Christ, the Hope of Jews and Gentiles (Romans 15:8-13)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October, 30 and Sunday, October 31, 2021

Think about something different about the church.

Philip Yancey shares: As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than [diversity]. Beginning with Pentecost, the Christian church dismantled the barriers of gender, race, and social class that had marked Jewish congregations. Paul, who as a rabbi had given thanks daily that he was not born a woman, slave, or Gentile, marveled over the radical change: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

One modern Indian pastor told me, “Most of what happens in Christian churches, including even miracles, can be duplicated in Hindu and Muslim congregations. But in my area only Christians strive, however ineptly, to mix men and women of different castes, races, and social groups. That’s the real miracle.”

Diversity complicates rather than simplifies life. Perhaps for this reason we tend to surround ourselves with people of similar age, economic class, and opinion. Church offers a place where infants and grandparents, unemployed and executives, immigrants and blue bloods can come together. Just yesterday I sat sandwiched between an elderly man hooked up to a puffing oxygen tank and a breastfeeding baby who grunted loudly and contentedly throughout the sermon. Where else can we find that mixture?

When I walk into a new church, the more its members resemble each other—and resemble me—the more uncomfortable I feel.[1]

My theme today is:

Christ is the hope of both Jews and gentiles.

Application: Don’t look down on anyone because Jesus is the Savior of all who believe.

Remember that the previous chapters have been about conscious issues. Now, Paul is bringing this to a conclusion that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is our hope. This is true of the Jews and the gentiles.

1. Christ came for the Jewish people in order to show God’s promises to the patriarchs, and so the gentiles will glorify God (verse 8).
   1. Read with me verse 8, Romans 15:8: For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs…
   2. Paul is continuing from the previous verses.
   3. In verses 1-7 Paul used the example of Christ in order to motivate us to love others and not judge one another over conscious issues.
   4. In verse 8 Paul continues to give the example of Christ.
   5. Witherington III: It becomes apparent in vv. 8–9 that Paul is thinking back to and building on the discussion in chs. 9–11. There are especially echoes of 9:4–5. One could argue that 15:8 and 9 sum up much of the argument and rhetorical aims of the whole deliberative argument. ^[2]
   6. Christ became a servant.
   7. We know that, right. In Philippians 2:3-11 Paul writes about how Jesus left His heavenly abode to become a man and die on the cross for us.
   8. Christ became a servant to the circumcised.
   9. Who are the circumcised? The Jewish people. Going all the way back to Genesis 17:10-14 the Jewish people have been required to circumcise their males.
   10. So, Christ came as a servant to Israel.
   11. For what purpose: to show God’s truthfulness.
   12. Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah.
   13. Jesus confirmed all of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are identified as the patriarchs.
   14. This continues into verse 9. Paul is about to mix together Jesus’ purpose to the Jews and to the gentiles.
2. Paul uses the Old Testament to show God’s promises to the gentiles (verses 9-12).
   • Read with me verses 9-12, Romans 15:9-12: and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
   • Verse 9 continues on from verse 8. Christ had a further purpose.
   • MacArthur: To show that God’s plan has always been to bring Jew and Gentile alike into His kingdom and to soften the prejudice of Christian Jews against their Gentile brothers, Paul quotes from the Law, the Prophets, and twice from the Psalms—all the recognized divisions of the OT—proving God’s plan from their own Scriptures.^[3]
   • Christ had a purpose that the gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.
   • “as it is written…” This means Paul is about to quote the Old Testament.
   • Verse 9 quotes: 2 Sam 22:50; Ps 18:49: God will receive praise among the gentiles. If you look up that passage and the following in your Old Testament you will find out that most of the time it is translated as nations. Gentiles are all those nations other than Israel. In Ps 18:49 the Messiah stands among converted Gentiles and offers their praise, along with his own, to the Father.^[4]
   • Romans 15:10 Quoted from Dt 32:43. Rejoicing from the gentiles with His people. This would be Jewish people rejoicing with gentiles.
   • Romans 15:11 Quoted from Ps 117:1. Again, praising the Lord from the gentiles and all the nations.^[5]
   • Romans 15:12 Quoted from Is 11:10. root of Jesse. A way of referring to Jesus as the descendant of David, and thus of David’s father Jesse.^[6] From the descendants of David there will be a ruler over the gentiles, and He will give the gentiles hope. This is clearly about Jesus.
   • Paul strung together these Old Testament quotes in order to show that God is being consistent with His Word.
   • Paul’s prayer (verse 13)
   • Read with me verse 13, Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
   • It seems that in this verse Paul is back to his prayer from verses 5-6.
   • This is really more of an exhortation.
   • He identifies God as the God of hope.
   • Is our hope in God?
   • Is our hope for salvation in God?
   • Is Jesus our ultimate hope? Is He your daily hope?
   • Someone wrote: Someone without hope lives without a sail to drive him, without ballast to stabilize him, without a rudder to guide him, without an anchor to hold him. In every relationship, he is driven by the stormy winds of disappointment, conflict, and self-pity. But we hope in God. If that hope is real, it will slowly erode, and then wash away, the awful bricks sin builds between us in love.[7]
   • Paul asks that God, the God of hope, fills them with all joy and peace…
   • Do you have joy in Jesus?
   • Do you have peace in Jesus?
   • Paul asks that the God of hope fills them with all joy and peace in believing…
   • Luther comments that “the Apostle places joy first and then peace, because it is joy that gives peace to men, engendering it in their hearts” (Romans, 198–99).^[8]
   • Are you believing?
   • Then Paul gives a purpose.
   • May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, [and here is the purpose] so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
   • Wow!
   • Through the power of the Holy Spirit… There is power in the Holy Spirit.
   • Through the Power of the Holy Spirit, he asks that they abound in hope.
   • God is the God of hope.
   • God fills them with all joy and peace in believing.
   • The joy and peace are connected with believing. Believing what? John 3:16 and what he has written about Jesus saving Jews and gentiles.
   • Again, let’s continue to break down verse 13, I am starting from the beginning again:
   • God is the God of hope.
   • God fills them with all joy and peace in believing.
   • Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit Paul asks that they abound in hope.
   • We get the hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not get just a little bit of hope, but Paul prays that they abound in hope.
   • We also get the hope by God filling us with joy and peace in believing, but this all comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Applications:
   1. Don’t look down on anyone because Jesus is the Savior of all who believe.
   2. Remember that the previous chapters have been about conscious issues. Now, Paul is bringing this to a conclusion that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is our hope. This is true of the Jews and the gentiles.
   3. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order to show God’s truthfulness (verse 8).
   4. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs (verse 8).
   5. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order that the gentiles might glorify God for His mercy (verse 9).
   6. We must see these Scriptures from verses 9-12 and remember that God is faithful, we can trust Him.
   7. God has acted in a way that is consistent with His Word.
   8. May God be our hope (verse 13).
   9. May God fill us with all joy and peace (verse 13).
   10. May we receive this joy and peace because we are believing the promises of God (verse 13).
   11. May we seek the power of the Holy Spirit through believing the promises of God so that we abound in hope (verse 13).

Christians come together in unity and we make a difference:

In 2011 New York Times editorialist Nicholas Kristof wrote a column praising the work of many evangelical Christians. Kristof begins by noting that at times evangelical leaders act hypocritically and don’t reflect Christ. However, he also goes on to write:

But in reporting on poverty, disease and oppression, I’ve seen so many others. Evangelicals are disproportionately likely to donate 10 percent of their incomes to charities, mostly church-related. More important, go to the front lines, at home or abroad, in the battles against hunger, malaria, prison, rape, obstetric fistula, human trafficking or genocide, and some of the bravest people you meet are evangelical Christians (or conservative Catholics, similar in many ways) who truly live their faith.

I’m not particularly religious myself, but I stand in awe of those I’ve seen risking their lives in this way—and it sickens me to see that faith mocked at New York cocktail parties.[9]

Pray

[1] Philip Yancey, “Denominational Diagnostics,” Christianity Today (November 2008), p. 119

^[2] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 343.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:9–12.

^[4] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1804.

LXX Septuagint

MT Masoretic Text

^[5] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004).

^[6] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:10–12.

[7] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-love-the-hard-to-love?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=80509707&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–pckFz68aJvhZnx0cZIBjtVMMnaQZ_K7FpaaB8RYlVr9yhY9d7smR7L8L4bBa9WBwaNotedH0WjopFkgDPuITpLgoWcQ&_hsmi=80509707

^[8] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[9] Source: Nicholas D. Kristof, “Evangelicals Without Blowhards,” The New York Times (7-30-11)

The Example of Christ (Romans 15:1-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, 2021

Joni Eareckson Tada shares:

My husband, Ken, serves as a track-and-field coordinator for Special Olympics. There is always band music, colorful banners, and flags everywhere. Scattered across the infield are teams of mentally disabled young people.

A few years ago at the games, Ken blew his whistle to signal the contestants for the 50-yard dash. A girl with Down syndrome with thick glasses and a short, stocky boy in baggy shorts were the first to line up. There was a moment of stillness, then a “bang” from the starting gun. Off they sprinted six contestants bobbing and weaving down the track.

Suddenly the boy in baggy shorts began running toward his friends in the infield. Ken blew his whistle to direct him back to the track, but it was no use. At that point, the girl with Down syndrome, who was just a few yards from the finish line, turned around, ran toward him, and gave him a big hug. Together they got back on the track and completed the race arm-in-arm, long after the rest of the contestants had crossed the finish line.

We must run the race not to please ourselves, but to please the Lord. That often means taking time to stop and put our arms around a weaker friend who needs to get back on track.

Have you watched a fellow believer get spiritually confused, and yet you’ve kept on going? Jesus doesn’t seem as preoccupied with “winning” as we do. The important thing is how we run the race. And we are called to run it, bearing with the failings of those who are weak.[1]

We are going to talk about a passage that deals with that subject; we must love and support each other.

My theme today is:

We are to accept others following Christ’s example.

