25For,
on the one hand, circumcision is being profitable if you should be practicing
law, but if you should be being a transgressor of law, the circumcision of you has
become uncircumcision. 26Therefore, if the uncircumcised one is observing
the righteousnesses of the Law, will not the uncircumcision of him be reckoned
into circumcision? 27And the one uncircumcised out of nature
fulfilling the Law will judge you, the transgressor of law through [the] letter
[of the Law] and circumcision. 28For one is not a Jew in the
appearance, neither [is] the circumcision in the appearance in flesh, 29but
the one in the secret [is] a Jew and circumcision [is] of heart in spirit not
letter, the praise of whom [is] not out of men but out of God.
Here is an interesting little quote from the book The Little Prince, p.97, by Saint-Exupery:
“‘Goodbye,’
said the fox. ‘And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with
the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’
‘What
is essential is invisible to the eye,’ the little prince repeated, so that he
would be sure to remember.” (The Little Prince, p.97,
Saint-Exupery).
What Paul is doing here in Romans 2 is dismantling the
defenses of the self-righteous Jews of his day. They were the “religious,” yet
such people were the religious lost.
As in every generation, they had fallen prey to the delusion that their outward
practices of religion were their salvation. In this chapter, he’s already
demonstrated their knowledge of the Law not only does not save them but rather
only intensifies their condemnation – since they violate the very Law they
pride themselves in knowing!
In verses 25-27, he tackles their final line of defense –
their circumcision. They might have grudgingly admitted to Paul’s every assault
up to this point, but their final defense would be, “Yes, but we’re
circumcised.” When all else failed, they were quite confident that being
circumcised Jews assured their final salvation. In these verses, what he shows
is that the outward, physical act of circumcision in the end means nothing if a
person doesn’t go on to actually keep the Law.
As the old writers used to point out, you could replace the
word “circumcision” with “baptism” or “church membership” or “serving the Lord”
and the exact same truths would apply to us in the church today. We too fall
prey to the delusion that our outward practices of religion are our salvation, that
those things are certain proofs of our being “right” with the Lord.
But verses 28 and 29 establish a truth which underlies every
possible aspect of “religion,” and that is, just as the fox told the little prince,
“What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Jesus made this very clear to the
woman at the well: “God is spirit, and His worshipers must
worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). No wonder the Lord
repeatedly told the Jewish people to “circumcise your hearts” (Deut 30:6; Jer.
4:4; etc.).
“God is spirit.” No wonder our outward acts
and ceremonies mean nothing to Him unless they come from our hearts. Could we
all agree that any religious “act,” no matter how apparently commendable, is in
reality worthless if the person’s heart isn’t in it? Isn’t that something we
can all see? How then do we deceive ourselves into believing that mere, outward
acts are somehow in and of themselves significant. Then, how can we possibly deceive
ourselves into believing they matter to God???
Real Christianity and salvation itself is
first and foremost a matter of the heart. It has to be because we’re
dealing with God! From beginning to
end, nothing we might do and consider “religious” is of any value whatsoever if
it isn’t done deliberately in the presence of God! Someone has pointed out that
there is not a single “outward” act considered important to Christianity which
an unregenerate person could not do. They can pray the right prayers, give testimonies
that say all the right things, be baptized, join churches, teach Sunday School,
even be pastors and missionaries – and all the while have no real relationship with
God through Christ. The one thing they lack? Heart.
What they lack is the one thing which is “essential”
– a real heart relationship with God – the one thing that is “invisible to the
eye.”
This whole matter leads me to two
conclusions that to me are profound.
The first is the realization of this fact,
that “what is essential is invisible to the eye.” I’ve never really thought
about how true it is that all that really matters is what we can’t see. In Hebrews 11:3, we learn, “By
faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what
is seen was not made out of what was visible.” The very “stuff” our universe is
made of (including us!) is actually invisible! Hebrews 11 goes on to say in
verse 6, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” I think too of I Peter 3:4, “Instead, it should that of your
inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great
worth in God’s sight.” And, once again, we’re reminded, what are the two great
commands? “Love God and love people.” “On these two commands hang all the Law
and the prophets.” In Galatians 5:6, Paul asserts, “The only thing that counts
is faith expressing itself through love.”
God is spirit. In this world, spirit is
unseen, yet that is what God is and He’s the most important of everything! What
is seen can only possibly matter if somehow it is reflecting the reality of
spirit things. No wonder we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
The second thing I see from this is the
profound importance of learning to distinguish between spirit obedience and
mere legal obedience. Verse 29 refers to this as “the spirit” versus, “the
letter.” One could write an entire book on the subject (God already did!), but
one must understand the difference. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen this so
clearly. Legal obedience is simply “keeping the rules.” For instance, the Bible
says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” so I shouldn’t cheat on my wife, right?
Well, if we obey God for no other reason than such legal obedience, we’ll
certainly be better off than not obeying Him at all. The man who is faithful to
his wife will certainly save himself from a host of horrors. Well enough. But “they
that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.” And it is. But it is only the beginning. And what is the end of
wisdom? “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.” It isn’t about simply “keeping the rules.” Legal
obedience may have its place, but the Lord wants something far more. “My son,
give Me thine heart.” We’re back to the heart. And how does that relate to “Thou
shalt not commit adultery?”
It goes something like this: Here I am
enjoying this marvelous relationship with this God who loves me. I know what a
failure I am and yet here He is blessing me and protecting me, giving me
strength for every day. I so enjoy His ever-present love. Then I look to my
wife and sincerely wish to show her that same love. I know God loves her just
like He loves me. I want her to know His love but I want to be an expression of
that love. I want to be to her His hands and feet and voice. And what was that
someone was saying about adultery?
What? That isn’t even on the radar screen.
That’s spirit obedience. It’s not just “keeping
the rules.” It’s living a relationship with the God who is spirit, treasuring
His heart, and longing to live all day every day in His presence, caring
because He cares, loving because He loves, living because He has given me life.
To someone living spirit obedience, the Bible is not a book of rules, it is the
book of God’s heart. It’s there I truly learn who He is, what matters to Him,
what pleases Him and what doesn’t – and that’s all I need to know … because I
love Him, or rather, because He loves me.
I would suggest the bottom line of what Paul
is saying is to get people to realize this is what a real relationship with God
is. If someone doesn’t have this spirit relationship with Christ, then all the “religion”
in the world will not save them. And how do we gain this relationship? What new
religious act is required of us? None at all except simply to believe – to realize
that Jesus Himself (and not “religion”) is “the Way and the Truth and the Life,”
and that “no one comes to the Father except though Him.”
But then we’re getting ahead of Paul.
What a passage! Once again, I feel like I’m
scraping on the bedrock of reality itself. Romans is certainly the book of the
unseen – the real truth.
“‘Goodbye,’
said the fox. ‘And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with
the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’
‘What
is essential is invisible to the eye,’ the little prince repeated, so that he
would be sure to remember.”
Like the little prince, we should “be sure to remember.”
God help us.
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