Please open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. Our text this morning is verses 25 through 29. Romans chapter 2, 25 through 29. Please remain seated this time. We can have an upright posture in reverence even when sitting. And if anything, our text this morning reminds us how easy it is for us to take good things, right things, and make them ultimate or justifying things. Even things like saying, well, our church, we stand for the reading. of God's Word. It reminds me of the old story Nathan's dad used to say when he was a teacher with the obstinate little Dutch kid who, when told to sit down, he said, on the outside I sitteth, but on the inside I standeth. And so we always have to be careful that the outside and inside are congruent and matching. Nevertheless, here now Paul's concluding argument in his indictment against the religious Jew in the hopes that he will be driven to despair of all self-righteous efforts and religion and flee for mercy to Christ. However, I want you to have this little ditty in your head that the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. You may have picked that up in Jeremiah chapter 3. You're gonna for sure pick it up in Jeremiah chapter four. And when we turn later to Jeremiah chapter nine, you're going to see that what humanity, including Judah and Israel needs is not necessarily more revelation, but they need regeneration. They need transformation. But let's read the text and hopefully I will be able to prove that to be so. For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law. But if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted a circumcision? And he who is uncircumcised by nature, but fulfills the law. That's a better translation, but fulfills the law. Will he not condemn you who have the letter and circumcision, but break the law? Here's our application. This is what I want you to leave with. I can fancy it up, or we can say that it's in the very text itself. This is what Paul wants us to get for. Here's his conclusion. He's a lawyer, and he's presenting his case before the Jewish people, and he's saying, here is the summary of my argument. This is what I've been trying to tell you. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God. Thanks be to God for his word. Let's pray. Father, we would pray that in fulfillment of Jeremiah 3, and Jeremiah 4, and Jeremiah 9, and most especially Jeremiah 31, where you promised in the New Covenant when your son would come into the world and he would die for the sins of his people, he would be buried and raised, that he would bring a new covenant through his death, through his blood, and this new covenant, all would know you, because all would have your law written on their regenerated hearts. Thank you that those days are now here, that this isn't something we look into the future for, but something that Christ has purchased. So would you give us a great confidence that the Spirit who has been poured out is now performing the circumcision of Christ, and dead hearts that cannot be convicted by the law, cannot receive or understand the precepts of the law, dead hearts that by nature hate Christ, can be made alive the dead bones can be made alive, and that we can now begin to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and we can love our neighbor and fulfill the law. And so, Father, we would just pray that you not only teach us from your word, but would we rejoice in it as your people. That it was because of our hard and impenitent hearts that we rejected and scorned and spurned your revelation, whether in creation or even in the scriptures. But thank you for loving us with an everlasting love like Jeremiah says. Sending your son, sending forth your spirit, regenerating our hearts, making us love Christ and running to him with faith and repentance. You can do that again this morning, Father. You have raised your Son from the dead. Is anything too hard? The God who was able to give creation to Isaac, the promised child, can you not regenerate dead hearts this morning? Can not children who are dead be made children of promise? Of course. Thank you that you have your 7,000. May we not become despondent like Elijah. Would we remember you will save your elect. All the sheep that have been given to Christ will come. They must come. And the Spirit guarantees that. Oh, Father, teach us Christ. From Romans 2, 25 through 29, this morning, we ask in his name. Amen. Well, I was pleased to find out that one of my favorite commentators that I've been sort of reading through, his name is Robert Haldane, and I didn't know this until I listened to a sermon by Tom Askew, but Robert Haldane, I just assumed because he was Scottish that he was Presbyterian, and I always was a little bit concerned how he would handle some of these covenantal passages. because Presbyterians love to take passages like this, and they love to sneak infant baptism into every passage they can. And I was really encouraged to find out that Haldane was a Reformed Baptist. And so when I read his commentary yesterday, I read it devotionally, and I almost wish I could photocopy it and give it to you. And at the beginning of the section, he says basically what Paul is doing is he's chasing the religious Jew down, and he's trying to empty him of all of