Romans 2.29a-Authentic Jewishness is Internal Based on Faith in Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 25, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:29a-Authentic Jewishness is Internal, Based on Faith in Jesus Christ
Lesson # 71
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:28.
This evening we will continue with our study of the twelfth and final principle of divine judgment that is contained in Romans 2:17-29, namely, that God judges according to reality and without regard of racial background or religious profession.
Sunday morning we studied Romans 2:28, which teaches that authentic Jewishness and circumcision are not based upon externals such as being a biological descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or receiving the surgical procedure of circumcision as an eight day old infant.
Romans 2:28, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.”
Corrected translation of Romans 2:28:
Romans 2:28, “Therefore, as an eternal spiritual truth, he is absolutely never a Jew who is one by means of the external, nor, as an eternal spiritual truth, is circumcision, that which is by means of the external in the human body.”
This evening we will study Romans 2:29a, which teaches that authentic Jewishness is internal and is based upon faith in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.
Tomorrow evening we will note Romans 2:29b, which teaches that authentic circumcision is the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and baptism.
Romans 2:29, “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.”
This statement “he is a Jew who is one inwardly” destroys the unsaved, self-righteous Jews’ security in his racial heritage or nationality, which he erroneously and presumptuously believed would gain him entrance into the kingdom of heaven and protect him from eternal condemnation.
“Jew” is the proper name Ioudaios ( )Ioudaio$) (ee-oo-dah-yos), which refers to those members of the human race who are descendants biologically of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and denotes nationality distinguishing the Jew from the Gentile.
“Who is one inwardly” refers to what takes place in the soul of the biological or racial Jew when he exercises faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior, thus, an authentic Jew is one who has been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:21-30, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man 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, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.”
Romans 10:1-9, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness, which is based on law, shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART,"WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart’ -- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The lordship position misunderstands salvation passages, which use “Lord” as a call to surrender one’s life to Christ’s lordship (Rom. 10:9).
In relation to Christ’s lordship, there are two aspects.
There is first of all the objective.
This recognizes the fact that Christ is God, the sovereign Lord of the universe.
Then, there is the subjective, which involves personal surrender of one’s life or commitment.
Does Romans 10:9 call for the objective fact or the subjective commitment or both?
“Jesus is Lord” was the earliest declaration of faith fashioned by the church (Acts 2:36; 1 Cor. 12:3).
This great truth was recognized first by God in raising his Son from the dead, which was an act then acknowledged by the church and one day to be acknowledged by all (Phil. 2:11).
Paul’s statement in Romans 10:9-10 is misunderstood when it is made to support the claim that one cannot be saved unless he makes Jesus the Lord of his life by a personal commitment.
Such a commitment is most important; however, in this passage, Paul is speaking of the objective lordship of Christ, which is the very cornerstone of faith, something without which no one could be saved.
Intimately connected as it was with the resurrection, which in turn validated the saving death, it proclaimed something that was true no matter whether or not a single soul believed it and built his life on it.
Romans 10:9 is calling for the need to confess that Jesus is God.
In this context Paul quotes the Old Testament a number of times and is dealing with Jewish unbelief, not lordship issues.
“Lord” (the Greek kurios) certainly is used as the equivalent of Yahweh in the Old Testament.
It is calling for the acknowledgment that Jesus is the “I Am” of the Old Testament and therefore God.
That Paul refers to confessing that Jesus is Lord is also supported grammatically.
The passage should not be translated as does the NASB, “Jesus as Lord,” or as the KJV, “the Lord Jesus,” but as the NIV, “Jesus is Lord.”
This involves a fine point of Greek grammar involving the use of what grammarians call the “double accusative of object-complement” where one accusative is the direct object of a verb of “calling, designating, or confessing,” and the second accusative is the complement that makes an assertion about the direct object.
Some grammarians would call the second accusative a predicate accusative.
Generally, the first accusative is the object and the second is the complement, but, as here in Romans 10:9, this is not always the case.
Since Jesus is a proper name, even though it follows the noun Lord by way of word order, Jesus functions as the direct object of the verb confess, and the other accusative, Lord, is its complement.
So the confession that is required is that “Jesus is Lord,” i.e., Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament.
Obviously, when a person confesses that Christ is God there is an underlying recognition or awareness that Christ has the right to rule one’s life, but the passage is not calling for a subjective commitment to Christ’s lordship in order to be saved.
Instead, the passage is saying that for a person to be saved, he or she must acknowl¬edge, believe, that Jesus was also God, God come in the flesh, the God-man and so the only one able to save.
Romans 10:10-21, “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!’ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ‘THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.’ But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.’ And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’ But as for Israel He says, ‘ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.’”
Galatians 2:15-16, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Galatians 3:24-28, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
God is always concerned with the internal more than the external as He taught Samuel.
1 Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”