What does it mean that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything (Galatians 5:6)?

Verse 6 aptly follows the concise statement of verse 5. If the one sets forth the Christian position in contrast with the bondage and gloom of the law, the other shows the moral walk which God looks for in every Christian. "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love" (ver. 6). The apostle's language is very similar in chap. 6:15, and 1 Cor. 7:19. Considerable value attached of old to the solemn rite. It was then a great matter whether a man was circumcised or not. But, Christ having come, the reality of all has been brought in for those who believe; the shadow in this, as in everything else, fades away. True circumcision — death to flesh and separation to God — is found, for faith, in the cross of Christ, nowhere else (Col. 2:11-12). Possession of, or submission to, ordinances renders no one acceptable to God. He looks for the practical fruit of faith in all who bear the name of His Son. Faith works by love, and leads to the fulfilling of the commandments of God. Where this is seen, all else is of small account.

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any power, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love" (compare 1 Corinthians 7:19 and Galatians 6:15). Circumcision was merely an outward cutting off of the flesh, merely an outward ceremony, and as we have so often seen in this epistle, the Holy Spirit insists that outward forms and ceremonies have no power whatever. Both circumcision and uncircumcision alike can never produce any results for God. So the man who is circumcised is just as helpless to please God as the man who is uncircumcised. There is no difference; neither the one nor the other has the least power to do anything for God. The spiritual meaning of circumcision was "a heart affair." In Jeremiah 6:10 the Lord complains of Israel that "their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken"; and in Jeremiah 9:26 He adds: "All the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart." So Paul says: "Circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; 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." Rom. 2:25, 28, 29. But, although outward forms and ceremonies have no power, yet there is a power: "Faith working through love." But this is an inward power, this is "a heart affair." Faith and love go together, they walk hand in hand. As we learn to know our Lord better we trust Him more entirely, and as we trust Him more we love Him more fully and more wholeheartedly; and faith working through love has mighty power: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." Song of Sol. 8:7. "Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth." 1 Cor. 13:4-8. "… Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, … and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: (of whom the world was not worthy): they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith …" Heb. 11:33-39. Yes, how true is the word, although neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any power whatever, yet in Christ Jesus, faith working by love has power untold. We must notice how Paul, in verses 5 and 6 of our chapter, links together "faith, hope, and love," as he does in 1 Corinthians 13:13. "And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three."

Does not Galatians 5:6 put it in a nutshell, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love.” That is to say, the mere rite as a rite apart from its true moral import is an utterly negligible thing, but faith working by love is what matters. We come to living realities when we speak of love and faith—faith working by love—love the divine nature leading to a life framed in the light of another world with different and diametrically opposed values to the life of the flesh.

All distinctions in the flesh become lost where there is faith in Christ. Circumcision, the badge in the flesh of God's earthly people, 'availeth' no more than uncircumcision. It is a new living principle which is needed. Such is faith wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God. And such faith is an energetic principle; it "worketh by love," The law could give neither life nor righteousness; it might command love to God and man, but was powerless to enforce its own enactment; but faith 'worketh' by love to God and man.

"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." Now he shows, just passingly, that there is a very great reality in the believer's moral condition. It is not only that he has justification, and a hope in character with it by and by; but the selfsame faith which makes him know that he is justified, and gives him also to be looking onward to the glory he is destined to, meanwhile works by love, not by law. To this he is going to bring us, the question of practical sanctification; and he shows that the believer has no need of going under the law; because, if his faith works by love, it accomplishes that which the law sought, but never effected or received. He does not at all mean to say that, though the believer is thus justified and waiting for glory, there is nothing meanwhile operating in his soul. It is a mighty and influential thing; but, then, it works by love. Its origin and its rest are in God's love; it knows salvation springing from that love. The love of God shown in Christ fills the believer's heart. He has a hope that makes not ashamed. And why not? Because the love of God is shed abroad in his heart. And I take that love of God in its largest possible meaning first of all, as God's love to us; and next, as ours to Him. It is the fulness of the sense of God's love in us; and the effect is, that it enables us to love God and every one else. If persons are thoroughly happy themselves, they cannot help loving others.

