Every Jewish person is supposedly making a choice by accepting the covenant by the rite of circumcision. Abraham was declared righteous on the basis of faith, not works, as we read in Genesis 15:6, "And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." But in Genesis 15:12-21, God issues an unconditional covenant with Abram. As he slept God gave the covenant. But the sign that the Jewish person agreed to the covenant was elaborated a few years later, described in Genesis 17:9-14. The circumcision was the response or the sign that they would accept God's covenant. So, the uncircumcised child gives the Jewish person the opportunity to accept the Abrahamic covenant. But for many it comes down to a rite or ritual devoid of its original meaning. There is a similar situation in the gospel message, where Jesus did it all unilaterally for us, but we must repent and make a choice to accept the New Covenant or not.
In Nehemiah 9, we read a discussion of many of the high points detailing God's providential care and sovereignty over the Jewish people along with the failure on the part of them to actually follow a different covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional, not unconditional as the Abrahamic Covenant is, as we read the conclusion in 9:36-38, "Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it! And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress. "And because of all this, We make a sure covenant and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it." In 10:1, starting with "Nehemiah, the governor," the covenant was signed. We see the conclusion of the covenant outlined in 10:29, "these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:".
We read of a New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant...I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." We, who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior have entered into this New Covenant. No longer under the law, we are now under grace, and sealed with the Holy Spirit who actually resides within the believer. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." If that is not clear enough, we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." He did it all out of love for us. We are not born into this covenant by what our parents have done, or by being raised in one denomination or another, or by performing any of a number of rites or rituals. We can enter into this covenant anywhere, even in the privacy of our own home. But it requires us to repent or rethink our sinful ways. We then must get off the throne of our own lives, and allow Him to reign over our lives. Once we have repented and accepted His payment for us on the cross (John 19:30, "...It is finished!", or "paid in full"), our sins are forgiven: past, present, and future, and we have essentially signed the acceptance agreement of the New Covenant. Every covenant requires a choice, have you made that choice yet?