By the Letter and Circumcision Transgressing the Law Romans 2:27

Paul the apostle asked the Jews in Rome, “if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law,

shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?”, and in chapter two and verse twenty-seven of Romans, Paul shared about people who, “by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law” where we read:

And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law,

judge you, who by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law?

The verse begins, “And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, ...” Paul began with the word, “and shall not” which means “will not” “uncircumcision” which means “the person's condition in which the corrupt desires rooted in the flesh were not yet extinct” “which is by nature” or “that exists with the force of laws and sum of innate properties and power by which one person differs from others, distinctive native peculiarities and natural characteristics of strength, ferocity and intractability”, “if it fulfill” which means “when it is brought to a close, finished, put to an end and complete” “the law” or “of the rule which make producing a state approved of God”. Paul considered the “natural order” of “uncircumcision” when it “closes, puts to an end and completes” God's “law”.

The verse continues, “... judge you, who by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law?” Paul added the words, “judge you” which means “separate, put asunder, pick out, select, choose, approve, esteem and prefer”, “who by the letter” or “the person who through any writing, note, document or record” “and circumcision” which means “the Jews' the act or rite of the cutting away of the foreskin which represents the extinction of passions and the removal of spiritual impurity” “do transgress” or “break and violate” “the law” which refers to “of the rule which make producing a state approved of God”. Paul desired for the “Jews” of whom he wrote who had the “law” to make a judgment as to whether circumcised people who “violate and break” God's “law” “fulfill the law” or not.

When we consider these words of Paul, we see how he meant to show how a person who keeps God's law and is “uncircumcised” compares to a person who is “circumcised” but does not keep “God's law”. Paul's question was directed to the “Jews” who had the law to judge, and the implication is that those who keep the law are more in line with the will of God than an outward “circumcision” or lack thereof. Jesus Christ came to save both “Jew and Gentile”, and whether a person is “circumcised” or not has no bearing upon their need for His salvation. Those who are wise shall know Jesus came to save everybody, and when they have this knowledge, they should “believe and trust” in Him as “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Paul tells the Jewish people in Rome, “he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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