannot attain the salvation they hope for as they have not obtained any knowledge of God. He who fails to attain this end is clearly subject to the charge of being ignorant of God, and ignorance of God is shown by a man's manner of life. It is absolutely impossible at the same time to be a man of understanding and not to be ashamed to gratify the body. Nor can the view that pleasure is the supreme Good be reconciled with the view that only the beautiful is good, or that only the Lord is beautiful, and God alone is good and is alone to be loved. "You are circumcised in Christ with a circumcision not done with hands, which consists rather in the putting away of the carnal body, in the circumcision of Christ." "If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above; have in mind higher things, not earthly things. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" -- but not the fornication which they practice. "Mortify therefore your earthly members, fornication, uncleanness, passion, lust; for on account of these wrath is coming." Let them also therefore "put away anger, wrath, wickedness, blasphemy, filthy talk from their mouth, putting off the old man with its lusts, and putting on the new man which is renewed to possess full knowledge according to the image of him who created it."”

“He washed in Jordan, and when He was baptized He received a figure and a seal in the water of (another spiritual booty beside) the body born of the Virgin. (And the object of this was,) when the Archon condemned his own peculiar figment (of flesh) to death, (that is,) to the cross, that that soul which had been nourished in the body (born of the Virgin) might strip off that body and nail it to the (accursed) tree. (In this way the soul) would triumph by means of this (body) over principalities and powers, and would not be found naked, but would, instead of that flesh, assume the (other) body, which had been represented in the water when he was being baptized.”

“That the first circumcision of the flesh is made void, and the second circumcision of the spirit is promised instead. In Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah, and to them who inhabit Jerusalem, Renew newness among you, and do not sow among thorns: circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart; lest my anger go forth like fire, and burn you up, and there be none to extinguish it." Also Moses says: "In the last days God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God." Also in Jesus the son of Nave: "And the Lord said unto Jesus, Make thee small knives of stone, very sharp, and set about to circumcise the children of Israel for the second time." Paul also, to the Colossians: "Ye are circumcised with the circumcision not made with hands in the putting off of the flesh, but with the circumcision of Christ." Also, because Adam was first made by God uncircumcised, and righteous Abel, and Enoch, who pleased God and was translated; and Noah, who, when the world and men were perishing on account of transgressions, was chosen alone, that in him the human race might be preserved; and Melchizedek, the priest according to whose order Christ was promised. Then, because that sign did not avail women, but all are sealed by the sign of the Lord.”

“This, too, is plain, that in him who is baptized the Son of God is crucified, for our flesh could not do away sin unless it were crucified in Jesus Christ. And then it is written that: "All we who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death." And farther on: "If we have been planted in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing that our old man was fastened with Him to His cross." And to the Colossians he says: "Buried with Him by baptism, wherein ye also rose again with Him." Which was written to the intent that we should believe that He is crucified in us, that our sins may be purged through Him, that He, Who alone can forgive sins, may nail to His cross the handwriting which was against us.”

“See how near he is come to the thing. He saith, "In the putting" quite away, not putting off merely. "The body of sins." He means, "the old life." He is continually adverting to this in different ways, as he said above, "Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and reconciled us who were alienated," that we should be "holy and without blemish." (Col. i. 13, 21.) No longer, he saith, is the circumcision with the knife, but in Christ Himself; for no hand imparts this circumcision, as is the case there, but the Spirit. It circumciseth not a part, but the whole man. It is the body both in the one and the other case, but in the one it is carnally, in the other it is spiritually circumcised; but not as the Jews, for ye have not put off flesh, but sins. When and where? In Baptism. And what he calls circumcision, he again calls burial. Observe how he again passes on to the subject of righteous doings; "of the sins," he saith, "of the flesh," the things they had done in the flesh. He speaks of a greater thing than circumcision, for they did not merely cast away that of which they were circumcised, but they destroyed it, they annihilated it.”