1. The example of Christ (verses 1-4)
   1. Witherington III: Origen offers a telling comment on this section of Paul’s discourse: “Eating meat and drinking wine are matters of indifference in themselves. Even wicked people may abstain from these things, and some idol worshipers, in fact, do so, for reasons which are actually evil. Likewise quite a few heretics enjoin similar practices. The only reason abstinence of this kind is good is that it may help to avoid offending a brother.”^[2]
   2. Let’s read verse 1 (Romans 15:1): We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
   3. Remember that in context Paul has been talking about conscious issues. Paul has been encouraging them to respect their conscious and respect the conscious of each other.
   4. The conscious issues they are dealing with seem to be either Jewish dietary laws or food sacrificed to idols. Paul had said that as Christians they are free to eat the meat, but if their conscious is not comfortable with it then follow their conscious.
   5. Paul has encouraged them to respect each other.
   6. In Romans 14:13 Paul said never to put a stumbling block in front of another.
   7. So, now Paul continues this discussion.
   8. Paul says “We who are strong…” What does he mean? The strong are those that feel free to eat without following Jewish practices. Paul includes himself among the strong.
   9. Paul says they have an “obligation” strong term, they have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.
   10. It seems that the lack of a true understanding of the weak is viewed as a failing. The weak feel that they must follow certain dietary laws because they do not know better.
   11. Paul says that they are not to please themselves.
   12. MacArthur: to bear: The word means “to pick up and carry a weight.” It is used of carrying a pitcher of water (Mk 14:13), of carrying a man (Ac 21:35), and figuratively of bearing an obligation (Ac 15:10). The strong are not to simply tolerate the weaknesses of their weaker brothers; they are to help the weak shoulder their burdens by showing loving and practical consideration for them (Gal 6:2; cf. 1Co 9:19–22; Php 2:2–4).^[3]
   13. Look at verse 2, Romans 15:2: Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
   14. So, instead of pleasing ourselves, each of us is to please his neighbor, why? For his good. Of course, “his” could also be “her.”
   15. We are to be about building up our neighbor.
   16. In Luke 10:30-37 Jesus answered “Who is my neighbor” with the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
   17. Now, verse 3, Romans 15:3: For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
   18. So, now we have the example of Christ.
   19. Christ did not please himself. Now, he quotes the Old Testament with “as it is written.”
   20. That is a quote from Psalm 69:9.
   21. Reproaches of those who reproached God fell upon Him.
   22. MacArthur: “Reproaches” refers to slander, false accusations, and insults. Men hate God, and they manifested that same hate toward the One He sent to reveal Himself (cf. Jn 1:10, 11, 18).^[4]
   23. Let’s look at verse 4, Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
   24. So, he gives the example of Jesus and then talked about former days. Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.
   25. Through endurance and encouragement of Scriptures we might have hope.
   26. Do you ever think about endurance?
   27. Do we endure through hard times while walking with the Lord?
   28. The Christian life is a marathon, not a short race. We must have endurance to keep going.
   29. Endurance gives us hope. Enduring through difficult times gives us hope.
   30. Also, encouragement of the Scriptures gives us hope.
   31. Are you in the Bible?
   32. The Word of God is endorsed here for our encouragement.
   33. Do you have hope, do you need hope?
   34. Read the Bible and focus on endurance.
2. Paul’s prayer for the people (verses 5-7)
   1. Verses 5-6 read, Romans 15:5-6,: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   2. Let’s break down these two verses. Now, Paul has a request: May the God of endurance– remember we just talked about endurance- and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another. So, Paul considers it important that we are in harmony with one another. That is why he has been saying not to argue over dietary issues.
   3. Paul continues, and this is VERY important. Live in harmony with one another, IN ACCORD WITH CHRIST JESUS. That is very important. They are to live in harmony with each other in Christ.
   4. To use another church metaphor, Christ is the groom, and we are the bride.
   5. But Paul is not finished yet. We are to live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus with the purpose that with one voice we glorify God the Father.
   6. MacArthur: God and Father: This expression emphasizes the deity of Christ. Jesus is not an adopted son of God; He is of the same essential being and nature as God. This is such an important connection that it appears frequently in the NT (2Co 1:3; 11:31; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Pe 1:3).^[5]
   7. Isn’t that powerful? Are we united in harmony?
   8. In Harmony we worship the Lord (Rev 7:9-10).
   9. We come together and worship the Lord with one voice.
   10. I love it when I can look out on the congregation, and everyone is worshipping the Lord with one voice.
   11. Now, look at verse 7, Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
   12. We might say, “Any friend of his is a friend of mine.”^[6]
   13. This verse wraps it up.
   14. Welcome one another.
   15. Christ has welcomed you.
   16. Christ welcomed you for the glory of God.
   17. Some translations say “accept one another to the glory of God.”
   18. ESV Study Bible: Such mutual acceptance will bring great glory to God.^[7]
3. Applications:
   1. We who are more mature in our understanding must bear with the failings of the weak.
   2. This is about conscious issues. This is NOT about specific things that the Bible is very clear.
   3. In matters of conscious we must not flaunt our freedom. We must love and support one another. This is very clear. We have an obligation to bear the failings of the weak.
   4. We must all think of how to build up our neighbor (verse 2).
   5. Our neighbor includes our enemy (Luke 10:29-37).
   6. We must really think of how to build up our neighbor. Do we do this? Do we really think about how to build up others?
   7. Christ did not please Himself (verse 3).
   8. We must be in the Scriptures (verse 4).
      1. Are we lacking in our Bible time?
      2. Are we meditating on the Scriptures?
      3. Are we ruminating on the Scriptures?
      4. Are we studying the Scriptures in Sunday School/small groups, etc.
      5. Those of you who are not in Sunday School, why not? Are you in a small group to take the place of Sunday School? Someone once told me he did not like any of our adult classes. My thought was, “So you are saying that no Sunday School is better than a class you do not like.”
      6. We must be in the Word and in the Word with the community of Christians.
   9. We must focus on persevering in the Christian life. We must focus on endurance (verse 4).
   10. Are we living in harmony with other Christians? Do we realize how much it glorifies God when we worship in unity (verses 5-6)?
   11. We must welcome others as Christ has welcomed us (verse 7).

Dr Witherington III shares:

Philip Hallie’s Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed recounts a story of the transforming, subversive power of shared living—what the author terms a “kitchen struggle”:⁸⁹ Nineteen hundred years after Paul wrote Romans, André Trocmé, a Huguenot pastor in the village of Le Chambon in the Haute-Loire region of France, underscored the recognition of commonality. Refusing to ostracize the Jews of France despite their religious “otherness,” he affirmed, “We do not know what a Jew is. We know only men.”⁹⁰ Pohl asserts, “When, by acknowledging difference, we only endanger, then we must only acknowledge our common human identity.”⁹¹ Trocmé’s commitment and that of his village to such a way of living made Le Chambon the safest place in Europe for Jews during WWII. Through the subversive practice of Christian hospitality, a kitchen conspiracy of goodness, this small, impoverished village of three thousand in occupied France saved an estimated five thousand Jewish refugees from the Nazi extermination camps. Like the Israelites before them, the Huguenots of Le Chambon recalled their own history of persecution and realized that Christian faith demanded a refusal to participate in oppression and violence, always the first fruits of focusing on differences.^[8]

Prayer

[1] Devotion 05.26.2021

^[2] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 345.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:1.

^[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:3.

^[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:6.

^[6] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 261.

^[7] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2182.

⁸⁹ Philip Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed (New York: HarperPerennial, 1994), p. 9.

⁹⁰ Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, p. 170.

⁹¹ Pohl, Making Room, p. 83.

^[8] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 348.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble (Romans 14:13-23).

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17, 2021

It was 2018. I was ready to start my first and my only Tough Mudder competition. This is a 10 mile competition with super muddy obstacles. It is something in which you work as a team. So, one has to work with others to climb over 10 foot walls and crawl through mud under barbed wire. There are obstacles in which one is literally swimming through mud. I wore old shoes because I knew how muddy it would be. That was a mistake. I was at the starting line. It was crowded. It was sunny and it was hot. I look down and I see that the toe of my shoe was split open. I asked around for duct tape and no one had any, so I tied my shoelaces around it. I go through the first obstacle okay. The second obstacle was one in which we run and jump to climb over a wall. There were things sticking out of the wall to hold onto. I run and as I go to grab hold of the wall my foot slams into the wall. That would have been okay, but the toe was now opened. I got over the wall. But my toe was broken. I kept going and by the 3^rd or 4^th mile I was swimming through mud and got mud splashed into my eye. To make matters worse I had contact lenses in. My brother was ahead of me trying to pull me out, but I could not see. My eye was burning and my toe was throbbing. I had to reach into my eye and pull the contact lens out, throwing it on the ground. It is probably still there. Maybe they will find it in an archaeological dig in the future. At mile 5 I left the competition.

What I just described was a competition in which I experienced multiple “Stumbling blocks.” These caused me to exit the competition before the finish line. In today’s passage Paul will exhort the Christians not to cause a stumbling block in another Christian’s path.

My theme today is:

Do not cause another to stumble.

1. Do not cause another to stumble (Verses 13-15).
   1. In Romans 14 Paul began to talk about conscious issues.
   2. Last week we talked about that. Paul was talking about disagreements about whether it was okay to eat certain meats. It seems that the issue was whether or not it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols. Though some think it could have to do with Jewish dietary laws. Some, who Paul calls “the strong,” thought it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols and not follow the dietary laws. Others, Paul calls “the weak,” thought it was not okay. Yet, Paul calls everyone to live at peace with one another. Paul continues that idea in these verses.
   3. Remember, last week I shared that Paul is saying that we are not to judge in matters of conscious.
   4. Let’s read verses 13-15, Romans 14:13-15: Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
   5. Paul says, “let us” and this is including himself. We are not to pass judgment on one another.
   6. We are not to put a stumbling block in the way of another.
   7. Paul gets more specific; we are also not to put a hindrance in the way of another.
   8. What is a stumbling block? Obviously, that would be something that makes a person stumble.
   9. I have ran many nights after dark. There have been at least a handful of times that I have stumbled on uneven sidewalks. That is what I think of when I read these verses.
   10. We do not want to make another stumble.
   11. We do not want to hinder their faith. We do not want to put an obstacle in another’s faith. “Hindrance” could be translated as “obstacle” or “snare.” I was fishing with Mercedes and she thought she caught a big fish. No, she caught a big rock. That is a snare.
   12. We do not want conscious issues to be a snare in someone’s faith journey.
   13. We do not want conscious issues to be a stumbling block in someone’s faith journey.
   14. Paul said something similar in 1 Cor. 8:13.
   15. In verse 14, Paul shares truth. He knows, and he is persuaded by the Lord, that nothing is unclean in itself. The food is technically clean. However, if someone thinks it is unclean, then for them it is a conscious issue which they must take seriously.
   16. In 1 Cor. 8:7 Paul builds on this.
   17. Later in verse 20 of this same chapter Paul will explain more of why this matters.
   18. In verse 15 Paul starts the “why” question which we will continue in the next point.
   19. We do not want to destroy a relationship. We do not want to harm someone’s faith. If we flaunt our freedom then we harm someone’s faith and Christ died for that person.
2. Remember love (verses 16-18).
   1. Let’s read verses 16-18, Romans 14:16-18: So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
   2. It seems now Paul is exhorting them to move beyond these things.
   3. So, do not let what is spoken of as good, what would that be? That would be the meat that some are offended by. Don’t let that be spoken of as evil. Why would that be? It would be spoken of as evil because it harms a relationship. Further, the other person’s conscious considers the meat as evil.
   4. In verse 17 Paul says the Kingdom of God is way more than that.
   5. Paul shares what the Kingdom of God is NOT and then what the Kingdom of God is.
   6. What is the Kingdom of God? I like how one person defined the Kingdom of God: God’s people in God’s place under God’s universal ruler, King Jesus, whose unique earthly ministry announces the already inaugurated but not yet consummated Kingdom of God/heaven.[2]
   7. The Kingdom of God is NOT eating and drinking. Moody: Drinking anticipates drinking wine in v. 21. Wine was used as libations in the temples, and Jewish believers refused to purchase and drink wine just as they did meat.^[3]
   8. Here Paul says the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
   9. The Kingdom of God is not what they are arguing over.
   10. The Kingdom of God is about righteousness. This is pursuing living God’s way and recognizing that Jesus has made us righteous.
   11. The Kingdom of God is about peace.
   12. Paul has been exhorting them to be at peace with one another.
   13. The Kingdom of God is about joy, but the joy is in the Holy Spirit.
   14. Verse 18: whoever serves Christ… this means whether they eat the meat or not, is acceptable to Him and approved.
   15. So, Paul is telling them both sides are okay in this matter.
   16. Paul is telling them to let this go.
3. Pursue peace (verses 19-23).
   1. Let’s read verses 19-23, Romans 14:19-23: So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. ²⁰Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ²¹It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²²The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
   2. Verse 19 encapsulates this whole argument.
   3. Paul makes an inference, “so then…”
   4. “pursue peace…” Now, that is a way to live, isn’t it?
   5. How many of us pursue peace?
   6. Paul then gives more detail about how to pursue peace. He gets more practical. Pursue what makes for mutual upbuilding.
   7. How are we doing with this?
   8. Are we critical of others?
   9. Are we trying to build one another up?
   10. In verse 20 Paul gives the truth again. Everything is clean, remember verse 14? In verse 14, he said something similar to what he shares now.
   11. IVP: The issue here is not eating meat or drinking wine per se, but that Gentile meat (suspected of having been offered to idols or not having the blood properly drained) and Gentile drink (some of it possibly used for libations to gods) were suspect to Jews. But like a good rhetorician, Paul calls his readers to concede his point even in the most extreme case, requiring abstinence from all meat or wine (and if it applies to the extreme, “how much more”—following a standard style of argument—to all lesser cases). (Although some Jewish groups abstained from wine for periods of time—Num 6:3; cf. Jer 35:5–6—diluted wine was a normal part of meals; thus the language here is probably hyperbolic.)^[5]
   12. Do not… this is a command.
   13. “For the sake of food…” In other words, there are more important matters to champion. But look at the rest. For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God. Wow! God is at work and when we argue and separate over conscious issues, we are hurting what God is doing.
   14. Even though it is clean it is wrong to make someone stumble.
       1. Now, I want to spend a few minutes on this verse.
       2. It is wrong to knowingly make someone stumble.
       3. I don’t think Paul expected them to go to the marketplace looking around and self conscious that they would make someone stumble.
       4. A contemporary example might be if you know someone is offended by alcohol don’t drink alcohol in front of them. Or, if you know someone is an alcoholic don’t drink alcohol in front of them. Don’t do anything that would trigger their alcohol addiction.
       5. However, I have heard people take this too far. One person might think they are free to drink alcohol and said person only has 1 glass of wine. However, others would say they better not even buy alcohol because suppose the cashier is offended by it.
       6. That is not the point of this passage. We ought not to knowingly be a stumbling block.
   15. Verse 21 goes into more detail. If meat is a stumbling block, or wine, or anything, don’t partake.
   16. We willingly alter our pace of walking while leading a small child by the hand so he or she will not stumble. How much more should we be willing to alter our Christian walk for the benefit of a weaker brother or sister in Christ whom we are leading.^[6]
   17. Verse 22: This is interesting. The faith you have keep between you and God. In other words, if you feel that you have the freedom, keep it between you and God.
   18. Blessed… that is nice. Blessed is the man who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. In other words, blessed is the one walking blamelessly, not causing strife.
   19. Verse 23: whatever does not come from faith is sin. In other words, if someone’s conscious says it is wrong, they must abstain.
   20. Cicero (De Officiis 1.30) says: “It is an excellent rule that they give who urge us not to do a thing, when there is doubt whether it is right or wrong; for righteousness shines with a brilliance of its own, but doubt is a sign that we are thinking of a possible wrong.”^[7]
   21. “Faith” here as in verses 1 and 22 does not refer to the teachings of Christianity but to what a person believes to be the will of God for him. If a person does what he believes to be wrong, even though it is not wrong in itself, it becomes sin for him. He has violated what he believes to be God’s will. His action has become an act of rebellion against God for him.^[8]
4. Applications:
   1. We must not cause harm over conscious issues.
   2. We must not be judgmental of another believer over things that the Bible does not clearly condemn.
   3. If someone does not feel free to eat or drink certain substances we must respect them.
   4. At the same time, we must understand that we are not bound by a law, and all things are clean (Romans 14:14, 20; 1 Timothy 4:4).
   5. We must be walking in love and be less critical (verse 15).
   6. We must not allow the freedom to be spoken of as evil because of our lack of love (verse 16).
   7. We must seek God’s Kingdom, knowing that God’s Kingdom is about right living, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (verse 17).
   8. We must be seeking peace (verse 17).
   9. We must be seeking peace more than discord (verse 17).
   10. We must be walking by the Spirit (verse 17 and Galatians 5:22-23).
   11. Verses 19-23 seem to be a restatement for emphasis and that reminds us of how important these matters are.
   12. We must not destroy the work of God, in other words because trivial matters harm what God is doing in a believer’s life.
   13. We must obey our conscious so long as it accords with Scripture (verse 23). Further, we must not cause another person to go against his or her conscious.

