25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? 27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? 28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 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. (Romans 2:25-29 KJV)
Circumcision of No Avail
Finally, Paul states the complete uselessness of the Jews’ outward practices to free them from the guilt of these sins. “Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law” (Romans 2:25). This means that obedient Jews will not lose the reward for their obedience, and they benefit from having a clearer rule of obedience than the Gentiles. God did not give the law or command circumcision for no reason. However, if they did not obey, “your circumcision has become uncircumcision” (Romans 2:25). This means their religious practice would do them no good. They would be no more justified than the uncircumcised Gentiles but would be more condemned for sinning against greater light. The uncircumcised were considered unclean (Isaiah 52:1) and outside the covenant (Ephesians 2:11-12), and wicked Jews would be treated the same way.
To further explain this, Paul shows that uncircumcised Gentiles, if they live up to the light they have, are on the same level as the Jews. If a Gentile “keeps the righteous requirements of the law” (Romans 2:26), they are accepted by God as if they had been circumcised. Circumcision was a duty for the Jews, but it was not a necessary condition for salvation for everyone. He also says that the obedience of Gentiles was a great condemnation of the disobedient Jews who had “the letter of the law and circumcision” but still broke the law (Romans 2:27). For those who are merely religious on the outside, the law is just a written text. They read it but are not governed by it. External privileges, if they do not do us good, do us harm. The obedience of those with fewer advantages and a lesser profession will help condemn those who have greater advantages and a greater profession but do not live up to it.
He then describes what true circumcision is (Romans 2:28-29). It is not something that is outward in the flesh or merely a part of the written law. He is not saying that outward practices are bad but that we should not trust in them as enough to get us to heaven. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh” (Romans 2:28). To be a true child of Abraham is to do the works of Abraham (John 8:39-40). True circumcision is “of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter” (Romans 2:29). God looks at the heart.
This is the circumcision “made without hands” (Colossians 2:11-12), casting away the sinful nature. It is in our spirit and is worked by God’s Spirit. Its praise, though not from men, who judge by outward appearance, is from God. God himself will honor and reward this sincerity, for he sees not as man sees. He sees through outward appearances to the reality. This is also true of Christianity: a person is not a Christian who is one outwardly, and baptism is not what is outward in the flesh, but a person is a Christian who is one inwardly, and baptism is of the heart, in the spirit, not just in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God.