“For if these passing days gladden us so much, during which we devoutly commemorate the passion and resurrection of Christ, how will the eternal one bless us, where we shall see Him and remain with Him, whom we now rejoice in, longing and hoping for? How great an exultation will He give to His Church, to which, regenerated through Christ, He removes in a way the foreskin of carnal nature, that is, the reproach of birth? Hence it is said: And you, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive with Him, forgiving us all our debts. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Thus, what was hidden in the shadow of the old circumcision is revealed in the baptism of Christ; and this also pertains to that same uncircumcision made without hands, when the covering of carnal ignorance is removed. When you shall have passed on to Christ, he says, the veil is taken away.”

“What has gone before fortified the faithful against the deceptions of worldly wisdom; here he instructs and fortifies them against heretics, who wish to draw them to the observances of the law. He first teaches them to avoid these men; secondly he excludes their false seduction, at the words no one , etc. Again, the first part is divided into two: first he shows that the observances of the law have been fulfilled in Christ; secondly he excludes them, showing that they are not bound to them, at the words no one you . Now among the legal observances, the first is circumcision, in which the Jews professed observance of the old law, just as we in Baptism profess observance of the new law. Gal. V, 3: I testify to every man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law . Hence he says that the faithful are circumcised with a certain spiritual circumcision. From this it follows that that ceases. Hence, first he shows with what circumcision they are circumcised; secondly, in what this circumcision is received, at the words buried together ; thirdly he assigns the reason for this circumcision, at the words and you, when you were dead . Concerning the first, it must be known that circumcision is twofold, namely carnal and spiritual. But through Christ we are circumcised, not with carnal circumcision, but with spiritual. And therefore he first excludes the carnal; secondly he establishes the spiritual. He says therefore: in whom , namely Christ, you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand . Rom. II, 28: For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one in secret, and the circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter , etc. In the despoiling of the body of the flesh . This can be read in two ways. In one way, thus: I say, circumcised, with a circumcision not made by hand — I say you, remaining, in the despoiling , etc., that is, of carnal corruption, according to that word of I Cor. XV, 50: flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God , etc.; as if he were to say: you are circumcised for this reason, because you no longer have the vices of the flesh. Below, III, 9: stripping off from yourselves the old man with his deeds , etc. Or, I say, with a circumcision not made by hand — for that circumcision made by hand consists in the despoiling of the body of the flesh , which is cut off from the other. Hence another text has: the skin of the flesh , that is, of the body of the flesh, that is, a part of the body, which is flesh — not that the body is one thing and the flesh another. And he says of the flesh , alluding to the law, where mention is made of the flesh. Gen. XVII, 11: you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin , etc. And this in order to show that it is a certain carnal observance. But we are not circumcised with such a circumcision, but with the circumcision of Christ. For just as Christ assumed the likeness of sinful flesh, that is, passible flesh, in order to free us from sin, so too the remedies of the law, in order to free us from observance of the law. Or which Christ works in us, which is spiritual circumcision, as is said in Rom. II, 29, not in the letter, but in the spirit . Secondly he shows that we have obtained it in Baptism, and thus Baptism is spiritual circumcision. And first he shows that in Baptism the figure of Christ's death is displayed; secondly that in it conformity to Christ's resurrection is received, at the words in whom also you rose again . He says therefore buried together , etc. Because in it the likeness of Christ's death is expressed, so that, just as Christ was placed first on the cross, and afterward in the tomb, so he who is baptized is placed under the water, and three times, just as Christ remained three days in the tomb. Buried together, that is, baptized in the likeness of Christ's death, so that just as in it he destroyed sin, so also in Baptism. And just as he rose from the tomb, so also do we rise from sins in reality, and from the corruption of the flesh in hope. And this through faith in the working of God , because he was raised up by the power of God. Ps. XL, 11: raise me up, and I will repay them , etc. And believing this resurrection, one becomes a partaker of this resurrection. Rom. VIII, 11: he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies . But Christ also raised himself up. For the working of the Father and the Son is the same. Ps. CVII, 3: I will rise at dawn , etc. Then, when he says and you, when , etc., he shows the reason for the likeness; and first he shows the likeness; secondly the manner of what has been said, at the words blotting out , etc. The text is not difficult. I said you were circumcised, because you were buried together with Christ in Baptism. And he compared Baptism to burial and death. But it can be said that it would be more to the purpose if it were said that first it is shown that Baptism is circumcision; secondly he shows the reason why, namely, that sin is a superfluity, and the flesh of the foreskin is a superfluity. It is the same, therefore, to lay aside sin and the foreskin. But in