Let's go to school this morning.
I'm going to be your teacher. Let's go to school and ask God
the Holy Spirit to reveal these things unto us. Romans chapter
2 verse 25 down through verse 29. For circumcision truly would
profit a man if he could keep the whole law. But if you break
the law, Your circumcision is null and void, uncircumcision. Now, I want to begin our study
with a question. And the question is this, who
is a true child of God? Or who is a true son of God? It is that person who is a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ that trusts Him alone for all salvation. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now many people in our day, just
like in Paul's day, many people in our day and a
lot like the natural children of Abraham, the religious Jew,
think that they are accepted before God by their works or
by what they do. That's what the Jews said. Remember they said to the Lord,
Abraham is our father. And the Lord said, no, he's not.
You are of your father, the devil. Many people in our day, much
like the Jews and the children of Abraham, think they are accepted
before God by the works that they do. They think they are
entitled to salvation by their heritage or by their outward
observance to certain religious duties or ceremonies or traditions. To the old Jews, it was that
circumcision and the doing of the law. That's what they thought
recommended them to God, or at least removed his wrath. To the religious person in our
day, it's not much difference. They still think they're accepted
before God by what they do. Now, that's what fallen sinful
men naturally think. If I'm good enough, and do enough
and be right, they think that somehow they will pass the test
and that they will wind up in glory someday. Now, it is a monument
to our total depravity and sinful nature to entertain ideas of
being accepted of God by our deeds, our works, tradition or
ceremony. It is a monument and a trophy
to man's total sinfulness. Paul attacks the stronghold of
the Jews. What the Jews thought certainly
entitled them to salvation. Now God did give to Abraham this
sign of circumcision, a physical sign, a visible sign of the token
and the covenant that God made with him and those who issued
out of his loins. Now I'll give you the reference
to it in Genesis 17, 9 and 10, and you can read that later.
But we know from reading the scripture, Abraham, was he declared
righteous by circumcision? Was Abraham declared righteous
by the doing of the law? Abraham was declared righteous
by faith. Long before God gave him that
sign of the covenant, in Genesis 15, it says that Abraham believed
God and it was counted to him for righteousness. And then also
it says in Galatians that 430 years before the law was given,
God declared Abraham justified. Now we are justified exactly
the same way that Abraham of old was all those thousands of
years ago. Circumcision and law obedience
then has nothing to do, I emphasize the word, nothing to do with
the sinner's salvation in that day, in the Lord's day, in the
Apostle's day, And in our day, salvation has always been and
will always be by the purpose and grace of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Circumcision would only be a
blessing to any Jew who kept the whole law of God. Now, how many did that? How many
of those Jews kept the whole law? Now, they thought they did. They thought they did. Paul,
Saul of Tarsus, said concerning the law, I was blameless. But
none of them kept the law. It only was a profit to them
if they kept the whole law. And if they broke any part of
the law, their circumcision was void. And they were under the
curse and judgment of the law. Now the Apostle Paul said those
things at one time he thought were a gain to him. A Pharisee,
a Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews concerning the law, circumcision. He was circumcised on the eighth
day, considered the most valid time to be circumcised according
to the covenant that God gave to Abraham. But when the Lord
taught him the gospel, what did he say? I count all those things
that I thought one time were gain that recommended me to God,
now I count them but loss, dung, ruin, and garbage that I might
win Christ and be found in Him." Now, it takes the mighty work
of God in the heart of the sinner to divorce that sinner from trusting
himself or his works. It takes the mighty work of God.
That's why the gospel is called the power of God. You want that
word power, where it comes from? Look it up in the original language,
it's dynamite. It takes the dynamite of God
to blast us away from trusting ourselves for salvation. Remember
that verse, I quote, often the Lord said to those Jews who you
are, they would justify yourselves before men. But God knows your
heart, that which is highly esteemed among men, God says, is an abomination
in the sight of God. Now, having said that, Romans
2 verse 26 and verse 27. Therefore, he comes with this
argument, therefore, If the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the
law, the uncircumcised, now here he's talking about the Gentile
who by nature is uncircumcised. Therefore, if the Gentile keep
the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision? Well, what's the answer to that
question? Yes. Yes. Yes. If the Gentiles could
keep the law perfectly now, word, deed, thought, motive, and honor
the righteousness of the law by his personal obedience perfectly,
always, without exception, his uncircumcision then would be
counted as circumcision as a justifying righteousness before God. Now
the case that Paul presents is impossible, is it not? He's arguing and showing that
no man can keep the law. The case that Paul presents,
notice, therefore if the Gentiles keep the righteousness of the
law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for righteousness,
counted for As being circumcised, Paul presents an impossible case
to show that no man can honor the law in and of himself. Now,
listen to this. Wash your ears out with this.
