The Heart of the Matter

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. – Romans 2:25-29 ESV

In this chapter, Paul has been dealing primarily with the Jews, those who have been chosen by God, commanded to keep His law, and who enjoyed a unique and privileged relationship with Him. They believed themselves to be spiritually superior and safe from God's judgment, because they were His treasured possession.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV

“And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.” – Deuteronomy 26:18-19 ESV

But in his ongoing exposition of the “gospel of God,” Paul makes it clear that it is impossible for either the Jew or the Gentile to produce the kind of righteousness God demands. Even though the Jews enjoyed a one-of-a-kind relationship with God, they were no better off when it came to righteousness than their non-Jewish neighbors. Paul even accused them of passing judgment on the Gentiles while practicing the very same sins. It wasn't enough to have and to know the law; you had to keep it.

Paul said it was “the doers of the law who will be justified” (Romans 2:13 ESV). In other words, those who wanted to be made right with God would have to keep His law perfectly and completely.

“…you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:37 ESV

You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. – Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV

Paul's accusations against his own people were anything but gentle.

While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. – Romans 2:21-23 ESV

Circumcision, the physical, outward sign of the covenant between the people of Israel and God, was to be a constant reminder and a permanent mark of their status as God's people. But circumcision was not enough. They still had to obey Him and be faithful, worshiping Him alone. When God gave the law to Moses, the people had a non-negotiable, indisputable outline of God's righteous expectations, so they were without excuse. That led Paul to conclude that their sign of circumcision was meaningless without obedience.

The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. – Romans 2:25 NLT

Circumcision was intended as a physical sign of their spiritual union with God through the covenant He had established with them. But the sign was rendered meaningless if the recipient was unwilling to submit to God's will. Being a Jew was directly tied to being obedient to God. The privilege of being God's chosen people came with a heavy responsibility. It was not enough to have a mark on your body, an external sign of ownership.

For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law… – Romans 2:28-29 NLT

The book of Deuteronomy records the words Moses spoke to the people of Israel, not long after their debacle with the golden calf in the wilderness. Because of their disobedience, Moses informed them that the real sign of their covenant relationship with Yahweh was to be a very different kind of circumcision.

“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” – Deuteronomy 10:14-17 NLT

The people of Israel were guilty of disobedience and unfaithfulness. While Moses had been on the mountaintop receiving the Ten Commandments from God, the people had been busy worshiping the golden calf down in the valley. In his anger and disappointment, Moses had broken the original tablets on which God had inscribed His law. So he was forced to return to the mountain to receive a second set.

Despite their unfaithfulness and spiritual adultery, God gave His rebellious people a second chance.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” – Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV

God demanded obedience and required faithfulness from the heart. The problem with man has always been an inner one, not an outer one. Our sinfulness flows from the heart. Jesus said, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you” (Mark 7:20-23 NLT).

Paul’s point was that circumcision is a matter of the heart; it has always been about the heart. The kind of heart that God is looking for is only available through a work of the Spirit, not the efforts of men. Keeping the law through outward effort will always fail because man's heart is inherently evil and unfaithful. The prophet Jeremiah had strong words from the Lord for the people of Judah, who had been repeatedly unfaithful and unable to keep the law of God. And God informed them that their sinful disposition was inherently unchangeable. 

“Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil.” – Jeremiah 13:23 NLT

They had a heart problem that rendered them incapable of remaining faithful to God or refraining from sin against God.

So Paul wanted his readers to know that all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, stood guilty before God. It wasn't a matter of perceived spiritual status or a knowledge of God and His ways; it was about obedience, faithfulness, and perfect righteousness, something man was incapable of pulling off on his own.

Paul continues to support his primary premise that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The righteousness God demanded and expected was only available through faith in His Son. The kind of heart change required to remain faithful to God was only made possible through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. All men need the gospel, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). 