I began this message talking about the Tough Mudder. The Tough Mudder is a competition that tries to put stumbling blocks in the path of each person. There is one in which you slide down into ice water. There is another one in which you get electrocuted. My brother is crazy, he has finished three of them! I, on the other hand, have competed in normal races. I have ran 10k’s and 5k’s and three marathons. In those races we run with no unnatural obstacles. The Christian life is a marathon and the goal, in the Christian life, is that we try not to put stumbling blocks in each other’s spiritual lives.

Pray.

^[1] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 339.

[2] Dr. White, Cedarville University Chapel message on 09.17.2021

v. verse

^[3] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1768.

^[4] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

^[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Ro 14:20–21.

^[6] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:21.

^[7] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 341.

^[8] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:23.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another (Romans 14:1-12)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 9 and Sunday, October 10, 2021

Jefferson shared:

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.[1]

In Colson’s book “Who Speaks for God” he writes about a 60 minutes interview with Mike Wallace and Yehiel De-Nur. De-Nur was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor. He spent 2 years at Auschwitz. In 1961 at the Nuremberg trials, on June 7, 1961 he came in the courtroom for the Eichmann trial.

In his opening statement, Dinur presented a different opinion about the Holocaust than other well-known Holocaust writers (such as Elie Wiesel), by presenting the Holocaust as a unique and out-of-this-world event, saying: “I do not see myself as a writer who writes literature. This is a chronicle from the planet Auschwitz. I was there for about two years. The time there is not the same as it is here, on Earth. (…) And the inhabitants of this planet had no names. They had no parents and no children. They did not wear [clothes] the way they wear here. They were not born there and did not give birth… They did not live according to the laws of the world here and did not die. Their name was the number K. Tzetnik.”^[5]

After saying so, De-Nur collapsed and gave no further testimony.

In an interview on 60 Minutes, aired 6 February 1983, De-Nur recounted the incident of his fainting at the Eichmann trial to host Mike Wallace.

Was Dinur overcome by hatred? Fear? Horrid memories? No; it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained to Wallace, all at once he realized Eichmann was not the god-like army officer who had sent so many to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man. “I was afraid about myself,” said Dinur. “… I saw that I am capable to do this. I am … exactly like he.”[2]

Again: In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.[3]

Today, we look at a passage dealing with style, not principle. But we must realize how corrupt and evil we can be.

My theme today is:

We are not to judge other believers regarding matters of conscious.

1. Don’t pass judgment on one another (verses1-8).
   1. So, we have been going through Romans. Last week we talked about fulfilling the royal law, that is to love one another. Now, Paul continues how to love.
   2. Verse 1 seems to be more of a summary. Verse 1 reads (Romans 14:1): As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
   3. What does he mean by weak in faith? He will tell us in a few minutes. This is going to be about conscious issues.
   4. Paul knew that we have the freedom. It seems that this is really about eating food sacrificed to idols. One source shares: The weak were Jewish believers who felt that eating meat offered to a false god was an act of idolatry, so they ate vegetables only (v. 2).^[4]
   5. This subject is addressed again in 1 Corinthians chapters 8-10. As part of a seminary class, I read someone’s dissertation on this topic.
   6. Paul believes as Christians they have the freedom to eat the food sacrificed to idols, but this does not mean participating in the idolatrous practice. In 1 Corinthians 10:25 Paul writes about eating meat that was sold at the market place.
   7. Regardless, I believe the principle is to welcome others. Paul says, the one who is weak in faith welcome him. But notice the rest of the passage, “not to quarrel over opinions.” Paul says welcome him, but don’t quarrel.
   8. LET IT GO.
   9. It needs to be noted that what Paul is writing about here concerns matters of conscious. This is NOT about things where the Scripture is very clear. If we talk to a brother or sister in Christ about something commanded in Scripture God is the judge and we are merely the mouthpiece.
   10. Again, the Moody Bible Commentary informs us: Food was offered in honor of the gods, and surplus fare was sold to the markets to provide income for the priests and maintain the temples. Gentile believers had the conviction (faith) that it was permissible to eat this meat. Paul directed the stronger Gentile believers to fellowship with Jewish believers, but not to coerce them to adopt the stronger brother’s position (v. 1).^[5]
   11. Don’t judge based on diet (verses 2-4).
   12. Look at verse 2 (Romans 14:2): One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
   13. Why does the weak person eat only vegetables? It is because the weak person believes that it is wrong to eat meat sold in the marketplace that had been part of a sacrifice to demons. In 1 Corinthians 8-10 Paul says that they are free to eat. But here Paul is saying not to judge one another. If another’s conscious does not allow it, that is fine.
   14. Look at verse 3 (Romans 14:3): Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
   15. Paul is giving more detail of what he introduced in verse 1. Don’t despise one another. Don’t judge the person who eats the meat sacrificed to idols (gentiles), God has welcomed him.
   16. Look now at verse 4 (Romans 14:4): Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
   17. He is now asking questions. We are not in a place to pass judgment. It is before his own master that he stands or falls. The Lord will make him stand.  
   18. Don’t judge based on days (verses 5-6).
   19. Look at verse 5 (Romans 14:5): One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
   20. Now, Paul switches to days.
   21. He says that each person must be convinced in his own mind. It appears that Jewish people thought they had to follow sabbath days and certain holy days, though the gentiles did not feel obligated to do so.  
   22. The Bible does not give a direct command on this issue.
   23. Look at verse 6 (Romans 14:6): The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
   24. Paul is saying that they both want to honor the Lord. The one who observes the day, observes in honor of the Lord. The one who eats meat gives thanks to God; therefore, honoring the Lord. The one abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord.
   25. The reason: we belong to the Lord (verses 7-9).
   26. Look at verse 7 (Romans 14:7): For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
   27. We don’t live for ourselves. We are not to live for ourselves. We must always live for the Lord.
   28. Look at verse 8 (Romans 14:8): For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
   29. That is self-explanatory. Whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.
   30. Then, look at verse 9 (Romans 14:9): For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
   31. Christ died and He lived again, through the resurrection. This is so that He is Lord of the dead and the living. What does that mean? He is Lord on both sides of eternity.
2. Every believer will be judged by the Savior (verses 10-12).
   1. Now look at verse 10 (Romans 14:10): Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God…
   2. Paul is now appealing to the ultimate judge, God.
   3. NET Bible: The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.^[12]
   4. Look at verses 11-12 (Romans 14:11-12): for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” ¹²So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
   5.  “as it is written” signals an Old Testament quotation.
   6. Every knee shall bow to God. Every tongue shall confess to God.
   7. This is a quote from Isaiah 45:23.
   8. Verse 12: we will all give an account to God.
   9. Dr. Constable points out: There is a strong emphasis on recognizing Jesus’ lordship in our lives in these verses. The word “Lord” occurs seven times in verses 5–9.^[14]
3. Applications:
   1. We are not to pass judgment regarding matters of conscious.
   2. This means if someone believes they must follow Jewish dietary practices (verses 1-4), we must not look down upon that person.
   3. If one person believes they are to follow other ascetic dietary practices (verses 1-4), we must not look down on them (some believe this could have to do with people who followed certain ascetic practices).
   4. If one believes they are okay to eat not following those practices they must be careful not to look down on others (verses 1-4).
   5. If one believes they should observe Saturday, or Sunday, as holy we must not look down upon them (verses 5-8).
   6. If one (the strong) believes they are free from observance of certain days they must not look down on others (verses 5-8).
   7. We must do whatever we do in honor of the Lord (verse 6).
   8. We must live for the Lord (verse 8).
      1. Are we living for the Lord?
      2. Are we organizing our affairs around the Lord?
      3. Are we making Jesus Lord of our life?
      4. What is in the center of our life?
      5. Jesus must be the center. Oftentimes we put our self in the center. Imagine your life like the solar system. Oftentimes we put ourselves in the center and everything revolves around self: hobbies revolve around self, sports revolve around self, job revolves around self, family revolves around self, church and Jesus revolves around self. If that is our life what can happen? You get busy and your relationship with Jesus can easily spin off of our mini-solar system. What needs to happen is that Jesus is in the middle COMBINED with self. Everything revolves around Jesus.
   9. We must recognize we will all submit to God as the ultimate judge (verses 9-12).
   10. We must not judge one another concerning matters of conscious.
   11. If the Word of God is clear about something anytime we talk about anything we must quote Scripture.
   12. We can easily substitute other things in place of days and food. What about alcohol? I was taught that Christians are not to drink alcohol. This was wrongful Bible teaching based off an inaccurate teaching that the alcohol in the Bible was non-fermented. Upon a little bit of study, I soon realized that was a wrong teaching. This passage is saying don’t judge someone regarding that. Now, don’t misunderstand, the Bible is clear about drunkenness. The Bible clearly calls that very sinful, but if someone drinks in clear and careful moderation that is not wrong. Don’t think someone is a better Christian because they have liberty to have a glass of wine with dinner, or because they abstain.
   13. We can apply other things. We can indirectly apply this to how one dresses for worship. Right, one thinks they must dress up, another thinks they are free to wear shorts to church.
   14. We can apply this to other sensitive topics. Vaccines… Facial coverings… In these cases, we are indirectly applying this principle. The principle is being applied.  
   15. The point is clear: DO NOT JUDGE ON MATTERS OF CONSCIOUS.

Again, from Jefferson: In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.[15]

Remember the illustration from the beginning of this message?

Yehiel De-Nur. De-Nur was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor. He spent 2 years at Auschwitz. In 1961 at the Nuremberg trials, on June 7, 1961 he came in the courtroom for the Eichmann trial.

He gave testimony and then collapsed. Why?

Was Dinur overcome by hatred? Fear? Horrid memories? No; it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained to Wallace, all at once he realized Eichmann was not the god-like army officer who had sent so many to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man. “I was afraid about myself,” said Dinur. “… I saw that I am capable to do this. I am … exactly like he.”[16]

Dallas Willard was answering “why are Christians so mean”? He said we are mean because we think we have to be right. So, we must settle down and not quarrel over things not commanded in Scripture.

The Scriptures from Romans 12:9-10:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Prayer

[1] Thomas Jefferson, Christian Reader, Vol. 34.

[2] Swindoll shared the illustration. I tried to find it in writing but could only find wikipedia. I think it is accurate since Swindoll also quoted it (Insight for Living 09.08.2021).

[3] Thomas Jefferson, Christian Reader, Vol. 34.

^[4] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1767.

v. verse

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 14:2.

^[7] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:2.

[8] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-not-to-correct-a-fellow-christian?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=131213461&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9_Z88-JEcVlIoZninEQCskcovWMMH8B57fDjiVKq9IYZkgjIl27rRYg0I8CSLt87LUedMJUkGVUmqADl5aqQBx3qbOLQ&utm_content=131213461&utm_source=hs_email

^[9] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1767.

