11th Chapter of Romans
Romans 11:1 (all verses are from the New International
Version)
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite
myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
GOD
HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE
Paul offers himself as proof that God has not rejected His people.
Here he was, an Israelite of Israelites, and understood and was participating
in God’s eternal plan. Paul described himself as a true Israelite, using the
distinction he had made before in Romans
2:28-29, where he describes the true Jew as being one inwardly, seeking
the praise from God and not from men. This is the kind of Jew God has not cast
off! Paul’s appeal to them using his Jewish background is similar to the appeal
he makes to the Philippian church:
Phil
3:4-6 NIV If anyone else
thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised
on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the
church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
So the conclusion the Spirit is seeking to make here is that God
never casts off individuals, particularly when they seek Him. What God cast off
was the law and the nation the Jews had built around it. Those who were still
“His people” always remained so, even in the midst of captivity as we see in
the examples of Joshua, Daniel, Esther, etc; and especially those who listen to
His Son Jesus Christ.
Romans 11:2-3
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what
the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against
Israel: "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I
am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"?
Again, the point is made that these people God did not cast off
were those whom He foreknew would remain loyal. Israel as a nation had already
abandoned loyalty to God since the days of Samuel:
1
Sam 8:7 NIV And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people
are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me
as their king.
But there was that remnant that remained faithful as we will see
in the following verses.
Paul uses Elijah’s cry of desperation to illustrate that even in
those days God had distinguished the true Jews from the nation of Jews that had
abandoned Him:
1Kings
19:9-11 NIV And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you
doing here, Elijah?" 10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the
LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have
rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death
with the sword. I am the only one left,
and now they are trying to kill me too." 11 The LORD said, "Go out
and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to
pass by."
Then God tells Elijah in verse 18: “Yet I reserve seven thousand
in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have
not kissed him.”
The apostasy of Israel was so complete under Ahab, during the days
of Elijah, that Elijah was convinced that God had no people at all except
himself. Ahab, the head of the Jewish state, had murdered the prophets of God,
overthrown the worship of God, and led the nation into total rebellion, as a
nation, against God, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Samuel that Israel,
through their demand of a king, had indeed rejected God from reigning over them
(1Sam 8:7).
The existence, along with Elijah, of 7,000 faithful persons as the true Israel
during those terrible days when Jezebel sat on the throne in Jerusalem was
revealed to Elijah by the Lord for his encouragement; but the existence of the
true Israel even at that time was totally separate and apart from the nation,
as such, for the nation was God's unqualified enemy. Still, the true Israel was
throughout that period concealed in and mingled with the other Israel. – Coffman
Elijah had gotten to the point where he was so discouraged because
it seemed that it was only him who acknowledged the Lord. It seemed that the
entire nation was lost. However, things are not always as they seem and the
Lord encouraged him by revealing the number of a remnant. Paul’s use of this
account was to remind the Jews in Rome that what was happening now to Israel
was no different than what had happened in the times of Elijah! God always has
a remnant of the faithful whom He knows about!
Romans 11:4
And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself
seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
Notice
the quality that separated the remnant from the rest of the Israelites. This
remnant was faithful and obedient, refusing to give into the mass delusion of
Baal at that time.
Obedience
is man's own free act, to which he is never moved by any prior election of God.
Choosing, on the other hand, is God's free act, prompted by favor and
conditioned upon obedience. This obedience, it is true, God seeks to elicit by
the proper motives; but to this he is led solely by the love of man, and never
by previous choice. True scriptural election, therefore, is a simple,
intelligible thing, when suffered to remain unperplexed by the subtleties of
men. – Coffman
Likewise,
today, God’s remnant is amongst those who refuse to follow the principles of
the world and who refuse to give into the flesh – remaining loyal and faithful,
obedient to Jesus.
Romans 11:5
So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
Remember
the previous arguments of Paul:
Rom
9:6
NIV For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
Rom
2:28-29
NIV A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely
outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and
circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written
code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
This
remnant is chosen by grace – as they demonstrate their true love by their
obedience and faithfulness to God despite their circumstances. They are not
chosen by an arbitrary, whimsical election process, but because God chooses to
respond to their faith by grace. In other words, the remnant knows nothing is
owed to them except death – they don’t expect God to repay them nor do they
work for meritorious salvation. They simply want to please God by their obedience.