his trusts. And the image that came to my mind, of course, was from Lord of the Rings. And it's where the battle is sort of held outside of the citadel, and then all of a sudden the enemies are beating them back and they have to retreat into the citadel. And then the enemy chases them into the citadel because it's not enough to let them move from one security to another. And so Paul has already, as it were, removed their security entrusting in the law. But now they're running into the citadel of circumcision, and Paul's chasing them down. And there's a wonderful proverb that came to mind, Proverbs 21, 22. It says, the wise scales the city of the strong and brings down the strongholds in which they trust. And that's helpful for us, because this is what we need to do. We need to know that by nature, people have strongholds in which they trust, by which they can justify themselves in their rejection of Christ, and surely they're off the hook. Surely they have an excuse. And Paul, as a good shepherd of Jeremiah 3, whom God promised in the New Covenant, is going to teach the people wisdom and understanding. It's not enough that you have the law. It's not enough that you have circumcision. Because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. And what an uncircumcised heart does with the law or circumcision is it makes them ladders of salvation by which they can merit their righteousness before God. And Paul's whole argument in Romans 1, 2, and 3 is to show us all, Jew and Gentile, that we need the righteousness of God. And God has given us and revealed this righteousness to us in Christ in the gospel. And as long as the Jew holds on to something like circumcision or Sabbath or food laws or anything else to which he will run to, he cannot and will not be saved. And so we're still with Paul who is apprenticing us. He's showing us how we can be good evangelists. Our children, by nature, whether religious or irreligious, they will run to various citadels and strongholds. But the wise scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. The Jews are trusting in circumcision. And until they are wrenched from that trust in even a good thing, they will not find their ultimate and only trust in Christ. He will not compete with varying saviors, good as they may be. So, let's look at our text. Paul begins with the word for. And what he did in verses 17 through 24 is he sort of took the one leg, the law, and he broke it. You've perhaps heard this statement, they don't have a leg to stand on. So he broke the leg of the law, if you will. Well, now they're standing on the leg of circumcision. And so what Paul wants to do is he wants to break that leg as well. Now, you can study circumcision, it goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 17, and it's the language of covenant. And it is regarding a man named Abraham. And what God did is that in this covenant, which really is just a promise, it's a fancy word for promises that God gives to his people. He promised Abraham that he would make him a blessing to all the nations. Flowing out of this promise in Genesis 3 where a seed or an offspring would come from the woman and he would begin to restore all things. That God would continue to give promises to his people, and he would give promises through what we would call a covenant. It's this binding promise that God makes, and he said to Abraham, I'm gonna keep my promise, and I'm gonna give you a sign to remind you that when it seems like I'm not keeping my promise, this sign will remind you that this son, this seed is coming into the world, and he will make all things new. He will deal with the sin of Adam. He will deal with the cunning of the serpent. And he gave him the sign of circumcision. Now, I don't want to get into this, but it is important. I don't want to get into an anatomy class, but what circumcision was, was cutting off flesh. And that's important in Paul's argument, because the problem with, as it were, the heart is that it has flesh. And if you use the N-I-V, when you're reading the book of Romans, it calls the flesh the sinful nature, or we might say the sinful heart. And what God had done in giving Abraham this sign was to remind Abraham and his offspring that an offspring was coming to save the world. However, what the human heart does is it takes good things and it makes idols out of them. All circumcision was was a reminder of God's promise to bring Christ into the world. And the wickedness, the hard, impenitent nature of the human heart. Even the Jews, they took that, that sign, and they made it a savior. And if you don't think that still happens, it still does. People do that with things like baptism, and theology, and church membership, and good works. And so that's what the Jews did, is they took this good sign And they perverted it into a savior, and they said, we're saved. We've got circumcision. They thought that they could stand before God on judgment day and pull out, as it were, their circumcision passport. And what Paul is trying to say is, that's not gonna get you in. God doesn't recognize that passport. He doesn't recognize the passport of calling yourself a Jew, or having knowledge of the law. There's only one passport that God will recognize and receive, and it's perfect righteousness. Which