A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)
Here we read the apostle Paul telling the Romans not to put too much of emphasis on outward things. The Jews gave emphasis on outward things such as circumcision. Paul was pointing that out to them saying that circumcision is merely outward and physical. A person who is in Christ should not be one only outwardly but his insides must be changed and renewed by the spirit of God. He tells the Romans and the Jews that a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly. True circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the spirit and not by the written code, which was the law.
Even these days we see Christians placing a lot of emphasis on outward things rather than the renewing of the heart by the spirit of God. It’s like the prophet Samuel who went to the house of Jesse to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the future king of Israel. God did not tell him which son was to be the king of Israel. When Samuel the prophet, saw the sons of Jesse who were in the army of Saul; Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah, he thought they must be truly the ones that the Lord was going to anoint as the king of Israel. But the Lord spoke to Samuel and told him that man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. That is what is true of Christians in this day. Even if the people around us, the Christians that we deal with, or the people that we deal with, place a great emphasis on our outward appearance like how we should look and the other things; the Lord places a lot of emphasis on how our heart is.
That’s why Paul here is telling the Romans and the Jews that if you have to be called a ‘Jew’ you have to be one inwardly. And if you’re placing emphasis on circumcision, the circumcision of the heart is the most important. Jesus said that the heart is desperately wicked. There are all kinds of evil things coming out of the heart. It’s the Lord’s will that we circumcise our hearts and cleanse our hearts, that we be pure in his presence. That is what the Lord is pleased with. Paul ends by saying “Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” Truly we must seek praise from God and not from men. For people look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at our hearts. Let us not be Christians just outwardly and physically, but let us be true Christians, whose hearts have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit.
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