Romans 2:29 Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
I think that as we read this passage it's safe to not necessarily be thinking about Jews as a religious group, our friends and neighbors who worship in synagogues. Instead, I think that what Paul is talking about is that he's using the word "Jew" as a substitute for those who please God, those who are part of the covenant, for God's children. God's children are those who are God's children inwardly, and real faithfulness is a matter of the heart - it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
Forget what the old adage says - it's actually pretty easy to judge a book by its cover. It's pretty easy to look at someone and judge their life or their faithfulness. Do we see them in worship every Sunday morning? If not, then it's pretty easy to know they're not a very faithful person, that faith isn't a high priority in their life. So it's easy to judge a book by its cover. It's just hard to do it correctly. It's hard to know it truly. It's hard to know about faithfulness and relationship to God and judge it rightly. So let's let God praise and judge others and worry about ourselves and our own faithfulness more.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
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