Paul
asserted God’s intention to preserve for Himself a remnant from the nation
Israel. God brought believing Gentiles into the church along with the people of
Israel who accepted Christ. Therefore, those who trust Christ from every nation
make up Christ’s body, God’s true remnant. – Disciples Study Bible
Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace
would no longer be grace.
Paul
clarifies that if it is by grace this remnant is chosen then works of law are
not needed. This was the problems the Jews were having. They were expecting God
to owe them something for the way they observed the law. They were treating
their status before God as something they earned by works, something owed to
them – forgetting that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life only in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23)!
The
fact that the remnant is chosen by grace does not mean there is no obedience,
for it is a conditional grace – conditional upon obedience. People on both
extremes of this argument will never be able to be chosen since, those on the
far left will say they don’t have to do anything for God has chosen them by His
grace and those on the far right will say they earned this grace by their
ritualistic follow of tradition. One group fails for lack of obedience and the
other fails due to lack of humility. If God demanded you keep the law perfectly
then grace is not needed. If God demanded you do nothing then obedience is not
needed. Only God's love is unconditional, but grace and righteousness are
conditional upon obedience
Romans 11:7
What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the
elect did. The others were hardened,
So
what the Jews were seeking, a status based on works, they failed to obtain (Rom 10:3).
They only got what they wanted to have – they got to be like other nations in
the world, with kings, wars, territory, and some glory and eventually were
conquered and held captive when their glory days were over. All this time they
failed to obtain real glory, honor and immortality – which is what God wanted
for them all along (Rom 2:7-10). And so now, only the elect, the
remnant, have obtained it in Jesus Christ. As a result of this, the unbelieving
Jews were hardened even more towards the message of the Gospel.
The
spirit here divides Israel into two camps by introducing the term remnant and also by saying that the rest
(those who are not part of the remnant) were hardened.
How Does Hardening Occur?
Jesus
speaks of the hardened of Israel on these two occasions:
Mat 23:37 NIV O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her
chicks under her wings, but
you were not willing.
Mat
13:14-15
NIV In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but
never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear
with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal
them.’
This
substantiates Paul’s former argument about the sovereignty of God's mercy in
chapter 9. We can clearly see here from this quote in Isaiah, quoted by Jesus
nonetheless, that God's desire is to heal people, no matter how hardened
they’ve become. The fact
that they are hardened is a phenomenon they bring on themselves by refusing to
see, hear and understand. These are things people decide to do on their
own without God's intervention. If they refuse to see, listen and understand
the message of the Gospel then they harden their own heart to the presence of
the Gospel. All God does is brings the Gospel to them – they get hardened all
on their own, as Paul discussed in chapter 9 concerning Pharaoh.
Another
phenomenon also occurs when people desire so much to believe in something other
than the Gospel: God Himself aids them in their delusion since they refuse to
believe the truth and desire so much to believe the lie:
2Th
2:9-12
NIV The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in
every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused
to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that
they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have
not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
God
pleases us to the point that if we want something so badly He gives it to us.
Be careful of what you desire!
Satan
also plays a secondary role in the hardening of people:
2Co
4:3-4
NIV And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god
of this age has blinded
the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
In
light of these passages it is crucial to understand that neither God nor Satan
is at fault for hardening people. People do it to themselves. God only gives
them what they want so much (their own false gospel) and Satan blinds their
minds when they have chosen not to believe the truth. Only those who chose
truth are safe from any delusions that Satan may bring.
What is it that hardens hearts?
Ephesians
4:17-19
NIV So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer
live as the Gentiles do, in
the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their
understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have
given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity,
with a continual lust for more.
Hebrews
3:12-15
NIV See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living
God. 13 But encourage one another
daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold
firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: "Today, if you
hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
From
these two passages we can get a good idea of what things can bring you to
having a hard heart. It is all on you!
1.
Futility of
thinking
(Pointless, senseless thinking: what’s the best car to drive, how much money
can I make – all having to do with serving yourself)
2.
Ignorance to the
truth,
which is the equivalent of also ignoring or refusing the truth when presented
to you
3.