Father, You always look for heart change, not just behavior modification. Yet, we tend to concentrate all our efforts at DOING rather than BEING. We spend all our time trying to alter our outward actions, while neglecting the state of our hearts. We think we can somehow live up to Your stringent standards of righteousness through sheer willpower, but we always fail. Because the brand of righteousness You demand cannot be produced through self-effort. It is the fruit of Your indwelling Holy Spirit. Only He can empower us to live set-apart lives that reflect our status as Your sons and daughters. But even the Spirit of God will not force holiness upon us. His presence within us requires submission from us. We have to listen and obey. But as Paul told the Galatian believers, “We who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love” (Galatians 5:5-6 NLT). You have provided the power; but we must avail ourselves of it by willingly submitting to it. And when we do, we are “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:11 ESV. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Mourning or Boasting.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
    send for the skillful women to come;
let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,
    that our eyes may run down with tears
    and our eyelids flow with water.
For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How we are ruined!
    We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
    because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
    and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
    and each to her neighbor a dirge.
For death has come up into our windows;
    it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the children from the streets
    and the young men from the squares.
Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
    like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
    and none shall gather them.’”

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” – Jeremiah 9:17-26 ESV

The time for mourning was fast approaching. It would not be long before the Babylonians invaded Judah and began their systematic destruction of the land. So, God instructs Jeremiah to summon the professional mourners, women whose sole job it was to mourn on behalf of the dead. They were going to be in high demand because the number of the dead would be catastrophically high. Those who survived the Babylonian onslaught would be weeping and wailing as they were led away as slaves. Mothers were to teach their daughters songs of lament in preparation for the days ahead. Neighbors were to teach their one another dirges, because the body count was going to be great and the number of funerals, seemingly unending. In fact, God warns:

“Bodies will be scattered across the fields like clumps of manure,
    like bundles of grain after the harvest.
    No one will be left to bury them.” – Jeremiah 9:22 NLT

At this point, God takes what appears to be a dramatic departure in tone. He goes from speaking about funerals, death and mourning to warnings about boasting. It is as if He has just told the people what is coming and now He is letting them know the cause behind it. He mentions the wise, the mighty and the rich, and He warns them not to boast in their wisdom, power and wealth. Those things were not going to save them. They were not going to think their way out of the coming destruction. They were not going to be strong enough to defeat the Babylonians. And their wealth would soon be nothing more than plunder, taken by force and carried away by the Babylonians. God gives only one legitimate cause for a man to boast: “that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:24 ESV). The only thing that would have given the people of Judah cause to boast was if they could have said that they knew and understood God. And this knowledge of God would have included an awareness of His loyal love – His faithfulness, mercy and unfailing devotion. It would also include an understanding of His justice – that He is the judge of the universe who is committed tojudge rightly and impartially. And finally, their knowledge of God would include an awareness of His righteousness – that all that He does is ethically and morally right. He makes no mistakes. And God emphasizes that He finds delight in these things. His own love, justice and righteousness bring Him joy. Which is why He expects His people to love these very same things. The prophet Micah used very similar terminology when he wrote to the people of God and reminded them of God’s expectations of them.

What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:6-8 NLT

God “practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.” So, why would He not expect His own people to do the same? Later on, in the book of Jeremiah, God will give the prophet a word to speak to the king of Judah.

Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. – Jeremiah 22:3 ESV

The people of God were to reflect the attributes of God. Those who truly know God should exhibit the characteristics of God. But sadly, the people of Judah no longer knew God. They knew of Him, but had long ago lost their relationship with Him. They no longer found delight in the things in which He delighted. Justice and righteousness were in short supply in Judah. The people of God no longer valued the things of God. And, as a result, God was going to bring judgment. But it is important to note that God’s love, justice and righteousness are inseparable. It is not unloving for God to judge. It is not unrighteous for God to mete out just judgment on a people who had been warned repeatedly and who had refused His call to repentance. God was going to do what was right and just. But He did so as an act of love. He could not let His children continue to live in open rebellion to Him, sliding down a path that led to unchecked moral degradation. God was going to lovingly and justly do the right thing.

And God drives home the real problem with His people. They are circumcised in the flesh only. In other words, they met the physical requirement of being set apart to God, but their hearts were another matter. All they way back when the people of Israel were in the wilderness and making their way to the promised land, Moses had told them:

And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. – Deuteronomy 30:5-6 ESV

Circumcision of heart was to reveal itself in a love for God. It was a sign of their belonging to God. And the apostle Paul would pick up on this theme of circumcision of the heart when he wrote to the believers in Rome.

