If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
The law and grace
I. God will deal with us either altogether by works or altogether by Christ; these things cannot be mixed.
II. To piece up therefore the righteousness of Christ by our own works, and to add anything to the passion as a meritorious cause of our justification, is to make Christ unprofitable.
III. We ought to content ourselves with Christ and His merits alone (Colossians 2:10). (T. Manton, D. D.)
Circumcision
I. The nature of sacraments in general.
1. Signs
(1) to represent and instruct;
(2) of absolute grace and favour.
2. Seals, to ratify and confirm
(1) seals of the conditional promises;
(2) mutual seals.
II. The nature of circumcision in particular.
1. A sign prefiguring baptism which has now taken its place
2. A seal of the covenant of grace, particularly of justification by faith. (Matthew Henry.)
The superfluousness of circumcision
Circumcision was the shadow of the substance which the Christian man already enjoyed. The law which prescribed it had already done its true work and was abolished in Christ. Where was the sense then of leaving the great liberator for one of the most grievous shackles of their old tyranny? (H. W. Beecher.)
Christianity not uniformity
It is not uniformity that we see in the works of God; but unity in variety or diversity. The tree has branches large and small, but the tree is one. Every plant, flower, or tree in the landscape has full freedom to unfold itself according to its nature; and yet the landscape is one. The many members in the human frame form one body. The many nations of the earth form one race. The twelve tribes of Israel constituted one “peculiar people.” The same law is true in relation to the Church. Christians are many, and differ in natural powers, gifts, education, and opinions; but they have all faith in Jesus Christ, worship the true God, and love their fellow men, and therefore form one spiritual brotherhood and Church. (Thomas Jones.)