Sinful,
unbelieving heart
(attitude) that turns away from God. This is the same as admitting guilt when
caught, not before you’re caught. This is a heart that believes there are no
consequences to sinning and so enjoys sinning.
4.
Deceitfulness of
sin.
All sin is deceitful – promising what it cannot deliver. The rewards of sin are
a short temporary rush and long term condemnation!
5.
Turning away from
God's voice
– the Word of God (The Bible)
Romans 11:8
as it is written: "God
gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so
that they could not see and ears so
that they could not hear, to this very
day."
Paul
substantiates his argument with this quote from Deut 29:4. Here the context
is the same as Pharaoh’s in chapter 9. It was not God who intentionally caused
them to have this spirit of stupor. His message has caused it because they
refused to see, hear and believe it. It is a direct result of their sin and
because of that, God gave them over to the spirit of stupor.
This
declaration was made to a generation that had witnesses perhaps the greatest
miracles and signs God has ever shown – the deliverance of Israel from Egypt,
the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, etc.
Romans 11:9-10
And David says: "May their
table become a snare and a trap, a
stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they
cannot see, and their backs be bent
forever."
Paul
calls David as another witness to Israel’s hardness:
Psalm
69:22-23
NIV May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and
a trap. 23 May their eyes be darkened so
they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
1.
Their
table (kingdom) flowing with milk and honey had become their stumbling stone: a
snare and a trap
2.
Their
salvation had become retribution and a trap
3.
Their
enlightened eyes were now darkened
4.
Their
proud backs were now bent in slavery (this could be referring to their physical
slavery under captivity and also to slavery of sin as Jesus mentioned in John 8:31-34)
Mat
23:38
NIV Look, your house is left to you desolate.
Acts
7:51-52
NIV You stiff-necked people, with
uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy
Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They
even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you
have betrayed and murdered him…
Romans 11:11
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at
all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles
to make Israel envious.
Paul
asks “Are they lost forever now, with no chance of ever entering God's fold?
Not at all!” We know that as long as a soul is alive and willing to repent from
dead works and be saved by the blood of Jesus God accepts them (Luke 15:7,
10). God's desire is for all men to come to the knowledge of the
truth in Jesus and be saved (John 3:16; 1Tim 2:4).
The
spirit explains that God presented salvation to the Gentiles explicitly to make
the Jews jealous (refer back to Romans 10:19) and in doing so, us Gentiles
now have received salvation. So their hardening resulted in blessings for
another peoples.
Acts
13:46
NIV Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of
God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of
eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.”
Rom
1:16
NIV I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Romans 11:12
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss
means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness (full inclusion-ESV) bring!
So
out of this tragedy, the spirit continues, comes a blessing. And know Paul
presents another a fortiori argument:
if the hardening of the Jews has brought upon such greater blessings on all the
rest of the nations, how much more will the salvation of the Jews in Jesus
Christ bring?
This
is not referring to some future event whereas multitudes of Jews will get into Jesus;
it is referring to the current number of Jews being saved at the time and ever
since! Remember that for the first ten years the church was exclusively Jewish
until the conversion of Cornelius in acts 10. After that the apostles realized
even more than the Gospel was intended for all, not just for the Jews.
The
remnant chosen by grace from Israel was saved!
Romans 11:13-14
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the
Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my
own people to envy and save some of them.
INGRAFTED
BRANCHES
Now
Paul addresses the Roman Gentiles. He still has the roman Jews in the audience,
so as to spite them as he comments on this topic. He is imitating what God
himself did with Israel in those prophecies we read. Paul, a Jew, ministers to
the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Gal 2:7) so as to cause the Jews to be
jealous and perhaps save some of them. How is causing jealousy able to save
somebody?
1-
To
be jealous is to be envious (spiteful; resentful)
2-
Often
these emotions can cause a person to examine themselves a little deeper and
take inventory of their emotions
3-
In
doing so they may arrive at the truthful conclusion of their selfishness
4-
If
they don’t, they are hardened even further by their pride and prejudice
Paul
realized that his work could cause Jews to become even harder and at the same
time his work would cause some to seek salvation. Do you think it would be a
majority or a minority that would seek salvation? What does Jesus say here?
