Sunday, March 24, 2013

Romans 9


Source of image: http://chrisedmondson.blogspot.com/2011/01/romans-righteousness.html

In Romans chapters one through eight, Paul thoroughly convinced us about man’s need and God’s glorious provision in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. Now, in Romans 9 through 11, Paul deals with the problem associated with the condition of Israel. What does it mean that Israel has missed its Messiah? What does this say about God? What does it say about Israel? What does it say about our present position in God? The question goes something like this: How can I be secure in God's love and salvation to me when it seems that Israel was once loved and saved, but now seems to be rejected and cursed? Will God also reject and curse me one day?

In chapter 9 Paul dealt primarily with God's dealings with Israel in the past, in chapter 10 with their present situation and in chapter 11 with His future plans for the nation.

Romans 9-11 is, by far, the most controversial section in Romans. In fact, I found several of the expositors whom I check in my studies avoid Romans 9 like the plague and skip right over it! In fact, many skip right over chapters 9-12!

(1) In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter truthfulness -- I do not lie -- and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true.

(2) My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief

(3) for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever *cursed -- cut off from Christ! -- if that would save them.

  • Some might have thought that Paul hated the Jews since he now preached a law-free gospel. Instead, he strongly affirms his love for his fellow Jews and overwhelming desire for their acceptance of their Messiah.
  • Moses in Exodus 32:33: But now, please forgive their sin -- and if not, then blot me out of the record you are keeping."
  • *cursed: The Greek word for "cursed" is anathema, which means "condemn to utter destruction".

(4) They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God's special children. God revealed his *glory to them. He made **covenants with them and gave his ***law to them. They have the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful ****promises.

  • *glory: shekinah glory. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the wilderness, in the Tabernacle and in the Temple.
  • **covenants: They had the covenants: the covenant of grace with Abraham in Genesis 12, and the covenant of circumcision as expressed in Genesis 17.
  • ***law: They had the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai by God. The laws of all other countries and civilizations were man-created.
  • ****promises: They had the promise to Abraham, the promise to Isaac, the promise to Jacob, the promise to David, the promise to the nation, the promise to Moses, and so on. They had all the promises.
    • Ephesians 2:12: In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

(5) Their *ancestors were great people of God, and Christ himself was a Jew as far as his human nature is concerned. And HE IS GOD, who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

  • *ancestors: No other nation had such a list of ancestors - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Joshua, the prophets, David, Solomon and the great leaders all through their history.

(6) Well then, has God *failed to fulfill his promise to the Jews? No, for not everyone born into a Jewish family is truly a Jew!

  • Israel rejected Christ; God rejected Israel.
  • *failed: God revealed that He had chosen Israel to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6). The Israelites were to function as priests in the world by bringing the nations to God (Isaiah 42:6). Israel failed to carry out God's purpose for it. The Greek word translated "failed" (ekpeptoken) means "gone off its course," like a ship. Paul proceeded to show that God would accomplish His purpose for Israel in the rest of chapters 9-11.

(7) Just the fact that they are descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted," though Abraham had other children, too.

  • Genesis 21:12: But God told Abraham, "Do not be upset over the boy and your servant wife. Do just as Sarah says, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
  • John 8:38-44: I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father." "Our father is Abraham," they declared. "No," Jesus replied, "for if you were children of Abraham, you would follow his good example. I told you the truth I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham wouldn't do a thing like that. No, you are obeying your real father when you act that way." They replied, "We were not born out of wedlock! Our true Father is God himself." Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can't you understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to do so! For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

(8) This means that Abraham's physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham's children.

  • Luke 3:8: Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, 'We're safe -- we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham.
  • Galatians 3:7: The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God.
  • Romans 2:29: No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people.
  • The Jews thought of themselves as the elect of God and all others as the non-elect. They thought all Jews were going to heaven and all Gentiles to hell.
  • Physical ancestry does not assure spiritual heritage. Many young people assume that they are saved because they grew up in a Christian home, born of Christian parents and went to their church; and, therefore, assume they're saved - yet they've never made a personal commitment to Christ and are lost - like Bill O'Reilly of Fox News who said, "Of course I'm a Christian. I was born a Christian."

