 The title of our sermon this morning is the Heart of the Matter, the Heart of the Matter. This is part two, Romans chapter two, specifically verses 25 through 29. So welcome back to our ongoing study of the book of Romans. We're going verse by verse through Paul's epistle to the church at Rome. And if you're just now joining us, Paul has essentially dragged us before the judgment seat of Christ in this section of text. He is prosecuting a case against all mankind for their sin, the case that began with the righteous revelation of God's wrath in chapter one, verse 18. And now a case that will continue until Paul reaches his closing statement in chapter three, verse 20. This is a lengthy section of text dealing with the universal sin of mankind. All right, in our text this morning now, Paul in chapter two verses 25 to 29, Paul has turned his attention to addressing the Jewish formalist. And I want to set before you at the outset that this is a tough text and understanding what's going on here and the depth of what is being communicated here is something we need to take some time to think through. So we need to put our thinking caps on, sharpen our pencils, if you can take notes and that's gonna be helpful. I think we want to understand what Paul is communicating and frankly the implications of what Paul is communicating for our worship, our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is dealing with the Jewish formalist. The Jewish formalist is representative of all those who would put any confidence in their religious observance as a basis for right standing with God in the day of judgment. They believe themselves to be exempt from judgment or at peace with God in right standing with God because of the external trappings of their religious observance. I believe that I'll be right with God in the day of judgment, the religious formalist would say. I believe that I'll be spared the torments of hell and eternity because I've done all the right things and I've checked all the right boxes. That's what the religious formalist would say. Now when addressing the Jewish formalist here, specifically the Jewish formalist in Romans chapter two verses 25 to 29, Paul is exposing a worthless confidence, a worthless confidence. All of mankind has jumped out of the plane, so to speak. As we talked about last week, all of mankind is plummeting toward hell at breakneck speed, the fierce heat of God's judgment, only increasing as you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and the religious formalist is unmoved by the approaching ground. He's unmoved by the indictments of the law, his conscience undisturbed by the threatenings of Almighty God in his word, the threatenings of Almighty God against his sin. And they're unmoved, his conscience undeserved because he is entirely confident that the pack which he has on his back is sufficient and efficacious to save. They have a false sense of security. The religious formalist that deceived themselves, they've made a devastating miscalculation and they are plummeting to their death. Not everyone who says to him, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. For many will say to him in that day, Lord, Lord and their religion will be found to have been worthless. Jesus says to them in Matthew chapter seven verse 23, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice make a practice of lawlessness. In other words, their confidence, their sense of security is a worthless confidence. It's a sham security, it's no security at all. So what's in the pack then? What's in the pack? What are you putting your confidence in? You attend a good church, praise God. You get to hear the Bible every week. Thank you, Lord. You say you believe, you do well. Even the demons believe and they tremble. You don't want to lie, you don't want to cheat, you don't want to complain, you don't want to lust, you don't want to covet, you don't want to get angry. But you know, we're all human. We're all sinners, the formalist might say. You see, it's not a matter of what you have in your pack. It's a matter of who it is who holds you in his hands. He alone can save you. You can't search that pack for those religious rituals, those observances, and believe that you have some salvation or some right standing with God. Jesus Christ alone saves. Now what does it look like? What does it look like when he does? When the Lord Jesus Christ saves someone through faith, what does it look like when he does? We're gonna see that in our text. Paul knew well, Paul knew well. The Jewish formalist in his day had rejected the Messiah, had rejected Jesus Christ. So the formalist had many things in his pack. The Jewish formalist, his pack was full. Many things which he placed his confidence in, none of which would save him. Verse 17, indeed you're called a Jew. He had his heritage as a Jew in his pack. He rested on the law. You make your boast in God, verse 17. Verse 18, you know his will. You approve the things that are excellent, the things that differ, being instructed out of the law. Listen to what Paul had in his pack, Philippians chapter three, verse four, listen. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, Paul says, I more so circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning righteousness, which is in the law, Paul saw himself as blameless. That's what's in Paul's pack. It's what Paul was resting on before his conversion on the road to Damascus. Well, the Jewish formalist, the religious formalist, puts his confidence in things just like these. I grew up in church. I said a prayer. I walked an aisle. I grit my teeth and did it. I did it. But I was sincere when I said it. I profess to believe even his outward conformity to the law of God, he might trust in his obedience, but none of these things will save him in the day of God's wrath. None of them are saving. What did Paul say? What did Paul go on to say about all those things when he came to genuine faith in Jesus Christ? What did Paul say? He said, they're worthless. They're worthless. Listen to verse seven. But what things were gained to me? These