is why you must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. There's only one wedding garment that counts. When you're ushered into the wedding feast of the Lamb, it's Christ. And so what is Paul doing? This skilled physician, this master evangelist, he's breaking out false crutches. Whether the law, which is good and spiritual, or even circumcision, which was a sign and seal of God's promise. But it's not enough to have it. You must have the substance and not the shadow. You must have Christ. You must have Christ. Circumcision points to Christ. And if you have circumcision but not Christ, you're eternally lost. But what Paul is going to say is, if you have Christ without circumcision, you are eternally saved. Okay, I'm going to show you that. Okay, he's gonna say, you Jews with your circumcision without Christ are condemned. And a Gentile without circumcision but has Christ is saved. That's so important. Okay, but let's see if I can prove that. So, Paul's not attacking circumcision because The problem is the heart, not circumcision. The problem is the heart, not law. And so he's gonna get at the heart. For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law. Now let's just remember from our past sermons, God's standard of judgment is what? The law. God's not gonna, as it were, lift up the kilts and find out, have you been physically circumcised? That's not his standard. That's not what gets you in, right? When me and Christina drive into the States. I really don't like all the toll roads, especially through Illinois. If you wanna know a Democrat state versus a Republican one, Democrat ones always have tons of toll roads, because it's just an extra tax that they can bilk their citizens from. But anyways, so we're driving through Chicago, and so what you have on your dash, have you ever seen these? They have them in Toronto, I remember the rich people, so we didn't have them, but the rich people would have them, they'd take the express roads. And there's a little scanner, and it scans. This little thing you put on your dash, and then it lifts the little gate up. And Paul wants to say that when God is scanning it, circumcision isn't recognized, but only perfect law-keeping, only perfect righteousness, and that's what Paul's saying. You think that bar's gonna lift up because you got this sort of like duct-taped, homemade, what do they call it on Instagram? A hack, when you try to cheat the system. God doesn't recognize circumcision. He only recognizes perfect righteousness. Why? Because God is righteous. He is perfectly holy. And so when you're doing evangelism, don't bring down God's holiness. Like when I talked to this Muslim, I said the problem with Islam is that your God, your false God, isn't holy enough. He thinks you praying towards Mecca five times a day, going to Mecca, you know, giving a little bit of this and that, he thinks that's good enough. No, the true and the living God, the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, who is thrice holy, he demands perfection, perfect holiness. Circumcision doesn't cut it, pun intended. For circumcision, that literally just came to me, for circumcision is indeed a value if you have the law. So he says, if you keep the law, sorry, if you keep the law, circumcision's great because it reminds you of Christ. Right? That's the purpose of circumcision. It was to say that God is bringing a seed in, right? And a seed requires that male anatomy. And every time a son was born, it would remind the Jews, every time someone was circumcised, remind God is sending a savior. But the savior has come. And so now circumcision, Paul says, to other places, is of no profit. What matters is the new creation, Galatians 6.16. So if you perfectly keep the law, circumcision's awesome. But what has Paul shown us? No one's able to perfectly keep the law. No one. Not the law of nature, which all have in creation and conscience. Not the law of Moses, which God gave by covenant to the people of Israel. We're all lawbreakers, for all have sinned. All have missed the mark of God's perfection. So this is basically disqualifying the Jew. Have you kept the law? No? Then the conversation has nothing to do with circumcision. He says if you break the law, your circumcision becomes, or as I translated it, has become uncircumcision. I want to take you to Jeremiah chapter 9. I told you I was going there. We will return to Jeremiah 3 and 4. And it's just wonderful how in Providence, we're reading through Jeremiah when we're working through Romans 2. And in Jeremiah, God is trying to, through the prophet, show where wisdom is found. It's not found in dead religion or in outward, visible signs like circumcision. It's found in fearing the Lord. Verse 23, which I'm not going to read, is quoted in 1 Corinthians 1, and it talks about wisdom. And verse 25 begins to show folly, and that's what I'm going to read. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh. Outward. Listen to this. Egypt, what? Jews too? Egypt, Judah, Edom, the lineage of Esau, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised. And all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. And so the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. And this is what we need to remember with our children. They're born in Adam. You can sprinkle them when they're kids, you can dunk them when they're young, but if their heart has not been circumcised, they're still unclean before God. They're still condemned and lost in their sins. