God’s Word for Today

17 Jan 2024

17 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, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

-Rom 11:17-21 ESV

FEAR GOD BUT NOT PROUD

Because of their unbelief, the Jews were ‘broken off’, that is, pruned away as in olive fruit farming. The metaphor here of wild olive branches, referring to the Gentiles, were grafted in. Thus, the Gentiles is sharing the nourishing root of the tree. This should humble us [Gentiles] and not brag or despise the Jews. Anti-Semitism should have no room among the Christians. We should be fearful not arrogant.

The most obvious reason is that we owe them the blessing. As Paul reminds us, “Remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” The branch is nothing without the roots. We should not forget our roots. We may have progressed and grown through the years in our spiritual and theological journey. We’re fuitful and are becoming the better version of ourselves. But, we should not despise our humble beginnings – the church and people whom God used to lay the foundation of our lives.

Secondly, the thought of God’s sovereignty. Undoubtedly, God loves His people, the Jews. But, it was not a pampering love. When they insisted in their unbelief, God ‘broke them off.’  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you if He decides for it. God deserves all the right to do what He wants because He is sovereign.

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Text: Romans 11:11-12 (ESV)

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. 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!

RICHES FOR THE WORLD

Did God cause the Israelite to stumble over Christ, the stumbling stone (Romans 9:32–33) in order to make them fall down? In other words, Paul asks if God caused Israel to be tripped up in order that they might permanently fall and never to rise again. Was this what God wanted to happen for Israel? Paul answers his own question once more with a resounding "By no means!"

Paul argues that God has two purposes for Israel to stumble over Christ by refusing to believe in Him, to wit;

First, Israel's trespass, or sin has made it possible for salvation to come to the Gentiles. When Israel rejected Christ, God used that rejection to make His offer of salvation by grace through faith in Christ available to all people.

Secondly, this provokes Israel to jealousy. Paul expressed this idea in Romans 10:19. God plans to use this favor with God enjoyed by Gentiles in order to provoke many Israelites to eventually seek Him. And, in the same manner, they should believe Christ.

Paul opens up the “How much more questions?” Paul noted that Israel's sin brought the riches of sharing in God's glory to the world. Israel's failure to believe has brought those riches to all the Gentiles. Then how much more will Israel's full inclusion in Christ mean for all of us? Stated in another way, since Israel's sin can result in that kind of glory, it’s unimaginable how much glory will result when Israel accepts Christ!

God has hardened most Israelites to faith in Christ for a time. However, He will eventually bring many Israelites to faith in Christ. And the consequence for us today is life from death for all of us. Hence we can say with Paul in Eph 3:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

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Text: Romans 11:7-10 (ESV)

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 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 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and bend their backs forever.”

HARDENED BY UNBELIEF

The elect [ Jewish and Gentile believers] obtained righteousness from God by faith. Sadly, the rest of the Israelites are hardened.

Paul quoted Isaiah 29:10 and Deut 29:4 to clarify this truth of hardening. In both instances, God was said to have kept Israel from understanding what was true. The people were overcome by a spirit of stupor, or sleepiness, and were not given eyes to see and ears to hear. God was the one who kept them from understanding.

God has hardened them. As the Scriptures say, 'God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear.'[v.8 NLT] Is this fair? On God's side, Paul made clear in Romans 9, that God retains the right to give or withhold understanding, to soften or harden hearts, as He sees fit and for His greater purposes. Just as Pharaoh was resistant to God, and so God enhanced that resistance, Israel's "hardening" comes as part of God's overall plan to fulfill His own purposes.

Paul also alluded to Psalm 69:22–23, that this could apply to those Jewish people who have rejected faith in Christ. That these Jewish unbelievers would be trapped and tripped up and punished by their own "table" when they think they are at peace. They would be fooled into complacency, although they are in mortal danger.

David prayed that his enemies would have darkened eyes so they could not see or understand. And, by Paul's implication, the Jewish unbelievers also are so hardened and blinded to the truth., That is, they will be hardened to the truth that Christ is the Messiah. And thus, they refuse to have faith in Christ and be saved by God's grace.

Indeed, persistent unbelief can lead to the hardening of hearts.

