1 Corinthians 7:17-19

"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God."

The gospel is fundamentally life-altering. It changes the very essence of who you are and what matters to you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that a person who embraces the gospel becomes a new creation or a new creature. How does that fit with the call in these verses for a person to “lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him”? Two examples are given for our clarification (circumcision and slavery). Examining the directives concerning these matters will help the Christian to understand in what way God wants him to live the life “to which God has called him.”

In America, virtually all male babies are circumcised shortly after birth. This is done (with few exceptions) merely for health/sanitation. So it might not be immediately clear to us how circumcision could have anything to do with living as you are called. But in Israel, circumcision was much more than a medical procedure. It was a physical mark, identifying you with the nation Israel. It was an important, long-standing tradition that every male Israelite was required to undergo (and was supposed to undergo on the eight day of his life). If he did not go through with it, he did not have full Jewish privileges.

New Testament followers of Yahweh, do not have to physically identify themselves with the nation of Israel. You were born an American, Australian, Indian, Korean, Iranian, South African or Romanian. You do not need to change. You do not need to become a citizen of another country because of your relationship or to gain a relationship with the Holy One of Israel. This is not a prohibition against changing citizenship. It is a clarification that citizenship doesn’t matter with God. It doesn’t count for anything with God (i.e. it doesn’t win you any special favor). What matters is your keeping God’s commandments, living like the new creation that you are.