False Security: Ceremony

Romans 2:25-29

²⁵ For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

(Verse 25-29) - Proceeding to a third type of false security (circumcision) in which many Jews placed their trust, Paul clarifies the true significance of that rite.

For circumcision – (John 7:22; Acts 7:8). This was the special rite by which the relation to the covenant of Abraham was recognized; or by which the right to all the privileges of a member of the Jewish commonwealth was acknowledged. The Jews of course affixed a high importance to the rite.  Verily profiteth - Is truly a benefit; or is an advantage. The meaning is, that their being recognized as members of the Jewish commonwealth, and introduced to the privileges of the Jew, was an advantage; (see Rom. 3:1-2). The apostle was not disposed to deny that they possessed this advantage, but he tells them why it was a benefit, and how it might fail of conferring any favor.

God had instituted circumcision as a mark of His covenant with Abraham and his descendants, declaring that “every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations” (Gen. 17:10-12). Centuries later, when for some reason Moses failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife, Zipporah, performed the rite herself, thereby protecting Moses from the Lord’s wrath (Ex. 4:24-26).

No doubt this surgery was symbolic of the sinfulness of man that was passed from generation to generation. The very procreative organ needed to be cleansed of a covering. So man at the very center of his nature is sinful and needs cleansing of the heart. This graphic symbol of the need for removing sin became the sign of being a Jew.

But as important as circumcision was as an act of obedience to God and as a reminder to Jews of their covenant relation to Him, the rite had no spiritual power. Circumcision is of value, Paul explains, only if you practice the Law, that is, live in obedience to God’s will. The mere sign can be of no value. The mere fact of being a Jew is not what God requires. It may be a favor to have his Law, but the mere possession of the Law cannot entitle to the favor of God. So it is a privilege to be born in a Christian land; to have had pious parents; to be amidst the ordinances of religion; to be trained in Sunday Schools; and to be devoted to God in baptism: for all these are favorable circumstances for salvation. But none of them entitle to the favor of God; and unless they are improved as they should be, they may be only the means of increasing our condemnation; (2 Cor. 2:16).

To the faithful, obedient Jew circumcision was a symbol of God’s covenant, His blessings, His goodness, and His protection of His chosen people. But if you are a transgressor of the Law, Paul warned, your circumcision has become uncircumcision, that is, valueless. Thy circumcision, or thy being called a Jew, is of no value. It will not distinguish you from those who are not circumcised. You will be treated as a pagan. No external advantages, no name, or rite, or ceremony will save you. God requires the obedience of the heart and of the life. Where there is a disposition to render that, there is an advantage in possessing the external means of grace. Where that is missing, no rite or profession can save. This applies with as much force to those who have been baptized in infancy, and to those who have made a profession of religion in a Christian church, as to the Jew.  A Jew who continually transgressed God’s law proved that he had no more saving relationship to God than a pagan Gentile, whom Jews often referred to as the uncircumcised.

Important as it was, circumcision was only an outward symbol. And rather than freeing Jews from God’s law, circumcision made them even more responsible for obeying it, because that ritual testified to their greater knowledge of their sin, of God, and of His will in regard to them.

Circumcision was, in fact, more a mark of judgment and obligation than of salvation and freedom. It was a constant reminder to Jews of their sinfulness and of their obligation to obey God’s law. Speaking about the Judaizers, who were corrupting the church by teaching that Christians were obligated to keep the Mosaic law, Paul wrote, “I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law” (Gal. 5:3). Circumcision was a mark of legal obligation.

Long before Paul’s day the rite of circumcision had become so shrouded in superstition that ancient rabbis formulated sayings such as “No circumcised Jewish man will see hell” and “Circumcision saves us from hell.” The Midrash includes the statement “God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised would be sent to hell. Abraham sits before the gate of hell and never allows any circumcised Israelite to enter.”

But the prophets had made clear that mere physical circumcision had no spiritual power or benefit. “‘Behold the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised - Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart’” (Jer. 9:25-26). Disobedience to God put the circumcised Israelites in the same category of judgment as the uncircumcised Gentiles.

On the other hand, Paul continues, If the uncircumcised man keeps the requirement of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And will not he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?