I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss. Save one. For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. That word in the Greek is scubalon. It means dung. It's a word that means excrement. Referring specifically to human waste. That's what Paul thought about all those things. The Jewish formalist was putting his trust in those things, putting his confidence in those things. He took pride in those things. This is the reason I'm going to heaven. I'm circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel. I'm a Hebrew Hebrews, right? He put his confidence in the fact that I attend synagogue every week. I've been instructed by the law. I'm a teacher of babes. I'm a guide to those in darkness. And Paul says, that's excrement. That is worthless, worthless. He counted them dung so that I may gain Christ, Jesus Christ and be found in him. Paul says, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that righteousness which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Praise God. That's a proper perspective on religion, isn't it? That's the only proper perspective on Christianity. What produces? What produces that heart? What produces that mind? What produces that desire? The spirit of God produces that. That's circumcision of the heart, we'll see. All those things that Paul counted as scubalon, the Jewish formalist counted as exceedingly profitable. Thought of them as exceedingly profitable. They thought that those things would spare them from wrath. They thought that those things, the external trappings of their religiosity would somehow shield them from the wrath of God, would somehow make them acceptable to God's sight, would somehow obligate God to give to them the promises made to Abraham. Chief among all those religious rituals, exceedingly profitable to the Jewish formalists, chief among them was circumcision. Circumcision. Did you notice what Paul mentions first on his list? He mentions circumcised the eighth day. First on Paul's own list, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel. What's interesting in our text is that Paul doesn't completely disagree. He doesn't completely disagree that circumcision is profitable. And in fact, he says verse 25, for circumcision is indeed profitable. In other words, look at the benefits and the blessings afforded you through the covenant. You may be trusting in your church attendance as somehow meriting you right standing with God. And in that sense, in the sense of meriting any right standing with God, your church attendance is worthless. But church attendance is indeed profitable if you're in Christ by faith, right? It's essentially what Paul's saying. Look at the benefits, look at the blessings afforded the Jewish formalist through the covenant. Circumcision was a sign and seal of the covenant that God had made with Abraham. Chapter three, verse one, those in the covenant, God committed to them his word. So circumcision, circumcision is indeed profitable, but then Paul adds a very important caveat, verse 25. Circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law. But if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision, okay? With the principle stated, with that principle stated, verse 25, Paul is revealing a tragic and a damning error. The Jewish formalist would have said, he believes there's one God. James would have asked him, but what does it profit my brother? And if someone says he has faith, but does not have works, but does not keep the law, does not obey from the heart. The Jewish formalist might have even said to himself, according to the law, I'm blameless. But that was an external observance of the law, not heart holiness. What is God after? God is after heart holiness, obedience from the heart. James would have said, does that kind of faith, can that kind of faith save him? That dead, formalistic, ritualistic faith, can that kind of dead, ritualistic faith save him? The obvious answer is no. The religious formalist thinks that his religion is sufficient to save. I'm gonna go to heaven because I'm a Catholic. I'm a good Catholic. I go to mass three times a week. I'm gonna go to heaven because I said that prayer, and you know what? I meant it when I said it. I'm gonna go to heaven because of all these things that I've done. All that stuff that I've got in my pack, that's why I'm going to heaven. His religious observance, his external conformity, all of those external things. When you go to witness to somebody, you hear it in the way that they speak, don't you? Yeah, I'm a pretty good person. No concern whatsoever for their sin. I'm doing these things. Yeah, you know what? I gotta get back in church. I gotta clean my act up. I need to be better. When what is God looking for? God is looking for heart holiness. God is looking for a righteousness that does not belong to you. A perfect righteousness which is yours through faith. God is looking for obedience from the heart. That obedience that flows from faith. The righteousness that flows from a genuine living and saving faith in Jesus Christ. True worship, true devotion, true affection, true religion, true Christianity in that sense is from the heart, do you see? Paul is drawing a distinction between dead ritualistic religion and heart-inflamed religion. Spirit-wrought religion, do you see? That which is dead and cold and external and callous, cleaning the outside of the cup and that which flows from heart transformation, right? From that which is done by the Spirit of God. Our religious observance is indeed profitable if it flows from true faith that produces heart holiness, obedience from the heart in the life of a believer like Abraham, for example. Paul's gonna use Abraham as an example even in our text. There are two things in our text, two things that Paul could mean by the words keep the law. More than that, but two primary things that Paul could mean by those words keep the law. I want us to think, think about this, okay? Either Paul is speaking of perfect obedience to the law of God. When Paul says keep the law, circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law. What does Paul mean by keep the law? Two, strong