Listen carefully. Listen carefully. Every believer
in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, has honored the law and kept
the law of God perfectly. Every believer in Christ now
has kept the law of God perfectly. Turn to Romans chapter 3, we're
going to see that. Look at verse 28. Therefore we
conclude, we conclude that a man, a sinner, is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law. Is He the God of the Jews only?
Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles only, saying,
It is one God which shall justify the Jew by faith, the Gentile
through faith. Do we then make void the law
of God through faith? God forbid we establish the law. How do we establish the law by
faith? Looking to the Lord Jesus Christ
who honored the law of God in precept and in penalty. Now,
this is the core of the gospel. This is the core of the gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ honored the law of God for us. Now, you remember in Roman chapter
4, This is a critical verse, turn to Romans 4 verse 6. Even
as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputed righteousness without your knowledge. works. The righteousness that we enjoy
is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our righteousness. Everything
that He is and has, has been freely, fully, eternally reckoned,
imputed, counted to every believer in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
Preacher, did I hear you right? Are believers now under the law
of God? Are believers going about to
establish a righteousness before God by doing the law? No, sir. That's why Paul said,
we are not ignorant We are no longer ignorant of God. He has given us a saving, true
knowledge of God. Therefore, we are not going about
to establish a righteousness of our own. Now, look at verse
27, "...shall not the uncircumcised Gentile, which is by nature..."
Now, he's describing what every man is by nature. Uncircumcised,
right? And every man by nature is born
in sin, shapen in iniquity. Shall not the uncircumcised Gentile
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, And believers have fulfilled
the law of God. That is the mystery and beauty
of the gospel. How God can honor His own holy
law and justice, and not shove aside His law, but honor His
law, and at the same time justify the ungodly sinner through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 27 again, "...and shall
not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the
law, judge thee, Again, he's making a comparison between Jew
and Gentile. Who by the letter and circumcision,
you do transgress the law. Now, if you seek to be justified
before God by the deeds of the law, all you do is show that
you are a transgressor of the law. You remember in Romans chapter
3, how many people are justified by the law before God? How many? No man by the deeds of the law
shall be justified before God." You see, it all gets down to
this matter. It all gets down to this central, central question. And here's the very question
that this religious world does not know the answer to, nor are
they asking it. How does God justify sinners? How does God justify you before
God? Well, you know, I've done certain
things there, therefore, you know, the Lord, He's given me
grace because I've earned it. Or He has shown mercy to me or
He loves me because, you know, I'm a loving person, I'm a kind
person. You've missed it. You've missed salvation. Salvation
is by His grace. By His grace alone, alone and
always, the Jews who by the letter of the law do transgress the
law." You remember what the definition of sin is? For sin is the transgression
of the law. Now look at verse 28, Romans
3 verse 28. Romans 3, 28. For he is not a
Jew, he is not a Jew which is one inwardly, inwardly, neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not
of man, but of God. He is a Jew which is one inwardly. Now, I'm going to shock you here.
You're looking at a full-blooded Jew, right here. And I'm looking
at some Jews right here. That circumcision is that of
the heart. Salvation is a hard work. Now, let us consider this word
where it says, verse 28, "...for he is not..." a Jew, which is one outwardly. Now let's consider this word,
Jew, as it's used in verse 28 and verse 29, as being a true
son of God, a true child of God. For he is not a true son and
child of God, which is one outwardly. You see that? Neither is that
circumcision which is outward in the flesh. He is not a true
child of God who goes about to establish a righteousness by
his doing. No person is considered a son
of God, a child of God, which is only by outward deeds, fleshly
works, because all the flesh can produce. Your flesh, my flesh,
any other flesh. All the flesh can produce is
what? Sin! That's all the flesh can
produce. If we say we, 1 John, you remember
our study in 1 John chapter 1, if we say we have no sin, now
it doesn't say sins there, does it? If we say we have no sin,
If we say we're not sinful by birth, nature, practice and choice,
if we say we have no sin, we are deceived and the Word of
God is not in us, if we say we have no sin. Yes, we are sinners
and man at his best state, you can clean this flesh up all you
want to. You can, I mean, we all look
pretty clean this morning, don't we? I mean, I took a shower this
morning, washed my hair, brushed my teeth. I put that stuff under
the arm and dressed up and everything. Outwardly, we all look pretty
acceptable, don't I? And you do as well. But my friend,
God looks on the heart. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. All of our righteousnesses before
God, before God now, are as filthy rags in His sight. Now we look
pretty good to one another. And you know maggots, worms,
don't mind keeping company with other maggots. Worms out there
in the dirt, maggots crawling around on a dead carcass. I mean,
one maggot said, hey, you look pretty good. The other maggot
said, yeah, yeah, you look good today, too. But what is one maggot
compared to another maggot? Just maggots. But now, what is
one maggot compared to Almighty God? See, that's the difference. We're maggots. He's holy. Now,
how can this maggot, this maggot, be reconciled to God? Certainly not by what that maggot
does. That maggot says, I'm going to climb up to the throne of
God. Really? You see how ridiculous the argument
is, if salvation be by works? That is a... A person who believes
that he's saved by his works is insane. He's insane. He's not in his right mind. God
has to change our thinking and change our mind and give us a
right mind, the mind of Christ, to teach us that we might be
justified by Christ alone. Now, verse 29, he gives the positive. He is a true child of God, which
is one Inwardly. Oh, you mean inwardly, not outwardly? Inwardly. And the circumcision
that we need. Now, circumcision is what? It's an operation, isn't it?
