Commentary - Romans 2:17-29

Bird's-eye view

In this section of his argument, the apostle Paul turns his attention directly to his Jewish kinsmen, who were resting on their covenant privileges as a basis for their salvation. Having demonstrated the universal sinfulness of the Gentiles in chapter one, he now systematically dismantles any basis for Jewish self-righteousness. Paul's method here is that of a master prosecutor. He begins by listing all the advantages and boasts of the typical Jew: possessing the Law, knowing God's will, and considering oneself a guide to the spiritually blind. Then, with a series of devastating rhetorical questions, he exposes the rampant hypocrisy beneath this veneer of religious superiority. He shows that possessing and teaching the Law is worthless if one does not obey it. The argument climaxes by redefining the very nature of what it means to be one of God's people. It is not a matter of external lineage or ritual, like circumcision, but an internal reality of the heart, accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Paul is clearing the ground, leveling every human claim to righteousness, to make way for the glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone.

The central thrust is that the sign of the covenant (circumcision) without the reality of the covenant (a new heart and obedience) is not only useless but a source of condemnation. The Law, which was their boast, becomes the very instrument of their judgment. This passage is a crucial step in Paul's overarching argument that all men, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin and desperately need a righteousness that comes from outside themselves, a righteousness found only in Jesus Christ.

Outline

Context In Romans

This passage is the logical continuation of the argument Paul began in Romans 1:18. There, he established that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness, and he detailed the downward spiral of Gentile idolatry and immorality. An observant Jew listening to this would be nodding in agreement. But starting in Romans 2:1, Paul springs the trap: "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges." He argues that everyone, including the Jew, is guilty of the same sins. The section from 2:17-29 is the most direct and pointed application of this principle to his Jewish audience. He is anticipating and dismantling their primary objection, which would be, "But we have the Law of Moses! We have the covenant sign of circumcision!" Paul shows that these privileges, when coupled with disobedience, actually increase their guilt. This entire section serves to prove the thesis he will state plainly in Romans 3:9, "that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin," thus establishing the universal need for the gospel of grace he laid out in 1:16-17.

Key Issues

The Uselessness of an Unkept Covenant

Imagine a man who has the deed to a vast estate. He boasts in the deed, he shows it to everyone, he relies on it for his identity, and he looks down on those who do not have such a fine deed. But he never sets foot on the property, he never cultivates the land, and he allows it to be overgrown with weeds and inhabited by squatters. What good is the deed? In fact, the deed becomes a testimony against him, a monument to his failure. This is precisely the argument Paul makes here. The Jewish people had the deed, the covenant documents given at Sinai. They had the sign of ownership, circumcision. They boasted in these things. But their lives were a direct contradiction to the terms of the covenant. Paul's point is that a covenant is a two-sided relationship. God is always faithful to His side, but when His people are unfaithful, the blessings of the covenant become curses, and the signs of privilege become marks of judgment.

Verse by Verse Commentary

17-20 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,

Paul begins by granting the premise. He lists, one after another, the genuine privileges and the self-perception of his Jewish kinsman. Notice the pile-up of claims. They bear the name "Jew," a name of honor. They "rely" upon the Law, resting their confidence there. They "boast in God," glorying in their unique relationship with Him. They know His will, approve what is excellent, and are catechized from the Law itself. Based on these privileges, they have a certain view of themselves in relation to the benighted Gentiles. They are guides, lights, correctors, and teachers. And Paul grants that, in the Law, they do possess the embodiment of knowledge and truth. This is not sarcasm. These were real gifts from God. The Law is indeed the embodiment of truth. The problem was not with the gifts, but with the recipient.