possibilities. One, perfect obedience to the law of God. Absolutely perfect obedience to the law of God. Then your circumcision would matter, Paul would say, right? Or, or Paul is speaking of evangelical obedience, gospel obedience, that obedience to the law that flows from genuine faith. Not perfect obedience, but the obedience that flows from faith. So here's what Paul is not saying. Paul is not saying to the Jewish formalist that your circumcision has become uncircumcision because you lacked perfect legal obedience to the law of God. That's not true, it wasn't true of Abraham. We're gonna see that in the text. It wasn't true of the Jews. Paul is not saying that your circumcision has become uncircumcision because you lack perfect legal obedience to the law of God. Paul is saying that his circumcision, that your circumcision has become formalist, has become uncircumcision because he lacks that obedience from the heart that is the fruit of a living faith in Jesus Christ. That's Paul's point, right? And that's why he uses Abraham as an example. We're gonna see Paul use Abraham as an example in Romans chapter three. Paul is gonna use Abraham as an example in Romans chapter four. Paul uses Abraham as an example in many texts. We're gonna look at some of those today. Paul is saying that his circumcision has become uncircumcision because he lacks that obedience from the heart that is the fruit of a living faith. And what makes that possible is not that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. What makes that possible is a circumcision that is inward, a circumcision which is of the heart, right? A new creation, a new heart wrought by the spirit which is found in the spirit of God and not in the letter of the law. That is Paul's point with the text. And we began to make that point in favor of option two, evangelical obedience. Last week, we began to make that point using the same example that Paul often makes, that example of Abraham. By keeping the law, those words, keeping the law, Paul is referring to that obedience which flows from faith. Now, God had entered into a covenant with Abraham. We saw several texts with respect to that last week. God had made promises to Abraham, made promises to his seed that were in keeping with the Abrahamic covenant. But God also said that those blessings promised to Abraham were conditioned, Genesis chapter 18 verse 19, that they may, and I quote, that they may keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. Now, first blush, that sounds like a covenant of works. Sounds like God is expecting Abraham's obedience in order to earn or to merit the promises of the covenant. But in other words, those promises were conditioned upon Abraham, quote, keeping the law. To use the same words as Paul, right? Think with me now. Of course Abraham was circumcised. Of course Abraham worshipped and he prayed and obeyed. But if Abraham had not obeyed, his disobedience would have given evidence that his faith was false, right? If Abraham had not obeyed, his disobedience would have given evidence that his faith is false. You believe there is one God? In that you do well. Even the demons will even tremble. Do you see the connection? So despite his outward circumcision, which was a sign or seal of the righteousness of genuine faith that was already a reality in his heart, Abraham's disobedience would have proved that he never had genuine faith to begin with, okay? His disobedience would have given evidence of a dead faith. His disobedience would have given evidence of a faith that was no better than demons. It makes sense we're following along. Abraham is a good example of that faith which produces obedience to God. That faith which produces evangelical obedience, obedience as a fruit of genuine saving faith. And in that, his circumcision and his disobedience would have become in reality uncircumcision. It would have been as though he had never been circumcised at all. It makes sense, all right. Now we know from the Bible that Abraham did not earn the promises of God through his obedience. Turn with you to Romans chapter four. Flip the page, Romans chapter four. We know that Abraham did not earn those promises of God through his obedience. Look at verse nine. Verse nine, does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised also? No, to what blessedness is Paul referring here? To the blessedness of verse seven. What does that entail? His lawless deeds are forgiven. His sins are covered. His sins are not imputed to him, imputed to another. What are all those? Those are the fruits of genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ. Those are the promised blessings of the new covenant. His lawless deeds forgiven. His sins covered. His sins not imputed to him. How does all that blessedness come about? It comes about through works of the law? No, it comes about through faith, doesn't it? All of those blessings come about through faith. Verse nine, for we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. In other words, his faith is that by which Abraham is counted as a keeper of the law. It's his faith. And by his faith, Abraham is accounted as righteous as a keeper of the law. Verse 10, how then was it accounted while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? It was accounted before Abraham was circumcised. Do you see? Not while circumcised, verse 10, but while uncircumcised. Abraham's faith, he believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. In other words, Abraham was declared righteous before he was ever circumcised. And his crediting of righteousness, his being counted as righteous, took place solely on the basis of faith. Galatians chapter three would say it's faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel was preached to Abraham beforehand and Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So verse 11, then, and he received then, the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised. Circumcision becomes a sign of Abraham's inward heart circumcision, his inward faith. So that verse 11, he might be the father of all those who believe though they are uncircumcised. It's