(9) For God had promised, "Next year I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

  • Genesis 17:19: But God replied, "Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.
  • Genesis 18:10-14: Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son."Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master -- my husband -- is also so old?" Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
  • God did not choose to bless Isaac after his birth only because he was Abraham's son. Rather, He promised Abraham before Isaac's birth that He would provide and bless a son for the patriarch supernaturally. His unusual birth confirmed God's choice of Isaac, as the channel of special blessing, to his parents.

(10) This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he grew up, he married Rebekah, who gave birth to twins.

  • Rebecca also had 2 sons; one of the flesh (Esau) and a son through whom the promises of God would flow (Jacob) whose name would be changed to Israel.

(11) But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message proves that God chooses according to his own plan,

  • Paul does not speak about God’s choice of individuals but of His plans for nations. God chose Israel to be the vehicle of His revelation on earth, not Esau or any other people. The whole gist of Paul’s argument in these chapters is not about personal salvation but about God’s attitude toward those with whom He had made a covenant. Jesus told the Parable of the Tenants of a Vineyard as a prophecy of what God would do with Israel after they rejected their Messiah. He concluded with the words in Matthew 21:43: “What I mean is that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.”
  • Election is hard to understand, let alone explain. We find that all through the Bible there are people who have been chosen out and called to do a certain thing for God. A very good example of that is John the Baptist who seemed to live for one purpose (to tell of the coming Messiah). God has elected that certain things will happen to get the job done that He wants done. We see in the verses above, that He chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to funnel the spiritual blessings to all the believers in the world.
    • Psalm 139:16: You saw me BEFORE I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
    • Jeremiah 1:5: "I knew you BEFORE I formed you in your mother's womb. BEFORE you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world."
    • Romans 8:29-30 KJV: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
    • Ephesians 1:11: Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he CHOSE us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.
    • 1 Peter 1:2: God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace."
    • God knew from the foundation of the world who would choose to follow Him and who would not.

(12) not according to our good or bad works.) She was told, "The descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son."

  • Genesis 25:23: And the LORD told her, "The sons in your womb will become two rival nations. One nation will be stronger than the other; the descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son."
  • Galatians 4:28-29: And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. And we who are born of the Holy Spirit are persecuted by those who want us to keep the law, just as Isaac, the child of promise, was persecuted by Ishmael, the son of the slave-wife.
  • Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV): For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
  • Josephus tells us that under the Maccabeean John Hyrcanus, the independence of Edom was finally destroyed, they were forced to adopt the Jewish religion and they merged into the nation of Israel and disappeared as a people. Herod was an Edomite.

(13) In the words of the Scriptures, "I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau."

  • Malachi 1:2-3: "I have loved you deeply," says the LORD. But you retort, "Really? How have you loved us?"And the LORD replies, "I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Yet Esau was Jacob's brother, and I rejected Esau and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals."
    • This was done only after Esau had despised his heritage.
  • "As to 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,' a woman once said to Mr. Spurgeon, 'I cannot understand why God should say that He hated Esau.' 'That,' Spurgeon replied, 'is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob!"
    • I don't know about you, but I must admit that I have trouble understanding why God loves me so much.
  • Romans chapter 9 makes it abundantly clear that loving Jacob and rejecting Esau was entirely related to which of them God chose. Hundreds of years after Jacob and Esau had died, the Israelites and Edomites became bitter enemies. The Edomites often aided Israel’s enemies in attacks on Israel. Esau’s descendants brought God’s curse upon themselves. Genesis 27:29 tells Israel, “May many nations become your servants. May you be the master of your brothers. May all your mother's sons bow low before you. All who curse you are cursed, and all who bless you are blessed."”
  • This was only to establish the birthright and the ancestral headship of the nation and had absolutely nothing to do with salvation! God had the right to choose through which individual the nation of Israel would be born. But because of that, it does not mean that Esau could not have been saved.
  • Jacob and Esau were opposites. Jacob was chosen by God to receive the spiritual blessings bestowed on Abraham. Esau was rejected as heir to those promises. Jacob was the apple of his mother's eye; Esau was the apple of his father's eye. Esau was fond of the strenuous daring life of a hunter; Jacob was a quiet man living in tents. Esau lived for the moment; Jacob lived for the future. Jacob was responsible; Esau was not. Jacob misused God's blessings; Esau failed to take advantage of the blessings of God. Jacob spent most of his life misusing his natural abilities in an effort to bring the blessing of God to pass. Esau spent his life refusing to use his abilities in the service of God.
  • Paul warns lest we become like Esau in Hebrews 12:16-17: "Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau. He traded his birthright as the oldest son for a single meal. And afterward, when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he wept bitter tears."
  • God rejected Esau, not because of who he was, but because he did not regard his birthright as being very valuable. In fact, he thought so little of it that he sold it to his brother for a bowl of soup. The blessing of God through Abraham and Isaac then would come through the second son Jacob. From him, the 12 tribes of Israel would come. God did not just reject Esau without a cause. Esau turned his back on God when he sold his birthright.
  • Even though descended from Esau, some Edomites probably received Christ a savior.

