²⁸ A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly,^(A) nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.^{(B) 29} No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,^(C) by the Spirit,^(D) not by the written code.^(E) Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.^(F)

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(A) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{(B) 7} Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](C) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(D) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^(E)