Circumcision began with the promise, to use Paul’s terms, and not with the law. It is part of the promise to Abraham, and was not instituted at Sinai. As Paul teaches us, the promise was first, and then came the law. This does not mean the law was a detour from the promise; rather it was the next step in the development and fulfillment of the promise. And as the New Testament makes so clear, the law serves the promise, and not the other way around.