(14) What can we say? Was God being unfair? Of course not!

  • In Romans 9:14-29, we encounter what may be the most difficult section in the entire Bible. This passage on predestination has been notoriously labeled a “pastor’s graveyard.” Paul’s words seem to contradict other passages that emphasize human responsibility.
  • If this had been predestined, some would say this was unfair, but this was not predestined, only known ahead of time by God.
  • As the lives of Ishmael, Esau and their descendants were lived out on the pages of the Bible and of history, God's wisdom in His choice was proven correct. Both of these men, along with their descendants walked in open hatred of God, His people and His Law. God's purpose was proven right by their performance.

(15) For God said to Moses, "I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose."

  • Exodus 33:19: The LORD replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, 'the LORD,' to you. I will show kindness to anyone I choose, and I will show mercy to anyone I choose.
    • Out of all the Hebrews, God chose Moses to reveal Himself to in the burning bush and assign Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. Was it Moses' mother who saved Moses? Was it Pharaoh's sister (or daughter) who saved Moses? No, it was part of God's plan.

(16) So receiving God's promise is not up to us. We can't get it by choosing it or working hard for it. God will show mercy to anyone he chooses.

  • It is not man's desire or effort that causes God to be merciful but His own sovereign choice. God is under no obligation to show mercy or extend grace to anyone. If we insist on receiving just treatment from God, what we will get is condemnation (3:23 - all have sinned).
  • Charles Spurgeon: "I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love. So I am forced to accept that doctrine."
  • 1 Peter 2:9-10: But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. "Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God's mercy; now you have received his mercy."
  • Titus 3:5: He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.

(17) For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you, and so that my fame might spread throughout the earth."

  • Exodus 9:16: But I have LET YOU LIVE for this reason - that you might see my power and that my fame might spread throughout the earth.
  • God had mercifully spared Pharaoh up to the moment when He said these words to him, through six plagues and in spite of his consistent opposition to God. God did not mean that He had created Pharaoh and allowed him to sit on Egypt's throne, though He had done that too. This is clear from Exodus 9:16, which Paul quoted. The NASB translation makes this clear by translating Exodus 9:16, ". . . for this cause I have allowed you to remain." Pharaoh deserved death for his opposition and insolence. However, God would not take his life in the remaining plagues so his continuing opposition and God's victory over him would result in greater glory for God. Here is another example similar to the one in verse 15 of God not giving people what they deserve but extending mercy to them instead.
  • God rejected Pharaoh and the Egyptians because of their lack of repentance. God had mercy on the king and citizens of Nineveh because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.
  • In the Exodus account, Scripture records twenty times when Pharaoh's heart was hardened—ten times of which God hardened his heart and ten times of which Pharaoh hardened it himself. Understand, that when God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He was only confirming Pharaoh's own decision. Even though he saw miracles happening and heard God's Word very powerfully presented, he hardened his own heart again and again. It is not as if Pharaoh was on the brink of turning to God when God “hardened” his heart. No, not at all. The ten plagues, which were a sign of God’s judgment, should have awakened Pharaoh to his own sinful rebellion, but instead he continually hardened his own heart against the Lord. To say God “hardened” his heart means that God did not intervene but allowed him to go his own way in continued rebellion.
  • Ironically, the illustration of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is applied to the nation of Israel after their rejection of the Messiah. Jesus’ emotional outburst over the fate of Jerusalem is proof of the fact that the people of Israel did not reject their Messiah because they had no choice in the matter:
    • Matthew 23:37: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
    • Luke 19:41-43: “But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry. "I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you.

(18) So you see, God shows mercy to some just because he wants to, and he chooses to make some people refuse to listen.

