For the true Jew is not the man who is simply a Jew outwardly, and true circumcision is not that which is outward and bodily.

Yet if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. Such people, however, will have outward trouble. But I am for sparing you.

Therefore we are not cowards. Nay, even though our outward man is wasting away, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day.

Is it outward appearances you look to? If any man is confident as regards himself that he specially belongs to Christ, let him consider again and reflect that just as he belongs to Christ, so also do we.

For we are the true circumcision--we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies:

although I myself might have some excuse for confidence in outward ceremonies. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I:

Your adornment ought not to be a merely outward thing--one of plaiting the hair, putting on jewelry, or wearing beautiful dresses.