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Text: Romans 11:1-6 ESV

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.

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?

3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”

4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

-Rom 11:1-6 ESV

A REMNANT CHOSEN BY GRACE

Paul has just written that God has offered Himself to the non-Jewish nations through faith in Jesus, while Israel has rejected the gospel of faith in Christ. Thus, he asks, “has God rejected his people?” "By no means!" This again uses the phrasing mē genoito in the original Greek, a strong, emphatic "may it never be!"

What’s the proof? Paul points to himself as the first evidence. He is an Israelite and descendant of Abraham. More specifically, he belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. Paul becomes one of the most vocal promoters of Christianity of his day. Yet, he still held on to his status as an Israelite. He insists that God's relationship with Israel as a nation continues.

Secondly, God foreknew His people. Paul seems to describe God as foreknowing Israel as a nation or a family (Amos 3:2). That is, God knew Israel as His people before they even existed. God promised that He would never forsake or abandon them (Psa 94:14; 1 Sam 12:22). This promise always stands.

Paul argues God’s faithfulness to His covenant by providing the example of Elijah. Elijah was discouraged thinking no prophet had remained and believed Jehovah except himself. In 1 Kings 19:10, he complained against God's people Israel. They had killed the other prophets of God. They had destroyed the altars used for making legitimate offerings to God. Elijah believed he was the only one left still faithful to the Lord. They wanted to kill him, too. Practically he believed that everyone else has turned away from God and worshiped Baal. He was wrong. God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

Similarly, when we notice that things and circumstances are becoming sour, we feel like Elijah – disouraged and confused. But, God is always faithful. Though most of Israel has missed the righteousness of God by rejecting faith in Christ, a remnant will be saved. They would be faithful to God in and through Christ. There is a remnant chosen by grace.

Having been chosen by God's grace means that they have not earned their place in this faithful remnant of Israelites. Just as Gentile Christians are chosen by God's grace, they have received salvation purely as a gift. Not on the basis of works. Otherwise, it is not grace. Paul wants to be clear the Israelites and anyone have not earned it in any way by being faithful to the law of Moses. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone.[Eph 2:8,9]

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Text: Romans 10:18-21 ESV

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

-Rom 10:18-21 ESV

THE GRACE OF GOD TOWARDS THE GENTILES

Once again, Paul is asking rhetorical questions; Have they not heard? Did not Israel did understand? Definitely, the gospel has been dessiminated widely enough among the Israelites and the rest of the world. Paul expresses the spread like creation when God broadcasts His majesty to all.[see Psa 19] By echoing Psalm 19, God has made Himself knowable to humanity by what He has made (Rom 1:19–20). Here, though, Paul insists that God is making Christ Himself known to the world through the preaching of the gospel. The Jews have no reason not to hear or understand the message of the gospel. Believers had been preaching the message in Jerusalem and around Israel for more than 20 years by the time this letter was written.

Like the Israelites, the main reason why people don’t come to Jesus today is not that they have not heard it and could not believe. It’s their willful rejection. And, their continual refusal made their hearts hardened.

By their hardness pf hearts, God expressed His favor to the Gentiles. This is a fulfilment to O.T. prophecy that Paul quoted Deut 32:21. That is, "They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." In other words, God became angry and jealous because of their idolatry so God has extended His goodness to welcome the Gentiles. This would provoke them to jealousy. Paul exactly referred this as the reason why God saves Gentiles who trust in Christ.

Paul also quotes Isaiah. In the context of Isaiah 65:1, He applies them as an analogy of how God has rescued the Gentiles. He has been found by those who didn't look for Him. He has shown Himself to those who didn't ask Him. Does this mean the Gentiles automatically become part of God’s family? This will bring us back to Rom 9:30-31, when Paul says, “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness failed in reaching that law." God had declared believing Gentiles righteous based only on their faith in Christ.

Today, let’s not forget that God has chosen us, Gentiles, because of His sovereign grace. But we won’t become His child without our faith in Him. [Rom 10:9,10] God extended His favor to the Israelites. Yet, they rejected Christ. As John writes, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”[John 1:11-13]

We can just marvel upon the grace of God. He has been pursuing a people who continually reject Him. This did not deter Him. He extends His favor to all. We found Him when we did not seek for Him. This paradoxical truth should continue to amaze us.

