25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
A direct continuation of yesterday's passage, the last sign of security that the Jews held onto was circumcision. Circumcision was the unique mark of the Jew and was an indication that that child was set apart to that special covenant relationship with God. It was very important.
MacArthur adds....
It was the sign of God's promise. It was the sign of God's blessing. It was the sign of God's protection and care and love but it didn't mean a thing if he didn't keep the law...
You want to know the truth of it? And this is the most interesting thought, I don't know if you ever thought of it, circumcision was a symbol of the fact that men were condemned, not that they were saved. Because if you were circumcised it said you were in the covenant and the covenant was that you had to keep the law. So it was a sign of your lostness, not your redemption. It was a constant reminder that you had to keep God's law, you were in the covenant. You had to keep God's law. And you couldn't keep God's law so you were lost.
[Circumcision] was an outward reminder of an inward responsibility.
In v26 Paul says that a Gentile who keeps the law of God is going to be included in the covenant blessing even if he isn't circumcised. And he's only reinforcing verse 25, circumcision doesn't mean anything. If you break the law, it isn't going to help you. And if you keep the law, it isn't necessary. The point being circumcision is not necessary. Everything depends on whether you keep the law. Everything depends on obedience....
So circumcision, mark this, has no inherent value. It has no efficacy. It has no power to redeem. It is only a symbol. And not a symbol that everything is okay but a symbol that everything is not okay because it reminds me that I'm obligated to keep the whole law. There is no security in that symbol. There is only insecurity because man can't keep the law whether he's circumcised or not.
And then v27 is really a tough one for them to take. You know what that says? An obedient Gentile will be the judge of a disobedient Jew....The Gentile will not really assume the role of a judge, that's not the idea here, God is the judge. But the Gentile will assume the role of a witness for the prosecution. ....The obedience of an uncircumcised Gentile is proof of the responsibility of a circumcised Jew.
MacArthur parallels circumcision in the OT to infant baptism now. It's like an extension of the OT circumcision. It's a mark of the covenant.
And in v28 -29 Paul confirms that it's not your physical heritage that's important, it's not your biological lineage that matters, what matters is your heart. A true Jew is not one outwardly, but inwardly. You need to be children of God spiritually, not physically.
He confirms that the sign of physical circumcision is not the issue. We need to undergo a circumcision of the heart.
It is the cutting away of evil from the heart, it is the cutting away of the unclean from the heart. It is the renewal of the heart.
And lastly, he confirms that knowledge of the law, or the written code, is not the issue. Having the Word of God in your spirit, in your soul, in your inner being, that is what counts.
A true Jew - a man who is a Jew inwardly in his heart, who keeps the covenant of God with his heart, who understands the spirit of obedience and not just the letter of the law - that man will receive praise, not from men, but from God.
Here's a portion of the prayer with which MacArthur ended his sermon...
Lord, I pray that if there's any one in this place tonight who has found themselves feeling comfortable because of what they know, or comfortable because of their heritage or comfortable because they have been baptized, that you'll destroy those securities because they're false and drive them to Christ who alone can change the heart, the inside.
Lord, we know that Paul's purpose was to show them that there was an inward heart attitude necessary that they on their own could never attain and thus to drive them to Christ who alone would give them that new heart by faith. Do the same, Father, in the hearts of any here who sense the frustration of having counted on false security, bring them to the point where they know they have no security and cast themselves upon Christ who secures them forever.
Amen.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 3:1-4
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