Matthew
7:13-14
NIV Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate
and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Keep
in mind that if you want to save the most, you may need to do some very
unpopular things. If you do what is popular you may attract the most people,
but save the fewest who are really looking for the truth.
Romans 11:15
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will
their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Since
the nation of Israel was already morally and judicially dead to God, causing
reconciliation to be available to the rest of the world, then every Jew saved
through the Gospel was a life brought back from the dead!
2Co
5:17
NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come!
John
5:24
NIV I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to
life.
What
was Paul saying? He had just mentioned the possibility of saving a few Jews;
and it was of them that he said, "What the receiving but life from the
dead"! Every Jew Paul converted was viewed by him as one baptized out of a
cemetery. The hardened, judicially condemned and sentenced nation (fleshly
Israel) was morally and judicially dead. Yet even from THAT NATION some were
being saved, and the converts were indeed as life from deadness! -- Coffman
Romans 11:16
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the
whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
The
firstfruits (aparche: a beginning of sacrifice, that is, the (Jewish) first
fruit (Num
15:20): the first portion of the dough, from which sacred loaves
were to be prepared; hence term used of persons consecrated to God for all time
- persons superior in excellence to others of the same class) referred
to here are the first 3000 that were baptized on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41).
Remember we spoke of the firstfruits also in Rom 8:23? Paul’s argument
is that if these firstfruits are holy, then the whole batch from where they
come, the Jewish remnant, is holy as well. This means that there are more from
where they came from.
This
shows that if God had accepted the first converts as holy, He would likewise on
the same conditions accept all Israelites as holy. All Jews who are saved must
be saved in exactly the same way as were the first converts, that is, by
obedience to the gospel. -- Riggs
There
is also a throwback here from John 15:1-8, where Jesus mentions:
John
15:1-4
NIV I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me
that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the
word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain
in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it
must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
The
root is Jesus Christ. Jesus is holy and every branch that remains in Him is
also holy. All those branches that didn’t bear fruit (hardened Israel) were cut
off.
Romans 11:17-18
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild
olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the
nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you
do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Specifically
addressed to the Gentiles, Paul warns them not to rejoice upon the demise of
Israel as their own benefit since they could easily be cut off as well if they
do not bear fruit according to Jesus. The Gentiles as described as a wild olive
shoot, grafted (converted through obedience of the Gospel) into the holy tree,
Jesus Christ. Now that the Gentiles can be grafted in through Jesus we share in
the holiness of the root of the tree along with any other branches, whether
they are grafted in or natural branches. The branches are nothing in and of
themselves (John
15:4): without the root they cannot bear fruit and they will
wither and die. The branches need to remain attached in order to bear fruit.
The branches are supported by the root.
This
illustration shows how God can take something that was not holy and not even
part of the same thing and make it not only holy, but sharing in the nature of
what it was not:
2
Peter 1:4
NIV Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may
participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world
caused by evil desires.
Therefore
all that is now part of the root is the same: sharing in the nature of the root
and receiving all the nourishment and benefits the root can give.
Gal
3:27-29
NIV …for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. 28 There is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise.
Eph
1:3
NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the
heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Romans 11:19-20
You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be
grafted in." Granted. But they
were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be
arrogant, but be afraid.
This
is the wrong thought about why the branches were broken off. This is a self
righteous way of thinking, totally against the holy nature of the root of the
tree. The branches that were broken off did not bear any fruit. In order to
graft new branches in there was no need to break some off. There is plenty of
room in God's house for all – there not need be any substitutions. God's plan
was for His Gospel to be spread amongst the Gentiles from the beginning. Our
standing as Gentiles in Jesus Christ is by faith, not by merit (pride). We need
to revere the opportunity given to us, not be arrogant.
Heb
4:2
NIV For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the
message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not
combine it with faith.
Romans 11:21
For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you
either.
The
natural branches, that is, the Israelites, were not spared because of their
persistent unbelief. Even though God is able to graft the Gentiles in, He did
not do it in place of the Israelites, and it doesn’t mean the Gentiles are
better or permanent. The permanence depends upon the faithfulness of the
branches. As Jesus says in John 15:4 – “Remain in me, and I will
remain in you”.
