Lessons #77 and 78
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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True Jew defined by inward circumcision (Rom 2:25-29)
25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 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.
This passage is the second subsection of the larger section of Romans 2:17-3:4 where Apostle Paul explained a true Jew. Our present passage concerns the apostle’s definition of a true Jew by true circumcision as he presented in Romans 2:25-29. In verse 25, the apostle gave an evaluation of circumcision. In verses 26-27, he classified the uncircumcised that keeps the law. Finally, he defined a true Jew based on the true circumcision as he described in verses 28-29.
The brief overview of the passage before us implies that there is a specific message the apostle wanted to convey to Jews in Rome or anywhere for that matter. This message is that A true Jew is one with inward circumcision evidenced in obedience to the law and not one with outward circumcision accompanied by disobedience to the law. From this message we can derive the appropriate message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to hear from the passage before us. The message for us requires we understand that as Israel in the OT time was the people of God, being in a covenant relationship with Him, Christians, as members of the new covenant established through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are the people of God today. Furthermore, water baptism is for the most part associated with Christians and so in stating the message for us, we should recognize these facts. Consequently, the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to hear from this passage is that A true Christian is the person that has been regenerated as evident in obedience to God’s word and not one that has merely undergone water baptism accompanied by disobedience to God’s word. This message will become clearer as we expound the passage before us.
We begin with the apostle’s evaluation of circumcision as given in verse 25. He makes two assertions that constitute his evaluation of circumcision. The first assertion is that circumcision as a confirmation of right relationship with God is valued if accompanied by obedience to the law. It is this assertion that is given in the first sentence of Romans 2:25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law.
The word “circumcision” is translated from a Greek noun (peritomē) that refers to the cutting away the foreskin of male children. However, the translators of the NIV translated the word “Jews” four times in the NT. Once the word is translated “Jews” in Colossians 4:11:
Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
The word Jews of the NIV is literally of the circumcision. The other three times the translators of the NIV84 used the meaning “Jews” to translate our word are all in the second chapter of Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. For example, we have the translation “Jews” used in Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
The sentence Peter had been to the Jews is literally Peter to the circumcision as reflected in NIV2011. The believers in the early church in Jerusalem who insisted circumcision for Gentiles was necessary for them to become saved were apparently those Apostle Paul referred as “circumcision group” that caused Peter to act hypocritically, as we read in Galatians 2:12:
Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
The circumcision group refers to the group of Jewish Christians who still believed in the necessity of circumcision to become God’s people.
Circumcision as it relates to the Hebrews, or the Israelites goes back to the time of Abraham. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham that extends to his descendants that was to take place on the eighth day of birth, as stated in Genesis 17:10–12:
10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
Since there were others that practiced circumcision, it became uniquely a requirement for the Israelites to do this on the eighth day of birth, as reiterated in Leviticus 12:3:
On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.
Other groups that practiced circumcision are mentioned in Jeremiah 9:25–26:
25 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
However, in the ancient world, especially in the NT time, circumcision was that which described the Israelites or Jews as exclusive of other people. It is because circumcision uniquely characterized the Hebrew or Israelites that it was used as a ruse in the plot of Jacob’s sons in revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah by Shechem. When Shechem along with his father Hamor proposed marriage to Dinah, his brothers refused on the grounds that Shechem and his people were not circumcised. However, they agreed on one condition, that the people of Shechem submit to circumcision as stated in Genesis 34:14–17:
14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”
We called this suggestion of Jacob’s sons a ruse because while the men were in pain suffering from circumcision effects, Simeon and Levi attacked and killed the men of the city of Shechem as stated in Genesis 34:25–26:
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
The point is that circumcision was an outward sign of a male being a Hebrew or an Israelite that if people wanted to identify with Israel’s God, they were required to undergo circumcision. Thus, the instruction that permits an alien living in Israel to participate in celebration of the Passover concerned being subjected to circumcision as we read in Exodus 12:48–49:
48 “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. 49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.”