  • God was not unjust because He allowed the hardening process to continue. His justice demanded punishment. Similarly, a person may choose to drink poison or he may choose not to, but if he chooses to drink it, inevitable consequences will follow.
  • Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, page 361: "Neither here nor anywhere else is God said to harden anyone who had not first hardened himself."
  • Paul did not mention the fact that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, which Moses stated in Exodus. Paul's point was simply that God can freely and justly extend mercy or not extend mercy to those who deserve His judgment.
  • 1 Samuel 2:7-8: "The LORD makes one poor and another rich; he brings one down and lifts another up. He lifts the poor from the dust -- yes, from a pile of ashes! He treats them like princes, placing them in seats of honor. "For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order."
  • Proverbs 16:4 "The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for punishment."
  • Joshua 11:20: For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites instead of asking for peace. So they were completely and mercilessly destroyed, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

(19) Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not listening? Haven't they simply done what he made them do?"

(20) No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to criticize God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, "Why have you made me like this?"

(21) When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?

  • It was not right for the Jews to tell God he had no right to make of them anything but that which was special and honorable. It was likewise not right for the Jews to tell God he was out of place to make of the Gentiles anything but that which was second class and dishonorable.
  • Isaiah 45:9: "Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, 'Stop, you are doing it wrong!' Does the pot exclaim, 'How clumsy can you be!'
  • Isaiah 64:8: And yet, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.
  • 2 Timothy 2:20-21: In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.
  • The major point Paul is making is that God has removed from Israel their favored nation status and granted it to Christians who came without respect of persons from every race, location and nation under heaven
  • Israel had nothing to complain about since God had formed her for an honorable use.

(22) God has every right to exercise his judgment and his power, but he also has the right to be very patient with those who are the objects of his judgment and are fit only for destruction.

  • The problem in verse 22 revolves around the objects of God’s wrath and the objects of His glory. It is generally felt that the principle that governs God’s treatment of either ought to be the same. That means that if the objects of God’s glory do not contribute to their own glorification, the objects of wrath cannot be held responsible for their own perdition either. It is obvious that a rigid application of this principle leads to great difficulty. Because it would mean that God would arbitrarily condemn people to hell, regardless of their disposition or behavior. This, we know, cannot be true. It would be inconsistent with the biblical testimony in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”
  • 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.

(23) He also has the right to pour out the riches of his glory upon those he prepared to be the objects of his mercy --

(24) even upon us, whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

  • Ephesians 2:3-5: All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!)

(25) Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, "Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before."

  • Hosea 2:23: "At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself! I will show love to those I called 'Not loved.' And to those I called 'Not my people,' I will say, 'Now you are my people.' Then they will reply, 'You are our God!'"
  • Paul saw an analogy between God's present calling of Gentiles and His future calling of Israel.
  • Galatians 3:29: And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you.

(26) And, "Once they were told, 'You are not my people.' But now he will say, 'You are children of the living God.' "

  • Hosea 1:10: Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore -- too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' it will be said, 'You are children of the living God.'
  • If God had said, “I’m only going to save the Jews,” he would still be fair because no one deserves to be saved. We couldn’t complain if salvation were limited to a small group if that’s what God had decided to do. Remember, no one can talk back to God. But he didn’t do that. These verses teach us that God opened the door of salvation to everyone! Hosea prophesied of a day when God would say to those who were not his people (that is, the Gentiles), “You are now my people.” God has opened the door of salvation to the world. Anyone who wants to can walk right in. Will there be any Jewish people in heaven? Absolutely. But not every Jewish person goes to heaven. These verses use the term “remnant,” which describes a smaller group out of larger population. Paul’s point is that we shouldn’t be surprised by Jewish unbelief because the Old Testament predicted it in several passages.

(27) Concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, "Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a *small number will be saved.

  • Isaiah 10:22: But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a few of them will return at that time. The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people.
  • Israel is returning to the land, but in unbelief - most are "secular".
  • Isaiah 10:22-23 anticipated the depletion of Israel through Sennacherib's invasion. That was God's instrument of judgment. When Paul wrote, the believing remnant of Israel was within the church, as it is today.
  • *small number:  A remnant in the KJV - those who by faith accept Christ as savior. The term "remnant" is used often in the OT Prophets to refer to those Israelites who were taken into exile, but would be brought back to the promised land by God. In Paul's use of the term, it refers to those Jews who had a faith relationship with God and/or those who heard the gospel and responded by faith to Christ. Simply being a physical Jew did not assure salvation.
  • A mass conversion of Israel will occur in the future (Romans 11:25-32).
  • Revelation 7:4-8: And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God. There were 144,000 who were sealed from all the tribes of Israel: from Judah - 12,000 from Reuben - 12,000 from Gad - 12, from Asher - 12,000 from Naphtali - 12,000 from Manasseh - 12, from Simeon - 12,000 from Levi - 12,000 from Issachar - 12, from Zebulun - 12,000 from Joseph - 12,000 from Benjamin - 12,000
  • Romans 11:1-6: I ask, then, has God rejected his people, the Jews? Of course not! Remember that I myself am a Jew, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you remember what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." And do you remember God's reply? He said, "You are not the only one left. I have seven thousand others who have never bowed down to Baal!" It is the same today, for not all the Jews have turned away from God. A few are being saved as a result of God's kindness in choosing them. And if they are saved by God's kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God's wonderful kindness would not be what it really is -- free and undeserved.