2Peter
2:4-10
NIV For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell (tartarus), putting them into gloomy
dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when
he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of
righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy
lives of lawless men 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after
day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and
heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the
unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful
nature and despise authority.
More
than anything, these verse (both Rom 11:21 and 2 Peter 2:4-10) show the
conditional nature of our salvation (relationship with God). It should not be
hard to understand since all of our relationships are conditional in nature.
The fact that the relationship is conditional does not invalidate such
principles as mercy, grace or forgiveness. You can show mercy, love and even
forgive someone and yet limit or dissociate them from you depending on their
response. God is always looking for a response and our response to His grace is
what determines whether or not we are declared righteous in Jesus. Abraham
responded with obedience and it is no different for us today. Faithfulness,
obedience, loyalty and dedication are the right responses to receive mercy and
forgiveness – righteousness through Jesus Christ.
God
was looking for these responses in the Jews and then turned to the Gentiles to
see if they would respond to His grace.
1
Kings 8:61
NIV But your hearts must
be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands…
2
Chronicles 16:9
NIV For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those
whose hearts are fully
committed to him.
1
Peter 1:22
NIV Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers,
love one another deeply, from the heart.
Romans 11:22
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to
those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his
kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
The
spirit calls our attention to God's response in this verse. In the previous
verse we examined what our response needs to be to the all inclusive love and
grace of God. In this verse, Paul asks us to think about how God will respond
to your response. Most people who have hard hearts will sit in judgment of God
because they do not want to accept God's grace conditionally. They want God to
give them a break no matter what they do. You see this attitude all the time in
courts and trials that have to do with people who are unrepentant. No matter
what they do they think they deserve mercy – they think they are owed mercy. It
is no surprise then to hear them judge God. In the end, though, they will be
the ones surprised:
Matthew
7:22-24
NIV Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I
will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Notice
the condition given for our entry into Heaven:
Matthew
7:21 NIV Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.
So
yes, those who fail to respond in obedience but instead respond with defiance
or self-righteousness will experience the sternness
(apotomia: severity; decisiveness; rigor) of God. This
sternness is the wrath that is being revealed against all godlessness and
wickedness (Rom
1:18). The sternness of God is fulfilled by the cutting off of
any unfruitful, ungrateful and disobedient branches. Look at these verses and
extrapolate the kind of responses that merit God's sternness:
Heb
12:25-29
NIV See to it that you do
not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him
who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who
warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has
promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens." 27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what
can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for
our "God is a consuming fire."
Heb
10:26-31
NIV If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and
of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses
died without mercy
on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you
think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has
insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine
to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his
people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.
Mat
10:28
NIV Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
What
appropriate responses can we gather from these verses?
1.
Don’t
refuse God
2.
Be
thankful
3.
Worship
with reverence and awe
4.
Don’t
deliberately continue to sin
5.
Don’t
reject the word of God
6.
Don’t
disrespect Jesus
7.
Don’t
show contempt for the blood of the covenant that has sanctified you
8.
Don’t
insult the Spirit of grace
How
do we know if we are doing the last three items on the list? If you have to ask
that, perhaps you have lost the focus of being totally committed to Him. A
person who is totally committed and faithful to a relationship does not have to
wonder if they have disrespected, shown contempt or insulted the person they
love. You wonder about those things when you have done something out of doubt
and not out of faith. The same goes with our relationship with the Lord. We
could list a million things that would be considered disrespecting, showing
contempt and insulting our Lord, but our relationship is not based on lists.
Lists are the focus of meritorious activities. Our relationships ought to be
based on grace, love and forgiveness – the same things God's extends to us in
Jesus Christ. When we continue in this kindness we experience the
kindness (gentleness; goodness) of
God:
Col
1:12-14
NIV …giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints
in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Ephesians
1:3
NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the
heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
1
Corinthians 2:9
NIV However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind
has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
Eph
1:18-19a
NIV I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that
you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and
his incomparably great power for us who believe.
