No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.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.But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.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 of men, but of God.
4 sermons cite this verse
… A man is not a Jew if he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 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. What advantage then is there in being of Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they've been entrusted with the very words of God. But what if some do not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all. As it's written, let God be true, and every man a liar. As it's written, so you may be proved right when you speak, and prevail when you judge. But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what should we say then? That God is unjust and bringing his wrath on us? I'm using a human argument. Certainly not. If that was so, how could God judge the world? …
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, 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. We are blessed in this congregation. We have a lot of very nice policemen and women in our church. Nice is maybe not the strong enough word, professional, cordial, kind, dutiful. We are grateful for the law enforcement officers that are part of this congregation and those that watch over the campus during the week and here on Sunday. And yet, no matter how friendly a policeman may be, it is still a terrible feeling when you see the blue and red lights behind you. This is not a story. There's nothing happened to me this week. I'm okay. Here in one piece. But we've probably all had that experience. and whether you think you've done anything wrong. And I know when you get pulled over, we all immediately think, I did nothing wrong. …
… you are a true Jew. Romans 2.29 If you trust Messiah Jesus, you are an heir of the new covenant that Jesus bought with his blood. And this text is a form of the new covenant. If you trust in Jesus, you are in Christ Jesus, and he looks into your eye and he says, every promise that was ever made in my old book is yours. Okay? So this is yours. If you're in Christ Jesus, by faith. And it's breathtaking. So I'm going to read it, and then we'll talk about it. Starting at verse 36 in Jeremiah 32. Now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, which you say, it is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, by pestilence. behold I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and in my wrath and in great indignation and I will bring them back to this place and I will make them dwell in safety and they should be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart in one way that they may fear me forever for their own good and for the good of their children after them. …
… Yeah, He was naturally, but not spiritually. He fits into the category of Romans, chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. And you'll remember this, where the Apostle Paul says, "'He is not a Jew who 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 by the Spirit. You can tell this is not the man He was. Something on the inside has changed. And Paul makes it clear in Galatians as well as in Romans that if you have trusted Christ, you are a son of Abraham. You may not be Jewish, but you have followed Abraham's faith. You have followed his faith. In Galatians 3, just to give you another text to look at that, so verse 9, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. Verse 29, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants. So there's a sense in which all of us, Jew or Gentile, who have come to know the Lord through the gospel and through faith are children of Abraham. …