Therefore, if the uncircumcision - If those who are not circumcised, that is, the pagan.  Keep the righteousness of the law - Keep what the Law of Moses commands. It could not be supposed that a pagan would understand the requirements of the ceremonial law; but reference is had here to the moral law. The apostle does not expressly affirm that this was ever done; but he supposes the case, to show the true nature and value of the rites of the Jews.  Shall not his uncircumcision - Or, shall the fact that he is uncircumcised stand in the way of the acceptance of his services? Or, shall he not as certainly and as readily be accepted by God as if he were a Jew? Or in other words, the apostle teaches the doctrine that acceptance with God does not depend on a man’s external privileges, but on the state of the heart and life.  Be counted for circumcision - Shall he not be treated as if he were circumcised? Shall his being uncircumcised be any barrier in the way of his acceptance with God?

The word rendered “be counted,” is what is commonly rendered “to reckon, to impute”; and its use here shows that the Scripture use of the word is not to transfer, or to charge with what is not deserved, or not true. It means simply that a man shall be treated as if it were so; that this lack of circumcision shall be no bar to acceptance. There is nothing set over to his account; nothing transferred; nothing reckoned different from what it is. God judges things as they are; and as the man, though uncircumcised, who keeps the Law, ought to be treated as if he had been circumcised, so he who believes in Christ agreeably to the divine promise, and trusts to his merits alone for salvation, ought to be treated as if he were himself righteous, God judges the thing as it is, and treats people as it is proper to treat them, as being pardoned and accepted through his Son.

Which is by nature - Which is the natural state of man; his condition before he is admitted to any of the unique rites of the Jewish religion.  If it fulfil the law - If they who are uncircumcised keep the Law.  Judge thee - Condemn thee as guilty. As we say, the conduct of such a man condemns us. He acts so much more consistently and uprightly than we do, that we see our guilt. For a similar mode of expression, (see Matt. 12:41-42). 

Who by the letter … - The translation here is certainly not well expressed. It is difficult to ascertain its meaning. The evident meaning of the original is, “Shall not a pagan man who has none of your external privileges, if he keeps the law, condemn you who are Jews; who, although you have the letter and circumcision, are nevertheless transgressors of the law? 

The letter - The word “letter” properly means the mark or character from which syllables and words are formed. It is also used in the sense of writing of any kind (Luke 16:6-7; Acts 28:21; Gal. 6:11), particularly the writings of Moses, denoting, by way of eminence, the letter, or the writing; (Rom. 7:6; 2 Tim. 3:15).

The apostle’s point is that the substance of pleasing God is obedience to His will, of which circumcision is but a symbolic reminder. Sincerely keeping the requirement of the Law because it is God’s will is of great value, whereas circumcision without obedience is of absolutely no value. If the uncircumcised man, that is, a Gentile, keeps the requirement of the Law, God will look on him just as favorably as on a circumcised Jew who keeps His law—counting the believing Gentile’s uncircumcision as if it were true circumcision.

Paul’s next devastating salvo at the Jew who had false trust in his Jewish privileges was the declaration that the obedient Gentile who is physically uncircumcised not only pleases God but figuratively will sit in judgment on disobedient Jews, who though having the letter of the Law and physical circumcision are a transgressor of the Law. It is not that such Gentiles will perform the actual judgment, which is God’s prerogative alone, but that their faithful obedience will stand as a rebuke to the faithless disobedience of hypocritical Jews. To the Philippian Gentile church Paul said that the unsaved and disobedient Jews who rejected the gospel of grace were “dogs,… evil workers,… [and] false circumcision” (Phil. 3:2).

Theologian Charles Hodge wrote, “Whenever true religion declines, the disposition to lay undo stress on external rites is stressed. The Jews when they lost their spirituality supposed that circumcision had the power to save them.” Apostasy always moves the religious focus from the inward to the outward, from humble obedience to empty formality.

In verses 28-29 Paul summarizes his demolition of false trust. First, he reiterates that Jewish heritage, wonderful as it was, had absolutely no spiritual benefit if it stood alone: He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. He who is merely descended from Abraham, and is circumcised, and externally conforms to the Law only, does not possess the true character, and manifest the true spirit, contemplated by the separation of the Jewish people. Their separation required much more.  As John the Baptist had pronounced many years earlier, God could raise up physical descendants of Abraham from stones if He so chose (Matt. 3:9). Making much the same point, later in his epistle Paul contends that “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom. 9:6). Second, Paul re-emphasizes the truth that ceremony is of no value in itself, saying, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  Neither does it meet the full design of the rite of circumcision, that it is externally performed. It contemplated much more; (see verse. 29).

Putting those two truths together, the apostle says that the true child of God, epitomized by the faithful Jew, is the person who is one inwardly. The true mark of God’s child is not an outward symbol, such as circumcision, but a godly condition of the heart.

