Romans 2:29 (ESV Strong's)
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.
Subject: Salvation
Circumcision, to the Jew, was a passport out of hell. In the Jewish culture they were taught that if you were circumcised you had nothing to fear in regard to death. No Jew would fear the afterlife as a result of their belief in being circumcised. This is why the above verse (and chapter two as a whole) are so striking in the book of Romans. Let's read again what Paul wrote it Romans 2:25.
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
Most Jews would reject, or want to reject, that conclusion as penned by Paul. Jews were taught that they needed to obey the Law. That is no doubt. But, just as a U.S. Citizen, born in the great U.S.A., can disagree with some of the parts of the constitution and still be a citizen, so too, to the Jew, you could miss parts of the Law and still be a Jew and bound for glory, IF you were circumcised. Circumcision was their pass port. Paul needs to bring all the Romans Christians he is writing to a fuller understanding of God's grace. The above verse is the swing verse in doing just that. When Paul writes, "His praise is not from man but from God," Paul is saying that salvation, every part of it, is an act of God and not the performance of man. He is making the case that no one can keep the entire law, therefore circumcision, for the sake of circumcision, will not help. Salvation is and from God. Since all have sinned (where Paul is going in chapter three), all will need God's grace. We ought not trust our own ability to save us. No part of salvation is of man. Nothing we DO can give us a passport. Only what He DID can save us. Salvation is "from God."
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