gonna be very important to our text in just a moment. So that Abraham, this happened so that Abraham might be the father of all those who believe though they themselves are uncircumcised. So that righteousness might be imputed, given to them, credited to them also as a fruit of, as a gift of, a free gift of faith. Verse 12, and so that Abraham might be the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but also who also walk in the steps of faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. It's a mouthful, we're gonna get to that text soon enough, but Abraham, Abraham did not earn the promises through his obedience. He didn't earn the promises through obedience. Abraham's obedience proved. Abraham's obedience validated his faith to be genuine. Do you see? Abraham believed, and then Abraham as a fruit of that faith obeyed God. And when Abraham obeyed God, it validated his faith as genuine. It proved that his faith was genuine. It's exactly what James is preaching and teaching in James chapter two, right? Dead faith produces no good works. Show me your works, show me your faith. I'll show you my faith by my works, right? Abraham's obedience validated his faith to be genuine. That's the kind of faith that's called upon in the gospel. That's the kind of faith that we are to render to God in response to the gospel. That faith that produces a lively religion, heart holiness, heart obedience, devotion that flows from faith. Look at Romans chapter two, verse 25, verse 25. For circumcision, your religious observance, your external religious ritual, your external religious observance is indeed profitable if you keep the law. If you obey from faith as a fruit of faith, but if you are a breaker of the law, if you have no obedience that flows from faith, no righteousness that flows from faith, then your physical circumcision, verse 25, has become like no circumcision at all. Has become a spiritual uncircumcision, if you will. Do you see the principle stated that Paul is, the point that Paul's making here, right? Circumcision for the Jew is indeed profitable, but not a circumcision that stands alone as if a formal or dry observance of some ritual is what God is after. That circumcision is worthless. No, circumcision is profitable only if it is a sign of a true and living faith, a faith that bears the fruit of keeping the law or a life of heart holiness, a new life in Christ, that new creation in Christ that manifests itself in new life, new conduct, new desires, a new heart, right? A new life of heart holiness, obedience flowing from faith. Why is it that Paul was an apostle in the first place? Look at chapter one and look down at verse five. Chapter one, verse five, literally there for the obedience of faith among all nations for his name. If that's what Paul is after, what do you think God is after? God's after what Paul is after. Paul is after what God is after. It's obedience of faith, right? The obedience that flows from faith. God is after not religious external formalism. God is after heart holiness, a life that flows from a heart that's been transformed by the spirit of God to love and adore Jesus Christ, to hate your own sin, and to live heart holy before him. The outward display is circumcision. That outward display must signify an inward reality, the obedience of faith, the circumcision of the heart, that obedience which flows from a living and genuine faith. Do you see how this is connected? The point that Paul's making, how this fits together, okay? Without the inward reality, the outward display signifies nothing. Without the inward reality, the outward display signifies nothing. It's as if the circumcised man were uncircumcised. It doesn't matter, you see? It doesn't matter. Listen to Galatians chapter five, verse six. Galatians chapter five, verse six. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. You see, it's the exact same point that Paul's making in Romans chapter two, do you see? Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. In other words, a living faith is what avails, not your external religious observance. A living faith is what matters, evangelical obedience, the obedience which flows from faith, that life that is a transformed life that is the fruit of faith, not the religious ritual apart from faith, do you see? Not the religious observance in the place of faith, but faith that produces the fruit of love. Love for God, love for neighbor, love that is the fulfillment of the law. In Paul's words, love that keeps the law, do you see? Love that keeps the law. Paul is dealing with the religious formalist, the one whose religion is external and he is indicting that one by his own circumcision, and saying it's not the external ritual that matters, it's not the external outward observance that matters, it's the heart, the heart matters. Galatians chapter six, turn the page. Galatians chapter six, verse 15. Same point, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but what, a new creation, a new creation. Who is the one who is a new creation, the one who's been circumcised in their heart, right? We're gonna talk about what that means next time we're gonna get together, but the one who's been circumcised in their heart, it's the same point, again, that Paul is making in Romans chapter two. Circumcision or uncircumcision, it doesn't matter. It avails nothing. What matters is a new creation, the life that flows from new birth. Paul says it doesn't matter, but matter for what exactly? What would it matter for? What does Paul have in mind? Paul is speaking of justification. In Galatians chapter five, Galatians chapter six, Paul is speaking to the Galatians about the Judaizers. Paul is speaking of justification, right standing with God, peace with God, the hope of heaven, that's what Paul is referring to. And so put that together with me from Romans chapter two, verse 25. