Who are the Children of Abraham?
Romans 2
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.
Three statements must first be made: the Jews in Paul’s day considered themselves the children of Abraham by virtue of their covenant relationship through Moses and Sinai; for Paul, “keep[ing] the precepts of the law” is the same as one having been regenerated, which is the same as one having had the law of God written on his heart; and last, those “who have the written code and circumcision” are those to whom Moses gave the Decalogue; the members of the Old Covenant; those who in Paul’s day, considered themselves Jews exclusively.
Paul clarifies here what God has been doing throughout history: that which was once veiled as a mystery but is now revealed more clearly after Christ (the Lamb of God, the Seed of Abraham) has come, that the ethnic Jew (the Jew by sole virtue of his family heritage) is not necessarily the one blessed to receive the promises of God even if, along with that heritage, he obeyed the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant and received some of the physical promises of God with the covenant community as a whole but rather, the true Jew is the one who is circumcised of heart, not just circumcised of flesh; the one who has the precepts of the moral law written on his heart by God’s elective work, not the one who only obeys the precepts of the civil and ceremonial law of Moses as a member of the Old Covenant community.
When Paul mentions circumcision here he is referencing the outward obedience to the Mosaic Law, which is why he draws the contrast between the one who is merely circumcised and the one who has the law inwardly; the one who has had the law written on his heart; that one is the one who is regarded as actually having been circumcised.
Having the law written on the heart of an individual, as is mentioned in Jeremiah 31, is not the futuristic portion of that prophesy, the future aspect of it was that one day, all those in the covenant God has made will have the law written on their hearts. There were many under the Old Covenant who were members of that community but who had not had the law written on their hearts, likewise there were individuals in the Old Covenant who did have that law written on their hearts—they were saved, they were born again—but the law had not been written on the hearts of the community at large. One day in that New Covenant, all its members will have that blessing; all of those covenant members will be the spiritual children of Abraham. We will discuss this a bit more when we deal with the Jeremiah passage in particular, as we attempt to answer the question: who are the partakers of the New Covenant?
Romans 2
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.
Three statements must first be made: the Jews in Paul’s day considered themselves the children of Abraham by virtue of their covenant relationship through Moses and Sinai; for Paul, “keep[ing] the precepts of the law” is the same as one having been regenerated, which is the same as one having had the law of God written on his heart; and last, those “who have the written code and circumcision” are those to whom Moses gave the Decalogue; the members of the Old Covenant; those who in Paul’s day, considered themselves Jews exclusively.
Paul clarifies here what God has been doing throughout history: that which was once veiled as a mystery but is now revealed more clearly after Christ (the Lamb of God, the Seed of Abraham) has come, that the ethnic Jew (the Jew by sole virtue of his family heritage) is not necessarily the one blessed to receive the promises of God even if, along with that heritage, he obeyed the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant and received some of the physical promises of God with the covenant community as a whole but rather, the true Jew is the one who is circumcised of heart, not just circumcised of flesh; the one who has the precepts of the moral law written on his heart by God’s elective work, not the one who only obeys the precepts of the civil and ceremonial law of Moses as a member of the Old Covenant community.
When Paul mentions circumcision here he is referencing the outward obedience to the Mosaic Law, which is why he draws the contrast between the one who is merely circumcised and the one who has the law inwardly; the one who has had the law written on his heart; that one is the one who is regarded as actually having been circumcised.
Having the law written on the heart of an individual, as is mentioned in Jeremiah 31, is not the futuristic portion of that prophesy, the future aspect of it was that one day, all those in the covenant God has made will have the law written on their hearts. There were many under the Old Covenant who were members of that community but who had not had the law written on their hearts, likewise there were individuals in the Old Covenant who did have that law written on their hearts—they were saved, they were born again—but the law had not been written on the hearts of the community at large. One day in that New Covenant, all its members will have that blessing; all of those covenant members will be the spiritual children of Abraham. We will discuss this a bit more when we deal with the Jeremiah passage in particular, as we attempt to answer the question: who are the partakers of the New Covenant?
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