^[10] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1802.

^[11] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 14:9.

^[12] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ro 14:7–10.

[13] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-not-to-correct-a-fellow-christian?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=131213461&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9_Z88-JEcVlIoZninEQCskcovWMMH8B57fDjiVKq9IYZkgjIl27rRYg0I8CSLt87LUedMJUkGVUmqADl5aqQBx3qbOLQ&utm_content=131213461&utm_source=hs_email

^[14] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:12.

[15] Thomas Jefferson, Christian Reader, Vol. 34.

[16] Swindoll shared the illustration. I tried to find it in writing but could only find wikipedia. I think it is accurate since Swindoll also quoted it (Insight for Living 09.08.2021).

Fulfilling the Royal Law (Romans 13:8-14)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3, 2021

Do you ever think about Christian conduct? How are we to behave?

Our conduct is to be decent and honorable (v. 13). It must be acceptable in the open light of day. One example is Augustine. In his Confessions Augustine tells of his conversion to Christianity (viii.12). In a.d. 386, at a time when he was deeply moved by a desire to break from his old way of living, he sat weeping in the garden of a friend in Milan. Suddenly he heard a child singing Tolle, lege! Tolle, lege! (“Take up and read! Take up and read!”). He picked up a scroll lying there, and his eyes fell on Rom 13:13–14, “Not in orgies and drunkenness …” Immediately his heart was flooded with a clear light, and the darkness of doubt vanished. No other theologian has made a greater contribution to the theology of the Western world.^[1]

The passage today talks about these ideas.

My theme today is:

Christian living means loving our neighbor and clothing ourselves with Jesus, making no provision for the flesh.

1. Owe love to others (verses 8-10).
   1. Let’s read verses 8-10: Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
   2. Paul had just been writing about being submissive to authorities and now he begins to write about motivation. What motivates us, and how do we respond? Love must motivate us.
   3. We must owe loves.
   4. ESV Study note: Verses 8–10 focus on the Christian’s relationship to the Mosaic law. Owe no one anything links back to v. 7, and thus the command does not prohibit all borrowing but means that one should always “pay what is owed” (see v. 7), fulfilling whatever repayment agreements have been made. The debt one never ceases paying is the call to love one another. Indeed, love fulfills what the Mosaic law demands.^[3]
   5. New American Commentary: The Christian is to allow no debt to remain outstanding except the one that can never be paid off—“the debt to love one another.”⁷⁶ The obligation to love has no limit. We are to love not only those of the family of God but our “fellowman” as well. As God’s love extended to all, so must our concern reach out to believer and nonbeliever alike (cf. Matt 5:44–45).^[4]
   6. We must love.
   7. What do we owe? Do we owe service? Do we owe money? Do we owe Bible teaching? No, this passage says that we owe love.
   8. For the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Jesus said this (Matthew 22:38-40). James 2:8 is very similar as well.
   9. In verse 9 Paul lists some of the ten commandments (see Ex. 20:13ff and Deut 5:17ff) and says they are summed up in “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
   10. Paul lists 4 of the commandments dealing with human relations.
   11. You shall love your neighbor as yourself comes from: Lev 19:18; Matt 19:19.
   12. Remember in Luke 10 Jesus was asked “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus responded with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The Good Samaritan served his enemy and so even our enemy is our neighbor.  
   13. In verse 10, Romans 13:10, he says that love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
   14. If we love someone, we do not make fun of them. If we love someone, we do not harm them physically. If we love someone, we do not try to have competing comments that are one-uppers. If we love someone, we care about them. If we love someone, we want them to know Jesus. If we love someone, we won’t cheat them out of money. If we love someone, we want the best for their children.
   15. Think of how you feel if something bad happens to your children. Go further, think of your children as a young, innocent, vulnerable child, how did you feel if they were mocked or harmed? We should strive to love everyone that way. We, as Christians, ought not to harm anyone. We should try to think of all people like an innocent vulnerable person and then I think we are more likely to love them.
   16. By the way, I think God likely thinks of us that way.
   17. Gal 5:14; James 2:8 are good cross references.
   18. augustine: The rule of love is that one should wish his friend to have all the good things he wants to have himself and should not wish the evils to befall his friend which he wishes to avoid himself. He shows this benevolence to all men. No evil must be done to any. Love of one’s neighbor works no evil. Let us then love even our enemies as we are commanded, if we wish to be truly unconquered. of true religion 87.^[5]
2. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (verses 11-14).
   1. Now, Paul challenges them to step up. Now, Paul wants them to think in a wartime way. The time is coming for them to wake up in the faith.
   2. Look at verse 11, Romans 13:11: Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
   3. Do you ever feel like you are sleep walking through the day?
   4. Do you ever drive somewhere and it was such habit you don’t really remember passing certain roads?
   5. Do you ever feel like you are almost in overdrive through life?
   6. Paul is urging us not to live the Christian life like that.
   7. It is time to wake up. This is a common exhortation for Paul: 1 Cor 15:34; Eph 5:14; 1 Thess 5:6.^[6]
   8. ESV Study note: Sleep here is a metaphor for a life of moral carelessness and laxity. Salvation is viewed as a future reality here, and it draws nearer every day. the day is at hand. The nearness of the end summons Christians to put off all evil works and to live in the light.^[7]
   9. Salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. What does that mean? I think it means Jesus’ coming is getting closer and our death is getting closer.
   10. Verse 12 expands on this, Romans 13:12: The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
   11. There is often a contrast of light and darkness in the Bible. Darkness is sin, and wrong, and evil. Light is good.
   12. So, we know Jesus, get rid of the works of the flesh, of the devil, of sin, and live for Jesus.
   13. Look at verse 13, Romans 13:13: Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
   14. Walk properly… This means walk as Christians. Again, it is daytime, we know Jesus.
   15. Paul lists some of the sinful ways we are not to walk. Don’t walk in orgies and drunkenness.
   16. Don’t walk in sexual immorality.
   17. Don’t walk in sensuality. This is literally debauchery, that is excessive indulgence, sensual pleasures.
   18. Dr. Constable: The practices he urged us to avoid here were common in Corinth where Paul wrote this epistle. He observed them constantly. Intemperance often leads to sexual sin that frequently results in contention and quarreling.^[9]
   19. Now, let’s look at verse 14, Romans 13:14: But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
   20. This verse really sums up verses 11-14.
   21. Put on the Lord Jesus.
   22. It is like we are clothed with Jesus. It is like Jesus is our uniform.
   23. ESV Study note: The metaphor of putting on clothing implies not just imitating Christ’s character but also living in close personal fellowship with him.^[10]
   24. This passage is famous for bringing Augustine of Hippo to salvation (Confessions, 8:12.22).^[11]
   25. Don’t give the flesh any chance. The flesh is the worldly ways. We are to be different. Why? Because we love one another.
   26. Don’t give the flesh any opportunity to gratify its desires. They are not of God.
   27. This is a common exhortation: Job 29:14; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10, 12^[12]
3. Applications:
   1. Do we aim to love another (verse 8)?
   2. Do we realize that we will always owe love to others (verse 8)?
   3. Do we view other people as created in the image of God, or do we objectify people? When we view them as created in the image of God it will help us to love them.
   4. How do we view that waitress and waiter? Chik-Fil-A, that is God’s chicken, once had a training video. It showed people coming up to the counter to order. Over their heads a little bubble was shown that shared what each person faced that day. For example, this person just got news that their husband died. This person’s child was just diagnosed with cancer. This person just got laid off of their job.
   5. We must remember everyone has something they are dealing with and they are all worthy of grace. We need grace too.
   6. We must give up the old ways and clothe ourselves with Christ (verse 14).
   7. This week, try to be less demanding and try to be extra gracious wherever you go. This week give a good tip at a restaurant even when the service is not worthy. This week try to think of others as created in the image of God.

Prayer

^[1] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 248.

⁵⁷ M. Volf, Exclusion and Embrace (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996), p. 276.

^[2] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 320.

^[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2180.

⁷⁶ Moule says the debt of love is not like a forgotten account that is owed to a lender but like interest on capital that is continuously due and payable (Romans, 358).

^[4] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 245–246.

^[5] James Stuart Bell, ed., Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bibles, 2019), 1409.

^[6] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

^[7] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2180.

^[8] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 13:12.

^[9] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 13:13.

^[10] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2180.

^[11] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1802.

^[12] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Submission to Authorities (Romans 13:1-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26, 2021

Did any of you ever watch the show Andy Griffith? I used to watch that show. It was/is a comical and wholesome show. There was one particular episode in which Barney gives Gomer a ticket. Right after giving him the ticket Barney violates the law by a U-turn. Gomer immediately says, “Citizen’s arrest, citizen’s arrest!”

Well, today’s passage gets into the place of government in our life. God’s order is: God-State-people. The state submits to God, the people submit to the state. However, whether or not the state submits to God, we are to submit to the state. Let’s look at this passage.

My theme today is:

Christians are called to be submissive to authorities.

1. Be subject to the government (Romans 13:1).
   1. Witherington footnote: It is very interesting to compare what Paul says here and how he describes Christian community life to what Tertullian (Apology 39) says at the end of the second century: “We are an association bound together by our religious profession. … We meet together as an assembly and society. … We pray for the emperors. … We gather together to read our sacred writings. … After the gathering is over the Christians go out as if they had come from a school of virtue.”^[1]
   2. We are now in the ethics and moral section of Romans. Now, Paul addresses the government.
   3. Look at verse 1, Romans 13:1, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
   4. There is a passive command and then there are two statements about governing authorities.
   5. I said that it is a passive command because the verb directly translated “let be subject” is an imperative command in the passive mood.
   6. It is a command, but it comes off more gently, “let every person…” He is not saying, “do this,” or “don’t do that.”
   7. The command is that we are to be subject to the government. This is throughout Scripture.
   8. Eph 5:21 tells us to be subject to one another.
   9. Titus 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13 also tells us to be subject to authorities.
   10. Hebrews 13:7 and 17 tell us to submit to church leadership.
   11. Da 2:21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding…
   12. Da 4:17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’
   13. Jn 19:11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
   14. Now, the next two statement are critical.
   15. “For,: this means he is about to explain something.
   16. There is no authority except God. What does that mean?
   17. It means every government is under the sovereignty of God. He has a purpose. He can use it.
   18. This does not mean that God endorses corrupt leadership. The Roman leadership at that time was very corrupt.
   19. This means that God is the ultimate authority. There is no authority above God. Every leader will have to submit to God.
   20. Those that exists have been instituted by God.
   21. We may all know that the kings during the Middle Ages would use this verse to keep people in submission.
   22. However, this is only endorsing the system of government. This is not endorsing an evil monarch.
   23. God ordained/setup the idea of government.
2. Why (Romans 13:2-5)?
   1. Look at verse 2, Romans 13:2: Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
   2. There is an inference here, therefore is a logical, inferential, conjunction. Whoever resists authority, resists what God has appointed. What? What he means is that when we resist authority, we are resisting the government and God has appointed government. This does not mean resisting President Biden, or President Trump, or President Obama is resisting God because of them. No, we are resisting the government and God appointed a system of governance.
   3. If we resist, we will incur, that is be subject to, judgment, that is discipline.
   4. CSB: The Jewish nation rebelled against Rome in two costly wars, bringing judgment upon themselves at a cost of more than one million lives. Government is ordained by God to reward good and punish evil, providing peace and order for those whom it serves. The sword alludes to capital punishment. A government that rewards evil and punishes good will not long survive, for evil is innately destructive. “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked” (Pr 29:12).^[2]
   5. Look at verses 3-4, Romans 13:3-4: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
   6. This is very practical. If you do good the rulers will not bother you.
   7. Now, anyone of us could think of the exception, but we make rules based on the norms, not the exceptions. We could think of the times when someone was doing good and faced discipline, but most of the time, if we are doing what is right, we will be okay.
   8. If we do wrong, we are right to be afraid. The government does not bear the sword in vain, that means for no reason.
   9. The ruler is the servant of God. Meaning, by serving in the government, whether one realizes it or not, he/she is a servant of God. They are in God’s system.
   10. The leader is an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
   11. This means that oftentimes God punishes wickedness through His people.
   12. This is really all about common grace. Generally speaking, even non-Christians recognize right and wrong and can carry it out in government.
   13. Verse 5, Romans 13:5: Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
   14. This sums this section up. Therefore, is an inference.
   15. When we are subject to the government by obedience, we avoid God’s wrath. How? In obeying the government, we are obeying God’s system to keep up moral order in this fallen world.
   16. It is also better for our conscience because in obeying the government we are doing right.
3. In obeying the government we pay taxes (Romans 13:6-7).
   1. Now, Paul deals with taxes.
   2. Look at verses 6-7: For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
   3. “For because of this,” because of what?
   4. Because of the government system which was instituted by God. We pay taxes because God setup government as part of His common grace and natural law.
   5. When did God setup government?
   6. Genesis 1:28-31; 2:24-25, He setup government with the family.  
   7. In Genesis 2:15 God told Adam to take care of the garden.
   8. In Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy God setup a system of government for the Israelites.
   9. Dr. Constable: God has established three institutions to control life in our dispensation: the family (Gen. 2:18–25), the civil government (Gen. 9:1–7), and the church (Acts 2). In each institution there are authorities to whom we need to submit for God’s will to go forward. Women are not the only people God commands to be submissive or supportive. Male and female children, citizens, and church members also need to demonstrate a submissive spirit.^[3]
   10. God also put it in our hearts that we need government. Meaning, God taught us that through common grace.
   11. Again, in verse 6, authorities are ministers of God, again because they are taking care of God’s system.
   12. Verse 7: pay what is owed to them.
   13. Taxes to whom taxes are owed… taxes to government. Jesus addresses this in: Matt 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25^[4]
   14. Revenue to whom revenue is owed…Pay your boss, pay those who you owe money to.
   15. Respect to whom respect is owed…respect leadership…
   16. Honor to whom honor is owed…
   17. There is a principle, it is subsidiarity. This means the closest people to a situation are most equipped to handle the situation. Your family is most equipped to take care of the needs of your family. Poland is most equipped to handle the needs of Poland. Ohio is most equipped to handle the needs of Ohio. It is not good to micromanage.
   18. The dictionary definition is:
   19. the quality or state of being subsidiary
   20. a principle in social organization holding that functions which are performed effectively by subordinate or local organizations belong more properly to them than to a dominant central organization.