Baptism sin is laid aside; therefore it is the same as circumcision. And therefore he says when you were dead in your sins , that is, on account of your sins. Ps. XXXIII, 22: the death of sinners is the worst. And in the foreskin of your flesh , that is, of carnal concupiscence, which pertains to original sin — as though bound by the guilt of evil deeds and of mortal sin. Doing this, Christ brought you to life together with him , etc. Eph. II, 1: when you were dead in your trespasses and sins , etc. And this by removing from you all sin, forgiving and remitting to you all your sins . It is the same, therefore, to be circumcised and to be brought to life together, and this in Baptism through the remedy of the death of sin, and when we are circumcised through the removal of original sin. But how did he forgive? I answer: It must be said that man, by sinning, incurs two things, namely the guilt of fault, and servitude to the Devil. And therefore he tells how sins are forgiven. First as to the removal of diabolical servitude; secondly he sets down the taking away of the guilt of fault, at the words despoiling , etc. He says therefore blotting out , etc. This decree can be understood in two ways. In one way, as the old law. Eph. II, 15: making void the law of commandments contained in decrees , etc. And thus he speaks here to the Jews; as if he were to say: and you he brought to life together with him. A handwriting is a document written by hand, and it is properly made as security for contracts. Whoever breaks the decree of God becomes guilty of fault. And this guilt consists both in the memory of man, thereby disturbed and stained, and in the memory of God who is to judge, and of the demons who are to torment. This, therefore, remaining in memory, is called the handwriting: Christ, then, is he who forgave all things, and this by blotting out the handwriting , that is, the memory of the transgression, which , the handwriting or the decree, was against us , because both were against us. The law indeed, because it produced the knowledge of sin, and did not help; the handwriting, however, because the memory of the transgression was for the sake of punishing. And he says of the decree , because he does not remit in such a way as to make it so that you did not sin, but because it is not in the memory of God for punishing, nor in the memory of the demon for accusing, nor in you for causing sorrow. Ps. XXXI, 1: blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered , etc. Or he speaks in common, not only to the Jews, but to all. One decree was made to the first man, Gen. II, 16: eat of every tree of Paradise, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat. In whatever day you eat of it, you shall die the death . But man transgressed a decree of this kind, and because of this there is in memory a handwriting contrary to us, which Christ blotted out. And how? On the cross , when he took it out of the way , etc. For it was the custom that, when one paid all that to which he was bound, the handwriting was torn up. But man was in sin; Christ, however, paid for good things by suffering. Ps. LXVIII, 5: what I did not steal, then I paid . And therefore, together with the death of Christ, this handwriting was destroyed; and therefore he says he took it out of the way , that is, he removed it from the nature of things, and this by fastening it to the cross , through which, making satisfaction to God, he took away our sin. Then, when he says despoiling , etc., he shows how he freed us from servitude to sin. For granted that a usurer, on account of a security, holds a man captive, the destruction of the security would not suffice, unless he were freed. So too Christ. And therefore he says despoiling , etc. This despoiling refers to the saints who died before the Passion of Christ, and thus Christ freed them by despoiling hell of them. Zach. IX, 11: you also, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit, in which there was no water . Is. XLIX, 25: indeed even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong man, and what has been taken from the mighty one shall be saved . But if it is understood of the living, thus he despoiled them, namely, of the demons. Lc. XI, 22: but if a stronger one coming upon him overcomes him, he will take away all his armor in which he trusted, and will distribute his spoils . Io. XII, 31: the prince of this world shall be cast out . He says therefore despoiling the principalities and powers , that is, the demons themselves. Eph. ult.: against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness , etc. He led forth those saints confidently, as one having authority: into heaven, as regards the dead; and as regards the living, into the kingdom of his glory or of his grace. Or he led forth , that is, led outside, that is, he expelled the principalities from man. Is. LI, 9: put on strength, O arm of the Lord , etc. Openly , that is, by evident judgment, by which it may be known that they were led forth. For formerly the whole world served idols; now it does not. Or openly , that is, in the presence of a multitude of angels, both because he descended to the hell of the saints, and because he ascended into heaven. And this triumphing in himself , that is, in his own power. Phil. III, 21: according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself . Another text has it thus: and stripping himself of the flesh, he made a show of the principalities and powers, triumphing confidently . And it is explained thus: stripping himself of the flesh , that is, of mortality. I Cor. XV, v. 50: flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God , that is, the mortality of carnal corruption. Rom. VI, 9: Christ rising from the dead dies now no more; death shall no longer have dominion over him . II Cor. V, 16: and if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer. He made a show , that is, he offered in himself an example, of how they are to be conquered. The rest is not changed.”

