Rom 2:28-29 | PNT | STEP | For he is not a Jew . He is not a Jew, in the religious sense of one of God's chosen people, who is one outwardly alone. Neither [is that] circumcision , the true circumcision, that which makes one a member of God's covenanted church, "which is outward in the flesh".

Romans 2:28-29

For he is not a Jew. He is not a Jew, in the religious sense of one of God's chosen people, who is one outwardly alone.

Neither [is that] circumcision, the true circumcision, that which makes one a member of God's covenanted church, "which is outward in the flesh". But he [is] a Jew, such a Jew as just described, which is one inwardly, whose heart is given to God; and circumcision [is that] of the heart. Circumcision of the heart is a figurative expression for inward purity, as old as the book of Deuteronomy. See De 10:16 30:6 Jer 9:26. This circumcision is not an outward mark in the flesh of the body, but is in the spirit. The spirit of man is under the influence of the Spirit.

Not in the letter. Not literal.

Whose praise [is] not from men. The Jew, as we have seen, made his boasts, and praised his privileges, but though the true Jew, such as Paul describes, shall be ill-spoken of by men, but shall have "praise of God". The whole section shows that religious privileges, resulting from birth, the revelation of God's will, ritual observances and knowledge, increase the guilt of those whose morality does not correspond. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, were very eager for the praise of men, but the true Jew, the real child of Abraham's by faith, will have what is infinitely better, the praise of God.