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is keeping the law. What matters is the fruit that flows from faith. Do you see? What matters is faith working through love in the words of Galatians chapter five, verse six. What matters is the new life of faith-filled obedience, which is the fruit of regeneration. Galatians chapter six, verse 15. What matters is that obedience of faith, which is the aim of Paul in his own apostolic ministry in the preaching of the gospel, that obedience of faith among all nations for his name. What matters, what matters is that life of obedience that flows from faith, according to the example of Abraham himself, according to his own example. Paul is correcting something, do you see? Paul is correcting a tragic error, a damning error. Paul is correcting the dead, lifeless, faithless religiosity of the formalist. And what Paul is saying to this circumcised Jew is this. You need a circumcision of the heart. Your external physical circumcision doesn't matter. You need to be circumcised in your heart. That which manifests itself in a living faith that works through love. Does your religious devotion flow from a heart filled with a wellspring of living faith working through a worshiping and serving love? Does that describe your Christianity, your Christian life? Does your devotion flow from a heart full of affection for Jesus Christ? Does your Christianity flow from a heart that is filled with gratitude for the Lord Jesus Christ? Is your obedience motivated by love for the Lord Jesus Christ? Is your obedience compelled by the Lord Jesus Christ love for you? Second Corinthians chapter five, right? Is it the spirit wrought fruit of a new heart? Has there been a work done in your heart by the spirit of God such that you're not the same person anymore? You don't have the same desires anymore. You don't conduct yourself in the same way anymore. You have different affections, different desires, different motivations. You have a new heart? If not, if not, then your claim to right standing with God is presumptuous. That's what Paul is saying to the religious formalists. There are many, so many who would say, listen, I grew up in church, I've been in church my whole life. I'm a Christian forever, as long as I can remember. But there is no inward heart of love and affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no zeal for his name, zeal for his cause. There is no hatred over sin. There is only the shell, the husk, of a cold, dead, outward, external religious observance, ritual that you keep up week after week after week, believing somehow against all hope that that religious observance is gonna bring you peace in the day of judgment. It's gonna shield you from the outpouring of God's wrath in the day of the righteous revelation of his wrath. When all that is doing is storing up more wrath for you, treasuring up more wrath for yourself in the day of wrath. That's the principle that Paul is stating. Our faith, brothers and sisters, is not a heartless, ritualistic faith. There's no faith at all. That's no faith at all. Our obedience is not to be some dry, external, grudge it out week after week. This is what I gotta do. Listen, if obedience to the commands of God are burdensome to you, there's a problem with your heart. There's a problem with your heart. The commands of God are not burdensome. Why? Because obedience to the commands of God flow from a heart that is grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for all he's done. Grateful to God for all he's done. They're from a wellspring of love for God authored in your heart by the spirit of God. If they're burdensome to you, there's a problem in your own heart. And listen, can Christians go through a period of time in their life when the commands of God feel burdensome? Yes, to our shame we can feel that way. When we lose sight, when we lose sight of all that Jesus Christ has done for us in the gospel, we can begin to see our religious observance in that way. To my shame, we can become cold, we can become distant, we can become apathetic. What is the root of apathy? If not a lovelessness toward the Lord. A faithlessness toward the Lord. Who will rescue us from this body of death? Praise God, Jesus Christ will, right? Our religion, our Christianity, is not to be some dry, dead, going through the motions garbage scuba-lon. It's to be from the heart when we sing praises to God. It's to be from the heart when we pray from the heart, when we read scripture, when we hear the word of God preached, when we evangelize, when we obey, we should be seeking out obedience from the heart. Why? Because that's what he's called us to and we're grateful to him for all he's done, for what Jesus Christ has done, right? Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Having the principle stated, we see then Paul with the principle illustrated. Paul in the text then draws a logical conclusion from verse 25. If it's true, think with me now, if it's true of the Jewish formalist who dishonors God through breaking the law, that his physical circumcision is no more profitable than uncircumcision, then surely the opposite is also the case for the uncircumcised Gentile who keeps the law. And Paul now has in mind Gentile Christians, right? Who though uncircumcised are counted as the seed of Abraham by faith. Paul has in mind now the uncircumcised Gentile Christian who because he has been circumcised in his heart now keeps the law, not perfectly, but keeps the law as obedience that flows from faith, evangelical obedience, right? Verse 26, Paul explains this. Therefore, based on that principle stated in verse 25, therefore, if an uncircumcised man, Gentile, keeps the righteous requirements of the law, faith working through love, evangelical obedience, will not that uncircumcised man, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? Do you see the point that Paul's making? He's drawing a logical conclusion from his principle in verse 25. In other words, verse 26, the Gentile who lacks physical circumcision, but has a circumcised heart, it doesn't matter that he's physically uncircumcised. It is of no consequence whatsoever that he has not been physically circumcised. He has become as one who is circumcised. He has become as one who is descended from Abraham. He has become as one in covenant relationship with the true and living God. Do you