The False Hope of Circumcision
Romans 2:25-29
September 23, 2007
Throughout chapter 2, Paul has been systematically
Exposing all the false hopes of the Jews.
He revealed that their righteousness was deficient…
He revealed that their lineage was powerless…
He revealed that their knowledge was insignificant…
He revealed that their ministry was in vain…
This morning, Paul shoots down yet another false hope of the Jews.
CIRCUMCISION
Today Circumcision doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it did in Paul’s day.
Listen to these Rabbinic oral traditions.
• “No circumcised Jewish man will see hell.”
• “Circumcision saves us from hell.”
• “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.”
Obviously it was a big deal to the Jews.
And it had become a false assurance of their faith.
Of course you know where circumcision originated.
Genesis 17:9-11 “God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.”
Man recognizes the sinfulness of the flesh, and circumcision was symbolic of the need to remove the flesh from man.
(By removing the foreskin of the procreative male organ)
The problem was when people took upon themselves the “sign”
Without ever entering into the covenant.
And that misses the point.
Romans 4:9-12 “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.”
Even Paul said that circumcision was “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised.”
God did not justify Abraham because he was circumcised,
God justified Abraham because he had faith.
But the Jews had completely missed the point.
God would send leaders to correct the misconception of the Jews.
Moses tried.
Deuteronomy 10:15-17 “Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”
Jeremiah tried
Jeremiah 4:3-4 “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Jeremiah 9:25-26 “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.”
But the people had still obviously missed the point.
The false hope of circumcision was alive and well.
Even during New Testament times,
Jews were hindering the church by requiring circumcision
In order to be a Christian.
This of course was why Paul wrote the letter to the church in Galatia.
Galatians 6:12-13 “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.”
The Jews were missing the point.
Instead of seeing circumcision as a symbol of salvation,
They saw it as a means of salvation
And began to trust in their circumcision as their savior.
This morning Paul will seek to set the record straight
In regard to “religious works” such as circumcision.
4 things Paul shows us in our text this morning.
#1 THE REWARD OF CIRCUMCISION
Romans 2:25
Paul here begins this point in a very positive way,
And that is by first revealing that circumcision does have value.
“For indeed circumcision is of value”
WHY?
Because it was commanded by God,
And there is value in obeying God’s commands.
Perhaps you will remember this story.
God had selected Moses to go to Pharaoh, and he was on his way there.
Exodus 4:24-26 “Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” — because of the circumcision.”
God was actually going to kill Moses for his lack of obedience.
Obviously circumcision is of value
Consider the New Testament.
Acts 16:1-3 “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.”
Now obviously, if circumcision had no value whatsoever,
I think Timothy would have most certainly objected.
THE POINT IS, THERE IS VALUE IN CIRCUMCISION.
“For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law”
The value of circumcision is conditional,
Based upon the condition of the heart.
If a person walks in obedience to the word of God,
Then circumcision is valuable, for it is a sign of faith.
THAT IS WHAT WORKS ARE = A SIGN OF FAITH
James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
SO THERE IS DEFINITELY VALUE
BUT THERE IS A FLIP SIDE TO THE CONDITION
“but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.”
Now that is a very insightful statement.
Paul could have said,
“If you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision is worthless.”
But that is not what he said.
Who cares if you are circumcised, if you willfully reject God?
But Paul went further.
“your circumcision has become uncircumcision”
Paul said, your outward act has actually become the very thing
That keeps you from getting your heart right before God.
Your physical circumcision prevents your heart circumcision.
WHY?
As long as they thought God accepted them
Based upon their physical circumcision,
What was the need in circumcising their hearts before Him?
WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS MAKING THEM PLEASING,
WAS ACTUALLY KEEPING THEM FROM BEING PLEASING.
THIS IS THE DANGER OF WORKS BASED RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Not only does it not please God, but when people trust in that for salvation, it keeps them from seeking the righteousness of God.
Is this not why the Pharisees refused to seek the salvation of Jesus?
They thought they were acceptable to God based upon their works.
That was their stumbling block.
Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
Romans 10:3 “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”
Their righteousness actually became unrighteousness.
Their circumcision became uncircumcision.
AND THIS IS PAUL’S POINT
Circumcision is valuable, it if it is an indicator of a righteous heart, but if it is a cover up for unrighteousness, it holds no value at all.
So first, the reward of circumcision
#2 THE REQUIREMENT OF CIRCUMCISION
Romans 2:26
After revealing the flaw of circumcision,
Paul now reveals what God is really looking for.
“So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?”
Now certainly that statement was a shocker to the Jews.
DID PAUL JUST SAY THAT AN UNCIRCUMCISED MAN COULD BE PLEASING TO GOD?
NO.
That is not what he said at all.
In fact, and uncircumcised man cannot be pleasing to God.
BUT IT HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THE FLESH.
WHAT DOES GOD LOOK AT?
The heart.
What did Moses ask of them?
“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer”
What did Jeremiah ask of them?
“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your heart.”
You cannot be pleasing to God if your heart is not circumcised. God wants the vile, sinful nature, removed from the heart.