21-22 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Here the argument pivots with the force of a sledgehammer. After building up this impressive resume, Paul unleashes a series of piercing questions. The "therefore" connects their high calling as teachers to their personal failure. The first question is general: "You teach others, but do you teach yourself?" The implication is a resounding "No." Then he gets specific, likely pointing to well-known sins within the Jewish community. You preach against stealing, but are you engaged in dishonest gain? You condemn adultery, but are you pure? The final charge is striking: "You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?" This could refer to sacrilege in a general sense, or more specifically to trafficking in stolen pagan idols or temple property, a practice that showed contempt for idolatry but was motivated by pure greed. The point is that their lives were a contradiction of their teaching.

23-24 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.

This is the summary charge. The very thing that was the source of their boast, the Law, becomes the instrument of their shame. By breaking the Law they claimed to cherish, they were dishonoring the God who gave the Law. This is not a private failure. Paul drives the point home by quoting from Isaiah 52:5 (via the Septuagint). Their public hypocrisy brought God's own name into disrepute among the pagan nations. The Gentiles would look at the behavior of God's chosen people and conclude that their God must not be very impressive. This is a corporate indictment. The covenant people had a mission to be a light to the nations, but their sin had turned the light into darkness, causing the world to mock the one true God.

25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Paul now turns to their ultimate badge of identity: circumcision. He does not say it is worthless. It has value, but its value is conditional. The sign is only valuable when it points to the reality it signifies, which is covenant faithfulness. If a man is circumcised but lives like a lawless pagan, his physical mark is nullified. Spiritually, it is as if it never happened. His "circumcision has become uncircumcision." The sign, intended to set him apart for God, now marks him as a covenant-breaker, placing him in the same category as the Gentile who never had the sign in the first place.

26-27 So if the uncircumcised man observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the Law, will he not judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law?

Paul now flips the script with a hypothetical case. What about a Gentile, a man without the physical sign, who nevertheless keeps the righteous requirements of the Law? Paul says that this man's lack of a sign will be overlooked; his obedience means he will be "counted as" circumcised. God is always after the reality, not the ritual. This obedient Gentile will, in the final judgment, stand as a witness against the disobedient Jew. The Gentile's obedience will condemn the Jew who had every advantage, the written code ("the letter") and the covenant sign ("circumcision"), and yet was a transgressor. The first will be last, and the last will be first.

28-29 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.

Here is the grand conclusion and the theological heart of the matter. Paul redefines what it means to be a true member of God's covenant people. It has nothing to do with ethnicity or external rituals. A true Jew is not someone who can trace his lineage to Abraham and has a physical mark in his flesh. A true Jew is one "inwardly." And true circumcision is not a physical operation but a spiritual one: a circumcision of the heart. This is not a new idea; it is drawn directly from the Old Testament promises of the New Covenant (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:33). This inward change is accomplished "by the Spirit, not by the letter." The written code can only command and condemn; it cannot give life. Only the Holy Spirit can change the heart. The one who has this new heart seeks his praise not from the approval of his fellow men, but from God alone. This demolishes all grounds for pride and boasting in external status.

Application

The warnings in this passage are as relevant to the modern Christian as they were to the first-century Jew. The temptation to rely on external markers of faith is perennial. We must not think we can substitute "Christian" for "Jew" in verse 17 and escape the force of Paul's argument. "But if you bear the name 'Christian' and rely upon the Bible and boast in God..."

Do we boast in our sound doctrine, our church membership, our baptism, our Christian heritage, while our lives are a mess of hypocrisy? Do we teach our children about forgiveness while harboring bitterness? Do we preach generosity while our hearts are gripped by greed? Do we condemn the sexual immorality of the world while our minds are filled with lust? If so, we are no different from Paul's opponents. Our hypocrisy causes the name of God to be blasphemed among our unbelieving neighbors. They look at us and say, "If that's what a Christian is, I want no part of it."

The solution is not to try harder at polishing our external behavior. The solution is to heed Paul's final words. We need a circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit. We must cry out to God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: to cut away the dead flesh of our hearts, to give us a new nature that loves His law and desires to obey it. True Christianity is an inside-out reality. It begins with the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and it results in a life that seeks its praise and approval not from men, but from God alone.