Romans 2:28-29 NLT - "For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people."
The Promised Land is a reflection of what awaits in Heaven. To receive that Heavenly Promised Land, one must be Circumcised by Christ, and the Ezekiel passages give us an amazing Old Testament description of what that Circumcision is. This idea is all throughout Scripture, that is, the Circumcision of Christ.
I think a combination of the WEB and ISV translations of Romans 2:28-29 is a bit better:
"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and
circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit not in the letter;" [WEB] "That person's praise will come from God, not from people" [ISV]
The word circumcision signifies clean or pure. The word was used of lips, ears, hearts and even of fruit trees, e.g. “And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of” (Lev. 19:23). So the Romans verses are saying that a true Jew (for in this passage Paul was talking to Jews) would have a truly spiritually pure and clean heart; he would not just obey the Law but his every thought would be clean and pure too.
This is not a process for Jews. This is a process from those who God foreknew and chose before the World began. These are the same ones who Jesus said that He would not lose even one child that the Father had ordained to give Him.
Col 2:9-15 explains the Spiritual Circumcision of Christ.
It is a requirement for the Jews, and in fact everyone. Perfect righteousness and love is required from everyone, Jews, Christians and others, if they are to have eternal life. So we should read those Colossians verses (written to Christians) while bearing in mind that circumcision means clean and pure, and uncircumcision means unclean and impure:
10) and in him [
Jesus] you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
11) in whom you were also circumcised [
cleansed and purified] with a circumcision [
cleansing] not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision [
cleansing and purifying] of Christ;
12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13) You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision [
uncleanliness and impurity] of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14) wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