And what Paul just said,
If a man will walk in righteousness before God,
Then even though he is physically uncircumcised,
“his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision”
THE POINT IS SIMPLE
God wants righteousness of heart,
Not some outward display of religion.
This is why Paul was so adamant to the Galatians.
Galatians 5:2-6 “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”
I don’t care how religious you are,
I don’t care if you have fulfilled every ritual,
If your heart is not right before God, it is not acceptable to Him.
So first, the Reward of circumcision; the Requirement of circumcision
#3 THE RISK OF CIRCUMCISION
Romans 2:27
This rings eerily true
To what we learned last Sunday morning about knowledge.
Just when you thought something was beneficial for salvation,
It turns out to be the thing that condemns you the hardest.
Here Paul says that circumcision works in a similar way.
“And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who through having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?”
Now of course, God is the judge,
So we are not speaking as though these “physically uncircumcised”
Will actually deal out God’s judgment.
But what we are speaking of is
In the day of judgment, those who keep the Law
Will be a witness against those who did not.
Especially if those who did not keep the Law
Owned a copy of the Law and received circumcision.
They obeyed with little instruction…
You disobeyed with much instruction…
They will testify against you.
The point is that when the unreligious perform righteousness,
It makes the religious look extremely bad.
Remember the uncircumcised Centurion?
Matthew 8:8-10 “But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”
Remember the immoral woman wiping Jesus feet?
Luke 7:44-47 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Remember the tax Collector showing up the Pharisee?
Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And we could go on and on.
Zaccheus
Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, Gomorrah
The Assyrians, The Queen of the South
Time and time again, Paul’s point rang true.
God looks at the heart, and those who are righteous in heart,
Will testify against those who are only righteous in appearance.
The Reward of…The Requirement of…The Risk of…
#4 THE REALITY OF CIRCUMCISION
Romans 2:28-29
Here Paul pulls the whole chapter together.
TO ALL WHO TRUST IN THEIR RELIGION
Paul deals them the ultimate blow
He shows them the reality of circumcision.
1) THE PLACE IT OCCURS (28a)
“For he is not a Jew is one outwardly; nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart,”
What God is looking for has nothing to do with the outside.
What God is looking for concerns the inside.
In churches today, we continually teach people
How to clean up the outside.
How to dress…how to talk…what not to drink… etc.
It is as though righteousness naturally moves from the outside inwardly.
Matthew 12:43-45 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Righteousness starts in the heart, and then works itself outward.
Don’t convince yourself of your eternal security
Simply because the outside appears to be in order.
By the time you stand before God,
The outside will have long since been done away with.
GOD IS LOOKING AT THE HEART.
This is where circumcision must occur.
You must let God remove the vile, sinful, evil tendencies of your heart.
And you see this in Jesus.
“You have heard…but I say…”
GOD IS AT WORK ON THE INSIDE,
THAT IS THE REALITY OF CIRCUMCISION.
2) THE PERSON WHO CAUSES IT (28b)
“circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter;”
The Jews thought the Law made them safe, but
Righteousness doesn’t come through the Law.
Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
The Law doesn’t lead to righteousness, the Law leads to judgment.
Romans 7:9-11 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”
You do not get righteous by reading the Law.
You do not get righteous by reading the Bible.
They don’t remove sin, they expose sin.
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART OCCURS AT THE HANDS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
It is God who must work that transforming work in your heart.
Listen to what Moses told the Jews.
Deuteronomy 30:6 “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”
This is what Jeremiah spoke of:
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Jeremiah 32:38-40 “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.”
It is what Ezekiel spoke of:
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
It is also what Ezekiel saw: (Old Dry Bones)
Ezekiel 37:11-14 “Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. “Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'”
Heart Circumcision only occurs at the hands of God.
The place it occurs The Person who causes it
3) THE PRAISE IT BRINGS (28c)
“and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
When your heart is circumcised, it is not about pleasing men,
It is about pleasing God.
In fact, the Bible teaches that
Men don’t praise you for getting your heart right with God.
BUT WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT REMOVES YOUR WICKEDNESS,
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT PEOPLE THINK, GOD IS PLEASED.
That is how to be pleasing to Him.
TO SUM UP.
The Jews thought they were pleasing to God
Because they were circumcised.
In reality they were only pleasing to themselves, and to each other.
God is only pleased when the heart is circumcised,
And it is this heart circumcision that merits His praise.
I know this morning that you are not Jewish,
And you probably aren’t struggling with circumcision.
BUT DON’T MISS THE POINT.
It is not about some religious work you did.
Baptism today is much like circumcision of their day.
WITHOUT THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
THE BAPTISM WITH WATER IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS.
“For God does not see as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
He is concerned with the righteousness of your heart,
Not the appearance of your flesh.
And this morning, regardless of your outside,
Your heart can be made righteous before God.
Your heart can be made clean.
It happens when we stop trusting in ourselves, and start trusting in Christ.
Romans 8:3-4 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Give your life to Jesus, trust Him only for salvation
(Forgiveness, New nature, Eternal Life, the Favor of God)
Jesus can save us from the wrath of God.
Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
