In Romans 2, Paul concludes the chapter with these words, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (2:28-29). From this passage, some try to make a distinction between the letter and the spirit of the law.
Denominationalists claim that if we carefully adhere to the commandments of God, we are only emphasizing the letter of the law, and not the spirit of the law. No, this is not what Paul is discussing. Paul is not here saying that obedience is not necessary, but that the inward attitudes must accompany their obedience.
Going all the way back to at least Martin Luther, many in the religious world confuse what Paul writes in this epistle and what James writes in James 2:14-26. Nevertheless, because we have only one author in the grand scheme of things (2 Tim. 3:16-17), we must view these as harmonious in teaching and understanding. Paul is not teaching some “faith only” doctrine with this peculiar language, but he is only addressing the problem in the attitudes of the Jews. Please look at the context, specifically in Romans 2:17-29.
He begins, “Behold, thou art called Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God” (2:17). In other words, they had the idea that because they had the Law of Moses, then everything was satisfactory. They thought that they knew God exclusively and that the Gentiles did not. Here is the problem—though they pretended to believe the Law of Moses, they did not allow it to affect their lives (2:18-21). On a side note, do we boast today in the gospel of Christ in the same way? Therefore, the same application is true of us. We have the Bible and say that we can properly interpret it. We try to teach others how to divide the scriptures properly concerning the plan of salvation, the church and such like, but do we really teach ourselves how it is to affect our lives?
Therefore, they boasted in the fact that they had the Law of Moses (2:23). They read it every Sabbath Day in their synagogues. Yet, they continually broke the Law (i.e., Matt. 23:14-23). As long as they went through the ritual of the Law of Moses, they thought that they were all right (cf. Isa. 1:2-20). In the time of Paul, national or fleshly Israel is living this same way as during the days of Isaiah. We need to remember to make a distinction between fleshly Israel and the Israel of God! No wonder they were unable to influence the Gentile world (2:24)! By the Gentiles seeing how they lived, they blasphemed the name of God!
Thus, when he brings in the subject of circumcision (a mark of distinction from Jews and Gentiles), Paul instructs them that the emphasis of circumcision in the Old Testament was to remind them of the importance of the circumcision of the heart (2:25); that is, they were to live as a separated people who belonged to God and were to abide in His covenant. When they failed to live the proper life, although they were circumcised, it did not make any difference as far as receiving the blessings of God. One Jewish rabbi once said, “A circumcised Jew could not go to hell!” That is what they thought here, and Paul is showing them that this is not true. Even the Old Testament showed that this was not to be the case. Now, by faith, here is a Gentile who lived in harmony with what the Law of Moses taught (2:26); thus, God accepted him based upon his faith. The “righteousness of the law” was righteousness by faith—there is no other kind of righteousness that is acceptable to God. By faith, whenever a Gentile lived by the principles of the covenant, he was acceptable to God, as he will even discuss later in this epistle to the Romans (cf. 9:30). Thus, we need to recognize the difference between one who followed the law “by the letter” and the Gentile who could fulfill the law (2:27)—he fulfilled it in the sense that he could do so by faith, which had to do with the inward attitude, as the next verse says.
Therefore, whenever a Jew under the law did not allow the law to affect his heart and cause him to live a righteous life by faith, he was not accepted of God. It did not matter if he was a descendant of Abraham (cf. Gen. 18:18-19). The real children of Abraham were those who lived by faith as Abraham did, and their lives demonstrated that they had a faith as Abraham did (i.e., Joshua and Caleb versus the rest of the nation). They were those who understood the significance of the circumcision and were Jews inwardly. The Old Testament emphasized that circumcision was always to signify a distinction of the heart (Deut. 30:1-6). Therefore, their captivity would cause them to return to God in faith, penitence and prayer (cf. Lev. 26:40-46), and then their hearts were circumcised. In other words, their service and obedience was from the heart, which is how God accepted it. That is the only kind of service that God has accepted.
Therefore, under the Old Testament, the Jews misinterpreted the Law of Moses—they thought that as long as they kept the rituals of worship, feast days and sacrifices, it would not matter how they lived. We must understand this to understand the references from Paul in the book of Romans to the law and those who were trying to find justification by it. I pray that this may help avoid confusion in misrepresenting and misunderstanding what Paul teaches in this wonderful epistle about redemption!