“In whom also ye are circumcised,.... This is said to prevent an objection that might be made to the perfection of these Gentile believers, because they were not circumcised; for the Jews thought that perfection lay in circumcision, at least that there could be no perfection without it: "great is circumcision (say they (x)), for notwithstanding all the commands which Abraham our father did, he was not called perfect until he was circumcised; as it is written, Gen 17:1; "walk before me, and be thou perfect:" which objection the apostle anticipates, by observing, that they were circumcised in Christ their head, who is made unto them sanctification; and by him as the meritorious and efficient cause of their regeneration and conversion, or internal circumcision, the antitype and perfection of circumcision in the flesh; for the former, and not the latter, is here meant: these believers were circumcised in Christ, or by him; not with external circumcision, which was peculiar to the Jews, the natural seed of Abraham, prefigured Christ, and had its accomplishment in him, the body and substance of all the shadows of the ceremonial law; and so was now nothing, either to Jew or Gentile: as for the Gentiles, they never were obliged unto it; and as for the Jews, it was an insupportable yoke to them, binding them to keep the whole law of Moses, which they could not do, and so it made nothing perfect; but Christ the substance of that, and the end of the whole law, has, the head of the body the church, in whom all the members of it are complete, and are circumcised: with the circumcision made without hands: which is that of the heart, in the spirit; every man, though he may be circumcised in the flesh, is uncircumcised in heart, until he is circumcised by Christ and his Spirit; which is done, when he is pricked to the heart, and thoroughly convinced of sin, and the exceeding sinfulness of it; when the callousness and hardness of his heart is taken off and removed, and the iniquity of it is, laid open, the plague and corruption in it discerned, and all made naked and bare to the sinner's view; and when he is in pain on account of it, is broken and groans under a sense of it, and is filled with shame for it, and loathing and abhorrence of it: now this is effected not "by the hand of man", as the Ethiopic version reads it, as outward circumcision was; this is not done by any creature whatever; not by angels, who rejoice at the repentance of sinners, but cannot produce it; nor by ministers of the Gospel, who at most are but instruments of regeneration and conversion; nor by men themselves; this is not by might or power of man, by the strength of his free will, but by the Spirit of God: for though men are sometimes exhorted to circumcise themselves, as in Deu 10:16, in order to convince them of the corruption of their nature, and the need they stand in of spiritual circumcision; yet whereas there is an utter disability in them to effect it, and they need the power and grace of God for that purpose, the Lord has graciously promised his people to do it himself for them, Deu 30:6; so that this circumcision is in the name sense made without hands, as the human nature of Christ is said to be a tabernacle not made with hands, that, is of men, but of God, being what God has pitched, and not man; and it stands opposed to circumcision in the flesh, which was made with hands, Eph 2:11; and by some instrument, as a sharp knife or stone: in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. The Vulgate Latin version leaves out the word "sins", and so the Alexandrian copy and some others; and the Syriac version the word "body": by "the flesh" is meant corrupt nature, which is born of the flesh, and propagated in a carnal way, and is the source and spring of all sin; by "the sins" of it are intended the works of the flesh, the inward motions of sin in the members, and the outward actions of it: these are said to be a "body", because sin consists of various parts and members, as a body does; and these united together, and which receive frequent and daily additions; and which are committed and yielded to by the members of the natural body; and which body and bulk of sins arising from the corruption of nature are compared to a garment, and a very filthy one it is; in the putting off of which lies spiritual circumcision: this is done several ways; partly by Christ's wrapping himself in the sins of his people, bearing them in his body, and becoming a sacrifice for them, whereby the old man was crucified, and the body of sin destroyed; and by an application of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, to the consciences of his people, whereby their iniquities are caused to pass from them, and they are clothed with change of raiment; and by the power of his Spirit, laying sin under the restraints of grace, not suffering it to have dominion, but causing grace to reign through righteousness; and by the saints themselves, under the influence of grace, who put off the old man with his deeds, according to the former conversation: by the circumcision of Christ; not that with which Christ was circumcised at eight days old, that he might appear to be truly man, and a son of Abraham, and under the law, and to fulfil all the righteousness of it, but that which he by his Spirit is the author of, and what is before expressed, (x) Misn. Nedarim, c. 3. sect. 11.”