We had both our children, our boys, when they were just infants,
when they were in the hospital, the doctor came and operated
on them and he performed circumcision. It was an operation that the
doctor did. They were totally How much did
that little infant contribute anything to being circumcised? Zero. The doctor did everything. And the circumcision we need
is the operation of God. And the circumcision we need
is the operation of God upon our heart. You see the difference?
Not outwardly. He is a true child of God which
is one inwardly. And that circumcision is that
of the heart. That is, God has operated on
our heart in the Spirit. By the Spirit of God, He convicted
us that we're sinners. By the Spirit of God, He's revealed
Himself unto us, not in the letter. Now, what's that letter referring
to? Not in the law, whose praise is not of men, but of God. A true child of God, is so by
inward work of grace in the heart by the Holy Spirit." Now, there's
another thing this religious generation has bypassed. They
have bypassed Holy Spirit conviction and Holy Spirit quickening. If
you missed Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss repentance. If you
miss repentance, you'll miss faith. If you miss faith, uh-oh,
you miss Christ. You see, the work of the Holy
Spirit in us. Our Lord said, when He has come,
He'll take the things of Christ and show them to you. He will
reveal unto you sin, righteousness, and judgment. Sin what we are,
of righteousness what we need, and of judgment what happened
to our sin in Christ upon Calvary's tree. Now let me show you some
Scripture here that will help us understand what he's saying
here. Let's find first of all Galatians
chapter 1. I'm trying to make a point that
salvation is an inward work of grace upon the heart. Galatians
chapter 1 first of all. Paul said that one time he was
a Jew who profited in his religion above many his equals in his
own nation being exceeding zealous of the tradition of his fathers.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me..." Oh,
in me? "...that I might preach the gospel
among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood." Now find in the book of Galatians again, look at chapter
5, verse 6. Galatians 5, verse 6. for in
circumcision, for in the Lord Jesus Christ." Galatians 5 verse
6. Now you got to see this. You
got to see this. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Now turn back one page, Galatians
chapter 3. There is neither, verse 28, there
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female, you're all one in Christ, and if you
be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Now, turn to Philippians, the
book of Philippians chapter one, first of all. Philippians chapter
one, I'm almost through. I want you to see this in the
word of God. being confident, Philippians 1 verse 6, being
confident of this very thing that He who hath begun a good
work in you, He will perform it. You see what we need is for
God to operate on our heart, on our heart, our mind, our will,
our conscience, everything about us. Now turn to Philippians 2,
Philippians chapter 2, a lot of people read this one verse
right here, Luke 12, Philippians 2. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. I just thought you said salvation
is by His grace and here it says to work out salvation. What does that mean? Read the
next verse. For it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Work about
those things that God has worked in you. The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance,
kindness. Now, who doesn't need to work on those things? We all
do, don't we? Now, here is the clincher right
here. These two Scriptures right here.
Turn to Colossians now. Let's see what the Word of God
says. Colossians. Look at verse 26. The mystery,
Colossians 1 verse 26. The mystery which hath been hid
from ages and from generations is now made manifest to his saints,
to whom God would make known sovereign mercy. What is the
riches of his glory? The glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Now,
here is the chief scripture that tells us that the circumcision
we need is an operation of God upon our heart. Colossians chapter
2, look at verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, which is
the head of all principality and power." Now you need to mark
this in your Bible. "...in whom you are also circumcised
with the circumcision without hands." What does that mean? That means it's an operation
of God. Read on, "...in the putting off of the body of the sins of
the flesh by the operation of Christ, by the circumcision of
Christ." You see, it's a work He does for us and He does in
us. "...being buried with Him in
baptism wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith
of the operation of God who raised us up from the dead." Now, you
hath he quickened who were dead, and you being dead in your sins,
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, What was
that? The law of God was against us,
which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross. Having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in Himself. Now, in it, the marginal reference
on the number three, or in himself. God has given us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, are you a true Jew? If you're a believer, you are.
You are a true son of God by the operation of God upon your
heart, making you a new creature in Christ Jesus. For if any man
be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things have become new, and all these things are
of God, whose praise is not of men. The last part of that verse
there, whose praise is not of men, whose praise is not of men,
but of God." You see? Who gets all the glory for salvation?
Of Him. But of Him are you in Christ.
Okay.