Monthly Question Page
Q. What is meant by the expression “beware of the concision” (Philippians 3:2)?
A. The word “concision” literally means, “mutilation” or “mutilation of the body.” Paul uses the term here in contempt of those who taught, in the early days of Christianity, that the observance of circumcision was imperative to give one a full standing before God. In other words, they were trying to make Jews out of the Gentiles. God is not looking for mere outward forms and ceremonies, but what comes from the heart. “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart” (Romans 2:29).
Stephen said to the Jews,“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears” (Acts 7:51). There is a cutting off of the flesh in Christianity, but not in a literal way like with the Jews under the law. God wants obedience, not just outwardly, but inwardly. “They … desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh .… For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Galatians 6:13,15). So, we learn that it is wrong to teach that one had to physically mutilate their body in order to be saved.
