Romans 2:25-29 is a passage that is routinely rejected by professing Christendom. Church leaders reject it because it points back to God’s Ten Commandment Law as the arbiter of right and wrong. Their disciples reject the passage because they are led away from it by their hirelings. Why the church-wide rejection of God’s Law? It’s all about power. Man craves the power of decision-making. He long ago rejected God’s rules of engagement (the Law) and developed his own in the form of what is known as “church doctrine,” which is an abomination by virtue of the fact that it exists. God’s people have one set of do’s and do nots–it is called The Holy Bible which God forbids man to interpret (2 Pet. 1:20). The Bible interprets itself for those who study it in search of spiritual Truth.

Adam and Eve set the standard for self-rule. We all know how that turned out. Nevertheless, religious man insists on walking his own hundreds of conflicting, contradicting religious paths. Though each path is different from the others, each will supposedly lead its travelers to heaven. One day there will come “the shock heard around the world” when salvation seekers by the billions learn that Satan has deceived them (Rev. 12:9). Instead of a so-called “rapture,” they will find themselves in the Great Tribulation. Read about the Tribulation and the Rapture using those words as keys.

The entire Satan-orchestrated religious lie relative to the Law stems from man’s rejection of an outside force being in control of his life. Being a Spiritual Jew or Spiritual Israelite necessitates that one place him/herself totally in the hands of God and follows the leadership of the Holy Spirit which lives within his/her heart (mind). This is what being a Spiritual Jew/Spiritual Israelite means. The fact that God tells us in His Holy Scriptures that the entire Bible was written by “holy men of old who spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by the Spirit of God” (2 Pet. 1:21) has no effect on the religious mind. The fact that “the New Covenant (Testament) Church was founded on the teachings of both the prophets and the apostles” (Eph. 2:20) moves only a minutely few believers. The fact that “To transgress the Law is sin; for sin is the transgression of the Law (1 Jn. 3:4) has no place in the heart of the vast majority of salvation seekers.

To even suggest that one must become a Spiritual Jew or Spiritual Gentile raises religious hackles like nothing else. The Jew-hating obsession having consumed the minds of people all over the world is proof that Jew-hatred is en vogue like never before. Jew-hatred is not a new phenomenon. I recall several decades ago reading that a major Protestant denomination refused to deal with any business that did business with the nation of Israel. Rejection of the Jews has been a somewhat below-the-surface reality for centuries. Two facts dominate the reasons why the church world rejects the Jews: 1) The Jews put Jesus to death and refuse to accept Him as their Lord to this day, and 2) the Jews observe the 7th day Sabbath.

However, the Lord’s finger of guilt is pointed at both Jews and their Gentile accusers. In Scriptural reality, the vast majority of Catholics and Protestants also refuse to accept Jesus as their Lord, bear equal guilt for His death by disobeying His Law–sinning (1 Jn. 3:4), and there is that Sabbath situation. Jesus did not nail the Law to His cross; the Law nailed Jesus to His cross. It is because of our Law-breaking (sins) that He had to die on a cross. Read Did Jesus Die On A Cross? Key word: Cross. Now back to Romans 2:26-29 which is one of Christendom’s most despised Biblical passages BECAUSE IT STATES THAT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE ONE MUST BECOME A SPIRITUAL JEW/ISRAELITE.

Relative to the Romans 2 passage, a defining of terms is in order: “Circumcision” and “Jew” mean the same thing. “Uncircumcision” and “Gentile” mean the same thing. “Circumcision” and “Jew” refer to biological Jews/Israelites who have always possessed God’s Law but does not necessarily mean that they obey it. “Uncircumcision” and “Gentile” refer to those who have not had access to the Law. We will now approach the focal verses (25-29) one at a time.

Verse 25: Circumcision (being a Jew) profits greatly IF HE/SHE OBEYS GOD’S LAW. If a Jew does not obey the Law, he/she is a Spiritual Gentile in God’s view–the only view that counts. See 3:1,2. Verse 26: Conversely, if the uncircumcision (biological Gentile) obeys God’s Law, God views him as being a Spiritual Jew–no longer a “dog”–and a candidate for salvation and rebirth. Verse 27: The uncircumcision (biological Gentile) who obeys the Law (a Spiritual Jew) will judge biological Jewish Law-breakers (Spiritual Gentiles). Verses 28,29: Spiritual circumcision involves an inward removal of all that is not of God which results in true CONVERSION with which includes the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit by which one overcomes Satan’s temptation to sin, thereby making one a candidate for eternal life which Jesus will award His Very Elect saints upon His return to earth.

The fact that God commands WORKS/ DEEDS/ DOINGS, and not merely belief (faith), has kept billions of people out of His church and in Satan’s church for almost 1900 years. To see how his system works we will turn to Romans 2:5-11.

In verses 5 and 6 God, through the Apostle Paul, warns church people that there is a time coming when the Lord will judge every man according to his “DEEDS.” In verses 7 and 10 we learn that the person will be judged by his/her “CONTINUANCE IN WELL-DOING.” These are they who, by “WORKING GOOD” seek glory, honor, peace and eternal life. In verses 8 and 9 Paul warns church people who continue to sin of the consequences for not doing righteous “deeds,” “well-doings” and “good workings.” Read James 2:10,14,17.18,20,24,26.

The message is clear: God’s grace and man’s faith will not result in salvation. We must not only believe God’s Law, we must be “doers of the Law.” We must “perform the righteousness of the Law” (vs 26) and “show the work of the Law that is written our hearts” (vs 15). Read Romans 2:13 and James 1:22.

Lastly, we must understand that knowing and believing God’s Word and claiming Jesus as our Savior will not result in salvation and the born again experience. Read the series using Born as the key word. As Paul tells us in Romans 1:16: “the Lord’s Gospel (Word/Law) is the power of God THAT WILL LEAD ONE TO SALVATION IF IT IS OBEYED. WE MUST PROVE OUR LOVE FOR GOD BY OUR RIGHTEOUS DEEDS, DOINGS AND GOOD WORKS WHICH ARE DEMONSTRATED BY ONE’S OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD. Read John 14:15,23 and 15:10, Romans 5:21 and 6:22. Everything comes back to God’s Word/Law/Gospel/ Truth. L.J.