It is because of the importance of circumcision in identifying with Israel’s God that a proselyte (a non-Jewish convert who accepted the Jewish faith and completed specific rituals to become a Jew) was required to undergo circumcision. Later Jewish Rabbis insisted that to enjoy the good life in the hereafter requires circumcision and lack of it with burning in the fires of Ge-Hinnom. It is because the belief of the importance of circumcision that in the Maccabean period, women had their sons circumcised even at the threat of death as implied in the Apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees 1:60–61 (NRSV):
60 According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks.
Be that as it may, the Greek word (peritomē) translated “circumcision” in Romans 2:25 is used in two general ways in the NT. It refers to “circumcision” that is to be understood both literally and figuratively. Literally, it is used in sense of the rite of circumcision, as the word is used by the Lord Jesus Christ in His defense of His activities on Sabbaths as He referenced the fact that the Jews would circumcise on the Sabbath in John 7:22:
Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath.
Figuratively, it is used for spiritual circumcision to describe the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in a believer, as it is used by Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:11:
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
The verbal phrase the circumcision done by Christ has been variously interpreted by interpreters since literally the Greek reads by the circumcision of Christ. Some take the verbal phrase to mean that the apostle was speaking of the circumcision that Christ underwent as every Jewish boy. Others say it is the circumcision of the pattern of Christ. None of these views appear to me to be correct. For there is no reason to refer to the physical circumcision of Christ when speaking of the real circumcision of the Colossians which no doubt is a spiritual one. Furthermore, the Greek syntax permits the phrase of Christ to be understood either as produced by Jesus Christ or that Christ is the source of the circumcision of the Colossians. Considering the context of Colossians 2:11 and the Bible in general, it is best to take the literal Greek phrase by the circumcision of Christ as the circumcision done by Christ. Of course, the verbal phrase the circumcision done by Christ refers to regeneration or the salvation that Christ has granted the Colossians and other believers. It is this regeneration or spiritual heart transplant that Yahweh promised Israel that will lead them to be obedient to Him as stated in Deuteronomy 30:6:
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
The word LORD is better translated Yahweh as the personal name of the God of Israel. This Yahweh that would circumcise the Israelites is Jesus Christ since He is the One that led Israel in the desert, and He is the Rock that Apostle Paul identified as Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4:
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Another usage of the Greek word (peritomē) translated “circumcision” is for a person who is circumcised. In this usage, the word is used both literally and figuratively. Literally, the word is used to describe a Jew, as in Romans 15:8:
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs
The phrase a servant of the Jews is literally a servant of the circumcision. Of course, since the word is used literally for a Jew, it is used to distinguish a Jew from a Gentile, as per the passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
The phrase to the Gentiles is literally to the uncircumcised while the phrase to the Jews is literally to the circumcised. Apostle Paul was explicit that the term “uncircumcised” is used to describe Gentiles in Ephesians 2:11:
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)—
The Greek word translated “circumcision” is used literally not only for Jews but also for Jews who are believers in Christ or Christians. Hence, the word is used to describe believers who are Jews that accompanied Apostle Peter when he preached the gospel to Cornelius and those assembled with him, as we read in Acts 10:45:
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
Figuratively, the Greek word (peritomē) translated “circumcision” in Romans 2:25 is used to describe all believers. This is the sense that Apostle Paul used it to describe believers in Christ, Jews and Gentiles, in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
Our examination of the Greek word (peritomē) translated “circumcision” in Romans 2:25 indicates that it can be used to describe an ethnic Jew as well as believers in Christ whether Jews or Gentiles. Nonetheless, in Romans 2:25, the apostle used it to mean “circumcision,” that is, the state of having been circumcised, meaning the removing of the foreskin of males. It is this meaning that we should bear in mind as we consider the apostle’s evaluation of circumcision as practiced among the Jews. But before we continue with the apostle’s evaluation of circumcision, it is important to clarify how we applied to believers the message of the apostle to the Jews.
