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Commentaries
English
Romans
  
d) Circumcision is spiritually unprofitable
(Romans 2:25-29)
25For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.26Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?27And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;29but 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.


When he had broken the pride of the believers of Jewish origin, as the people of the Law, and the teachers of the peoples, Paul heard in his spirit some of them saying: “Yes! We are wrong, because none is perfect except God. But we have the promise of circumcision, for the Most High was engaged, by this symbol of the Law, with our father Abraham and all his seed. Thus we belong to God, not because we are righteous, but because he chose us”.
(Verse 25) Then Paul, who was an expert in the religious teachings of the Mosaic Law, answered their false impression, saying that the covenant with Abraham does not nullify the Law, for the covenant depends on the Law, just as the Law is dependent on the covenant, as the Lord said frankly to Abraham: "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1) This verse was the condition for the confirmation of the covenant, when Abraham had not believed the first promise, and he gave birth, without God’s guidance, to Ishmael, his firstborn, from the Egyptian slave.
Thus, Paul proved to the Christians of Jewish origin in Rome that there is no covenant without the Law, and that circumcision is of no value without observation of the commandments. In principle, he saw in circumcision a good symbol that God purifies the sinner from his origin, and then the believer and his seed obey God.
However, this principle only applies as long as the participant of the covenant does the will of God. When the believer breaks the commandments and transgresses against God, he will be considered as uncircumcised in spite of his circumcision, far from God, and a stranger to him.
(Verse 26) But if a Gentile learned and kept the Law in the power of the Holy Spirit, then he who was considered as physically uncircumcised, would be considered by God as circumcised, included in the Law, and chosen from eternity, because the covenant and choosing are but to renew and bring up the elect. Whoever reaches the moral goal in his conduct, without the walls of the old covenant, is considered as included in the covenant.
(Verse 27) For a Jew to become a transgressor of the Law is really in God's sight to become uncircumcised. Not only is a Gentile a true Jew if he observes the requirements of the Law, but he who is physically uncircumcised will sit in judgment over the Jew who has the physical qualifications but nothing by way of obedience; for the symbol of circumcision does not save man, but man’s holy work and conduct prove that he is engaged with God, and that God’s power works in his weakness.
(Verse 28) After this masterstroke, which he aimed at the Jewish tradition, Paul came with a description of the name “Jew”, which is necessary to remember and recognize these days. The Jew is neither he who was born of Jewish root, speaks Hebrew, and has a hooked nose, nor is a Jew in God’s sight he who believes in the Law, becomes circumcised, or prays on Saturdays. The Jew who is acceptable to God is he who proves his relationship with God through love, humility, holiness, and perfection. According to this spiritual description, Jesus is the only perfect Jew. Because he was contrary to the obstinate Jews, they crucified him in their hypocrisy; and because of his meek spirit, the people of Abraham still persecute the people of Jesus until today. The description of the meaning of “Jew” as Paul wrote it requires our change of minds.
(Verse 29) Circumcision is not a proof that God belongs to a certain nation or believer, even if it were written hundreds of times in the Holy Book, because God does not want lazy partners in his covenant, but beloved with renewed hearts filled with his Holy Spirit. Only the born again are considered in God’s sight a partner of the covenant, and he blesses all those who bring the fruits of his Spirit with increased blessings. Yet, those who call themselves Jews or Christians, and oppose the Spirit of Christ’s love are not accepted by God in spite of their pure beliefs, but are considered his enemies and he their Judge.

Prayer
O holy God, we thank you because you were engaged in the past with your close friend Abraham and his children by the symbol of circumcision. We also thank you because you accepted us in your new covenant. Forgive us if we did not walk completely in holiness, or behaved as if our hearts were not circumcised and renewed. Purify us from all strange spirits, and give us the humility and love of Christ that we may follow him at all times.
Question
What is the meaning of circumcision in both the Old and New Testaments?