ISB ~ Colossians 2 v11

circumcision of Christ:The circumcision of the 6 heart (Rom 2:28-29). The procedure is performed in Baptism, the sacrament of spiritual rebirth (2:12).

• The Israelites were marked with the covenant sign of circumcision, but their rebellion over the centuries proved that their hearts remained uncircumcised (Jer 9:25-26). Moses realized that this would continue until Yahweh circumcised the hearts of his people himself (Deut 30:6). Paul interprets this vision of Moses in sacramental terms, insisting that Christ accomplishes in Baptism what circumcision only signified in ancient Israel. It is the moment when God cuts away from our hearts the fleshly desires that keep us from loving and obeying him as we should.

• Paul lays a biblical foundation for infant Baptism, inasmuch as circumcision was administered to newborn babies eight days after birth (Gen 17:9-14). Tradition bears this out, as St. Cyprian recounts that a council held in North Africa in the third century declared that Christians need not delay the Baptism of infants until the eighth day.

Behind this assertion lies the assumption that the early Christians saw in Baptism what the Israelites saw in circumcision:the sacrament of initiation into God’s covenant people, open to adults and infants alike.