We stated that the message of the apostle to Jews in Romans 2:25-29 is that A true Jew is one with inward circumcision evidenced in obedience to the law and not one with outward circumcision accompanied by disobedience to the law. We applied this message to us by stating the message as A true Christian is the person that has been regenerated as evident in obedience to God’s word and not one that has merely undergone water baptism accompanied by disobedience to God’s word. Applying to Christians the original message to Jews implies that we have equated “inward circumcision” to “regeneration” and “outward circumcision” to “water baptism.” It is not difficult to understand how we applied “inward circumcision” to “regeneration” because Yahweh conveyed to Israel that true circumcision is that which He would perform in them to cause them to be obedient to Him as in the passage we cited previously, that is, Deuteronomy 30:6:
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Circumcision done by Yahweh is His inward work on an individual and so it is equivalent to regeneration. This being the case, we need to establish our use of the word “water baptism” for “outward circumcision.” This usage of “water baptism” for “outward circumcision” is due firstly because outward circumcision performed on the eighth day of birth on a male Hebrew child is that which characterizes a Jew as a member of the community of the people in a covenant relationship with Yahweh. Secondly, it is because of how the ritual of water baptism is viewed today among those who claim to be Christians.
There are many interpretations of the significance of the ritual of water baptism. We will describe four of these views without extensive consideration of them but simply to reference them to establish the reason for equating “water baptism” to “outward circumcision.” The first view is that baptism is a means of saving grace or what is often known as “baptismal regeneration.” In effect, those who hold to this view maintain that water baptism results in regeneration of a person whereby the person is transformed from spiritual death to life in Christ. This is the view held by the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans. The traditional Roman Catholic belief emphasizes the rite itself indicating that the power to convey grace is contained within the sacrament (a religious ceremony or ritual regarded as imparting divine grace) of baptism. However, they maintain that it is not the water, but the sacrament as established by God and administered by the church that produces this change. On the other hand, the Lutherans focus on the faith that is present in the person being baptized, which is a result of preaching. In effect, the difference between the Catholics and Lutherans is that the Lutherans maintain that faith is a prerequisite for the sacrament to work while the Catholics maintain that the sacrament of baptism is self-sufficient. The second view often known as “the covenantal view” regards baptism as a sign and seal of the new covenant of the gospel. This is the view held by reformed and Presbyterian theologians. In this view, baptism serves the same purpose for NT believers that circumcision did for OT believers in relation to God covenant to save mankind. So, in this view baptism is both the means of initiation into the covenant and a sign of salvation. In effect, this view states that baptism is a substitute for circumcision. Just as circumcision was required of converts to Judaism so is baptism required of those converting to Christianity. A third view is that water baptism is “a portrayal of our union with Christ.” Most of those who hold to this view do not practice water baptism. The fourth view is the “symbolical view.” In this view, baptism is a token, or an outward indication, of the inner change which has already occurred in the believer's life. It serves as a public identification of the person with Jesus Christ, and thus also as a public testimony of one’s faith in Christ. It is an act of initiation since the person is baptized. It does not produce any spiritual change in the one baptized, however, it is practiced because it is commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ and serves as a form of proclamation and confirmation of one’s salvation to oneself. The only spiritual value of baptism is that it establishes membership in the church and exposes the believer to the values of this type of fellowship. These four views indicate that for the most part, water baptism is related to being a Christian or one that belongs to the new covenant of God. It is for this reason that we linked “water baptism” to “outward circumcision” that marked people that belonged to the old covenant of God. The point is that these various views justify our use of the term “water baptism” for “outward circumcision” in the message of the passage we are studying. Of course, water baptism can be equated with circumcision in that both may be viewed as “a seal.” Water baptism signifies entrance into the new covenant as circumcision signified entrance into the old. This relationship between water baptism and circumcision is implied in what Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:11–13:
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Baptism here refers to water baptism. With this comment, we continue with Apostle Paul’s evaluation of circumcision as practiced by the Jews.
