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Circumcision of the Heart -A Reading of Romans 2

This article examines Paul's argument in Romans 2 where he carries out an all-out critique of those Jews whose sense of privilege as the Law-possessing and circumcised people is not matched by appropriate lifestyle of observing the Law. By tracing the line of Paul's argument, the study first demonstrates that throughout the chapter the brunt of Paul's critique, warranted by the conviction about God's impartial judgment based on works, falls on the Jew's failure to actually obey the Law. It then examines the notion of the "inner/hidden" Jew in Romans 2 and survey various Old Testament passages which deal with the idea of the "circumcision of heart," thereby showing that these ideas, obviously proffered as Paul's solution to the problem of Jewish failure to do the Law, stresses the necessity of proper obedience as the genuine hallmark of God's people. The study concludes with a brief discussion of Ezekiel 36 as an important background of Paul's argument in Romans 2, which further confirms the main thesis of this study about the importance of obedience.