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Meat Romans 2:25-29
December 20th 2020
Well, Paul has been making a case to convict everybody under the sun – the gentiles (which is the whole non-Jewish world) and the Jews.
Today he is going to start to explain what it means for an individual to have a real relationship with God.
Not one based on outward performances or religious attendances, but on the heart.
He strikes true on the theology of God’s view of justified men and women and it is really amazing.
To begin, you’ll remember in weeks past we read how Paul reinforced the idea that God is no respecter of persons.
He address the Gentiles and pretty much said, “Hey, by yourselves and on your own you’re pretty much a bunch of bums before God and his holiness.”
And then he addressed the Jews who had the Law and a connection to God by and through the Law and he said, “You know, you’re not so great, ya religious hypocrites.”
So, in verse 25, he continues, still addressing the Jewish audience, and he is going to teach something that would blow the mind of a Jew, saying:
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Now, before we re-read verse 25, I think it is important to understand somethings as clearly as possible.
Things I am not so sure are clearly understood by the majority of the Body of Christ today. Ready?
God wants His children to be holy, and clean, and obedient to Him and His will and ways. God in no way wants, likes or appreciates those who call themselves His to be or to do, evil.
Yes, certainly, we are sinners saved by grace. And we will always, in our flesh, be sinful, for the flesh is sinful. And we are in flesh. I hope we understand this.
But God desires His children to live by His Spirit, and not their flesh, and when His children live by His spirit and not their own flesh, they overcome the self and sinful nature that lives in their flesh – by and through Him.
And it is in this state His children begin to produce fruits – which is the end-all of the earthly Christian experience – to bear fruits of selfless love through Him.
Sometimes, in an effort to emphasize that we are truly saved by grace through faith and not of works, Christians are inclined to de-emphasize the Holy life God desires from those who call Him Father – if not ignore it all together.
This is far, far, far from the reality of what Jesus wants for those who love Him. So that is the first point to remember – God desires that his children would choose to live holy lives.
The second point, which is just as vital and important as the first, is the means and methods by which we as His children seek to operate in such holiness.
Herein will be the growing emphasis of what Paul addresses starting here today and all the way through to chapter eight: “The means by which believers live holy lives as children of God.”
The Jews had the Law but couldn’t apply it to their lives. Remember? The Law was perfect but the Law never made anybody perfect?
This didn’t make the Law bad or wrong, just the human ability to assimilate it into a workable reality impossible.
So the question becomes, “How do we, as fallen men and women, begin to actually live Holy lives as believers?”
Remember, God wants us to be clean followers of His perfect law, but it has been shown impossible by the COI.
Religions provide us methods and systems and modes. Look at Islam, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventists, Orthodox anythings.
They teach ways to live holy lives and the means to achieve them. What will Paul say? Keep these things in mind as we read these last verses in chapter two.
Okay, back to verse 25, where Paul writes:
Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
The word “circumcision” means, literally,
“cutting around” in the Greek and in the Hebrew (Mool) it means to “cut short, cut down, and even destroy.”
Many races and cultures have practiced circumcision but it was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign to illustrate their . . . “consecration and dedication to him outwardly.”
In Genesis 17 it was established as a national ordinance. And in compliance with the divine command, Abraham, though he was ninety-nine years old at the time, was circumcised on the same day with his son (by Hagar) Ishmael, who was only thirteen years old.
Everyone who had something to do with the Abrahamic covenant, like slaves, whether home-born or purchased, were circumcised too and (based on Exodus 12:48) all foreigners had to have their males circumcised before they could enjoy the privileges of Jewish citizenship.
When the COI were traveling through the wilderness after leaving Egypt, the practice sort of fell apart but it was resumed by the command of Joshua before they entered the Promised Land.
(Joshua 5:2-9).
The Jews prided themselves in the possession of this covenantal distinction. It was like a sign that they were willing to do this painful distinguishing thing to honor God when other cultures merely and literally worshipped that area of the male physicality.
According to Galatians 6:15 and Colossians 3:11 circumcision, as a rite of the church, ended under the New Covenant though some Jewish Christians tried to impose it on the Gentile converts.
It was the reason the apostles got together at the first apostolic counsel (in Acts 15) to discuss whether gentiles had to be circumcised and the answer was no, not in the traditional sense. Galatians 6:12 also proves the apostles totally rejected this imposition.
Jesus was circumcised, for as the Messiah, it “became him to fulfil all righteousness,” as Jew born under the law and of the seed of Abraham.
As a means to avoid offending the Jews, Acts 16:3 tells us that Paul “took and circumcised” Timothy, his assistant in the ministry.
There is a lesson in this because it, by itself, shows that “all things are lawful” in Christ Jesus. However, proving that it was not a demand by any means as Paul on the other hand refused to give his consent when the Jews demand that Titus should be circumcised.