Recall we stated the apostle made two assertions in his evaluation of circumcision in verse 25. The first assertion is that circumcision as a confirmation of right relationship with God is valued if accompanied by obedience to the law. It is this assertion that is given in the first sentence of Romans 2:25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law. Literally, the Greek reads For circumcision indeed is of value. The literal translation indicates the apostle continues in an emphatic manner his explanation of what makes a person a true Jew. We say this because of two Greek particles (men gar) the apostle used that were not translated in the NIV are intended to signal a continuation of the apostle’s explanation of a true Jew that he began in the previous section of Romans 2:17-24 with introduction of a new subject dear to a Jew, but he did so in an emphatic manner. We say that the apostle is continuing what he began in the previous section but with a new topic because this is the first time the apostle introduced the concept of circumcision in this epistle that we are studying. Anyway, according to the NIV the apostle wrote Circumcision has value if you observe the law.
The expression “has value” is translated from a Greek word (ōpheleō) that may mean “to assist, benefit” or “to be useful or advantageous.” The word may mean "to help” as it is used in the NIV to translate our word when it is used to report the rebuke of the Jewish authorities who misinterpreted the law to make it easy for children to avoid rendering help to their parents as required in the law as stated in Mark 7:11:
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),
The word may mean “to be of value” as it is used to describe the exodus generation who did not benefit from hearing God’s word through Moses because they did not believe what they heard as stated in Hebrews 4:2:
For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
In our passage of Romans 2:25, the word means “to be of value” or “to benefit.”
When the apostle wrote Circumcision has value, he intended to correct the notion that many Jews held, that is, that circumcision was a guarantee to salvation. Hence, the apostle’s assertion is that circumcision is beneficial or valuable if there is evidence of having right relationship with God. This evidence is found in the fulfillment of the condition the apostle stipulated in the clause if you observe the law.
The word “if” is translated from a Greek conjunction (ean) that may mean “when” as a marker of the prospect of an action in a point of time coordinated with another point of time. It may mean “ever” as a marker of the possibility of any number of occurrences of the same event. However, in our passage of Romans 2:25 where it is used twice, the Greek conjunction means “if” as a marker of condition with the implication of reduced probability. So, it is used in our verse to state what is expected to occur under certain circumstances. The thing that is expected to occur is in the sentence you observe the law.
The word “observe” is translated from a Greek verb (prassō) that may mean “to engage in activity or to behave in a certain way,” hence means “to act, behave,” as the word is used of the activity of those who killed Jesus as in Peter’s explanation of their action as due to ignorance according to Acts 3:17:
“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
The word may mean “to do” or “to practice” as it is used to describe the activities of those who were involved in sorcery in Ephesus that had their scrolls burned, upon believing in Jesus Christ as we read in Acts 19:19:
A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
In our passage of Romans 2:25, the word means “to do,” that is, “to keep.” The thing that is to be kept is the law. The law here specifically refers to the Mosaic Law.
The apostle’s point is that circumcision is beneficial or of value if a Jew keeps the law as a confirmation of having the right relationship with God. The assertion of the apostle in Romans 2:25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law implies that the circumcision in view is the true one as the apostle later implied in Romans 2:29. You see, for a Jew to keep the law implies that regeneration has taken place so that the individual is capable of obedience to God’s law. God has commanded the Israelites to be obedient to the terms of His covenant with them as implied in Deuteronomy 10:16:
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
The command for Israel to circumcise their hearts is one that means that they should obey God’s law. They are to have the disposition and desire to be obedient to God’s laws to them. This command is premised on the fact that God Himself had through inner circumcision or regeneration rendered them capable of obedience; for, unless that is the case, we have a contradiction in that Yahweh God said He would be the One to circumcise them in the passage we considered previously (Deuteronomy 30:6) but here in Deuteronomy 10:16, He commands them to be obedient, that is, to circumcise their hearts. The fact is that God will not command those in covenant relationship with Him to do something for which He had not equipped them to be able to carry out. After all, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul tells us that God equips and makes us willing to do His will as stated in Philippians 2:13:
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Anyway, the first assertion of the apostle as part of his evaluation of circumcision is that circumcision is valued or beneficial in confirming that a Jew has the right relationship with God if it is accompanied by obedience to the law. In application your claim of being a Christian is only confirmed to be true if you live out the life of obedience to God’s word. This brings us to the second assertion.