“In whom also ye are circumcised - All that was designed by circumcision, literally performed, is accomplished in them that believe through the Spirit and power of Christ. It is not a cutting off of a part of the flesh, but a putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, through the circumcision of Christ; he having undergone and performed this, and all other rites necessary to qualify him to be a mediator between God and man; for, being made under the law, he was subject to all its ordinances, and every act of his contributed to the salvation of men. But by the circumcision of Christ, the operation of his grace and Spirit may be intended; the law required the circumcision of the flesh, the Gospel of Christ required the circumcision of the heart. The words των ἁμαρτιων, of the sins, are omitted by ABCD*EFG, several others, by the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and Itala; and by Clement, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, and several others. Griesbach has omitted them.”

“Implying that they did not need, as the Judaizers taught, the outward rite of circumcision, since they had already the inward spiritual reality of it. are--rather, as the Greek, "Ye were (once for all) circumcised (spiritually, at your conversion and baptism, Rom 2:28-29; Phi 3:3) with a (so the Greek) circumcision made without hands"; opposed to "the circumcision in the flesh made by hands" (Eph 2:11). Christ's own body, by which the believer is sanctified, is said to be "not made with hands" (Mar 14:58; Heb 9:11; compare Dan 2:45). in putting off--rather as Greek, "in your putting off"; as an old garment (Eph 4:22); alluding to the putting off the foreskin in circumcision. the body of the sins of the flesh--The oldest manuscripts read, "the body of the flesh," omitting "of the sins," that is, "the body," of which the prominent feature is fleshiness (compare Rom 8:13, where "flesh" and "the body" mutually correspond). This fleshly body, in its sinful aspect, is put off in baptism (where baptism answers its ideal) as the seal of regeneration where received in repentance and faith. In circumcision the foreskin only was put off; in Christian regeneration "the body of the flesh" is spiritually put off, at least it is so in its ideal conception, however imperfectly believers realize that ideal. by--Greek, "in." This spiritual circumcision is realized in, or by, union with Christ, whose "circumcision," whereby He became responsible for us to keep the whole law, is imputed to believers for justification; and union with whom, in all His vicarious obedience, including HIS CIRCUMCISION, is the source of our sanctification. ALFORD makes it explanatory of the previous, "a circumcision made without hands," namely, "the circumcision brought about by your union with Christ." The former view seems to me better to accord with Col 2:12; Col 3:1, Col 3:3-4, which similarly makes the believer, by spiritual union with Christ, to have personal fellowship in the several states of Christ, namely, His death, resurrection, and appearing in glory. Nothing was done or suffered by our Mediator as such, but may be acted in our souls and represented in our spirits. PEARSON'S view, however, is that of ALFORD. JOSHUA, the type (not Moses in the wilderness), circumcised the Israelites in Canaan (Jos 5:2-9) the second time: the people that came out of Egypt having been circumcised, and afterwards having died in the wilderness; but those born after the Exodus not having been so. Jesus, the Antitype, is the author of the true circumcision, which is therefore called "the circumcision of Christ" (Rom 2:29). As Joshua was "Moses' minister," so Jesus, "minister of the circumcision for the truth of God" unto the Gentiles (Rom 15:8).”