see? That is an astonishing point, a wonderful point. How, how is this possible? Although he is physically uncircumcised, he manifests evidence of heart circumcision through the obedience that flows from his faith, that evangelical obedience. And he demonstrates the reality of his faith in the very same way that Abraham did. Abraham believed God that was credited Abraham as righteous and then from that faith Abraham obeyed, evangelical obedience, right? So then, so then Paul says, will not that inward work of God upon the heart be counted as circumcision? Will it not be counted as circumcision to that Gentile? Even though he does not have the physical sign that is supposed to point to that inward spiritual reality. Will not that Gentile, here's the implication, will not that Gentile be counted as a Jew? Think with me, will not that Gentile be counted as a Jew? Will not that Gentile be counted as a descendant of Abraham in covenant with the true and living God? As a member of the covenant, as an inheritor of the promises, will not that physically uncircumcised Gentile through inward circumcision, circumcision of the heart, will not that one be justified by his faith and will not he be in the covenant with the seed of Abraham? Verse 27 and verse 27, will not the physically uncircumcised then that Gentile Christian, if he fulfills the law, evangelical obedience, will not that one judge you, sit in judgment of you, you Jewish formalist, who even with your written code, the scriptures and your physical circumcision are a transgressor of the law? It's a powerful point, right? That one circumcised in heart and fulfilling the law through the same faith as Abraham, even though he did not possess the scriptures as you possessed them, even though he was not physically marked in his flesh the way that you were marked, will he not sit in judgment on you, Jewish formalist, even though you are physically circumcised, because you did not possess a living faith that is the fruit of a circumcised heart? Are you not then a transgressor of the law? Will not that one sit in judgment upon you? In the day, what Paul is saying is in the day of judgment to this Jewish formalist, Paul is saying in the day of judgment, it will be as though you were never circumcised. Your physical circumcision doesn't matter. You are cut off from God's people. It is as though you were never a descendant of Abraham. That's what's being said by this issue of circumcision. Even though you had all the privileges of being a descendant of Abraham, you have the written code, the scriptures and you were physically circumcised, it will be as though you were never descended from Abraham. It will be as though your circumcision is uncircumcision. The Gentile, the Gentile Christian responds to the gospel as the Jewish formalist should have responded to the gospel and didn't. The Gentile Christian, even though he didn't have all the benefits that the Jewish formalist was afforded, the Gentile Christian lives and obeys and loves and worships, devotes himself in the very way that the Jewish formalist should have lived and obeyed and loved and worshiped and devoted himself, right? And all of that is a fruit of that spirit-wrought circumcision of the heart, evangelical obedience that flows from true, living, genuine, saving faith. So the Gentile's life then, the Gentile's faith, his obedience, that obedience that flows from faith is a living rebuke, a testimony against the Jewish formalist with all his written code, with all his benefits and all his blessings. That Gentile who lives, keeping the law, obedience, evangelical obedience, that Gentile sits in judgment by his own testimony, by his own example, by his own life sits in judgment of the one who has not so chosen. Do you see? That Jewish formalist has all his confidence in the externals, chiefly circumcision. And the very thing he thinks defines him as a Jew is the very thing that Paul takes away. Do you see? It's a powerful argument. Point one, his is a worthless confidence. A worthless confidence. Point two, his tragic error, however, is the backdrop of a priceless promise. His tragic error is the context, if you will, of a priceless promise. We're gonna see this as we work through the book of Romans. Paul is, with this argument, Paul is setting up arguments that he's going to make throughout the letter. So as we get more and more into the letter, we'll see these arguments come back more and more often. But let me explain what Paul is doing here. This is absolutely stunning, absolutely shocking. This would have been a nuclear explosion to the Jewish formalist. Paul is actually redefining or clarifying what it means to be a true descendant of Abraham. There's no other way to see what's going on here. Paul is defining what it means to be a new covenant Jew. Paul is saying the true sign of being a Jew, the new covenant sign of being a Jew is not circumcision on the eighth day of the stock of Israel, as Paul once trusted in. The true sign of being a Jew is not outward in the flesh. The true sign of being a Jew is inward in the heart. The one who is circumcised in heart by a work of the spirit is the one who shares the faith of Abraham and is therefore of the seed of Abraham. Now that is revolutionary, revolutionary thinking. Look at verse 28. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Now I don't know how much more clearly, more forcefully Paul could make that statement and there's simply no other way for us to take that statement than clearly what Paul means by the statement. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Let us sink in for a second. Nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but 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. That has such dramatic implications for how you understand your Bible going forward, how you understand the promises of God to Abraham, the promises of God to restore a people to himself, the promises of God, the eschatological, the end times last days promises of God to his people. Who are his people? This has dramatic implications for how you conceive of this from the Bible. The Jewish formalist has in his pack that pack on his back all of the external trappings of religious observance. He's placed his confidence in religious ritual to justify himself before God. Chief among those rituals is the physical right of circumcision. It's the very thing that he believes secures his place in the covenant that God has made with Abraham. It's the very thing that he believes obligates God to render to him the promises of that covenant and Paul now takes away even his physical Jewishness, even his physical descent from Abraham. In doing so, Paul now takes away his place in the covenant and all that which the physical circumcision signified. And Paul is now asserting versus 28 and 29 that the true descent from Abraham is spiritual. That spiritual descendants of Abraham are distinguished not by a physical mark in their flesh but by a spiritual work upon the heart by the spirit of God. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. What about all those ethnic Jewish, we're gonna see. We're gonna see when we get to Romans chapter nine, Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 11. What are we to think of those ethnic Jews mentioned in Revelation? We're gonna get there. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Could not be stated more clearly. And real circumcision, verse 28, is not done outwardly upon the flesh. Those physical types and shadows are mere symbols that point to spiritual realities. Verse 29, the true Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly. The one marked by that genuine and spiritual circumcision that takes place in the heart manifested in the obedience that is the fruit of a genuine living saving faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, let me ask you, what is the sign that one is a descendant of Abraham circumcision of the heart? What's the sign? How do you know if you're the seed of Abraham, circumcision of the heart? What's the sign of a true descendant of Abraham? You've been circumcised in your heart. How do you know if your heart has been circumcised? The obedience of faith. The obedience of faith. It's the only proof that we have that we've been circumcised in heart. Obedience, the obedience of faith. John chapter three, verse eight. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it. You see its effects, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. You must be born again. Does that include us Gentiles? Yes, and amen. Who are those who will rightly and biblically inherit all of the promises made to Abraham? Who are those? The seed of Abraham. Who are those? Those who have been circumcised in their heart. Turn to Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter, I can't resist to go to Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. I'm looking forward to getting to these chapters, man. Romans chapter nine, look at verse six. Romans chapter nine, verse six. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Now there were some of Israel who are of Israel because those who are of Israel were the ones who were circumcised in heart. Abraham is of Israel. He's been circumcised of heart. Not all those who are of Israel physically, ethnically are of Israel, Paul is saying. Verse seven, nor are they all children. We're all children of God. No, we're not. Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham, but what does the Lord say? In Isaac, your seed shall be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. It's just very clear, isn't it? Look at Galatians, flip to the right. Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three. We're gonna get to the implications of this next time. So I wanna introduce it to you this morning. Galatians chapter three. Look there beginning at verse six. Galatians chapter three, verse six. Now, just as Abraham, in the same way as Abraham, right? Just as Abraham believed God, he put his faith in God and it was accounted, credited to him for righteousness. In other words, God gave to Abraham as a gift of his grace, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Abraham in response to the gospel put his faith in Jesus Christ, do you see? That righteousness of Jesus Christ, it was not Abraham's righteousness, he had nothing to do with it. That righteousness was a free gift to Abraham, given to Abraham when Abraham put his faith in Jesus Christ, not when Abraham was circumcised and not in response to Abraham's keeping of the law. It was through faith alone in Christ alone, do you see? Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, in you Abraham all your physical descendants will be, no, all the nations of the earth. How is that possible? God conceived of this very thing. When he preached the gospel to Abraham back in the day, right? God had this in mind, that the nations of the earth, that the Gentiles, the Gentiles would be saved through faith in the Messiah, the same faith that Abraham put in the Messiah, do you see? So then, verse nine, those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Galatians chapter three, verse 26, Galatians chapter three, verse 26. For you are, he's speaking to Gentile Christians, mind you, right, Gentile Christians. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then what? You are Abraham's seed. And if you are Abraham's seed, what does that mean? You're the ones going to inherit the promises. You see, there aren't two different peoples of God. There is one people of God. Jews who are of the faith of Abraham and incorporated into them, we'll see, grafted into them. Gentiles who have the faith of Abraham constituting the one people of God who inherit all the promises of God. You are inheritor and inheritor and a rightful inheritor. How so? By faith in Jesus Christ because God said that it would be so. You are inheritor and inheritor of those promises made to Abraham. One people of God, same promises, all inheriting according to faith in Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying here regarding physical circumcision could easily be said of your baptism, right? Could easily be said of the baptism of infants. What Paul is saying regarding circumcision to