This, then, is the principle upon which the believer stands — he is already justified; he is waiting for the glory; and meanwhile there is faith that worketh by love. Therefore it is no question of circumcision. We are Christians; and the whole basis of the law, therefore, and of these questions, is gone. How comes this to pass? For a very blessed reason. "For," says he, "in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." The first availed a good deal to the flesh, and there was an important lesson taught by it. But he speaks of what is "in Jesus Christ." That is the position of a Christian. He is not in the flesh: he once was. And "when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death" — an expression that shows as strongly as possible that we are not in the flesh now. Do you not understand this? If you tell a person that you were in the country once, it implies that you are not there now. So, when the apostle says, "when ye were in the flesh," he means that he was in the flesh before he knew Christ: but now he is in the flesh no more, though he has the flesh in him. God views us in another condition. We have the old nature, but we have got another nature, by virtue of which God says, "Ye are not in the flesh." When we were in the flesh, we were not delivered: we had not laid hold of Christ. But now that we are His, we are no longer in the flesh. We ought firmly to hold fast this truth, and to rejoice in it. If a person fails, that is the more reason why he should not yield to the further suggestions of the enemy. We ought always to hold fast to the truth that we are not in the flesh; the more especially as it is not for our own praise. On the contrary, it is the very thing that aggravates our sin, and that makes us the more ashamed of ourselves. If you are in the flesh, no wonder that you act after the flesh. But if you are not in the flesh, then be ashamed when you act as if you were. God presses upon us this blessedness, for the express purpose of making us feel more deeply our failure, if we do fail. We are not in the flesh, and therefore we ought never to give way to the flesh. But when we do, we should feel it, and confess it with humiliation before God, but not let go Christ nor His truth. This is true of every Christian; though I am aware that there are many Christians who would say that they could not receive a word of it — that it is all mysticism, etc.: but it is a comfort to think God says every word of it about them. They may not be able to take the comfort of it for themselves; but what a blessed thing it is that Christians have to do with God, and not with themselves! This is the reason why they are not consumed. We prove ourselves to be just as weak and foolish as Jacob was, giving way to the flesh so often, and allowing our own spirit to work too; but we are, in a still higher sense, Israel. We have prevailed, because of Him in whom we are before God.

"Ye did run well. Who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you." He reproaches them with having listened to these false teachers, who had pressed circumcision. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Is it not solemn to find that the very word "leaven" which is used in 1 Corinthians to describe frightful moral corruption, in Galatians characterizes the introduction of the legal system among the children of God? God treats it as a most offensive thing. Indeed, the tone of the Holy Ghost in writing to the Galatians is even more severe than in addressing the Corinthians. Because, although the Corinthians were guilty of what was far more blameable in the sight of men, the Galatians had fallen into an error that struck more deeply at the foundations of God's grace; and a spiritual man invariably judges sin, not by that which man thinks of it, but by what it is in the sight of God. Having brought out the character of it, he says, "I have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be none otherwise minded." He could not say that about all of them: he says it in a general way; and adds, "But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be." He wants to separate them and give a sense of horror about those who had misled them. "Faith which worketh by love" does not hesitate to use strong language about the corrupters of the Church of God — denounces them most earnestly, and as a duty to God and man. "I would they were even cut off which trouble you." He that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be." There were several engaged in that bad work. "And I, brethren, if I preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?" They had made the Apostle Paul to be a sort of evidence in their favour. They may have taken advantage of his circumcising Timothy, in order to make a show of inconsistency between his acts and his preaching. But St. Paul was not acting contrary to these principles when he circumcised Timothy. It was the elasticity of a man who could stop the mouths of objectors; and Paul, to silence Jewish slander, ended that question most unjewishly — by having Timothy circumcised. But he would not suffer it in the case of Titus, (who was a Greek,) whom he took up to Jerusalem with himself. This might appear capricious, but grace knows the time to be firm as well as to bend. There seems here to be an allusion to this, in his argument with the defenders of the law. It requires the wisdom of the Spirit of God giving one to know where one may use our liberty, or where it is a duty to stand as firm as a rock; and Paul did both. If Timothy had been circumcised, it was grace stopping mere fleshly questions, and not law, for his father was a Greek. But as to preaching it, such a thing was far from his mind. Had he ever pressed circumcision, he would have had their favour and countenance in every place that he visited. On the contrary, he was persecuted because he would not allow the flesh nor the title of circumcision.