These
verses pretty much say it all! Wow! Just like we cannot imagine what God's
sternness is all about likewise we cannot fathom His goodness. People have
tried to pervert God's character with all kinds of flawed human attributes of
wishy-washy convictions. It is clear we cannot divorce God's kindness from His
sternness. Any good and loving father
can embrace this and profoundly understand God's character. His children
flourish with this treatment. In the same way, our Lord knows how to rescue and
protect those who are obedient and punish those who are ungodly.
Romans 11:23
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for
God is able to graft them in again.
Faith
is what can turn anyone around. There is opportunity and salvation for anyone
who does not continue in unbelief. It is interesting how the Spirit qualifies
being grafted in as those who do not continue in unbelief – a negative
qualifier. As opposed to saying “if you continue in your belief you are grafted
in”, we hear “those who do not persist in unbelief will be grafted in”. That is
a statement of hope! There is hope as long as souls do not continue (persist)
in unbelief.
This
emphasizes once again the conditional nature of our salvation. God is not
saying He will graft them in again regardless – no. If they do not persist in
their unbelief He will graft them in again. In other words, they need to accept
Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Acts
10:34-35
NIV Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not
show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what
is right.”
Romans 11:24
After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by
nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how
much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree!
This
is a reminder to the Gentiles not to boast about their position or think
themselves better than the Jews. The Gentiles were not originally part of this
tree. They were wild olive shoots, without God – yet God is able to make them
part of the tree. How much more the branches that originally were part of the
tree!
Romans 11:25
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you
may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full
number of the Gentiles has come in.
ALL
ISRAEL SAVED?
There
is a mystery being revealed here according to Paul – a mystery to control the
conceit of the Gentiles. The
Spirit reveals there is partial hardening among the Israelites. A
hardening that we know caused the persecutions many Christians were
experiencing in the first century. This hardening would continue until the full number of the Gentiles
would come into the fold. A simple question we can ask: when is the full
number of the Gentiles coming in, or has the full numbers of the Gentiles come
in? Obviously we are still reaping the Gentile harvest (Mat 13:28-40) – most of
us being Gentiles! Another important detail to notice is that is hardening
Israel was experiencing is a partial one. What is a partial hardening?
We've
been talking about three groups of people here:
1-
The
Gentiles
2-
The
saved Jews
3-
The
hardened unbelieving Jews
A
partial hardening among Israel refers to part of the nation being hardened, the
unbelieving part. The other part, the believing part, has not been hardened due
to their belief and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior. So what happens
after the fullness of the Gentiles comes into the kingdom? Is it proper to say
that Israel will be fully hardened at that time or fully saved?
To
understand why this was a mystery, we need to understand how God's judgment (hardening)
has worked in the past against nations or peoples who have rejected Him. Remember
Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and the Philistines, etc? What happened
to each of those nations once they stood against the Lord God? They were destroyed! But what was God going
to do with Israel, His own nation which abandoned Him and crucified the Lord of
glory? Was He also going to destroy them as well? No so – they were going to
remain around until the end of time as we know it.
Israel's
hardening in part (the part hardened being the fleshly Israel) was made,
through God's commutation of their sentence, to be a perpetual thing. Far from
perishing, the nation would stand in ceaseless petrifaction throughout the long
ages of Gentile acceptance of the gospel, frozen and hardened against the God
of their noble ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a gaunt and terrible
witness unto all ages of the absolute truth of every word of their sacred Old
Testament, and also of the indisputable verity of the New Testament and all
that is revealed there of the Lord Jesus Christ. The nation stands, a stark and
awesome monument of God's displeasure vented upon them throughout history in
the dispersions and persecutions that have dogged their steps all over the
world. Mystery indeed! There was never anything like it, nor shall there ever
be. – Coffman
Obviously
when the fullness of the Gentiles would come in, which means the harvest would
be over – the end of the age (Mat 13:28-40), their hardening would be
complete and their condemnation fulfilled. Only those Israelites who would have
made Jesus their Lord and savior would be in the full number of those who are
being saved. The rest of the world, including hardened Israel would be
separated forever from the glory of the Lord in the lake of fire.
Romans 11:26
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
This
is how Israel was to be saved. In the ESV it reads: “And in this way…”,
meaning, this is how Israel would be saved. Here Israel is being used all
inclusively – meaning including the full number of all saved souls, Gentiles
and Jews. This is the one holy olive tree with the natural and engrafted
branches, the spiritual Israel, the New Jerusalem!