Applications:

1. We must obey the authorities.
2. We must understand that God setup the system of governance so resisting authorities is resisting God.
3. We must even submit to corrupt authorities. There is not an exception given for authorities that are corrupt or that we do not like.
4. The only exception is when there is a conflict we are to obey the higher power, which is God (Acts 5:29).
5. We must pay our taxes (verse 6).
6. We must pay revenue to whom revenue is owed (verse 7).
7. We must pay respect to whom respect is owed (verse 7).
8. We must give honor to whom honor is owed (verse 7).

Prayer

^[1] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004).

^[2] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1801.

^[3] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 13:1.

^[4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by renewing your mind, and out of that live different lives than those of the world.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 19, 2021

J. D. Greear shares:

I did a little reading up on caterpillars recently and learned some fascinating things about their transformation process. When the caterpillar is in its cocoon, it isn’t just rearranging pieces on its body. It’s not in there reading manuals about flight or working out. It actually releases enzymes that turn its body into a little soup. Those cells rearrange into a new creation—with wings, antennae, eyes, and all the rest.

After a few weeks, it nibbles a hole in the cocoon, and out pops a butterfly! And then, without any classes or coaching or coercion, it flies.

The Apostle Paul may or may not have known all this about butterflies. But he did recognize that something similar happens to the believer: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Romans 12:2 CSB).

“Transformed” means changed from within. The word in Greek for “transformed” is metamorphoo. It’s where we get our word “metamorphosis”—you know, the word we use to describe what happens to a caterpillar when it sews itself up in a cocoon and emerges as a butterfly.

When God transforms us from within, he releases gospel enzymes into our heart that restructure it so that spiritual flight becomes second nature.[1]

My theme is:

Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by renewing your mind, and out of that live different lives than those of the world.

1. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the Lord (verses 1-2).
   1. In this chapter Paul is transitioning from all the rich doctrine to how we are to live. Because of all this rich doctrine we live differently.
   2. Verses 1-2, Romans 12:1-2: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2. Thinking of the body of Christ (verses 3-8).
   1. Paul is about to write about being the body of Christ. However, I find it interesting that he begins this section the way he did. It is as if he was saying you cannot live the way a Christian is to live unless you are transformed by Christ. If you are conformed to the world, you cannot live the way a Christian is to live. Further, you must be transformed. After you are transformed the rest will follow.
   2. So, to live as a Christian you need to:
      1. Be one (Romans chapters 1-11).
      2. You must have the right doctrine (Romans chapters 1-11).
      3. You must be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).
      4. You must be transformed (Romans 12:2).
   3. Now, he gets practical.
   4. Look at verse 3, Romans 12:3: For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
   5. Now, we are going to skip to verses 9-13.

1. Christian living (verses 9-13).
   1. Now, Paul gets very practical. Jesus is not mentioned in this section, but He is the backdrop.
   2. Verse 9, Romans 12:9: Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
   3. Paul is straightforward: love should be genuine. Think of genuine. This means it is not fake, it is real.
   4. Abhor what is evil. Abhor means “a strong feeling of revulsion or aversion.”^[2]
   5. Hold fast to what is good. Think of holding fast to something, when we are “holding fast” we are holding tightly. We do not want to let go. We cling to what is good. Cling means “to glue something together.”^[3]
   6. Verse 10, Romans 12:10: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
   7. This is the language of family. We are to love one another with the affection we would have for a brother or a sister.
   8. Verse 11, Romans 12:11: Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
   9. Do not be slothful in zeal. To be slothful would mean to be lacking, or to not care, or to be lazy. We must care about zeal. Maybe since they thought the law could not save them and salvation is by grace they could have an “I don’t care attitude.”
   10. Be fervent in spirit. This means passionate intensity. Serve the Lord.
   11. Verses 12-13, Romans 12:12-13: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
   12. Paul is giving simple statements.
   13. Rejoice in what? The hope that we have. We have hope in Christ.
   14. Be patient in what? Patient, even in tribulation. Why? Because of the hope. Be constant in what? Prayer. We must keep praying for our hope and patience in tribulation.
   15. When we do this, we can’t loath our neighbors. It is hard to hate someone we are praying for.
   16. Contribute to what? The needs of the saints.
   17. Show what? Hospitality. That may be one of the needs of the saints. Hospitality was critical back then.
   18. There is a book, “The Gospel Comes with a Housekey.” In it Rosario Butterfield writes about how important hospitality is to the gospel.
2. Christian unity (verses 14-21).
   1. Verse 14, Romans 12:14: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
   2. That is a common statement throughout the New Testament. Christians will be persecuted. We are to respond with blessing. We are not to curse.
   3. Jesus did this, He prayed for those who crucified Him.
   4. Verse 15, Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
   5. As the body of Christ, we rejoice together, but we also weep together. This is about our unity. Remember the picture of the body of Christ like a human body? If my arm hurts it affects my whole body. Therefore, as the body of Christ, we really care about one another. Also,
   6. Verse 16, Romans 12:16: Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
   7. Live in harmony.
   8. Have you ever been to a concert? In a concert multiple instruments and singers come together in unity to make something beautiful.
   9. Do not be haughty. That means arrogant or superior. Don’t be a know it all. That goes along with the next part: Don’t be wise in your own sight.
   10. Verse 17, Romans 12:17: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
   11. The world would say to repay evil with evil, but not us. We are to repay evil with good. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”[4]
   12. Jesus did not take out vengeance on Judas.
   13. Verse 18, Romans 12:18: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
   14. “if possible…” This means that this is not always possible, but when it is possible we want to live peaceably with all.
   15. Can we do that? What about our neighbor? Our co-worker? The person who you disagree with?
   16. Verse 19, Romans 12:19: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
   17. Proverbs 25:21-22 are quoted in verse 20, Romans 12:20: To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
   18. Instead of taking vengeance, we do the opposite. We can do this because we know that God will take care of the sins committed against us.
   19. Feed our enemy. Give water to our enemies.
   20. Verse 21, Romans 12:21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
   21. That is a summary.
   22. Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil with good.
   23. When we live this verse, it assures that we will not be overcome with evil.
   24. We cannot overcome evil with evil.
   25. In doing this we won’t win all but we will win some for Christ.
   26. If we think lying and sin are effective, we will be overcome with evil. Don’t do that.
   27. John 16:33: Jesus overcame the world.

Jesus changes us to live this way.

I read a book about Louis Zamperini. Zamperini was in the 1936 Olympics held in Germany. He was famous for setting records for how fast he could run the mile.

Later he was planning to enter the next Olympic competition but it was canceled because of WWII. Zamperini entered the war and served on a B 24. He was shot down and spent 47 days at sea and then around three years as a Japanese prisoner of war. He was badly mistreated in the POW camps. 

Following the war he dealt with post traumatic stress disorder. This caused him to plunge into alcoholism which brought on a host of other problems. He was married and had one child, but his marriage was being threatened with divorce. Every time he closed his eyes at night he was plagued with memories of his time as a POW. He was filled with hate and wanted to kill one particular guard (Mutsuhiro Watanabe (nicknamed “The Bird”), who was later included in General Douglas MacArthur’s list of the 40 most wanted war criminals in Japan. Finally in 1949 as the 31 year old Billy Graham was preaching an evangelical crusade in Los Angeles, Louis’ wife gave her life to Christ at the crusade. She eventually convinced Louis to also attend. Louis attended once and was convicted but left in anger during Graham’s invitation. Louis’ wife, Cynthia, convinced him to attend again. He did and started to leave again during the invitation. But he was convicted and went forward giving his life to Christ.

Following the conversion his life changed dramatically. He went home that night, and at the time when he would usually drink alcohol to excess, he dumped his alcohol down the drain. His hate was changed to forgiveness. His marriage lasted until his wife’s death. He never had nightmares of his time as a POW again. He later went back to Japan and spoke to the guards who were accused and convicted of war crimes. He forgave them. But the one guard who was the worst to Louis, Mutsuhiro Watanabe (nicknamed “The Bird”), was thought dead and Louis never was able to talk to him. Later they found out he was alive and Louis was scheduled to meet with him and wrote the letter below. But he was not able to meet with him as Watanabe declined the invitation. Someone was supposed to take the letter to him, but no one knows if Watanabe received it. The letter is below:

To Matsuhiro [sic] Watanabe,

         As a result of my prisoner of war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment, my post-war life became a nightmare. It was not so much due to the pain and suffering as it was the tension of stress and humiliation that caused me to hate with a vengeance.

         Under your discipline, my rights, not only as a prisoner of war but also as a human being, were stripped from me. It was a struggle to maintain enough dignity and hope to live until the war’s end.

         The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for them.”

         As you probably know, I returned to Japan in 1952 [sic] and was graciously allowed to address all the Japanese war criminals at Sugamo prison… I asked them about you, and was told that you probably had committed Hara Kiri, which I was sad to hear. At that moment, like the others, I also forgave you and now would hope that you would also become a Christian.

Louis Zamperini[5]

Christ changed Zamperini. He changes us so that we can live differently and love differently.

[1] https://jdgreear.com/blog/what-it-really-means-to-have-our-minds-transformed/?utm_source=JD+Greear+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5e1d797092-BLOG_DIGEST_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_009733a9e6-5e1d797092-87118783

^[2] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 236.

^[3] Ibid.

[4] https://jdgreear.com/blog/where-do-you-get-the-power-to-forgive/?utm_source=JD+Greear+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2c0a798593-BLOG_DIGEST_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_009733a9e6-2c0a798593-87118783

[5] Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Random House, Inc.. New York. 2010. Specifically pages 396-397 for the letter and pages 368-398 for Louis conversion and life transformation.

The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation (Romans 11:25-36)

Prepared and preached for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 5, 2021

Children may be dismissed to junior church.

Imagine yourself turning on the TV and tuning into a courtroom trial. In your living room, you can see only what the camera shows you. You don’t hear all the testimony. You don’t get to question the witnesses. You don’t get to see all the evidence. You don’t hear the instructions to the jury. You’re not privy to the conversations between the lawyers and the judge.

When the jury comes in with its verdict and the sentence is passed by the judge, how adequately can you assess whether justice has been done? We would not be able to know what justice required and whether justice was upheld if we are lacking information.

How then can we sit in judgment on God’s justice? We don’t have all the information necessary to judge whether God has been just.[1]

Today, we end the first 11 chapters of Romans. This means that we end the section on doctrine.

Do we allow room for mystery? I am talking about mystery spiritually.

My theme today is:

There is a mystery of how God hardens and softens hearts.

My application: We must allow room for mystery and worship the Lord.

