Romans 4:9-12

Romans 4:9-12 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.  Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!  And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.  And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul here describes Jews as the circumcised and Gentiles as the uncircumcised.  Paul makes the important point that Abraham’s righteousness came through faith before he was circumcised and it is faith that provides the needed righteousness, not circumcision.  Therefore, Abraham is the father of all who believe even it they have not been circumcised.  This means Gentiles as well as Jews.  Thus the distinction is between believers and non-believers rather than Jews and Gentiles.  The spiritual children of Abraham are believers only and include both Jews and Gentiles.     

Since unbelieving circumcised Jews are not children of Abraham, it follows that baptized unbelievers [including infants who never come to faith] are not spiritual children of Abraham either and are not in the New Covenant as defined in Heb. 8. 

It is also interesting that circumcision for Abraham was a sign and seal of the righteousness he had by faith, but the circumcision that his descendents received only signified the physical covenant God made with them as physical offspring of Abraham.  Most of them were not spiritually saved, as only a remnant of Jews throughout history has believed.  It is crucial to distinguish between the spiritual & physical strands of the Abrahamic covenant of promise.  Paul covers this later in Romans 9.