Romans 2:28

It's not what's on the outside that makes you a Jew; it's not the physical sign of circumcision.

Free Bible Version

In The King James Version

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

In Context

27The uncircumcised foreigners who keep the law will condemn you if you break the law, even though you have the written law and circumcision.

29What makes you a Jew is on the inside, a “circumcision of the heart” that doesn't follow the letter of the law but the Spirit. Someone like that is looking for praise from God, not from people.

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Cross References

Psalms 73:1Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose minds are pure.

Isaiah 48:1Listen to this, descendants of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and who come from the lineage of Judah. Listen, you people who swear by the name of the Lord, or who invoke the God of Israel, but not truly or sincerely.

Hosea 1:6Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. The Lord told Hosea, “Call her Lo-ruhamah, because I will no longer love the house of Israel and certainly not forgive them.

John 1:47As Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said about him, “Look, here's a true Israelite! There's nothing false about him.”

Romans 2:17What about you who call yourself a Jew? You rely on the written law and boast about having a special relationship to God.

Romans 9:6It's not that God's promise has failed. For not every Israelite is a true Israelite,

Matthew Henry on Romans 2:18-29

The Pretensions of the Jews; The Depravity of the Jews. ( a. d. 58.) 17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 21 Thou therefore which teachest… Read the whole commentary →

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