IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Who is a True Jew?

Date: Feb. 25, 2023

Passage

Romans 2:17-29 (ESV)

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 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.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 2:29

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.

Paul rebukes the Jews (and what we could call nominal Christians) here for their hypocrisy. They boast about their superiority over the Gentiles (those without God) by bragging about their knowledge of God’s word and their God-given mission of being Bible teachers for the world (a kingdom of priests and a holy nation). They had the embodiment of knowledge and truth at their fingertips in God’s word. But though they taught others, they failed to learn themselves. They would preach against robbery and adultery, but they themselves committed these same acts. Their hypocrisy blasphemed God’s name to the Gentiles.

Then Paul gets to the heart of the matter. What is a Jew? Is it anyone who can claim ancestry with Abraham? Is it anyone who reads the Bible and goes to church? Is it circumcision that makes a Jew? No! The true Jew is one whose inner heart is circumcised. It is the keeping the law’s requirements (through faith in Jesus) that makes a true Jew. “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.” (29a)

Prayer: Prayer: Father, circumcise my heart, inwardly by the Spirit of God. Cleanse my heart through the blood of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Make me a true Jew.

One Word: One Word: Circumcise my heart!

Daily Bread

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Revelation 19:11-21

Key Verse: 19:16

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