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter 4. Actually, let's look at Jeremiah chapter 3. I don't want to read all that Matt said, but there was the threefold call to return to me. However, look at verse 10. So he says, return to me. Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me. And if you read in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, basically God punished the northern tribes called Israel. And the southern tribe, Judah, with Benjamin, they're watching all this happen as the Assyrians are decimating the northern tribe because of their covenant treachery, because of their rebellion against God and his law. And remember, we saw that in Isaiah 54, that actually having the law made them more culpable. It's because they had the law that they were judged. Which means that having the law isn't a talisman that gets you out of judgment. Rather, having the law makes you more culpable in judgment. And so the southern tribe is watching the northern tribe get judged. And they're like, well, why is the northern tribe getting judged? Because they're covenant treachery. What are you going to do tonight? Let's do some covenant treachery. That's how blind and hard and implacable the dead human heart is. You can see God judging others for covenant treachery and then the same day commit covenant treachery. The problem is the heart. Yet for all her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her what? What does it say in Jeremiah 310? She did not return to me with her what? Her heart, her whole heart. That's the problem. Because as we see in Jeremiah, and as we see in Hosea, they return to me but in deceit, in pretense, in outward religion, tears, rending their garments but not rending their heart, says Joel. They did not return to me with their whole heart. But they returned in pretense. And that's what our children will do until God changes their hearts. They'll be good little Sunday school kids. They'll go to quizzing. They'll say the right things. And those are good things. But they're not saviors, just like the law and circumcision. Good things, but not Christ. Shadows. You ever try to eat a shadow? No. It shows their substance. I want to eat. Someone said to me, was it Joe? He said, you want to shorten the service? No talking about food. Well, I'm a covenant breaker. Maybe Nathan told me not to talk about food. I don't want to eat a shadow. I can't. It's got nothing. I want to eat the substance of the shadow, that steak. Chapter 4, verse 1 of Jeremiah, if you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return, not to religion. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, a natural heart can't do that. All it can do is replace detestable things, one for the other. They can only exchange one idol for the next. And so what do you got to do for people to return to the Lord with all their heart? You need to give them a new heart. More signs and seals, more revelation even, means nothing if they don't have a new heart that is circumcised, where the flesh, that old sinful Adamic nature is cut off, killed, removed. Look in verse 4, right? This is flowing out of chapter 3, right? So, Jeremiah 4, 4, and we'll get back to Romans, but he says, "'Circumcise yourselves to the Lord. Remove the foreskin of your hearts.'" There's a problem. They can't do it. God is telling them to do something they can't do. It's like God's saying, "'Make yourself spiritually alive.'" You can't. But he can. Now, since I'm in the Old Testament, turn back all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy, because Jeremiah is picking up Moses. Jeremiah is not new. All he is is a covenantal enforcer, explicating upon God's revelation as shown to the people of Israel through Moses. Okay, so in Jeremiah 3, he says, return to me with your whole heart. Jeremiah 4, circumcise your heart, to which they're saying, we can't. Deuteronomy chapter 10. And now, O Israel, what does the Lord require of you? This is Deuteronomy 10 verse 12. But to fear 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 and statutes of the Lord, which I'm commanding you today for your good." Verse 16. Therefore, if you want God's blessing, you need to love Him from the heart. You need to obey Him from the heart. What's the problem? The problem of the heart is the heart of the problem. Therefore, verse 16, circumcise the foreskin of your heart and no longer be stubborn. That's God asking us to do the impossible. You can put fig leaves on, you can make moral resolves, you can become more religious, you can do more stuff, say more things, but you cannot circumcise your heart. to which I am now going to have you turn. I know we're doing some flipping here. Go to Deuteronomy 30. And in Deuteronomy 30, this is what you call an eschatological prophecy. Moses is talking about the last days. Moses knew that because of Israel's Adamic, uncircumcised heart, that they would be judged eventually by God. He promises exile. You really want a downer? Go and read Deuteronomy 27, 28, and 29, where God promises that these wicked wretches would do