In the end, circumcision was an outward symbol of an inward commitment to the true and living God by His covenant people.
In and of itself, it was meaningless and had no power. In the Old Testament the spiritual idea attached to it is made clear as the word is used as a symbol of purity (Isaiah 52:1) and as a symbol of cutting flesh away – especially from the most fleshly part of a male.
This is highly symbolic and applied to other areas of the human body. For instance in Exodus 6:12 we read of “uncircumcised lips.” Jeremiah 6:10 speaks of “uncircumcised ears.” Leviticus 26:41 speaks of “uncircumcised hearts.” Even the fruit of a tree that was unclean is spoken of in Leviticus 19:23 “as uncircumcised.”
So, it’s symbolism was intense and meaningful.
I know I’ve covered this before but I always wondered why, of all things, God chose circumcision – the cutting off of the foreskin of the male penis – as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant.
I mean, why not tell them to cut off an ear-lobe, or tattoo their wrist, or do something else. And how does circumcision apply to women? I mean, aren’t women just as important to God in Old Testament?
Let me answer this last question first. In the Old Covenant, women were tied to God through their relationship with their husbands.
This is why marriage was so important to a woman – why Laban made Isaac take his eldest daughter before he could have Rebecca, etc. In marriage, because he was circumcised, she was circumcised. That was the order at that time.
What does Paul say? “In Christ there is no male or female,” right, and this means all souls in Christ must experience the inner circumcision – which we will speak about – while abandoning the demand for male circumcision altogether.
But still, why circumcision?
If you’re a male or if you understand males, you’ll know that that part of being male is simply . . . the favorite part of the body. It is the spire of our fleshly temple, so to speak, right?
I have two grandsons. I have learned through them how natural it is among males from a super young age to get that part of their body involved no matter what they are doing. So males generally speaking, pretty much adore their unit – so, God tells Abraham, “my people will cut some of it off or away. This will be the sign that you are dedicated to me, and I to you.”
Additionally, there is a physiological element to the practice as well that lends meaning to the practice.
There were no Hanes or soft Calvin Kleins in those days, and to put it delicately, God had the Jewish males remove part of their bodies that was subject to great callousness or thickening due to friction with the course fabrics with which they clothed themselves.
Also, under the Jewish dispensation, church and state were identical. No one could be a member of the one without also being a member of the other.
So, when someone was tempted to try and enjoy the benefits of their national presence they would have to first be pretty dedicated to the cause proven by circumcision. Which made conversion a pretty big thing to an adult male.
Finally, and like everything else in the Old Covenant, circumcision was a picture or type for the Christian – and in a few key ways.
As we’ve said, the circumcised penis is no longer required in this dispensation of grace . . . but something FAR MORE difficult to circumcise is required . . . a circumcised heart.
Even in the Old Testament, God told the COI to circumcise the heart.
In Deuteronomy 10:16 God said through Moses
“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.”
Colossians 2:11 speaks of our relationship with Jesus, saying:
“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.”
See, if there is one part of the male anatomy men love it’s the unit, but if there is one part of the human anatomy we protect and love and cater too even more, male or female, it’s our fleshly hearts, which is representative of our will, our ways, our dispositions and worldly allegiances.
And it’s the calloused part of our hearts that God really wants cut off, destroyed, and removed in His children. And it happens “without hands!” Meaning no Moile to perform the rite! Nor is it a religious rite because it’s not an outward observable thing people can do.
Just as fleshly circumcision could only be performed by a sharp object in the hand of a human being, spiritual circumcision is accomplished by a sharp object wielded in the hands of . . . the spirit.
And the sharpest instrument in the universe capable of doing the job is ??? The Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says it well:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
This is why we read and study the Word – it reveals the thoughts and intents of our hearts, cutting away the thick calloused skin surrounding our mind, will and emotions, and making our approach to God and others softer, kinder, more loving.
Okay, so back to Romans 2:25 where Paul says to the Jew, fittingly
“For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.”
See the practice of circumcision held by the Jews was MEANINGLESS if they were unwilling or unable (and they were both) to keep the perfect Law of God. All it amounted to was a penis with less skin.
However, if they kept the law, Paul writes, the circumcision was beneficial because then the symbol had meaning!
See, there was great meaning in being a Jew in that day and age. There was an honor. And to be recognized as members of the Jewish commonwealth and privy to the privileges of such was predicated on them keeping the Law.
Which none of them did perfectly – so then circumcision, the outward sign of being a holder of the Law, became obsolete.
And here’s the clincher, friends: So it is with us as Christians.
We’ve talked about many of the reasons for circumcision but have not talked too much about it being “a means of identification in that day.”
