Romans 2:25-3:20

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.

¹What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

²Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

³What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?

⁴Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written:

“So that You may be proved right when You speak

and victorious when You judge.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.

⁶Certainly not! In that case, how could God judge the world?

⁷However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?

⁸Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!

⁹What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.

¹⁰As it is written:

“There is no one righteous,

not even one.

¹¹There is no one who understands,

no one who seeks God.

¹²All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.”

¹³“Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”

“The venom of vipers is on their lips.”

¹⁴“Their mouths are full

of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and misery lie in their wake,

¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God

before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

²⁰Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for Romans 2:25-3:20

The Berean Standard Bible