unspeakable things because of their unspeakably wicked heart, like eating your children. But we've got circumcision. You eating your child has nothing to do with outward circumcision. You eating your children has everything to do with your uncircumcised, reprobate heart. And so what God, through Moses and Jeremiah and Paul, is doing is He's showing them their utter helplessness. This is what I want us to get as a church. We just think that this is something that the pastor can do or something we can do. Our children sit under the gospel week after week after week after week after week. Are we praying for miracles? Are we praying for God to do what only God can do? So this is Deuteronomy chapter 30. He says in verse 5, in these end times, the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, or the heart of your offspring, so that what? so that you love. You commanding your children to love God requires them to have a new heart. But if you were reading back in Deuteronomy 10, right after he says, circumcise your heart, he says, is he not God of gods and Lord of lords? Have you not seen his majesty and all of his sovereign acts? Cannot God circumcise dead hearts this morning? Can he not circumcise the heart of your children so that they will love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their souls that they may live? That's what Paul's getting at. This is nothing new. Paul is showing these Jews who are trusting in the scriptures, the very scriptures they're trusting, and Paul is saying, you need a new heart. Moses talked about it. Jeremiah talked about it. And what you need is not outward circumcision, which he says in Ephesians 2, is merely made with hands. What you need is the circumcision of Christ from Colossians chapter 2. But we're in Romans chapter two, so let's get through it here. Okay, so he says, hey, if you keep the law, circumcision's good. It's a sign and a seal, it's awesome. However, if you break the law, you don't get into heaven. Does that make sense? This is why when you are witnessing to people, you must say they must be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. That's what Jesus is getting at when he's interpreting, when he's showing the majesty of the law in Matthew 5. If you think you're gonna be righteous before God, you gotta be perfect, to which they say, I'm not. as it's revealed in the law. And when they realize they're not perfect, what you do is you say, but there is one who has achieved perfect righteousness. There is one who is perfect. And his name is Jesus Christ. And by imputation. His righteousness can be put into your account. And when you come into, as it were, the toll road of heaven, God will recognize that. The arm will lift because it recognizes Christ's righteousness. If you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. And you can replace that with any other kind of religious sign or seal. If you break the law, your giving becomes ungiving. If you break the law, your baptism becomes unbaptism. Because only Christ saves. Therefore, verse 26, right? So it's a very simple premise. You've got to be perfect. If you're not perfect, outward things don't matter. And so he gives us a hypothetical case here. And I said at the beginning, what he's teaching here is that a Jew with an outward circumcision will be condemned, whereas a Gentile in Christ with perfect righteousness, though uncircumcised, is justified. Are you tracking with that? Because they're like, God's not going to let that Gentile in. They've not been circumcised. And Paul says, well, if they've got perfect righteousness, the censor doesn't recognize circumcision. The censor recognizes perfect righteousness. And so this uncircumcised Gentile comes driving in his car, the toll road. He's uncircumcised. And the Jews beside him getting sweaty, like, oh, no. He's not going to get in. Let's switch seats. And the uncircumcised Gentile comes to the toll road, and the perfect righteousness censors there, and the gate lifts up. That's what Paul's saying here. If a Gentile who's uncircumcised has that perfect righteousness which comes from perfectly keeping the law, that counts. This is why Paul's not ashamed of the gospel. because it gives Christ's righteousness to all who believe, to the Jew first, yes, but also to the Gentile. Listen, Jesus in Matthew 12 said to the Jews, he says that the people of Nineveh, they're gonna rise up and in judgment against you. Why? You've got more revelation and they're gonna rise up in judgment of you because they received, uncircumcised as they were, they received Jonah's message. They repented, God gave them a new heart. And these quote-unquote uncircumcised Ninevites will judge you circumcised lawbreakers. Because the heart of the issue is the issue of the heart. Verse 27, then he who is physically, or I would translate by nature, uncircumcised but fulfills the law. That's very important. If you're writing notes, the ESV says keeps. You'll see in mine, I have keeps in red, which is the Greek word teleo, which means to accomplish, fulfill, the one who fulfills the law. Well, how do you fulfill the law, oh Gentile? How do you? Oh, I'm glad you asked. Go to Romans chapter 10, verse four. Here's how you this morning can fulfill the law as an uncircumcised sinner. Let me start in Romans 9.30, actually, because the argument starts there. What shall we say, then, that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, they're not trying to earn their righteousness. They have attained it. They have that censure. How does that uncircumcised Gentile get into heaven? How can he be declared righteous? He's not seeking after the righteousness in things like circumcision and Sabbath observance and Torah keeping. How does this uncircumcised Gentile get it? How does he fulfill the law? How does he get righteousness? Romans 10, 4, for Christ is the telos of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. That's why you need to, when you're reading in Romans 2, and it says he keeps the law, in Romans 2, 27, put in your Bible, fulfills the law, and then put 10-4. 