Romans Two

"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."
------Romans 2:28-29

When I was going through school I observed many different kinds of groups. We all tended to categorize everyone. Jocks, Preps, Skaters, Ropers, Stoners, just to name a few. I am sure you have experienced the same. What was interesting was when one person from a particular group attempted to act like someone from a different group there was always one word for that type of person, POSER.

A poser is someone who acts like one thing on the outside and are different at their core. Paul alludes to this at the end of chapter two when we says (paraphrase), a man that dresses like a Jew, walks like a Jew, is even circumcised like a Jew, is not necessarily a Jew.

This all deals with matters of the heart. Your heart reveals the real you. David is known as a man after God's own heart. And this is a good thing for David. On the outside he did some pretty horrendous things, but God measured his life through the motives of his heart.

What Paul is writing about here applies the opposite for David.

It is possible to have a dirty body with a clean heart and God's blessing with be with you.
It is possible to have a clean body with a dirty heart and God's presence will not be found anywhere around you.

"Father, help me keep my heart clean today."

Heart and Soul,
BAG
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