Circumcision of the Heart

Biblical Texts

• In Deuteronomy 10:16, Moses commands Israel: "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked."
• In Deuteronomy 30:6, God promises that "the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed," so that the people will love Him with all their heart.
• Jeremiah 4:4 and 9:25–26 rebuke Judah for being circumcised in the flesh but not in the heart. The expression "uncircumcised hearts" also appears in Leviticus 26:41 and Ezekiel 44:7, 9.
• In Acts 7:51, Stephen calls the members of the Sanhedrin "uncircumcised in heart and ears."
• In Romans 2:29, Paul says that "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." Colossians 2:11 calls this "the circumcision made without hands," that is, "the circumcision of Christ."

Background and Meaning

Circumcision is the rite of cutting away the male foreskin and is the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham (Genesis 17). The Hebrew of Deuteronomy 10:16 literally reads "circumcise the foreskin of your heart." The term "uncircumcised" is also applied to ears (Jeremiah 6:10) and lips (Exodus 6:12). In such uses it is a figure for a condition in which something is covered over and therefore cannot properly hear, speak, or respond.

Meaning Within the Whole of Scripture

From the outset, the Old Testament requires circumcision of the heart alongside physical circumcision. Deuteronomy 10 presents it as a command that people must obey, while Deuteronomy 30 presents it as a promise that God Himself will fulfill. This promise is often read together with the new covenant (Jeremiah 31) and the promise of a new heart (Ezekiel 36:25–27). The New Testament describes this work as the ministry of the Holy Spirit. At a time when the circumcision of Gentiles had become a matter of dispute, Paul stresses that what matters is not whether one is physically circumcised but inward transformation (Galatians 6:15; Philippians 3:3).

Interpretations and Issues

• Who performs it: On the basis of Deuteronomy 30:6, Reformed theology understands circumcision of the heart as regeneration (the new birth), which God sovereignly accomplishes. The Wesleyan tradition emphasizes the human response to grace together with holiness. John Wesley is known to have preached a sermon titled "The Circumcision of the Heart" at Oxford in 1733.
• Relation to baptism: Colossians 2:11–12 speaks of the circumcision of Christ and baptism side by side. Churches that follow covenant theology, such as Presbyterian churches, take this passage as evidence that baptism succeeds circumcision and cite it as one of the grounds for infant baptism. Baptists hold that because the people of the new covenant are believers who have received circumcision of the heart, baptism should be administered only to those who have professed faith (see the infant baptism debate).
• The Jew "inwardly": Interpretations differ over whom Paul means by the one who is "a Jew, which is one inwardly" (Romans 2:29), a question bound up with the broader discussion of the relationship between the church and Israel.
• A common oversimplification: The Old Testament is often contrasted with the New as "outward ritual" versus "inward faith." Yet the Old Testament texts themselves already require circumcision of the heart, and they do not call for physical circumcision to be abolished during the Old Testament era.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, the expression is frequently used to warn against formalistic faith and to call for repentance and inward transformation. Churches in the Wesleyan tradition, such as Methodist and Holiness churches, sometimes treat it in connection with the doctrine of holiness.