Now, what will avail, what will really serve us for a holy walk? Will the law help us? No; "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." If, then, we take the law as the rule of life, it cannot help us, as, in that case, we take the responsibility of keeping it perfectly. We fail, and it must curse us. If, on the other hand, we say we are not under it, and therefore at liberty to sin, surely that will not help us; and the flesh may take even such license. What will avail, then, for a holy walk? "Faith which worketh by love." But the law is not of faith, but on the principle of, "Do this." Just here the apostle thinks of the Galatians, and in the depths of his heart's love, he says, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth?" How deeply he felt this! What would he feel now? This persuasion to put themselves under law was not of God, who had called them in grace. And how those words are fulfilled now. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Is not this leaven the established religion of Christendom? Yea, the whole lump! He would they were even cut off which troubled the Galatians. He looks up to the Lord, and has confidence. And now he returns to the subject, and warns them against license. "Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this-"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." To love one's neighbour is the very opposite of all lust or self-seeking.

"For neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but new creation." In the cross these old outward forms and ceremonies all passed away. They were nothing. In themselves they were absolutely useless. As a sign of trusting to the law, they could only bring the law's curse. But actually they were nothing. In Galatians 5:6 we had already read almost the same words: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any power, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love." Circumcision has no power, and is nothing. But what does matter is new creation. This word "new" means something fresh, that we have not had before. Old things have passed away at the cross; for the believer, all is new.

Verse 6. "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." The law made nothing perfect; but perfection is in Christ. Circumcision, therefore, in the presence of the righteousness of God, becomes again uncircumcision, since flesh, in any case, is excluded from the kingdom and promises of God. Believers are in Christ, in whom all fulness dwells. Things, therefore, which make men differ from each other, advantageously or otherwise, have in the new creation neither place nor memory. To be in Christ, is to be apart from law, because no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. For the same reason, it is to be separate also from the former way of evil "the will of the Gentiles," as Peter says (1 Peter 4:3); for uncircumcision has no more strength or place in the new man than circumcision. Boasting of either kind is equally excluded from the congregation of the just (Rom. 3:27). Judicial death has, in the cross of Christ, extinguished both legal penalties and natural rights. It is in Him who is, and has proved Himself to be, "the resurrection and the life," that the believer lives and stands. Faith only profits here, because faith lives on that which is outside and above itself; believing and living on the words of God, and therefore resting in His love. But a faith which tastes the love of God loves also in return, and this love becomes the manner and power of the true believer's life (1 John 3:14). In the declaration that "faith works by love," there is expressed concisely the essential difference of character which distinguishes the new man and its longings from both law and natural license. Law sets its deluded slaves to labour for themselves, while lawless nature admits no obligation but its own unbridled wilfulness. Faith, on the other hand, rests in God's finished peace, but is not idle. It works for Another, whom it loves, and trusts, and honours, having nothing of its own to seek. Provided for, and blessed supremely in its object, it finds itself relieved for ever from the former sense of insecurity, in order to engage itself entirely with Him and His things, who has redeemed His people for Himself. Faith wars also as well as works, but not at its own charges, or for its own ends. If Christ's peculiar people are zealous of good works, it is because their 'hearts are indwelt by Himself.

In Him, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avail anything, but faith which works by love: that is the reality of divine life, which enjoys peace with God, which rises by faith to divine glory and to heavenly things, where it finds its portion. While waiting for it, it works by love, which flows in the heart from its source, even God Himself, who gave everything, even His own Son.

By the earnest of the Spirit we can, even now, enjoy a foretaste by faith of the blessedness of this hope. "In Jesus Christ" circumcision can add nothing to the blessing, nor uncircumcision hinder the blessing. The believer, viewed as in Christ before God, is outside both Jewish and Gentile circles. This new position can only be apprehended by faith, and faith "works by love." The apostle has already said in his epistle, "I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me, and given Himself for me."