(28) For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality."

(29) And Isaiah said in another place, "If the Lord Almighty had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah."

  • Isaiah 1:9: If the LORD Almighty had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah
  • These 2 evil cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone. We know that God will not always look the other way. Sin of the same nature as that of Sodom and Gomorrah is rampant in the U. S. today. America's day of reckoning is coming.

(30) Well then, what shall we say about these things? Just this: The Gentiles have been made right with God by faith, even though they were not seeking him.

  • At first glance, you may say, “What’s the point of all these Old Testament quotes?” They speak to one of the primary objections against predestination. Many people think that predestination means that only a few people will be saved. Nothing could be further from the truth. God has determined to open the doors of heaven to the whole wide world. Anyone who believes in Jesus can be saved. In Paul’s day that meant that salvation was not just for the Jews, it was also for the Gentiles. Today there are approximately 13 million Jews in the world out of a total population of 6.5 billion people (0.0769230769%). Who are the Gentiles? That’s everyone who isn’t Jewish, which is roughly 99.999% of the world.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers -- none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
  • The Gentiles are saved, because they are not depending on their own righteousness to save them, but the blood of Jesus Christ.

(31) But the Jews, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.

  • Israel as a whole hoped to gain righteousness by doing good works, but believing Gentiles obtained the prize by believing the gospel. Again, the contrast between law and faith recurs.

(32) Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.

  • The "rock" they stumbled over was Jesus. The Jews did not believe in him, because he didn't meet their expectations for the Messiah - and most of them still believe that he was not qualified.
  • Israel's rejection of Jesus Christ did not make God unfaithful or unrighteous in His dealings with the nation. What it did do was make it possible for Gentiles to surpass the Jews as the main recipients of salvation.

(33) God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that causes people to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed."

  • Isaiah 8:14: He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap that entangles them.
  • Isaiah 28:16: Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem. It is firm, a tested and precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never run away again.
  • Zechariah 12:10: "Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
  • 1 Peter 2:6-8: As the Scriptures express it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed. " Yes, he is very precious to you who believe. But for those who reject him, "The stone that was rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone." And the Scriptures also say, "He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall." They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it, and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them.
  • Jesus in Matthew 21:42-44 quoting Psalm 118: Then Jesus asked them, "Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures? 'The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous to see.' What I mean is that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls. "
  • 9:30-33 is a summary of chapter 9 and the theme of chapter 10.

The clock was running for Israel and little time was left. In less than ten years, Rome was to destroy the city of Jerusalem, and the nation which said, “We will take responsibility for his death -- we and our children” (Matthew 27:25) was about to be judged. Israel had failed. They had failed under the old covenant, and they had rejected the new covenant. All of the promises God had made concerning Israel seemed to be in vain. Was it all over for Israel? Had God’s Word failed too? How could Israel’s present state be explained? Paul sets out to explain just that in these three chapters.

Chapters 9–11 are a package, and that the answer to the dilemma of the unbelief of Israel cannot be adequately answered by any one of these three chapters. Chapter 9 speaks to the unbelief of Israel by stating that God did not purpose to save all Israel. In other words, God didn’t choose those who disbelieve. In chapter 10 Paul presses on to state that neither did Israel choose God. In chapter 11 Paul shows how God purposed the unbelief of Israel to accomplish the salvation of the Gentiles, and that the hopes of the nation Israel are yet to be fulfilled, for the unbelief of Israel is neither complete nor permanent.

Romans 10:1-4: Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is that the Jewish people might be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won't go along with God's way. For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him are made right with God.

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About Me

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Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.