For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. – Romans 2:28-29 NLT

It was not being a Jew that set one apart to God. It was the condition of their heart. God was looking for those whose hearts were right with Him. But when He looked at the nation of Judah, He saw no one who loved what He loved. No one sought His praise or pursued His will. They were “circumcised merely in the flesh.” They bore the outward sign of belonging to God, but their hearts were far from Him. And sadly, God compares His people to the pagan nations around them – the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites. All of these nations were uncircumcised in the flesh, but also in their hearts. They had no knowledge of or love for God.. But God says that Judah is not different. “And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts” (Jeremiah 9:26 NLT). They were no different than the nations around them. Yes, they bore a physical sign intended to prove their status as God’s children, but their actions revealed that there was nothing about them that set them apart from the world. There was no love for the things of God. They did not share the heart of God. Wisdom, power and riches meant more to them than love, justice and righteousness.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Change of Heart.

Romans 2:17-29

No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. – Romans 2:29 NLT

Paul now takes his argument straight to the Jewish people. And he knew a thing or two about what it meant to be a Jew. Paul was born a Jew, raised in a conservative Jewish household where he was taught the Law, and, ultimately, Paul became a member of the Pharisees, a leading Jewish religious sect. He was an expert in the Law and a fervent advocate of obedience to the Law. He had been circumcised as a child and trained by Gamaliel, one of the leading rabbinical scholars of his day. So Paul was no slouch when it came to the topic of Judaism.

But his point, as it has been all along in his letter, was that the Jews were just as guilty as the Gentiles when it came to their sin and failure to meet God's righteous standards. In this section, Paul is not talking to any particular Jew, but seems to be addressing the nation of the Jews in general. "You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him" (Romans 2:17 NLT). Paul knew quite well that the Jewish people took special pride in their unique relationship with God. They understood themselves to be the apple of God's eye – His special people – the chosen race. And they were right. God had chosen them from among all the peoples of the world to be His – to bear His name and to receive His law. God had showered them with His blessings and made countless promises to them. But they had somehow misunderstood God's intent and had begun to believe that their Jewishness was what made them special. They mistakenly believed that just being a member of the Hebrew race was enough to guarantee a right standing with God. But all the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, God had made it clear why He had chosen them to begin with: "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because the LORD loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 7:6-8 NLT).

In that same section of Scripture, God goes on to warn the Israelites that they must keep His commandments. He expected obedience and adherence to His laws. And over the centuries, the Jewish people had repeatedly broken God's commands, refusing to live in obedience and submission to Him. For the Jews, it had become enough that they had been given the Mosaic Law. The fact that they didn't really keep the law seemed to be a mute point to them. It was simply enough that they were Jewish and therefore, God's chosen people. The average Jew in Paul's day had become self-righteous and smug, believing that his Jewish heritage was all that he needed to escape the wrath of God. Everyone else was guilty and stood condemned because they were Gentiles, or non-Jews. But God had chosen the Jews that they might be a light to the Gentiles. He had given them His law so that they would know what He expected of mankind, and they were to live out that law in front of the Gentiles, showing them how the people of God were to live. But Paul bluntly accuses them, "You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you" (Romans 2:23-24 NLT).

For Paul, the issue was one of the heart. God is looking for Jews who are not just circumcised in their flesh, but in their heart. God is interested in Jews who are completed Jews, having placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Savior. Adherence to the Law and membership in the Jewish race was not going to be enough to save them. In fact, the Jew stood under greater condemnation because he had been given the law and knew what God's divine expectations were, but had failed to keep them. "The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile" (Romans 2:25 NLT). The Jew, like the Gentile, stood guilty before God and in need of a Savior. God had sent His Son to save all men, Jews and Gentiles alike. And all men needed to understand their guilt and embrace the grace made available by God through His Son's death on the cross. God was looking for Jews whose hearts had been made right with Him. "…a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God" (Romans 2:29 NLT). The Jewish nation, the chosen people of God, still needed the same solution to their sin problem required by every other person. They needed a Savior. They needed to be made right with God, not based on some self-made righteousness or special standing, but through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Father, how easy it is to somehow think that we deserve Your grace and mercy. The Jews had become convinced that You were somehow obligated to accept them based on their ethnic background. They mistakenly believed that their Jewishness was all the justification they needed. But their hearts were just as guilty as anyone else's and they stood condemned just like every other individual. You are no respecter of persons. You are fair and just in Your treatment of all men. And Your offer of salvation is available to anyone who willingly accepts it, regardless of their race, religion, income status or any other man-made criteria. Thank You for Your grace that is available to all. Amen.