But he is a Jew - He comes up to the design of the Jewish institution; he manifests truly what it is to be a Jew.  Which is one inwardly - Who is “in heart” a Jew. Who has the true spirit, and fulfils the design of their being separated as a special people. This passage proves that the design of separating them was not merely to perform certain external rites, or to conform to external observances, but to be a people holy in heart and in life. It cannot be denied that this design was not generally understood in the time of the apostles; but it was abundantly declared in the Old Testament: Deut. 6:5; 10:12-13, 20: 30:14; Isa 1:11-20; Mic. 6:8; Ps. 51:16-17; 50:7-23.  And circumcision is that of the heart - That is, that circumcision which is acceptable to God. and which meets the design of the institution, is what is attended with holiness of heart; with the cutting off of sins; and with a pure life. The design of circumcision was to be a sign of separation from the pagan world, and of consecration to the holy God. And this design implied the renunciation and forsaking of all sins; or the cutting off of everything that was offensive to God. This was a work especially of the heart. This design was often stated and enforced in the writings of the Old Testament; Deut. 10:16, “Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked;” Jer. 4:4; Deut. 30:6.

Paul restates the truth that knowledge of God’s law has no power to save a person. Salvation comes by the Spirit of God Himself working in a believer’s heart, not by the mere letter of His Word, true as it is.  In the spirit - This is an expression explaining further what he had just said. It does not mean by the Holy Spirit, but that the work was to take place in the soul, and not in the body only. It was to be an internal, spiritual work, and not merely an external service.  And not in the letter - That is, not only according to the literal, external command,

Whose praise … - Whose object is not to secure the praise of human beings. One of the main characteristics of the Jews in the time of Christ was, a desire to secure honor among men, as being exactly scrupulous in the performance of all the duties of their religion. They prided themselves on their descent from Abraham, and on their regular conformity to the precepts of the Law of Moses; (Matt. 3:9; 6:2, 5; Luke 18:10-12; Matt. 23:23).

The praise that the true Jew, the true believer, receives is not from men, who are more inclined to ridicule God’s people than to praise them. The true believer’s reward of praise comes directly from God, his heavenly Father.

But of God - “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart;” 1 Sam. 16:7. The praise of God can be bestowed only on those who conform really, and not externally only, to his requirements.

The remarks which are made here respecting the Jews, are also strictly applicable to professing Christians:

1.    External rites and ceremonies are of much less importance than the state of the heart.  If we learn nothing from the ancient Jews, we must learn this.  The flesh, and all that is involved in and with it, is nothing – it is utterly undependable and completely to be rejected and despised!

2.    The only value of those rites is to promote holiness of heart and life.  In short, the only purpose of any exterior rite and custom is to promote inner rightness and holiness of heart.  The circumcision of the flesh was intended to point to and promote the circumcision of the heart that is essential to getting to heaven.  That circumcision in no way comes by means of exterior observations, but only by means of Grace through Faith.

3.    That the mere fact that we are born of pious ancestors will not save us.  Nor will the mere fact that we belong to a pious church, or to an orthodox congregation!

4.    That the fact that we were dedicated to God in baptism will not save us.  The mode or the time of our baptism can have no real positive effect in commending us to God, but, if we are not careful, it can have a terribly detrimental effect by tending to argue to us that we are acceptable because we have been baptized.

5.    That a mere profession of religion, however orthodox may be our creed will not save us.  It must be the washing of the heart in regeneration that is our standard – not any human confession.

6.    That the estimate which people may put on our piety is not the proper measure of our true character and standing.  We ought to be careful that we do not use this as an excuse for fleshly religion – but we must be careful as well to see that our trust is not in the opinion of other men – as that is no better than trusting in our own flesh and our own righteousness.

7.    It is an inexpressible privilege to be in possession of the Word of God, and to know our duty. It may, if improved, conduce to our elevation in holiness and happiness here, and to our eternal happiness and blessing hereafter.

8.    It is also a fearful thing to neglect the privileges which we enjoy. We shall be judged according to the light which we have; and it will be an awful event to go to eternity from a Christian land unprepared.

9.    Whatever may be the destiny of the pagan, it is each man’s duty to make preparation to meet God. The most wicked of the pagan may meet a far milder doom than many who are externally moral, or who profess religion in Christian lands. Instead, therefore, of speculating on what may be their destiny, it is the duty of every individual to be at peace himself with God, and to flee from the wrath to come.

This preaching must be a part of the message we carry to the lost as we seek to win them to Christ.