The Religious Jew’s Lack of the Spirit
2: 25-29
The religious Jew’s lack of the Spirit DIG: What is circumcision symbolic of? Does this passage teach that if you circumcise your heart then you are a spiritual Jew? If that were true, how would this passage lead to replacement theology and destroy the unique bond that God has with Isra’el? Who’s a real Jew? Where does this leave Jewish women?
REFLECT: Instead of special treatment, what did the blessings of ADONAI actually give to the Jews? How might this be true of God’s blessings to you? When you call yourself a believer, you are an ambassador of the Messiah; in effect, God is making His appeal through you, “Be reconciled to God” (Second Corinthians 5:20). How is your ambassadorship going?
A real Jew has both external (physical circumcision), and internal (circumcision of the heart) circumcision; therefore, without faith in Yeshua Messiah, the reality behind the symbol of circumcision becomes meaningless.
YHVH had instituted circumcision as the great sign of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants, declaring that every male among you who is eight days old is to be circumcised (Genesis 17:10-12). Centuries later, when Moshe failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife, Zipporah, performed the rite herself, thereby protecting Moses from divine wrath (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Az – Surely You are a Bridegroom of Blood to Me). No doubt this surgery was symbolic of the sinfulness of man that was passed from one generation to another. The very procreative organ needed to be cleansed of a covering. Therefore, 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 is as an act of obedience to ADONAI, and as a reminder to Jews of their covenant relationship with Him, the rite, in and of itself, has no spiritual power.61
On the one hand, for the Jew, Paul says that circumcision is indeed of value if you do what Torah says and circumcise your heart. But, if you are Jewish, and a transgressor of Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision (2:25)! Because he would have thrown away everything that his Jewishness stands for. By despising YHVH and His Torah he would have cut himself off from the promises of Abraham and from his people, spiritually, even though biological and cultural attachments remain. The reality behind the symbol of circumcision would have departed.
Dear Heavenly Father, A real and loving relationship with God – the King of kings and Sovereign over all the universe – how wonderful! Yet the reality of the relationship is not merely a legal arrangement. A loving heart is at the essence of our relationship with You, dear God. As Yeshua said, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?” And He said to him: You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-38).
You presented the gift of relationship to all who choose to love and follow You. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). How we praise You that You are our sure hope (Ephesians 1:12) and You allow us to love You back by serving and praising You. For we are His workmanship – created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). It is a joy to serve You. In Holy Yeshua’s name and His power of resurrection. Amen
If the Jew claimed exemption on the basis of being circumcised, then the logical conclusion would be that no Jew would ever be condemned. In essence some rabbis concluded that. A famous line in the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) says, “all Isra’el will have a share in the world to come (Sanhedrin 11:1)” For a while rabbis taught that anyone who was a Jew will never go to hell no matter what they have done. But they changed their teaching because of the Messianic Jews. They didn’t want Messianic Jews, who were also circumcised, to end up in heaven merely because they were Jews, so they changed their teaching. They now say that when a Messianic Jew dies, an angel comes and puts the foreskin back on, therefore the Messianic Jew becomes uncircumcised and goes to hell.
But the prophets had made it clear that mere physical circumcision had no spiritual power or benefit. The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh – Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places (apparently these nations practiced circumcision). Though physically circumcised, they are spiritually uncircumcised, their hearts being closed to the understanding and love of God and His teachings. For all the Gentile nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Isra’el is uncircumcised in heart (9:25-26). While all those Gentile nations at some point practiced physical circumcision, nevertheless, they had remained uncircumcised at heart. Unfortunately, so did Judah. This emphasized again that Judah had deteriorated to the same level as the Gentiles and were no more circumcised spiritually than they were. Disobedience to God put the circumcised Israelites in the same category of judgment as the uncircumcised Gentiles. As a result, this was a near historical future prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gb – The Destruction of Solomon’s Temple on Tisha B’Av in 586 BC).
So, despite the fact that in Genesis 17 God gave the Jews the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant, in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 ADONAI also talks about having a circumcised heart (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Fp – Restoration After Repentance). All the customs of Judaism, as we know, point to a greater spiritual truth. And that is what Paul is trying to get the Jews in Rome to see here is that they needed to have the circumcised spirit. Today we would call them Messianic Jews.