10-4, got it. Blake would always say that in his emails, 10-4. Because you're gonna meet people who are sinners, and you're gonna tell them they need perfect righteousness. You need to fulfill the law. What I've broken the law how do I need to start going to church like eight times a week now Colts like to do that Colts love to say here's some more stuff to do. Let's give you some more religious terms And the Christian says, no, Christ. Christ is the end. He's the purpose of the law. He's the end of the law. He's the fulfillment of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes, which takes you back to Romans 116. The gospel is the power of God. The gospel takes Christ's righteousness to those who believe and imputes it to them, whether they're Jew, circumcised, or Gentile, uncircumcised. Are you guys tracking a little bit? I hope so. How do we keep, how do we fulfill the law? By being united to Christ, the law fulfiller. By being in Christ, the law keeper. His righteousness becomes mine. Okay, so this is literally just coming to me. So, me and Christina, we're driving through Chicago. We don't want to stop. We filled up with gas in Wisconsin because it's cheaper. North Dakota's even the cheapest. We're driving through. And it's like, oh no, I don't have my little sensor. And Christina says, that's all right. I got one. And you can use it. All you got to do is ask. And all of a sudden, her censor, because I've received it by faith as a gift, it works for me. And it reads that, and I'm driving in the car, I'm in the car, but it reads Christina. It's actually seeing it as Christina's car. That's Christ's righteousness. I'm in him. And so when I stand before God Almighty on judgment day, God the just is satisfied to look upon Christ and pardon me. He is just to look upon Christ and declare me righteous, not guilty. That's the gospel. I hope you're getting this. It's so practical. And I think a lot of Christians don't get it, which is why we just say things, well, come to church, or have you been reading your Bible? Well, those are good things. But only the gospel is God's power to circumcise a heart. And so we preach Christ in the gospel. He who is physically uncircumcised but fulfills the law will condemn you who have the written code, the letter, and circumcision, but break it. Okay, and this is why I keep saying, revelation is good, but because the problem is the heart, the heart needs to be dealt with. And so you give somebody who hates Christ more revelation or more things to do, and that's not going to help them. Circumcision isn't going to help someone dead in their sins. They had all those privileges, but privileges don't justify. Christ justifies, and Paul is breaking out their two legs to stand on. The law won't save you because you've broken it. Circumcision can't save you because you've broken the law as well. Okay, and you can apply that in a thousand ways when you're at work, reminding your children who are little legalists at heart, right, who will try to impress mommy or daddy and say some right things, they gotta be in Christ. It's as simple as that. And so when you're doing your family devotions, make sure, even when you read the book of Proverbs, Christ is the center, he is the telos, he is the end, he is the fulfillment of all that God has been trying to show us. Verse 28, right, why does more circumcision not help? Because true circumcision is inward. The Old Testament, if you want to learn to interpret your Bibles better, you need to start saying that the Old Testament is a book of promises that are preparing the world for Jesus. But Jesus is the end of those promises. Whether it's temple, or sacrificed, or king, or prophet, or priest. Whether it's circumcision. Whether it's the priest washing in the water. Whether it's the promised land. All of those things are preparing the world for Jesus. And they are outward signposts that are pointing us towards a true reality. Okay? Circumcision is a shadow. It's a signpost. It's saying and screaming, God will save, flee to Christ. