“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29 NASB1995)

“Jew,” here, is in reference to someone who considers oneself to be one of God’s children, of genuine faith in the Lord, a child of Abraham, and an inheritor of the promises of God to his people. But this applies to all people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who believe they are saved and on their way to heaven, or who are faking it, but it is outward and of the flesh only. For their hearts have not changed. They have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and they have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. But they are still living in slavery to sin, and not to God.

They are good at sounding righteous and at putting on a performance and at going through the motions of religious practice. But many of them are liars, deceivers, manipulators, immoral, untrustworthy, and malicious opportunists who are prideful, and morally deteriorating, who fake their Christianity for the purpose to deceive and to manipulate. They may claim that they have changed, and that their sins are behind them, while their sins are still stored up in their hearts and minds and continue to come out in their behaviors. And this is because their “faith” is outward only, and not real inwardly.

Physical circumcision involves the cutting away of the skin, so it is outward only. But spiritual circumcision is of the heart and it is a spiritual cutting away of the sinful flesh so that we can now serve the Lord with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands. So it involves us, by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, denying self, dying to sin, and walking in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God, in daily practice. This doesn’t mean we will be perfect, or that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but sin should no longer be our practice, but obedience to God is to be our practice.

And let me state here that just because Jesus did away with the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary and Sabbath laws via his death on that cross, that does not translate into us becoming lawless. Jesus and his New Testament apostles made it abundantly clear all throughout the New Testament that faith in Jesus Christ requires that we deny self, die to sin, and obey God and his commands, in practice. And if we profess to be in fellowship with God, and to know God, but sin and disobedience are still our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, please know that there are professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are in positions of pastors, elders, deacons, missionaries, and evangelists, who are not teaching the truth of the gospel, but they are teaching lies to tickle itching ears and to comfort the ungodly in their sin. And they are giving people the impression that being under grace does not require death to sin and obedience to God. But God’s grace is training us to say “No!” to sin and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await Jesus’ return. For Jesus died to deliver us from sin, not to pamper us in deliberate sin.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Your Heart

An Original Work / October 24, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Tenderly He speaks, softly so.
Gently He calls – His will to know.
Won’t you invite Him in your heart?
Humbly accept Him now.
Bow before Him with contrite heart.
May you obey His will.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul,
And your heart, His Spirit fill.

Jesus died to free you from sin,
Giving you new life to begin,
Walking with Him ev’ry hour,
Obeying His commands.
Won’t you trust Him to be your Lord?
His grace you can’t afford.
Freely He gives you peace within,
When you turn from all your sin.

Live for Him ev’ry passing day.
Meet with Him; read His word and pray.
Serve Him in the way He leads you,
Doing all that He says.
Do unto others as you would
Have them do unto you.
Love them with Jesus love within you.
Your hearts to God be true.

Circumcision of The Heart
An Original Work / April 13, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love