But on the other hand, Paul continues, if an uncircumcised man, a Gentile, keeps the righteous requirements of the Torah, won’t his physical uncircumcision be counted as spiritual circumcision, or circumcision of the heart (2:26). He will then become heir to the promises of the covenant with Abraham because he would be grafted in (11:17).62
Indeed, the man who is physically uncircumcised, that is, a Gentile, but obeys the Torah, and circumcises his heart (Deuteronomy 30:6), then ADONAI will look on him just as favorably as He looks at a circumcised Jew – counting the believing Gentile’s uncircumcision as if it were true circumcision. Paul’s next devastating blow to the Jew who had false trust in his Jewish privileges, was the declaration that the obedient Gentile, who is physically uncircumcised but has a circumcised heart, not only pleases YHVH, but will stand as a judgment on Jews with uncircumcised hearts who have had a b’rit-milah (a circumcision ceremony), and have Torah written out – but violate it (2:27)! It is not that such Gentiles will perform the actual judgment, which is Yeshua’s right alone (John 5:22), but rather that their faithful obedience will stand as a rebuke to the faithless disobedience of the hypocritical Jews.
Who is a Jew? As Rabbi Barry Rubin states in the Complete Jewish Study Bible, in traditional Judaism, one is either a Jew by birth or by choice. For a Jew by birth, there are two basic positions: matrilineal (that is, a person is Jewish if born from a Jewish mother) and patrilineal (born of a Jewish father). Orthodox and Conservative Judaism hold to a matrilineal position. In Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, a bi-lineal approach is used, acknowledging both matrilineal and patrilineal descent. Messianic Judaism also uses the bi-lineal approach. A Jew by choice is a person not born a Jew who freely chooses to become a Jew through conversion (a proselyte). This person is called a ger (convert).
Generally, all of Judaism traces its origin to Abraham, who was called a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13). The etymology of the word Jew goes back to the word Y’hudah (Judah), one of the twelve sons of Jacob, or the twelve tribes of Isra’el. The root Hebrew meaning of the word Jew (Y’hudah) means to praise. At first, the term Jew came to mean anyone from the tribe of Y’hudah. Eventually, however, it was extended to refer to Israelites of all tribes, not just the descendants of Y’hudah.
But what about Romans 2:28-29? Was Paul redefining the term Jew to mean only spiritually, and thereby rejecting the physical? On the surface it seems so, but when the text is considered with other related verses, it is clear that his purpose was to remind those who were Jews not to rely upon the physical signs of circumcision, their Jewishness, to be justified before ADONAI, but to rely upon the circumcision of the heart which leads to true praise.63
Therefore, because the name Jew comes from Y’hudah, which means to praise, Paul is basically saying, “Live up to your name!” Such a one is not a God-praiser in any sense and will exclude him from the promises He made to the Jewish people (Chapters 9-11). However, if he repents, gives up his pride, circumcises his heart, and comes to acknowledge Yeshua as his Savior, Lord and Messiah, then he will be grafted back into his own olive tree (11:24). But in his present state, he is merely a branch cut off from the tree, hence not a Jew (11:23-24).
Now Paul wraps up his discussion of Torah and circumcision. For the real Jew, contrary to Pharisaic theology, is not merely Jewish outwardly: true circumcision is not only external and physical. On the contrary, the real Jew (one who praises ADONAI) is one inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual, not merely physical (2:28).
Paul will answer the question, “Has the gospel nullified God’s promises to Isra’el,” in Chapters 9, 10 and 11.
So that his praise (meaning his Judaism) comes not from other people but from God (2:29). Therefore, the praise is reciprocal; ADONAI praises such a Jew with a circumcised heart. This is why some Jews like to call themselves “completed Jews,” because they have received both types of circumcision, outward and inward. Where the outward circumcision identifies their Jewishness, it is their inward circumcision that saves them.
This verse does not teach that everyone who becomes a believer becomes a spiritual Jew, because the context here is with Jews, not Gentiles. Jews who believe are spiritual Jews, and Gentiles who believe are spiritual Gentiles.
Where does this leave the Jewish women? Some people interpret this as the Bible being anti-women. But does that lack of a sign for women mean that God views them to be less valuable than the men in His eyes? Absolutely not! Throughout the entire Bible, YHVH does nothing but elevate that status of women. In fact, Judaism teaches that the men are more accountable than the women. This is echoed in the relationship between husbands and wives in the B’rit Chadashah (see the commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent).64
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