²⁹ Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the written code. Such a person receives praise not from humans but from God.^(A)

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God^[a] and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh^(A)—

⁶ “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.^(A)

¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,^[a] by the removal of the body^[b] of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;^{(A) 12} when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.^(B)

⁴ rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.^(A)

⁴ but, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals but to please God, who tests our hearts.^(A)

¹⁸ For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved but those whom the Lord commends.^(A)

⁵ Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.^(A)

⁶ But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are enslaved in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written code.^(A)