the Jewish formalist could easily be said of all your external religious observance no matter what it is, could be said of your Bible reading. Could be said of your prayer. Could be said of your obedience. If that religious observance does not flow from a heart that has been transformed by a work of the Spirit of God accompanied by heart holiness, that obedience that flows from faith, then that religion, that external ritualistic religion is worthless. Even more so, that so-called worship is an abomination to God. It's an abomination to God. Nothing more than mere ritual. It only adds to the wrath you are treasuring up for yourself in the day of wrath. What is heart circumcision then? That'll be a question we'll answer next time we're together. What is heart circumcision? Let me give you the example of Paul to think about by way of application. Paul says this, listen, in 1 Corinthians chapter nine, verse 24, speaking of the Christian life, Paul says this, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown. We have a much greater motivation, don't we? We for an imperishable crown. Therefore Paul says this, right? I run thus, not with uncertainty. I'm running with intention. I'm running with purpose. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, right? But Paul says I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection. In other words, Paul enforces in himself the obedience which flows from his faith. Why does Paul pursue obedience? Why does Paul bring his body into subjection? Why does Paul fight this way with certainty and purpose and intention? Lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. In other words, the evidence of Paul's faith is a working, loving, affectionate, grateful obedience. The obedience which flows from faith. And Paul disciplines his body to give evidence that his faith is genuine, lest he doesn't have that obedience and he himself is disqualified. Do you see? What is Paul looking for? Paul is looking for the obedience of faith, heart holiness. If he doesn't find it, Paul would consider himself to be disqualified. Listen to 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse five in light of that, listen. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are a document. Same word, disqualified. But I trust you will know that we're not disqualifying. How do you know? How do you know that your religion is not worthless? How do you know circumcision of the heart? How do you know that you've had a heart transformation? The obedience which flows from your faith. The obedience of love, the obedience of gratitude, the obedience of joy, the obedience of devotion, the obedience of affection. If you see none of that, if you see no transformation of heart, if you see no evangelical obedience that flows from faith, then you would have to surmise from Paul, 1 Corinthians 9, 2 Corinthians 13, that you are in fact disqualified. Paul is drawing a distinction between that religion, that living, thriving, healthy, vital religion that is the fruit of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. And what Paul is doing is distinguishing that from the worthless, empty, baseless, false confidence that people put in their religiosity, their external observance. Paul doesn't want you to be deceived. I don't want you to be deceived. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. Test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? Take a look at your life. Take a look at your religion. Take a look at your observance. Take a look at your obedience. Take a look at your disobedience. And brothers and sisters, that in no way, that kind of obedience can't be faked. That kind of love, that kind of devotion can't be faked. It is a work of the Spirit of God. That kind of obedience can't be gridded out in your own strength. You can't just white-knuckle it and make it happen. Maybe they'll do that for a short amount of time, but your external observance is little more than an abomination to God that does not flow from a heart that's been transformed by the Spirit of God that doesn't flow from faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God alone can cause us to obey in such a way. The Lord Jesus Christ himself alone can cause us to act and live in faith that way. We need a work of God upon our hearts. And then, brothers and sisters, as the Lord works upon our heart to convert us, to save us, to circumcise our hearts, to cause us to be born again, we need that continuous work of God upon our heart to sustain us in it because we can't sustain it for one moment apart from Him. Apart from Him, you can do precisely nothing. So turn from sin. Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, help us. My brother was preaching earlier today. The heart is just so deceitful. And Prophet Jeremiah desperately wicked. And Lord, we are so prone to being deceived, so prone to self-justification. Help us, Lord, to heed the words of the Apostle Paul here and not to be confused or deceived between false, cold, dead, external religiosity and that which flows from a genuine, living, healthy, thriving, vital faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray, Lord, that you would do a work in our heart, Lord, to cultivate there a love and a devotion, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, the evangelical obedience that flows from faith. And if there's anyone here, Lord, unsaved, I pray that you would do that work upon their heart, cause them by your spirit to be born again and cause them, Lord, to bring forth the obedience of faith among the nations for His name. May you be magnified in it, may you be glorified. Lord, may we see it as entirely a work only of your grace and mercy in us and toward us and may we magnify you and worship you for it. We love you, we thank you for this time. Be with us, Lord, as we continue to study this text. Help us to understand these things that we might think rightly about our Christian lives but that we may know you rightly as you have revealed yourself to be known, known that we might worship you and love you as we should. In Jesus' name, we pray all these things. Amen.