• The mystery of the partial hardening (verses 25-27).
  1. Let’s look at Romans 11:25-27: Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷“and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
  2. Paul begins to explain the mystery.
  3. He writes that he does not want them to be wise in their own sight. He writes that he does not want them to be unaware.
  4. Do we understand mystery? Do we think that we are wiser than we are? Do we think that we can figure everything out?
  5. D. L. Moody shared: I am glad there are things in the Bible I do not understand. If I could take that book up and read it as I would any other book, I might think I could write a book like that.[2]
  6. Over the last several chapters Paul has been sharing things that are beyond our comprehension. Seriously, we cannot figure out the things of God and we need to be put in our place.
  7. Can we explain how God orchestrates His plan with our freewill? This is an antinomy, that is an apparent contradiction, a paradox. But it is not at all a contradiction. God is so great to know how to work out both without compromising either.
  8. There are other things that we cannot figure out. We cannot figure out the Trinity.
  9. We must leave room for mystery in our life. In Matthew 13:11, Jesus talks about giving the disciples secrets of the Kingdom of God. Listen, there is mystery, and through the Holy Spirit, God lets us in on things, but we will not understand completely.
  10. Now, Paul is about to explain another mystery.
  11. Remember, since Romans chapter 9 Paul has been explaining why the Jewish people have rejected the Messiah.
  12. He has been explaining that God has been consistent with His word.
  13. Paul has shared through many Old Testament prophesies that God was going to include gentiles in His plan and there would only be a remnant of Israelites.
  14. Now, Paul explains why.
  15. This is critical.
  16. This is the conclusion.
  17. A partial hardening…
  18. Notice, this is not a complete hardening.
  19. A partial hardening has come upon Israel, that would be the Jewish people. Their hearts are hardened, but not forever.
  20. Their hearts are hardened until the fulness of the gentiles come in. Their hearts are hardened in order to graft in the gentiles and then the gentiles will make the Israelites want the Gospel more, remember verses 11-14 of this same chapter.
  21. One person shared: time of the gentiles: gentiles had world domination from the time of the Babylonian world domination that started in 605 BC and then Medo-Persia and then Greece and then to Rome and back to Rome at the end of days and until Jesus comes again. Fulness of gentiles is about finding many people among the gentiles to open their hearts to Jesus as Savior. One is political domination and then the other is God’s opening hearts and minds of gentiles to be saved. One is political domination and then the other is salvation. Only at the end of the tribulation will all Israel be saved, but this is just those alive then who make a conscious decision to commit to Jesus.[3]
  22. Now, remember there have been many times the Jewish people hardened their own hearts (called “stiff neck” in Exodus 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deuteronomy 9:13; 10:16; 2 Kings 17:14; Acts 7:51). So, does God harden hearts? Yes. Do people harden their own hearts? Yes.
  23. Then, look at verse 26, all Israel will be saved.
  24. This does not mean every Jewish person will be saved without believing in Jesus. One person shared: The end of Romans 11:26 says that all Israel will be saved, the deliverer will come from Zion. The Jewish people alive at the second coming will become believers and enter into the Millennial Kingdom.[4]
  25. This is talking about many Jewish people being saved at the end of the tribulation period and entering into the Millennial Kingdom.
  26. Then Paul says, “as it is written” and that means he is going to quote the Old Testament.
  27. Paul then quotes Isaiah 59:20-21. The Deliverer will come from Zion. Zion means Jerusalem. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.
  28. CSB: Here in v. 26, “all Israel” means there will be a conversion of the Hebrew nation. It does not mean that every single Jew living will be saved. Salvation is defined in vv. 26–27 as the new covenant that the Messiah will inaugurate.^[5]
  29. All Israel, according to the use of the phrase in the LXX, never referred to every single Jew (cf. 1Ch 19:17 where it refers only to soldiers; 1Sm 25:1, where it refers only to those who buried Samuel), and more than likely Paul does not mean that in the future every Jew will be saved. All Israel should probably be understood to refer to the vast majority of the ethnic people of Israel, Jews from every tribe and from every locale all over the world.^[6]
  30. Verse 27 continues the quote: God talks about the covenant with them (this is Isaiah 59:21), when God takes away their sins.
  31. This is prophesying Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus, the Messiah came from Jerusalem (Zion).
• They were enemies of the Gospel, but loved because of their ancestors (verses 28-32).
  1. Let’s read verses 28-32: As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³²For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
  2. Now Paul writes that they [the Jewish people] are enemies of the Gospel.
  3. Why? They are enemies of the Gospel because they have rejected the Gospel and persecuted Christians. In Romans 5:10 Paul shares that we are “enemies” of God without Jesus’ blood atoning for our sins.
  4. Why does Paul say “for your sake”? The “your” is the gentiles, the non-Jewish people. This is because since the Jewish people have been rejecting the Gospel this opened the way for the gentiles. So, they, the Jewish people, have been enemies of the gospel, and this allowed more gentiles to come to know Jesus. In verse 11 of this same chapter Paul writes about this, salvation has come to the gentiles.
  5. Paul continues (still in verse 28), but as regards to election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. Now, Paul is talking about how God chose Israel throughout history. Remember Romans 9:5 Paul talked about how they have the patriarchs, etc. Romans 10:15 is similar.
  6. Verse 29: The gifts of the calling of God are irrevocable.
  7. This is an amazing verse. God’s gift and calling on Israel does not change.
  8. This election was God’s choice. This is about the covenant w Abraham. In Genesis 15 God alone passed through the sacrifices which shows He is the only one who can cancel them. The covenant remains.[7]
  9. Verse 30: Paul now says that they at one time were disobedient to God, but now they received mercy because of their disobedience. This just means that because of the Jewish people’s disobedience that opened the way for the gentiles to receive mercy; in this case, God’s mercy.
  10. In verse 31 Paul is saying that will flip. They, the Jewish people, are now disobedient, but will receive mercy because of the mercy shown to the gentiles. This is what Paul wrote about earlier in this chapter. The gentiles accepting Jesus will make the Jewish people jealous for the gospel.
  11. In verse 32 Paul is saying that all are disobedient. The “all” means Jews and gentiles. The Jewish people, the gentiles, everyone needs the Gospel. God wants to show mercy to all. The “all” means all people groups, not all individuals.
• Doxology (verses 33-36).
  1. Let’s read verses 33-36: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
  2. This is a powerful doxology and I cannot give it justice.
  3. Paul has shared things that are too amazing to understand. The Gospel is for everyone. Israel is rejecting the Savior, but that won’t last forever. There is a mystery in the way God works.
  4. Paul takes a breath, “oh…” The theme of verse 32 that God will give mercy to “all” leads to worship.
  5. H.B. Charles shares: The Truth of God is shallow enough that a little child can come and get a drink without the fear of drowning. But the truth of God is deep enough that the greatest of scholars can come in and never touch the bottom.[8]
  6. So, these next several verses are worship.
  7. There is depth in riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Actually, Paul just exclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches…”
  8. The juxtaposition of “depth” and “riches” suggests a bottomless treasury of mercy.^120[9]
  9. It is the longest of Paul’s doxologies. God’s judgments, his decisions about the world and about human matters, cannot be figured out by human beings.^[10]
  10. How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways.
  11. This means that we cannot figure God out. God is deep. There is mystery. One person shares almost every heresy is us trying to scrute the inscrutable.[11]
  12. In verse 34 Paul expands on this with two questions with implied negative answers: Who has known the mind of the Lord? NO ONE. Who has been the Lord’s counselor? NO ONE.
  13. This is from Isaiah 40:13 with allusions to Job 15:8 and Job 36:22-23.
  14. That is even humorous. The Lord does not need counsel from us.
  15. In verse 35 Paul is quoting to Job 35:7 and 41:11. (V. 35 quotes Job 41:11 from some source other than the LXX. “With God, man never earns a recompense; he can only be loved and treated with mercy.”)^[12] Who gives gifts to God? God does not need to pay us back for anything. God owns it all (Psalm 50:11).
  16. Paul wraps this worship up with verse 36: From Him, that means from God, through Him, that is God, and to Him, again, God, are all things.
  17. God is the source from which all things come, the means by which all things happen, and the goal toward which all things are moving. He is the originator, sustainer, and finisher of everything ultimately (cf. Col. 1:16). In view of all these things (vv. 33–36), He deserves all glory forever.^[13]
  18. 1 Cor. 8:6 is a good cross reference; also John 1:1-14; Col. 1:15-20. Other cross references: Rom 16:27; Eph 3:21; Phil 4:20; 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; 1 Pet 4:11; 5:11; 2 Pet 3:18; Jude 25; Rev 1:6; 5:13; 7:12^[14]
  19. To God be the glory.
  20. Amen which means “truly, truly” or “let it be.”
  21. This is how Paul ends these 11 chapters of theology.
• Summary and applications:
• We must leave room for mystery in our life (verse 26).
• We must not be prideful thinking that we can understand everything God does or does not do (verse 26).
• We must repent of any intellectual pride (verse 25).
• We must understand that God does have a sovereign plan and He does soften and harden hearts (verse 26).
• We must understand that God will bring about salvation of many Jewish people in the future. This is most likely the end of the tribulation period, but it could have already begun (verses 26-27).
• We must understand that the covenant with Israel is irrevocable (verse 29).
• We must understand we all need God’s mercy (verse 32).
• We must worship God (verses 33-36).
• We must understand that God does not owe us anything (verse 35).
• To God be the glory (verse 36).

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”[15]

Can we follow President Lincoln’s example and trust the Lord?

Prayer

[1] Source: John Walton, author and Moody Bible Institute professor, from sermon “Auditing God”

[2] Source: D.L. Moody, Christian History, no. 25.

[3] see Luke 21:24; Dr Rydelnic; Open Line; 02.27.2021

[4] Ibid. 05.08.2021

v. verse

vv. verses

^[5] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1799.

LXX Septuagint

cf. compare or consult

^[6] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1764.

[7] Dr Rydelnic (Professor of Jewish Studies and Bible), Open Line, Moody Radio.

[8] H.B. Charles; Renewing Your Mind; 07.30.2021

¹²⁰ Dunn, Romans 9–16, p. 699.

^[9] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 277.

^[10] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 277.

[11] Dr Mohler

Spring convocation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel 2021

LXX Septuagint

^[12] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 277.

^[13] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 11:36.

^[14] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

[15] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lincolns-providence?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=82749622&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_MxXo_YBQu18a5XSiFnsSbS0ghk8vpBG5hGNHKPvKKN1XkYQhO_FRoROANfkjmsbTn5Dxabl43TnBPlMMmYwgL3UWWuw&_hsmi=82749622

Gentiles Grafted In (Romans 11:11-24)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, August 29, 2021

Albert Einstein wrote things that suggested he had some sort of belief in God, but he also wrote of his own unbelief. James Randerson says:

Einstein penned [a] letter on January 3, 1954, to the philosopher Eric Gutkind who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. The letter went on public sale a year later and has remained in private hands ever since.

In the letter, he states: “The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

Einstein, who was Jewish and who declined an offer to be the state of Israel’s second president, also rejected the idea that the Jews are God’s favoured people.

“For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”[1]

My theme today is:

Gentiles are grafted in to a rich faith going back to the Patriarchs.

My applications are:

Don’t be arrogant about your salvation and do not take God’s kindness lightly. Persevere in the faith. 