Now, it remains a mystery to me (even to this day) how anyone knew of a man was circumcised or not – I mean was it all on the honor system or did men have to “lift the kimono” as they say, to prove it?
Can’t say – but circumcision was an outward indication or sign to illustrate the inward heart and allegiances of a man and his family to God.
Christians too are given a means of identification that reflects the same thing – water baptism.
The word baptism is distinctly tied to identification as it originates as an industrial term for dying fabric. In this way we see that it too indicates “an outward” sign of an (in this case) “an inward change and commitment.”
Circumcision did not make a man a Jew – following the Law did. Baptism does not make a Christian – following Christ does.
Here is one reason I fight so arduously for the fact that salvation does not include water baptism. It’s just an outward token of our inward commitment to Christ.
Where circumcision was of benefit ONLY for those Jews who kept the Law (as Paul makes clear here) water baptism is of benefit ONLY to those who truly keep the Law of Christianity – which is to believe and love.
So, while it might be a privilege to be born in a Christian land, and to have had Christian parents, and to receive the ordinances of the Christian religion . . .
where we might all be blessed to have been trained in Sunday-school; and to have publicly devoted ourselves to God by water baptism, none of these things entitle anyone to the favor of God anymore than being a circumcised Jew entitled them to God’s favor – “for God is NOT a respector of persons.”
So, Paul says that without following God’s will in their lives (which is His Law), their “circumcision is made uncircumcision.”
Meaning, unless you obey His law, being identified as a Jew will be of no value to you relative to Him. “You will not be distinguish in any way from those who are not circumcised – except in the case of added condemnation.”
And so it is with those “baptized Christians,” like that means anything!
That was a very popular statement people in my Mormon mission would say, “I was baptized when I was a kid.”
So what?
Water baptism means nothing at all if that baptism is not followed by BEING a Christian in faith and love. What Paul says here to the Jews is that in God’s eyes such will be seen as an unbeliever. Get it?
Paul continues and says:
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision (meaning the Gentile believer) keeps the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
IOW, if those who are not circumcised, keep that which the law of Moses commands in terms of righteousness (and this merely means in terms of moral law because the gentiles didn’t have access to the whole of the Law that the Jews did) . . . but if a gentile was able to keep the moral law, then (and this is radical) “his uncircumcision would be seen as circumcision.”
Here Paul levels the playing field between the Gentile and the Jew. He is showing the Jews that their 1500 year history and traditions mean nothing if not accompanied by their obeying the Law.
Note that Paul does not affirm that a gentile could keep the moral law, but he simply supposes (or makes the conjecture) to show the true nature and value of the rites of the Jews. So, he says
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
That phrase “be counted for circumcision,” is important.
The word rendered “be counted,” is better
rendered “to reckon,” and even better put in English, it means to IMPUTE.
It means that a person will be treated “as if” something were so.
Paul is saying that God judges things as they are; and an obedient gentile, though uncircumcised, will be treated as if he had been circumcised if they obey the Law.
At this point Paul flips it back over on the Jew and says at verse 27:
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
This would have been hard for the Jew to read as Paul asks “and will not those who are born with and retain their foreskin, if they fulfill the law, judge you who by your privileged state of circumcision transgress the Law of God?”
Now, I am going to pause here and teach something many people will find objectionable – but no matter – I think scripture bears it up.
Here Paul is telling the Jews that their Jewishness means nothing if they are not following the True and Living God. He then adds that (if it were possible for a Gentile to observe the law) they actually become the circumcised before God – and they will judge those Jews who, though circumcised, fail in God’s eyes.
I cannot help but believe that the very same principles apply to the Body of Believers today.
We hear an awful lot about those who never hear the name of Christ that die – what happens to them? Or of really good and loving people who never hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. What is their lot?
Here, Paul lays out a principle and he tells the Jews that their circumcision (their Jewishness) is meaningless if they do not obey the Law, and that the uncircumsized Gentiles (who do not have the law), but obey it from their heart, will be seen as circumcised . . . and would even judge them.
I would ask, “What of those who have not the Gospel of Jesus Christ BUT who live Christian lives in spite of its absence?”
Will they stand justified (which of course comes only by the shed blood of Jesus whether they know it or not) and could they possibly even stand as judges of Christians who care not one whit about actually being Christians in spirit and true? (beat)
Based on what Paul says here, I suggest that it’s entirely possible.
Again, justification ONLY comes by Jesus Christ, but His shed blood may be applied to those whose lives shine with belief and love despite the fact that they lack His name and/or religious upbringing. Of this, I am personally convinced – and use teachings like this to support it.
So, just as there may be uncircumcised heathens who died justified by the moral law they lived and just as there may hae been circumcised Jews who go straight to hell by lack of adherence to it . .
