Romans 2:17-29
The
Jews and the Law
17 “Now you, if you call yourself a
Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in GOD;
18 if you know HIS will and approve
of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19 if you are convinced that you are
a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a
teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge
and truth—
21 you, then, who teach others, do
you not teach yourself?
You
who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that people should not
commit adultery,
do you
commit adultery?
You
who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law, do
you dishonor GOD
by breaking the law?
24 As it is written:
‘GOD’s name is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’
25 Circumcision has value if you
observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you
had not been circumcised.
26 So then, if those who are not
circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as
though they were circumcised?
27 The one who is not circumcised
physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you
have the
written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A person is not a Jew who is one
only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
29 No, a person is a Jew who is one
inwardly;
and
circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by THE SPIRIT, not by the
written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from GOD.”
