1Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. 2We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God, 6who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:” 7to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; 8but to those who are self-seeking and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, 9oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
10But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 11For there is no partiality with God. 12For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified 14(for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) 16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
17Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, rest on the law, glory in God, 18know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. 21You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal? 22You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law? 24For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. 25For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision? 27Won’t those who are physically uncircumcised, but fulfill the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? 28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 29but 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.
Circumcision of the Heart
Romans 2
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART
27 Won’t those who are physically uncircumcised, but fulfill the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision 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.
Circumcision was a surgical ritual that reminded a Jew that He was a son of the covenant, a member of the tribe. Paul spends a lot of time arguing that those who were circumcised were never able to fully measure up to the law, being unable to produce the fruits of righteousness consistently. They couldn’t keep up with the law's requirements. And yet, those who were not circumcised but kept the laws of God were just as good as the circumcised bunch. He ends the chapter saying that all of these outward signs were not to be equated with an inward faith. What is important is that you have experienced a circumcision of the heart. This is a metaphor for having a heart change, which one experiences when believing the gospel message.
As we will find out in the Book of Romans, the gospel message is that Jesus, who was God, came in the form of a man and allowed Himself to be subjected to the cruelty of man. He did this as part of a divine transaction (a sort of exchange), in which he paid (justified) the penalty for the sins of all of his fellow human beings. Jesus, who was all God and yet all man, was showing us what perfect love looks like. He was put to death in our place. And He rose from the dead, so that we might be brought out from under the curse of spiritual death. Later in this Book of Romans, Paul will explain that we avail ourselves of this gift by trusting in, believing in, and relying on the work that Jesus did in our stead. Paul tells us how we can receive this gift. He tells us how we can be saved from sin and ourselves. He says, “… if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 WEB) Friend, when you have done this, you will have experienced circumcision of your heart!