Many
have used this passage to proclaim that all Israel will be saved in the end,
regardless of their belief. But didn’t Paul just finish telling us that is not
the case? Didn’t the Spirit just finished explaining us more than once that
salvation is still conditional and that the Jews must stop their unbelief to be
accepted again? The Jews would be saved the same way the Gentiles needed to be
saved: by obeying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, believing in Him and being
baptized for the forgiveness of sins to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
There are no exceptions!
Acts
2:39
NIV The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God
will call.
This
passage is referring to all living souls for the rest of time until the full number
of souls comes in.
Heb
5:8-9
NIV Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and,
once made perfect, he became
the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Paul
is using Isaiah
59:20 to support his conclusion:
Isaiah
59:20 NIV “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those
in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the LORD.
Simply
put, this prophesied the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, to Jerusalem and making
his true people holy.
Romans 11:27
And this is my covenant with
them when I take away their sins."
This
quote is a mix of Isaiah 59:21 and Jeremiah 31:31-34:
Isaiah
59:21
NIV “As for me, this is my
covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my
words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from
the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,”
says the LORD.
Jeremiah
31:31-34
NIV “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. 32 It
will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I
was a husband to them, “ declares the LORD.
33 “This is the
covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares
the LORD. “I will put my law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I
will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them
to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
The
covenant obviously was the one Jesus spoke about here:
Luke
24:46-47
NIV He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
And
then fulfilled here:
Acts
2:38-39
NIV Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. 39 The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom
the Lord our God will call.”
Romans 11:28
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account;
but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the
patriarchs,
This
is a deep verse, showing the intricacy of God's, the Gospel’s and the Old
Testament’s relationship to Israel.
The
Jews were predetermined to become enemies of the gospel of Jesus way before
that Gospel was revealed by the Messiah Himself. This enmity resulted in
blessing for the Gentiles. God reserved a remnant of this Israel for the sake
of their heritage. With this remnant the root of the tree remained holy so that
now foreign branches could be grafted in by God Himself. Israel needed to be
purged, and after being rid of their ungodliness (Rom 11:26) they would indeed
become the source of blessings “for all the families of the earth” as God had
promised to Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:16-17; 28-29).
Acts
3:24-26
NIV Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have
foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant
God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be
blessed.' 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to
bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.
Because
hardened Israel does not believe and accept this Gospel, they have forsaken
their inheritance, the blessings in Christ, and are now enemies of God for the
sake of the Gentiles. Obviously Paul is still speaking to the Gentiles here.
However, the true Israel has been saved for the sake of God’s promise to
Abraham since God cannot go back on a promise, as Paul explains in the next
verse.
Romans 11:29
for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
The
gifts and calling of God are the great promise of God to Abraham that in him
“all the families” of the earth shall be blessed with eternal life, such
promise never having been confined to Abraham's fleshly posterity alone, and
never having included all of them, but only that portion of them who were
Abraham's kind of faithful obedient people, the spiritual seed as they are called. – Coffman
In
this we know that God's promise did not fail. The true Jews have been and will
be saved. Hardened Israel remains as a vestige of the old glory days, as a wart
of sinful hardened hearts, as a stain of reproach – to remind us not turn
against the Lord but rejoice in the mercy He has extended to us who glory in
Jesus!
Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received
mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become
disobedient in order that they too may now receive
mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.
Here
is the parallax described: we’ve already seen how the Gentiles, having been
disobedient to the ways of God in the past, have now received mercy as a result
of Israel’s disobedience. But now the opposite is true – Israel has become
disobedient now and we ought to show them mercy, as Gentiles, the same way God
has shown mercy to us.
The
Gospel of grace does not demand justice but mercy, as we must not forget:
Romans
5:8-9
NIV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood,
how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
After
the Jews were given their fair chance, God turned to the Gentiles:
Acts
13:46
NIV Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word
of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy
of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
To
this day the Jews continue in their unbelief, if we can even call them Jews
anymore since they are so far away from the original decree of God. We must, however, share the Gospel with mercy
that their hearts may melt and turn to Christ! Paul still had hope for them and
it was his prayer for them to turn to Jesus!
