It is easy to get bogged down in the details and miss that Romans 1.18-3.9 is an argument against any human deception that omits our profound need for God’s grace through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The summary of Paul’s message is this: What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin (Romans 3.9).
There are four traditional boundary markers that distinguish Jews from the rest of humanity: the Torah/Law, food laws, the Sabbath, and circumcision.
Circumcision was given to Abraham as the sign of God’s covenant with his people.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant (Genesis 17.10-11, 14).
Necessary Obedience
Paul did not denigrate the practice of circumcision, but he made it clear that circumcision needed to be complemented by the keeping of the law.
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision (Romans 2.25).
The message of obedience was in keeping with God’s commandment to the Israelites.
So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
And to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).
False Reliance on Externals
Sometimes, a preacher has to make startling statements to shake the congregation out of their lethargy. Paul apparently did this to the Jewish believers in Rome concerning circumcision.
Once again, let’s not forget that Paul’s goal is to show that we all need the grace of Christ and that a reliance on anything less than Jesus is not enough.
So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.
Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God (Romans 2.26-29).
Like the prophet, Paul called for a circumcision that reflected an inner devotion and faithfulness to the Lord.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings (Jeremiah 4:4).
Paul went beyond Jeremiah by insisting that Gentiles and Jews alike needed an inner circumcision of the heart. They needed to have a devotion to God that began on the inside and was revealed on the outside through their behavior.
As we read in Romans 3.9, we know that none of us succeed in that to the degree that is necessary.
Thus, Jesus came, died for our sins, rose from the dead, and God gave us the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to accomplish what humans could not do in their own ability.
A Modern Message
Dallas Willard, in his lectures, mentioned ideas that I believe are similar to Paul’s striking argument in Romans.
One concept he presents is that of a barcode religion. He explains that if you take the barcode off a banana and put it on a jar of mayonnaise, the jar of mayonnaise appears to be a banana, but it really isn’t.
Willard suggests that some of us have applied this same concept to our lives. We may look entirely like the world, having once prayed a prayer, and believe that this barcode prayer will grant us entry into heaven upon our death.
Another of Willard’s startling statements has to do with this: if people don’t have any interest in God while on earth, what makes them think they’ll enjoy heaven when they get there? Willard implies that they won’t.
I wonder if it may be that hell is living in heaven and you never wanted to be around God and godliness in the first place.
I think Willard uses images like the two I’ve mentioned to emphasize our need for Jesus Christ. I believe that’s what Paul was doing, and we will see more of that as we read on in the book of Romans.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 