. . . there may be unbaptized, non-Christians (in the institutionalized sense) who go straight to heaven due to their faith and love (while there may be alter-called, baptized, servers in Church who will be refused at the gate.
(beat) The Point?
It is not our stated state, our professions, our water baptisms or even our knowledge – it is the belief and love we embrace and exude that makes the Christian the Christian.
Paul continues and to get the whole thing down let’s read verse 28 and 29 together here:
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Here, Paul seems to be defining all people who inwardly love God and his laws as Jews. All Children of Abraham, including his chosen covenantal people – and those of us by adoption.
I say this because he previously stated that the “uncircumcised obedient” were as the “circumcised obedient” and the “circumcised disobedient were as the uncircumcised disobedient.”
Contextually, I think Paul here is lumping all people together into two distinct groups – those truly of Abraham (who he calls Jews and the circumcised) and those not (whom he calls the uncircumcised of heart) no matter what was done in their flesh.
This message was also made clear when Jesus was alive. Remember John the Baptists words to the Pharisees in Matthew 3:9
“And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Remember what Jesus said to the Jews in John 8:39
“They said to him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus saith unto them, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”
Again, and in other words, outward indicators, signs, exhibits are meaningless to our real relationship with God and from his point of view when it comes to assessing us.
Whether it be circumcision, water baptism, garments, ecclesiastical robes, church entitlements, temple worthiness, or claims to priesthoods, God wants what’s inward . . . and what is truly inward . . . WILL ALWAYS . . . manifest in the outward.
Just as easily, Paul could have written in these last two verses like this:
For he is not a Christian which is one outwardly; neither is that baptism, which is outward in the flesh:
Recall that in Galatians 6:15 when Paul, addressing the Christians wrote:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a . . . (beat) new creature.”
Outward Judaism is no different than outward Christianity. It hearkens back to the unimportance of our claims, or worshipful professions at church. God wants those who are “Jews” from the heart.
These are people (again, past and present) who possess His true spirit and seek to fulfill the design of Him in their lives which is faith followed by agape love.
These are the soul who are truly willing to be a “separate and a peculiar people.” They are believers who, whether 2000 years ago when they were getting circumcised, or people baptized last week in water, mean it . . . from the heart; a people who seek real relationship, and desire to be holy in heart and in life, whether they achieve it or not.
Remember, the real call that God had on the Jews life was made abundantly clear in the Old Testament. And that call was no different than the call He has on all believers today.
Listen to what He said to the Jews of Old in the great shema:
Deuteronomy 6:5
“thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 reads:
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Listen to the Lord’s heart in Isaiah 1:11-18 when he says:
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Consider God’s words to His covenant people in Micah 6:8? His desires are no different for His covenant children today.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Same with Psalm 51:16-17
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The same desires hold true for God’s Children called Christians. Love for Him from the heart which leads to humility, contrition, mercy.
So again, Paul in verse 29:
“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
In the last line of chapter 2 Paul says something that brings it all together, and, reveals to us how God wants us to accomplish His holiness in our lives.
Did you catch it?
“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
(BEAT – LONG BEAT)
We began by discussing two irrefutable points this morning. In point number one, we said
“God wants His children to be holy, and clean, and obedient to Him and His will and ways.”
Point number two was:
“What is the means and methods by which we as believers operate in holiness as His children.”
Here in the last verse, Paul leaves us with
six explanations.
Let’s end with them:
“But he is a Jew (or a true Child of God), which is one
Inwardly – which is the true indicator of the person before God
and whose circumcision is that of the heart (the center of all our person – our mind, will and emotion),
in the spirit, (meaning the spirit in you is led by the Spirit of God)
and not in the letter (not in laws written in stone or rules or religion);
whose praise is not of men, (which is what the outer laws cater to)
but of God (who knows the heart).
Paul will continue to build on these directives – which gives us great hope:
Contemplate what is written in
Romans 7:6
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
2nd Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit
Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
External rites of religion are of much less importance than the state of the heart. The only value of those rites is to promote or evidence an internal commitment to holiness of heart and life.
The mere fact that we are born of religious ancestors will not save us to His Kingdom.
The fact that we were dedicated to God through rituals will not save us. Mere profession of religion, however orthodox, will not save us. And the estimate which men may put on “faithfulness” is not the proper measure of our true character and standing. The measure is do we, from the heart, long to love and serve the living God first, and do we long to love our neighbors in His cause and name.
I know we have gone over a bit today, but I want you to know that I served religion for the first 40 years of my life and it got me nothing authentic.
If your heart is not right with the living God, no matter your history- go to Him and ask Him to make your heart soft, to make it right, to help you to love Him – and He will show up – so just wait. And when he does you will know it, and your life will forever be empowered and changed by Him and Him alone.
Questions/Comments/Prayer