Romans 11:32
For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have
mercy on them all.
Here's
another seeming curve ball thrown by the Spirit, or perhaps by Paul. Can we help but be disobedient? This is no
different than what we’ve seen in the language of this letter. Paul is just
summarizing what we’ve been going over in the last three chapters:
Rom
3:23
NIV …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Being
consigned (bound) to disobedience is being a prisoner of sin:
John
8:34
NIV Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
This
verse is not saying that God has forced all people to be disobedient so He can
save them all. If that was the case, why the Gospel? Why the urgency to preach
it so that men may obey? Obviously God extends His mercy to all but He requires
a response from the person – a response of faith and obedience to receive God's
mercy. God doesn’t expect perfection, He knows we are imperfect, but He demands
obedience, faith, loyalty.
Titus
2:11 NIV
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
So
these last two verses are a great summary of the major doctrines in Romans.
Being that men are helpless to save themselves, Jews and Gentiles alike, God
put into motion a plan to make His mercy accessible to all men, Jews and
Gentiles alike. That was His plan from the beginning.
2Pe
3:9
NIV The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.
Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
DOXOLOGY
Paul
goes into praise and adoration mode. How can you not, marveling at God's
awesome plan to save his children? No one can even begin to discern His
judgment or measure His wisdom and knowledge – all operating on your behalf –
for your benefit!
God
is in control – nothing else matters except making sure we will be at His bosom
for all eternity!
Perhaps
in trying to understand God the Jews had attributed to Him human judgement – a
mistake made too often in our day and age as well. People have manufactured
their own gods – the idols that long ago were represented in carvings or
statues. In our day and age they are alive and well in the minds of those who
reduce God to their own imaginations.
Isaiah
55:8-9
NIV For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. 9 "As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 11:34
"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"
This
is a quote from Isaiah 40:13. No one can presume to know
God's thoughts or plans. We need to be careful in assigning God motive or
reason when it is our motive and reason that speaks. We need to be like the
prophets and only speak His word and let His word work in the hearts of men.
God's
judgments do not need mans approval, acceptance or considerations. God is not
bureaucratic nor has he invited us to be part of a committee. It is a kingdom
we belong to – where God is sovereign! If God had left it up to the Jews to
come up with a plan of salvation many would have been excluded due to their
prejudices. They found themselves being excluded from God's plan by their own
prejudices in the end.
If
anything, it is God who has gone out of His way to be accommodating to our
imperfections, ignorance and disinterest. It is a shame if we give Him any less
than our entire being in praise and adoration!
Romans 11:35
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
Another
quote from Job
41:11. Since God made everything, what can any man offer God?
Who owes who? And yet God spared no expense in even giving us His Son Jesus to
pay that debt of sin. It is us who are indebted to God, not that God seeks us
out to repay Him – all He desires is our love, like a father desires the love
of his child.
Acts
17:24-27
NIV The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and
earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by
human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life
and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men,
that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for
them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men
would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far
from each one of us.
Often
we think we own things, but it is us that are owned, by God or the devil. I’d
rather be owned by my Creator than by a miscreant! The Jews thought God owed
them – at least respect for following Him and trusting Him throughout the ages.
However, as far back as Samuel, we see how they had rejected God as their king
and wanted a king of their own. As far as back then they were doomed to failure
– and yet God accommodated to their wishes!
Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Everything
comes from God, is here and happens through God and is all for God. His is the
glory forever and ever! What a way to end the dissertation of the greatest
gospel doctrines and mystery revealed to man by our glorious and merciful God!
The
Jews made everything about them – and everything is about God! Let us never
forget that! We are not bigger than God and yet He has made us, the church, the
centerpiece of the universe in Christ Jesus! Each of us are but a part of that
and no individual is greater than the whole body, yet the whole body cares for
each particular individual, even as Jesus thought about each and every one of
us when He gave up His life on the cross in payment of our sin. Only in the
Gospel! When we realize we are from God and can only live through God and for
God, we will also share in His awesome glory!
Acts
17:28
NIV For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets
have said, 'We are his offspring.
Therefore
salvation is only through Christ!