The second assertion of the apostle as part of his evaluation of circumcision is opposite the first assertion. This we say because of the word but that begins the second conditional statement of Romans 2:25. The word “but” is translated from a Greek particle (de) that is routinely translated “but” in our English versions, as done in majority of our English versions in our present verse, to reflect a contrast between clauses but when a simple connective is desired, without contrast being clearly implied, it may be translated “and” or “now” or “so” and in certain occurrences the particle may be left untranslated. In our passage, it is used as a marker of emphatic contrast.
The emphatic contrasting assertion of the apostle that is his second is that circumcision does not confirm right relationship with God if accompanied by disobedience of the law. The apostle set up the conditional clause that led to his assertion in the clause of Romans 2:25 if you break the law. A literal translation is if you are (a) transgressor of (the) law. This is because the apostle used a Greek verb (eimi) that may mean “is” or “to represent” among other meanings. In our verse, it has the sense of “to be” in a state described in the passage we are considering.
The apostle is not certain that a person is in a state the person could be described as a transgressor of the law, but he states it as uncertain but probable. This is because of the Greek mood (subjunctive) the apostle used is one that is used to represent a verbal action as uncertain but probable. In other words, the apostle does not mean that the one who claims to be a Jew habitually or intentionally acts as a transgressor of the law but that that is possible. Although the NIV used the word “break” in the clause if you break the law, as the literal translation indicates, there is no verb “to break” in the Greek instead we have a Greek noun (parabatēs) that means “a violator, a transgressor” but when used with the law, it may mean “lawbreaker” as it is used in James to describe a person who keeps some codes of the Ten Commandments but violate even one as stated in James 2:11:
For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
In our passage of Romans 2:25, where there is a reference to the law, the word has the sense of “a lawbreaker” or “a transgressor.”
Apostle Paul having stated what is possible, that is, that a Jew could be a transgressor or lawbreaker, makes the assertion that indicates circumcision could not help to confirm that such a person is in right relationship with God as in the last sentence of Romans 2:25 you have become as though you had not been circumcised. This translation of the NIV is one that is intended to interpret the Greek sentence since literally, the Greek reads your circumcision has become uncircumcision. This is due to the Greek words used.
The expression “have become” of the NIV is translated from a Greek verb (ginomai) that may mean “to be” although it is different from another Greek word (eimi) that may also mean “to be” in that our Greek word emphasizes that of being what one was not before. That aside, our Greek word has several meanings. For example, it may mean “to come into existence” so may have the sense of “to perform” as it is used for the description of the miracles of the apostles in Acts 5:12:
The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
The word may mean “to become something” as Apostle Paul used it in cautioning believers not to become stumbling block to others in their use of their freedom in Christ in 1 Corinthians 8:9:
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
In our passage of Romans 2:25, the general sense of the word is “to become,” that is, “to enter a certain state that one was not before.” The apostle used a perfect tense in the Greek to focus on the result of the state of the Jew he had in mind or addressed. The state a Jew has entered that he was not before is described with the word “uncircumcision” in the literal translation.
The word “uncircumcision” that is used in our literal translation is translated from a Greek noun (akrobystia) that in the Septuagint is used to translate a Hebrew word (ʿārlāh) that means “foreskin” as it is used to describe the genitals of the Philistines that Saul demanded from David as bride price for marrying his daughter, as stated in 1 Samuel 18:25:
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.
In the NT, the word may mean “uncircumcised” as it is used to describe those in Cornelius’ house that Peter ate with, as we read in Acts 11:3:
and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
The word may mean “Gentiles” as those not circumcised, as in the passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
The phrase the gospel to the Gentiles of the NIV is literally the gospel to the uncircumcision so we see that the translators of the NIV interpreted the Greek word to mean “Gentiles.” It is in both literal and figurative usages that our Greek word is used in Colossians 2:13:
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
The phrase the uncircumcision of your sinful nature is taken by some to refer to being physically uncircumcised while others take it to mean being uncircumcised in the spiritual sense that a person is not regenerated. However, it seems that the apostle used it in both senses to refer to those who were spiritually dead in the sense of not having a relationship with God. This was the state of Gentiles who were also not circumcised physically. Anyway, it is in the sense of being physically uncircumcised that the word is used in Romans 2:25.