1. Context
   1. Beginning in Romans 9:1-6 Paul has been answering the question of the people of Israel, the Jewish people.
   2. Why would they reject Jesus?
   3. In the beginning of Romans 9, Paul said that he would be willing to be accursed for the sake of his brethren (Romans 9:3).
   4. In Romans 10:1-2 Paul also shared his heart for Israel.
   5. In Romans 9 and 10 Paul was showing that God is being consistent with His promises. God had spoken through the prophets that gentiles would be grafted in and that Jesus would be a stumbling block to the Jewish people (Romans 9:30-33 specific about Jesus being a stumbling block).
   6.  In Romans 11:1-10 Paul shared that God did preserve a remnant.
2. Salvation comes to the gentiles to make Israel desire a relationship with Jesus (verses 11-12).
   1. In verse 11 Paul begins with a question and this question refers back to the previous section.
   2. Look at verse 11 (Romans 11:11): So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
   3. In the previous verses Paul had written about the hardness of heart the Israelites were under.
   4. Now, Paul is answering the question, did they stumble and fall?
   5. Now, they stumbled, but this led to the gentiles salvation. If they had fallen, there would have been no Messiah and further no salvation for the gentiles.
   6. God had a purpose. Through their stumbling, through their hardness of heart, the gentiles have been saved.
   7. The gentiles are to make the Israelites jealous, that is to desire salvation.
   8. Look at verse 12 (Romans 11:12): Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
   9. Now Paul uses a “how much more” argument.
   10. If their trespass means riches for the world…
   11. If their failure means riches for the gentiles…
   12. How much more will their full inclusion mean. This is meaning, if by their sin rejecting the Messiah means that others are saved, how much greater will it be when this partial hardening is over and the Jewish people are again included in God’s plan.
   13. Dr Constable: Paul here anticipated the national repentance of Israel that he articulated later (v. 26). God promised to bless the world through Israel (Gen. 12:1–3). How much more blessing will come to the world when Israel turns back to God than is coming to the world now while she is in rebellion against God!^[2]
   14. Remember this is about God’s plan.
   15. CSB: The future reception of Jews by God will result in world blessing. If their unbelief brought riches to the Gentiles, their future faith in Jesus as Messiah will enrich the world (cp. Is 2:2–4).^[3]
3. Paul addresses the gentiles; don’t forget you are grafted into Judaism (verses 13-16).
   1. Let’s read verses 13-14 (Romans 11:13-14): Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
   2. I always love how direct Paul is. In this case he is addressing the gentiles and he says that he is an apostle to the gentiles.
   3. In Acts 9:15 when Paul is saved God tells Ananias that Paul is a “chosen instrument of Mine [God’s] to bear My name before the gentiles…”
   4. Paul says that he “magnifies” his ministry. How does he magnify his ministry?
   5. The answer is if he can provoke his people, that is the Jewish people, to jealousy and save some of them, that magnifies his ministry. How does that magnify his ministry?
   6. I think the answer is that then he is a missionary to the gentiles and the Jewish people. His ministry expands.
   7. Let’s look at verses 15-16 (Romans 11:15-16): For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
   8. Their rejection, that is the Jewish people’s rejection, means the reconciliation of the world. Does this mean the whole world is reconciled to God? Of course not. It means the reconciliation of those who accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation. Romans 5:11 shares that when we believe in Jesus we are reconciled to God. We are friends with God. The hostility created by our sin is taken away. 
   9. What does their acceptance mean? What does the acceptance of Jesus by the Jewish people mean? It means life from the dead. It means life from the dead for those that accept the Gospel. But how is this greater?
   10. Paul is saying that the gentiles are grafted in. He is going to build on that beginning in verse 17. So, Judaism is the tree, and the gentiles are wild branches. If the tree is holy because more Jewish people are saved, he is saying that the tree is more alive from the dead. Specifically, in verse 16 he is saying if the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, who would that be? That would be Israelites, the Jewish people. If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the lump. He is saying the foundation is holy, so the rest is holy. Further, if the root is holy, so are the branches. If more Jewish people accept Jesus that is life from the dead, and this is because the foundation, dough, the root, is holy.
   11. New American Commentary: …it would appear that what Paul was speaking of here was a great spiritual awakening of Israel to take place at the end of human history.^[4]
   12. Dr Constable: When Israel returns to God and He accepts her, the results for all humankind are comparable to life from the dead (cf. Ezek. 37). God’s blessings on humanity now will pale by comparison with what the world will experience then (i.e., during the Millennium).^[5]
   13. Paul will build on this in the next section.
   14. New American Commentary: Numbers 15:17–21 describes an offering made from the first grain harvested and ground. The cake presented to the Lord consecrated the rest of the batch. Paul wrote that if the dough offered as firstfruits was holy, then the entire batch was holy. In this metaphor the “dough” represents the Jewish believers who had accepted Christ (the remnant of v. 5), and the “whole batch” would be those who would come to believe. The metaphor changes to a tree with its branches. If the root is holy, so are the branches. In this case the “root” represents the patriarchs (esp. Abraham); and the “branches,” the nation that follows. The point is that if the patriarchs were holy (and they were), so also were the Jewish people (in the sense that the positive effects of the patriarchs reached to them (cf. 1 Cor 7:14). God’s rejection of the Jewish nation was neither complete (Rom 11:1–10) nor final (11:11–24).^[6]
4. The gentiles were grafted into Judaism, but they can be cut off (verses 17-24).
   1. New American Commentary: The normal process of grafting called for cultivated shoots to be joined to the branches of a wild olive tree that had been cut back. The exposed ends were smeared with clay and bound with cloth or date straw.^103[7]
   2. IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Grafting of trees (adding a shoot of one tree to another tree) is reported in both Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Sometimes shoots from a wild olive tree would be grafted onto a domestic olive tree that was bearing little fruit in an attempt to strengthen or save the life of the tree. The unproductive original branches would be pruned off, and the new graft was considered “contrary to nature” (as in 11:24—NASB).^[8]
   3. Paul is about to expand on his metaphor about a root and a branch. Paul writes about an olive tree.
   4. Dr. Constable: The cultivated olive tree was a symbol of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament (Jer. 11:16–17; Hos. 14:4–6).^[9]
   5. The Jewish people are the natural branches.
   6. The gentiles are unnatural branches, wild branches.
   7. Paul seems to be thinking of a heavenly olive tree. All of these branches are on this heavenly tree. Some of the branches belong all the way down to the root. These are the Jewish branches. Others come from a wild olive tree. These branches are added because they believe in Jesus. However, some of the natural heavenly branches are cut off because they reject Jesus, but they can be grafted back in.
   8. We must persevere in the faith.
   9. Another illustration would be a train heading for heaven and a train headed for hell. The train heading for heaven is made up of cars which are natural. The natural cars are Jewish. But some of these natural cars quit believing that the Engine is taking them to heaven and so they fall off the tracks. But then some of the cars from the train heading to hell start believing the Engine of the train heading for heaven will take them to Heaven. They are then attached to the train heading to Heaven. Still, if they do not keep believing and do not stay attached they will be cut off. Likewise, the cars that fell off the tracks can still be re-attached if they believe in Jesus.
   10. Let’s read verses 17-18 (Romans 11:17-18): But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
   11. Imagine this. We have this olive tree. Some branches are broken off. Then there is a wild olive shoot and it is grafted in. The wild olive shoot that is grafted in now shares in the nourishing root from the olive tree.
   12. That is the gentiles. That would be us. We are grafted in. We receive the nourishing roots of the natural olive tree of Judaism.
   13. Verse 18 is challenging the gentiles are not to be arrogant toward the natural branches. We must not be arrogant towards the Jewish people. Remember Judaism supports us, not the other way around.
   14. Jeremiah 11:16ff addresses Israel as a green olive tree.
   15. Verse 19 reads (Romans 11:19): Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
   16. Paul is not anticipating their response. These branches were broken off. These Israelites rejected the Messiah. This gave a spot for me.
   17. Then in verses 20-21 Paul responds (Romans 11:20-21): That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
   18. Paul shares that is correct. They were broken off, but why were they broken off? They were broken off because of their unbelief.
   19. BUT… this is a strong contrast. In contrast to those broken off, you must stand fast through faith. Do not become proud. Instead, fear. You may bring up the many times in the Bible we are told not to fear. You may bring up Deuteronomy 31:8; Isaiah 43:1; Matthew 10:31; 1 John 4:18; and others. But this is a different type of fear. We do not need to fear when we are doing what God calls us to do. This is a fear of sinning, this is a fear of NOT trusting God. This is a fear of backsliding, or falling away.
   20. Why would we fear? We must fear falling away. We must fear losing the faith. We must fear not persevering in the faith.
   21. Paul gives the main reason to fear. Verse 21 says that God did not spare the natural branches. That means that God did not spare the natural born Israelites, so he definitely will NOT spare us.
   22. Now let’s look at the next verse.
   23. Verse 22 (Romans 11:22): Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
   24. Paul wants them to take notice.
   25. Take notice of the kindness of the Lord.
   26. But also notice the severity of the Lord.
   27. God is severe toward those who have fallen. But God is kind towards them, the gentiles, as long as they continue in His kindness.
   28. This is a passage about perseverance.
   29. We must persevere in the faith, or be cutoff.
   30. In Romans 2:4 Paul says that God’s kindness is to lead to repentance. Heb 3:6, 14 are about holding fast the faith.
   31. Remember John 15:2 about bearing fruit or else we will be cutoff?
   32. Now, let’s look at verses 23-24 (Romans 11:23-24): And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
   33. Paul is now saying that the Jewish people that repent will be grafted back in. If they do not continue in their unbelief, that is if they repent they will be grafted in.
   34. God is able to graft them in again.
   35. I read the following: Science writer Hope Jahren shares an interesting fact about plants, especially how a tiny seed starts to put down roots—the most essential thing for a plant’s survival. She writes,
   36. No risk is more terrifying than that taken by the first root. A lucky root will eventually find water, but its first job is to anchor … Once the first root is extended, the plant will never again enjoy any hope of relocating to a place less cold, less dry, less dangerous. Indeed, it will face frost, drought, and greedy jaws without any possibility of flight.
   37. She calls taking root a big “gamble,” but if the seed takes root it can go down twelve, thirty, forty meters. The results are powerful. The tree’s roots can “swell and split bedrock, and move gallons of water daily for years, much more efficiently than any pump yet invented by man.” If the root takes root, then the plant becomes all but indestructible: “Tear apart everything aboveground—everything—and most plants can still grow rebelliously back from just one intact root. More than once. More than twice.”[10]
   38. If you were cut off from a wild olive tree, that is the gentile olive tree, and grafted into a cultivated olive tree, that is a Jewish olive tree, then how much more can the natural branches be grafted back in. They can be grafted back into their cultivated tree.
   39. I want to repeat the following for emphasis:
   40. Paul seems to be thinking of a heavenly olive tree. All of these branches are on this heavenly tree. Some of the branches belong all the way down to the root. These are the Jewish branches. Others come from a wild olive tree. These branches are added because they believe in Jesus. However, some of the natural heavenly branches are cut off because they reject Jesus, but they can be grafted back in.
   41. We must persevere in the faith.
   42. Another illustration would be a train heading for heaven and a train headed for hell. The train heading for heaven is made up of cars which are natural. The natural cars are Jewish. But some of these natural cars quit believing that the Engine is taking them to heaven and so they fall off the tracks. But then some of the cars from the train heading to hell start believing the Engine of the train heading for heaven will take them to Heaven. They are then attached to the train heading to Heaven. Still, if they do not keep believing and do not stay attached they will be cut off. Likewise, the cars that fell off the tracks can still be re-attached if they believe in Jesus.
   43. A key point of this illustration is to encourage the gentiles not to be arrogant. They must understand when they are grafted in their roots are in Israel. They are still gentiles but the roots of their salvation are in Israel.
5. Applications:
   • We must understand that God is not finished with Israel (verse 11).
   • We must understand that Israel has stumbled, but not fallen (verse 11).
   • We must understand that God is at work saving gentiles in order to make Israel jealous for salvation (verse 11).
   • We must understand that there will be a great inclusion of Israel at some point (verse 12).
   • We must understand that salvation is from the Jewish people (John 4:22), meaning the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (verses 16-24)).
   • We must not be prideful of our salvation (verse 18).
   • We must understand that we are grafted into a rich heritage from the Jewish people going back to the patriarchs.
   • I see stern warnings about perseverance in verses 21-22. If God cuts off Israelites who do not believe and accept Jesus, what will He do to us if we do not persevere in the faith.
   • We must understand the kindness of God, but also the severity of God. God does not tolerate those who do not persevere following Him.
     • Some of us really must take this warning.
     • Some of us may well realize the kindness of God, but often forget His holiness.
     • God’s holiness is not to be trifled with.
     • We must be devoted to Him.
     • He is Lord of all or not Lord at all.
   • Understand, that all of the applications recently have been more about beliefs, but soon when we get to Romans 12 they will transition to behavior. 

It happened in just a blink with a quarter mile to go at the 2005 running of the Preakness. Afleet Alex had battled his way to the front of the pack when another horse cut in front of him, and their heels clipped each other. Afleet Alex stumbled, his knees buckled, his nose nearly went into the dirt, and his jockey, Jeremy Rose, hung on.

“That’s the closest I’ve ever been without falling. I thought for sure we were going down,” Rose said. “The thought process was, I was going to get run over. Luckily, he came right back up underneath me.”

Afleet Alex not only recovered, he went on to win the race by nearly five lengths.

The Bible sometimes refers to the Christian life as running a race in which we all stumble, and yet if we hold on, the Lord provides us sure footing and balance so that we will not fall.[11]

Let’s persevere in the faith!

Prayer

[1] Source: James Randerson, “Childish superstition: Einstein’s letter makes view of religion relatively clear,” http://www.guardian.co.uk (5-13-08)

^[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 11:12.

cp. compare

^[3] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1799.

^[4] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 219.

^[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 11:15.

^[6] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 220.

¹⁰³ J. A. Patch, “Graft,” ISBE, rev., 2.553.

^[7] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 220.

NASB New American Standard Bible

^[8] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Ro 11:17–24.

^[9] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 11:17.