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. Here is your text you should memorize. But a Jew is one inwardly. And some people don't agree with this, but literally every commentator I read is saying, right, so I entitled the sermon this, even though I've not been tracking with it, true Israel's true circumcision. Who is an Israelite? See, the Jew thought an Israelite is one who has been circumcised outwardly. But when you read Isaiah 1, the prophet, he says to these outwardly circumcised Jews, you're just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Really? But they're uncircumcised. Exactly. because that outward act is meant to point to something inward, right? That outward cutting away of the flesh reminds you that you need a new heart. You need to circumcise the foreskin of your heart. That is what is dirty, says Jesus in Matthew 15. Not touching, right? Like I wash my hands a lot. But it's not eating dirty food that makes me dirty. It's my dirty heart that pollutes and defiles everything. So washing my hands like the Jews say I should, cupping them even, is not going to make me inwardly clean. I need a new heart. I'll tell a story just to sort of break the silence, and then we'll close. When we were in Toronto, when I was in seminary, we would go evangelizing, and I loved it. And we went into this area, some of you have heard this, in the Bathurst region, and it's where a lot of the Jewish community is. And me, not being wise, but having scripture, I had this in my heart, and I'll never forget the murderous look of a fellow when I told him, I'm more Jewish than you. Don't say that to a Jew. because we're thinking in different categories. He's thinking to Old Testament categories. I'm thinking to Pauline categories. He's like, I've got my menorah, right? I keep Yom Kippur. I've been to Israel to the wailing walls, and I've been circumcised. Too much information? That's all right. I have the true circumcision. Not boasting. But when it comes down to it, Jews and Gentiles both need a new heart because all are under sin. Okay? How do we see this elsewhere? Well, look in Romans chapter 9. Sonia, our good old Calvinist, loves Romans 9, and so do I. He says they have all these wonderful privileges, verse 4. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory. Here it is, the covenants. They've got the covenant of circumcision. But you can have the covenant of circumcision and not have Christ, which is why Paul wants to preach Christ to them. He's not like, well, you got circumcision, God will recognize that. He won't. If you're a lawbreaker, your uncircumcision doesn't count, or your circumcision story doesn't count. They've got the law, they've got the covenants, they've got the worship or service, they've got the promises. They have the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God forever, over all, blessed. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. Here it is. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring. But rather, through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of – read it – it is not the children of Flesh. Paul's using that word. Circumcision is the removal of the flesh. The flesh is sinful nature. It is not those who are circumcised outwardly but still have a sinful, God-rejecting, Christ-hating heart that are the true Israel. Right? In Jeremiah 9, we saw it. You're no different than the Cushites. You're no different than the Edomites. You're no different from the Egyptians. If your heart is uncircumcised, you're not really a Jew. You're one outwardly. And you can't claim that before God on Judgment Day. A lot of Americans do need to hear this. No, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are... What does it say? counted. That's the language of imputation. If you trust in Christ, His righteousness is counted. If you trust in Christ, God counts you as Israel, His special people. Okay, are you tracking with that? This isn't an anti-Israel diatribe. Please don't hear that. But whether you're a Jew by birth, have the law, or are circumcised outwardly, it means nothing before God, because He is holy. He shows no partiality we saw in Romans 2.6. And so here it is. God's purpose of election will stand. Let me give you a couple more verses quick to show you this. Romans 3. 28, don't turn there, but it says, we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also. Verse 30, here's the reason. Since God is one. I've met people who say that God has a way that he saves Jews, and he has a different way by which he saves Gentiles. That's not true. God is always saved by faith in the gospel, whether it's Adam and Eve in the garden, whether it's Abram in Genesis 15, whether it's David. There is one God, and there's only one way of salvation, and it's through faith in the gospel. God is one. And therefore he saves Jews and Gentiles by faith in Christ equally, because he is no respecter of persons. He does not literally look at a face. He will justify the circumcised by faith, and he will justify the uncircumcised through Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? No. May it never be. We uphold the end of the law by faith in Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness to all who are believing. There's Paul's circular reasoning. So let me ask you this question. Have you had your heart circumcised? Have you been born again? because that's what heart circumcision is a picture of. Not only did Robert Haldane teach me that, but a man named Jim Hamilton, in his wonderful book, God's Indwelling Presence, he says, circumcision of the heart in the Old Testament is regeneration by the spirit in the new. So instead of me saying, have you been circumcised inwardly, I could ask you equally, have you