The fact the apostle is dealing with a Jew creates a problem of how to understand what the apostle wrote in the Greek that, as we have stated previously, reads your circumcision has become uncircumcision. It is worth noting that the apostle did not say that the Jew who was circumcised has become uncircumcised as in his instruction to believers in Corinth who were circumcised not to become uncircumcised as stated in 1 Corinthians 7:18:
Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.
Anyone who knows what circumcision is but knows nothing about the history of the ancient world and the practices at that time would say that the apostle stated something that does not make sense since it appears that circumcision once carried out could not be reversed. The word “uncircumcised” is translated from a Greek verb (epispaomai) that in classical Greek may mean “to draw or drag one” say by the hair or “to overturn.” It was also used as a medical term so means “draw the prepuce/foreskin forward.” It is this later meaning that is used in the only occurrence of the Greek word in the NT, here in 1 Corinthians 7:18 and so it means “to conceal circumcision,” that is, to stretch or pull one’s foreskin forward to conceal circumcision state. This kind of practice is mentioned as being carried out by Hellenizing Israelites who wanted to be accepted as Gentiles as described in 1 Maccabees 1:14–15:
14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, 15 and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil. (NRSV)
Removing the marks of circumcision involves a process of pulling the foreskin forward to conceal circumcision. This information we have provided indicates that there were people in ancient world that would undergo an operation or surgical procedure to try to hide their state of circumcision. Thus, the apostle knew what he stated when he told anyone that is disturbed about being circumcised not to hide it.
Be that as it may, the question is how to understand the literal translation of Romans 2:25 your circumcision has become uncircumcision. We are certain that the apostle was not being literal in this sentence so the meaning of what he said must be found in the figurative use of the word “circumcision” and “uncircumcision.” That aside, the interpretation of this sentence is related to the first part of the verse where circumcision is valuable or beneficial in confirming that a Jew is in right relationship with God if the one that is circumcised obeys the law. Since the sentence we are considering contrasts with the first clause then the sense of what the apostle meant is that which is beneficial has become or has proven not to be beneficial. In effect, the circumcision of a Jew under this situation has placed him in the same state with God as a Gentile that does not have the right relationship with God. We have indicated that circumcision done by God results in regeneration. This regeneration leads to obedience to God’s word so that an Israelite can be said to have circumcised the heart. If the heart is described as uncircumcised by a person, it must mean that the person is disobedient to God’s word. This fact is implied in the charge of Prophet Jeremiah against nations that are physically circumcised but are not regenerated and so do not obey God’s word as in the passage we cited previously, that is, Jeremiah 9:25–26:
25 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
The sentence the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart means that the house of Israel is disobedient to God’s word. With the understanding that uncircumcised heart conveys disobedience, the literal sentence of Romans 2:25 your circumcision has become uncircumcision is to be understood to mean that a Jew has now placed self as a Gentile. This interpretation may further be understood to mean that if a Jew becomes a transgressor of the law, the individual’s state of obedience that is the result of regeneration done by God had turned into a state of disobedience. This being the case, at that state the individual’s inner circumcision has manifested itself in a manner that is false because the result of being a transgressor is disobedience to God’s word. Hence, such a Jew’s claim of the significance of circumcision is not valid since the individual has then become like a Gentile that does not have right relationship with God and so lives in disobedience. Anyway, the second assertion of the apostle as part of his evaluation of circumcision is that circumcision does not confirm right relationship with God if accompanied by disobedience of the law. In keeping with the message of the section we are considering, the interpretation we have given implies that if one who claims to be a Christian fails to live in accordance with God’s word, the person’s claim is an empty one and so such a person is indistinguishable from an unbeliever. Hence, our message again is A true Christian is the person that has been regenerated as evident in obedience to God’s word and not one that has merely undergone water baptism accompanied by disobedience to God’s word.
12/27/24