Romans 4:9

Is this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcision, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say, To Abraham his faith was reckoned for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Paul here dealt with the last stronghold of Jewish objection to Gentile admission to Christianity, an objection not offered by unbelieving Jews, for they did not care, but by the Jews who had accepted the faith of Christ but were insisting on a continuation of the rite of circumcision, not only for themselves but also for Gentile converts. It has already been noted that the Jews attributed near-miraculous powers to that rite, their learned teachers declaring unequivocally that no circumcised person would ever be in hell. But Paul here showed that Abraham was justified a full thirteen years before that rite was given. The evident deduction intended by Paul was that, since Abraham was justified so long before circumcision was ever commanded, it is not illogical to expect that the uncircumcised (Gentiles) should also partake of God's salvation in Christ. Thus, Abraham was truly the father of the faithful, Jews and Gentiles alike, circumcised or uncircumcised.

When ... is the big word in these verses, the time of Abraham's justification being the entire basis of Paul's reasoning to the effect that Gentile converts should not be subjected either to Moses' law or the rite of circumcision, the logic of thus relaxing such requirements being in the fact of Abraham's justification before either was in existence. This thought is the overriding consideration throughout this chapter. Such an extraneous thing as how an alien sinner is converted does not enter the consideration here in any manner.