[10] Source: Adapted from Hope Jahren, Lab Girl (Kopf, 2016), pages 45-46

[11] Source: “Afleet Alex Averts Disaster,” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7774053/displaymode/1107/s/1/framenumber/1/vaar1/btn_0 http://www.msnbc.msn.com (5-23-05)

God Has Not Rejected Israel (Romans 11:1-10)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church on Sunday, August 22, 2021

One fine day in 1941, Violet Bailey and her fiancé Samuel Booth were strolling through the English countryside, deeply in love and engaged to be married. A diamond engagement ring sparkled on Violet’s finger—her most treasured possession.

Their romantic bliss suddenly ended. One of them said something that hurt the other. An argument ensued, then escalated. At its worst point, Violet became so angry she pulled the diamond engagement ring from her finger, drew back her arm, and hurled the treasured possession with all her might into the field.

The ring sailed through the air, fell to the ground, and nestled under the grass in such a way that it was impossible to see. Violet and Samuel kissed and made up. Then they walked and walked through that field hunting for the lost ring. They never found it.

They were married two months later. They had a child and eventually a grandson. Part of their family lore was the story of the lost engagement ring.

Violet and Samuel grew old together, and in 1993 Samuel died. Fifteen years passed, but the ring was not forgotten. One day Violet’s grandson got an idea. Perhaps he could find his grandmother’s ring with a metal detector. He bought one and went to the field where Violet had hurled her treasured possession 67 years earlier. He turned on his metal detector and began to crisscross the field, waving the detector over the grass. After two hours of searching, he found what he was looking for. Later, filled with joy and pride, he placed the diamond ring into the hand of his astonished grandmother Violet. The treasured possession had come home.[1]

Think about losing something like that. Well, in the passage we are going to look at Paul responds to those who thought Israel was lost. Israel was not lost. Like God preserved the engagement ring, God preserved a remnant of Israelites.

My theme today is:

Israel has not been rejected, God preserved a remnant.

1. Context:
   1. One source shares: In Rm 9, Paul introduced the themes of election of some of the offspring of Abraham to be His children of promise and the hardening of others. In chap. 10, he emphasized the need for faith in Christ. In chap. 11, Paul weaves together all of these themes, and argues that there is still a future for ethnic Israel in God’s program.^[2]
   2. How did we get to this point?
   3. In Romans chapters 9 and 10 Paul has been writing about the Jewish People, Israel. He has been answering the question about why the Jewish people, the Israelites, have rejected Jesus.
   4. Paul has been making the case that God had told them this would happen.
   5. In Romans 10:6-21, last week’s message, Paul wrote about preaching the Gospel and then also he used many Old Testament passages to again show that God said that not all would believe.
   6. Now, we come to Romans 11:1-10.
2. Israel’s rejection is not complete or final.
   1. In verse 1 Paul very directly asks a question.
   2. Paul is answering an unseen objector.
   3. Look at verse 1, Romans 11:1: I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
   4. Paul asks the question and then he is absolutely emphatic in the response. “By no means.” Of course, he has not rejected His people.
   5. Paul considers himself part of the remnant that has been preserved.
   6. One source shares: “Had God cast away His people, then above all He would have cast away the Apostle Paul, who had opposed Him with all his might” (Luther, Romans, 139). Cranfield thinks Paul’s reference to himself is meant to argue that if God had really cast off Israel as a whole he would never have chosen an Israelite to be his apostle to the Gentiles (Cranfield, Romans, 2.544).^[3]
   7. Paul then gives an example. Look at the example. Paul uses himself as an example.
   8. Paul, himself, is an Israelite. Paul is a descendant of Abraham. Paul knows his tribe as well, Benjamin.
   9. One source shares: Moses referred to Benjamin as “the beloved of the Lord” (Deut 33:12). Morris notes that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in Israel, that Jerusalem was situated on land belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, that Benjamin was the only tribe remaining faithful to Judah, and that the first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans, 398–99). Käsemann refers to the tradition that says Benjamin was the first of the tribes to cross through the Red Sea (Romans, 299).^[4]
   10. God did not reject Paul.
   11. Look at verse 2, Romans 11:2: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
   12. Paul restates to make his case. “God has not rejected His people.” But Paul adds, “people whom He foreknew.
   13. God foreknew Israel.
   14. Psalm 94:14 is a cross reference.
   15. Now, Paul uses an example of Elijah.
   16. Verse 3, Romans 10:3, is from 1 Kings 19:10 and 14. Look at verse 3-4, Romans 10:3-4: “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” ⁴But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
   17. Verse 4 comes from 1 Kings 19:18.
   18. This is about Elijah talking to God after he conquered the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 19:20-40). Elijah conquered these prophets, but then Jezebel wanted to kill him, so he was running scared.
   19. Elijah talks with God and says, “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
   20. Elijah felt alone, but he was not.
   21. God responded.
   22. Paul even says, “What is God’s reply to him?”
   23. God had 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Baal was a false God they worshipped.
   24. Paul goes deep in the Old Testament scripture to make the case which he shares in verse 5. God preserved a remnant.
   25. Look at verse 5, Romans 11:5: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
   26. What is Paul saying?
   27. God has not rejected all Israel.
   28. Some Israelites will be saved.
   29. God has kept a remnant.
   30. In one source a footnote shared the following: Nygren points out that the existence of a remnant in any age depends not upon the character of the people but wholly on God’s purpose and election. Thus “ ‘remnant’ and ‘election’ (λεῖμμα and ἐκλογὴ) are interchangeable concepts. A ‘remnant’ is not just a group of separate individuals, taken out of a people doomed to overthrow; it is itself the chosen people, it is Israel in nuce” (Romans, 392–93).[5]
   31. This remnant is chosen by God, and how are they chosen, by grace.
   32. It is not about works.
   33. Look at verse 6, Romans 11:6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
   34. If we earn our salvation it is no longer grace.

In his book Connecting Christ, Paul Metzger retells the story of the friendship between the Jewish writer Elie Wiesel and the French Christian writer Francois Mauriac. While in Auschwitz, Wiesel was torn from his mother and sisters and forced to watch his father get beaten to death by Nazi guards. After the war, Wiesel chose to keep silent about his traumatic experiences. But as a young writer, Wiesel had the chance to interview Mauriac, a prominent Christian writer and former leader in the French Resistance movement. Though he respected Mauriac, Wiesel arrived at Mauriac’s apartment with an ulterior motive: he wanted Mauriac to help him meet the Prime Minister of France, which would have been a boost to Wiesel’s emerging writing career. In a 1996 interview here’s how Wiesel recounts their first meeting:

Mauriac was an old man then, but when I came to Mauriac, he agreed to see me. We met and we had a painful discussion. The problem was that [Mauriac] was in love with Jesus. He was the most decent person I ever met in that field—as a writer, as a [Christian] writer. Honest, sense of integrity, and he was in love with Jesus. He spoke only of Jesus. Whatever I would ask—Jesus.

Finally … when he said Jesus again I couldn’t take it, and … I was discourteous, which I regret to this day. I said, “Mr. Mauriac … ten years or so ago, I have seen children, hundreds of Jewish children, who suffered more than Jesus did on his cross, and we do not speak about it.” I felt all of a sudden so embarrassed. I closed my notebook and went to the elevator. He ran after me. He pulled me back; he sat down in his chair, and I in mine, and he began weeping. I have rarely seen an old man weep like that, and I felt like such an idiot. I felt like a criminal. This man didn’t deserve that. He was really a pure man, a member of the Resistance. I didn’t know what to do. We stayed there like that, he weeping and I closed in my own remorse. And then, at the end … he simply said, “You know, maybe you should talk about it?”

He took me to the elevator and embraced me. And that year, the tenth year, I began writing [Night, my novel about the Holocaust]. After it was translated from Yiddish into French, I sent it to him. We were very, very close friends until his death.

Later in his life Wiesel declared that it was Mauriac, the man “who declared himself in love with Christ,” who influenced him to share his story and become a writer.[6]

• Paul gives substance to his claim about a remnant (verses 7-10).
  1. Look at verse 7, Romans 11:7: What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened…
  2. Paul asks a question, it is as if he is asking a question in order to explain what he means.
  3. Israel failed, they missed the mark. They were seeking the Messiah, but they missed.
  4. The elect, that is the chosen one, the remnant did obtain it.
  5. The rest were hardened.
  6. We have talked about this.
  7. There is a mystery to this, but it does seem that most hardened, also hardened their own hearts.
  8. Look at verse 8, from Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4. Romans 11:8: as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
  9. “As it is written” means that he is going to quote Scripture.
  10. The first line was quoted from Is 29:10 and the last lines are adapted from Dt 29:4.^[7]
  11. God gave them over… God let them go their own way.
  12. They had eyes but could not see and ears that could not hear. Paul quotes from Moses here. First he quoted from Isaiah and then Deuteronomy, which would be Moses.
  13. Later in verse 25 of this chapter, Romans 11:25 Paul will say that a partial hardening has come upon Israel.
  14. Paul has made his case from Isaiah and now he will make his case from David. Verses 9-10 come from Psalm 69:22, 23. Look at verses 9-10, Romans 11:9-10: And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
  15. Paul takes this passage and applies it to Israel. Israel had darkened eyes and became a servant to others.
  16. MacArthur shares: A person’s “table” was thought to be a place of safety, but the table of the ungodly is a trap. Many people trust in the very things that damn them.^[8]
  17. One source shares: The Jews regarded Psalm 69 as Messianic in Paul’s day (cf. John 15:25). The quotation from this psalm (vv. 22–23) records David’s desire. He wished that his enemies’ table (i.e., blessings) would become something that they would stumble over. The enemies in view were the Lord’s enemies as well as the king’s since he was the Lord’s anointed. This is really what had happened to the Israelites who had set themselves against God by rejecting His Son. Inability to see clearly and bondage to the Law had resulted (cf. Act. 15:10). The Greek phrase dia pantos usually means “continually.” It probably means that here rather than “forever.”³³³ Paul would explain that Israel’s obstinacy and bondage would not last indefinitely (v. 26). Paul explained that God had brought upon the Jews what David had prayed would happen to his persecutors.^[9]
  18. One source shares: The Jewish nation missed salvation because they sought for it by works. The elect portion was given mercy, but the majority was hardened in unbelief; OT citations are given to show that God has judged his people.^[10]
  19. augustine: Behold mercy and judgment—mercy on the elect, who have obtained the righteousness of God, but judgment upon the others who have been blinded. And yet the former have believed because they willed it, while the latter have not believed because they have not willed it. Hence mercy and judgment were executed in their own wills.^[11]
• applications:
  1. We must remember that we do not know the Lord’s mind, the Lord is still at work (verses 1-10 and also later in verse 34).
  2. We must not be like Elijah and think that we are the only Christian(s) left (verses 3-4).
     1. Many times, we do think that we are alone as the only Christian, but we must be encouraged. God is with us and many times there are more Christians supporting us than we realize.
     2. Further, even if we are missionaries, and we are truly the only Christians, in that case, people are praying for us.
     3. We likely have more Christians around us in the workplace.  
     4. We likely have more Christians around us in the school. Maybe if we speak up they will too.
  3. Notice, the remnant in verse 5 is chosen by grace. We must remember God’s sovereignty and God’s grace. God’s grace is amazing. The remnant is not about what they did, or do, and neither is our salvation.  
  4. Verses 8-10 uses references from Isaiah 29:10; Deuteronomy 29:4 and Psalm 69:22-23 to remind us that God has been consistent with His promises. We must worship the Lord remembering that He does not lie or change His mind (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29).

I read the following:

We have a sterling silver tea set at home that a family member gave us as a reminder of her love for us. It’s quite old and beautifully made, and it sits on a stand in our dining room. There’s only one problem: we can’t use it. Before she gave it to us, she had it chemically coated so that it wouldn’t tarnish. Hot water will ruin the finish.

God’s not looking for sterling silver tea sets. He’s looking for rough-and-tumble clay pots—the kind that can be used everyday. He’s looking for the kind of pots that don’t need to be tucked away in a china closet, but can be sent out into a crash-bang world, carrying within them the life of Christ. The church was never meant to be a china cabinet, where precious pieces could be safely stowed out of harm’s way. The church was meant to be a working kitchen, where well-worn pots are filled again and again to dispense their life-giving contents to a thirsty world.[12]

[1] Source: “It wasn’t all bad,” The Week (2-15-08), p. 4

chap. chapter

chap. chapter

^[2] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1762.

^[3] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

^[4] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[5] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[6] Source: Paul Metzger, Connecting Christ, (Thomas Nelson, 2012), pp. 73-74

^[7] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 11:8.

^[8] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 11:9.

³³³ 333. Cranfield, 2:552.

^[9] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 11:9.

OT Old Testament

^[10] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1799.

^[11] James Stuart Bell, ed., Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bibles, 2019), 1405.

[12] Source: Bryan Wilkerson, “Unbreakable?” PreachingToday.com