Too often we put trust into religious actions to earn us good standing with God. However, this is opposite of what’s taught in Scripture. Only justification through faith in Christ alone can offer us peace with God.

In Romans 2:25-29, Paul is preparing his audience for this point. Namely, he is tearing down any and every religious practice that the Jews had placed redemptive hope. His focus in these verses is to strip them of their false understanding of circumcision and show them their need, not for a mark of the flesh, but for a change of the heart.