The Jews and the Law

The Jew who boasts in the law and teaches others is asked whether he teaches himself. Paul lists the same commands he has broken, showing that privilege without obedience brings dishonor and gives Gentiles cause to blaspheme God’s name.

N¹⁷ow you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; ¹⁸if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth — ²¹you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Circumcision helps only if the law is kept; otherwise it counts as uncircumcision. A law-keeping uncircumcised person rebukes the lawbreaker, and true Jewish identity is inward, with circumcision of the heart by the Spirit and praise from God.

²⁵Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. ²⁸A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. ²⁹No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.