11 In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision. {\cf2\super [9]} That circumcision was not done by the hands of any person. I mean you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does.
11 in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).
11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by human hands. The circumcision of Christ is realized in the stripping away of the whole self dominated by sin.
11 In him also, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, not by the despoiling of the body of flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ.
Become the Lord’s people.\par Change your hearts! {\cf2\super [20]} \par Men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,\par if you don’t change,\par then I will become very angry.\par My anger will spread fast like a fire,\par and my anger will burn you up.\par And no person will be able to put out that fire.\par Why will this happen?\par Because of the evil things you have done.”\par
“We heard this man (Jesus) say, ‘I will destroy this temple {\cf2\super [215]} that men made. And three days later, I will build another temple—a temple not made by men.’”
When the baby was eight days old, he was circumcised, {\cf2\super [30]} and he was named Jesus. This name was given by the angel before the baby began to grow inside Mary.
He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord (Ruler) of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples {\cf2\super [356]} that men build!
We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross. This happened so that our sinful selves would have no power over us. And then we would not be slaves to sin.
We know that \{our body\}—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a home for us to live in. It will not be a home made by men. It will be a home in heaven that will continue forever.
So the life that I live now is not really me—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God (Jesus). Jesus is the One who loved me. He gave himself to save me.
Those people who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (killed) their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do.
You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self becomes worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do.
But we are the people who are truly circumcised. {\cf2\super [16]} We worship (serve) God through his Spirit. {\cf2\super [17]} We are proud to be in Christ Jesus. And we don’t trust in ourselves or anything we can do.
So put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and selfishly wanting more and more. This wanting really means to live serving a false god.
But Christ has already come to be the high priest. {\cf2\super [104]} He is the high priest of the good things we now have. But Christ does not serve in a place like the tent that those other priests served in. Christ serves in a place that is better than that tent. It is more perfect. And that place is not made by men. It does not belong to this world.
Christ went into the Most Holy Place. {\cf2\super [116]} But Christ did not go into the Most Holy Place that was made by people. That Most Holy Place is only a copy of the real one. Christ went into heaven. Christ is there now before God to help us.