been born again? Oh, I go to church. Okay, church is good. Have a study Bible. Those are good, too. Are you born again? You're not going to be able to wave your study Bible before God on Judgment Day. He's not going to see how wet you are. No. God's people are those who are circumcised inwardly. Circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit. So let me apply this as well. So me and Joe are working through this book on preaching, and Brian Chappell's always saying, don't give general applications, which I'm like the king of, but I got a general application for you. Do you pray this way? Desperate? Your kids cannot circumcise their hearts, Jeremiah 4, Deuteronomy 10, 16, but God can, Deuteronomy 36, and God promises to. The new covenant is all about this new heart. Ezekiel 36, he can take out their heart of stone and replace it with one that is living, that is responsive and loves God and obeys Him. Do you pray that way? Bring them to church, yes, but do you pray? They need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, John 3. The letter cannot regenerate them. Only the Holy Spirit can. Listen to this. His praise is not from man, but from God. That is huge, and I'm not going to get into it. Maybe next week I will. You will know. Outward religion versus inward religion. based on this. Outward religion, Matthew 6, loves the applause of men. They let everyone know they're praying in the corners, they're helping the poor, they're doing religious things, letting everyone know all of their accomplishments, and they love the praise of man. Those who have been born again, have had that old fleshly foreskin of their heart removed, now begin to increasingly long and live for God and His glory. How do you know you've been born again? Two passages quick. Very quick. Turn to Romans chapter 6. You've been born again because you're no longer under sin. Well, how do you know you're no longer under sin? Look at chapter 6, verse 20. Nope. Verse 19. He says, just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, when you have that old, uncircumcised heart, right, you're under sin, you were free in regard to righteousness, but what fruit were you getting at that time from the things which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves of God. And the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its telos, its end, eternal life. How do you know you've had your heart circumcised? How do you know you've been born again? Your life is radically different. You want to honor God, not for the praise of man, but for the glory of God. It says here, having been set free from sin, you're a slave of righteousness, and you're now obedient, it says, from the heart to the gospel. You're obedient from the heart. So, here is Paul removing any self-boasting in the Jew in law, or in circumcision, but ultimately in self, and he's seeking to replace it that they might boast in Christ alone. And the only way you can boast in Christ alone is by the gospel, wherein which we receive the righteousness of Christ, not by works done in righteousness, but by faith alone. Paul says in Philippians 3.3, to all who are in Christ who have the Spirit, you are the true circumcision. Are you the true circumcision? Do you worship God by the Spirit, having received Christ? Father, we thank you. We ask that everyone here would be confronted in their hearts. Father, we know that only your power can circumcise dead hearts. We're dead in trespasses and sins. Whether Jew or Greek, Paul says, we were children of wrath like the rest of mankind. And would you remind us, Lord, especially the unbelievers in our midst, that you will not recognize anything but perfection in keeping of the law. Father, we're thankful that you sent Jesus Christ into the world to fulfill the law. Thank you that he kept every jot and tittle, its righteous ordinances and righteous decrees. And then thank you that in fulfillment of the law, he became cursed for our sins, for everyone who is hanged upon a tree is cursed. Thank you that he became a curse for us, the righteous one, for the unrighteous ones to bring us to God. Father, I know we keep banging the drum of the gospel, but there's really only one drum you've given us, and so help us to fall more and more and more in love with it, and to never be ashamed of it. And Father, if we become sick of the gospel, would the Holy Spirit convict us that maybe the problem is not the gospel, but our heart? And so, Lord, we would ask in the language of Jeremiah 9 that you would not only circumcise our heart, but purify and cleanse and wash our hearts. And for those of us who know you, continue, O Lord, to enable us to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit. Help us to obey from the heart. And when our children are having a hard time obeying, help us to lovingly say, maybe it's because you need a new heart. Let's ask God for one. Let's rely on his faithful covenant promise to do so. And Father, give us great boldness as we go out sharing the gospel. Give us the wisdom of Paul, and help us to be like these shepherds of Jeremiah 3 who teach the nations in wisdom and understanding. and help us to never ever deviate from the gospel of Jesus Christ. May we not be ashamed of it, but gladly proclaim it to all we ask in his name. Amen.