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God’s Word for Today

11 Jan 2024

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

-Rom 10:14-17 ESV

FAITH COMES FROM HEARING THE GOSPEL

The greatest thing to happen for us sinners is to be saved. And, salvation is by faith alone in Christ [v.9,10] And, faith comes only upon hearing the gospel. Can anyone believe in something he’s not aware of? It’s a necessity that sinners must hear the gospel.

Firstly, we must be conversant ourselves about the good news. We can’t give out something we don’t have. What is the gospel?  In 1 Cor 15:3-4, we read, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”  That is the life and works of Jesus must be clear to us. This gospel is the power of God unto salvation.[Rom 1:16]

And this must be presented clearly to the unsaved.  Let us be sure then that they hear and understand the gospel clearly. And that, the Holy Spirit will remove their blindness [2 Cor 4:4], and bring conviction and faith unto them.

This gospel must preached to them. Let us not wait for them to come to us. No one seeks after God.[Rom 3:10] The light must be flashed to the dark. Let’s look for opportunities, even create them to bring the gospel to the lost. Paul is saying of sending gospel proclaimers, “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” We must go and preach.[Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8]

We must be realistic too. Not all who will hear would believe. As Paul writes, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”[v.16] Paul was saying that people have the choice to believe or not. Thus, we should neither peddle nor coerce them to believe. Convicting of sin and seeing the beauty of the gospel is the work of the Spirit of God.

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God’s Word for Today

Jan 2024

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

-Rom 10:9-13 ESV

SALVATION MADE SIMPLE AND EASY.

Salvation is neither concealed nor distant from the Israelites, even to all of us. For the Jews, instead of seeking to become righteous by following the law, they should confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. Moreover, they should also believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. If they do those things, they will be saved.

Belief in the heart is expressed by the mouth. These two important conditions; a belief in the heart to Christ's resurrection from the dead and a verbal confession of His place as Lord of all serve as evidence that our faith is in Christ. Paul makes this certain by saying, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”[v.10] This faith in Christ from the heart that leads to salvation is personal and internal (Jer 31:31–34). Then, the mouth expresses this faith in Christ.

This simple yet sure salvation is backed up by scripture. Paul quoted Isa 28:16 which says, “For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” Christ is the precious cornerstone God has laid in Zion. All who trust in this cornerstone, this sure foundation, will be vindicated. The foundation will hold. They will find themselves standing on the Rock.

This salvation is free for all. As Paul declares, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [v.1,13] 

How could anyone neglect such an offer? 

Salvation is made easy and simple for us. Hence, rejecting this entails the greatest consequence. As Jesus said, “ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.’[John 3;18] No sinner can find any reason to reject Christ’s offer of salvation. 

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Text: Romans 10:5-7 (ESV)

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

THE WORD IS NEAR TO YOUR HEART

Christ fulfills the law unto righteousness [Rom 10:4]. Paul was consistent to what Moses taught. In Leviticus 18:1–5 is described a path to righteousness for those who keep the law and live by the commandments of the law. In the context of the old covenant, this was a means for Israel to honor their relationship with God, and obtain His earthly blessings (Deut 30:15–18).

But sadly, nobody can possibly maintain this obedience. Paul said in Gal 3:21. “For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.” Nobody could perfectly, even nearly well enough to earn eternal salvation (Rom 3:10,23).

James expresses this impossibility, saying, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it" (James 2:10). Those who seek to be justified before God based on their deeds are doomed to failure (Rom 3:20).

This is why God promised, even before Christ, to establish a new covenant to resolve these flaws. As Jeremiah prophesied,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [Jer 31:31–34]

God said the command He had given to Israel was not hard for them anymore. They should not ask "who will ascend into heaven" to find out this information. They already have the command in their mouths and hearts (Deut 30:14). Christ is at reach. Are they going to expect some new person to go to heaven to find the Messiah? It’s a futile attempt to bring Christ down when He has already come down and walked among them. Or, are they going to expect someone to descend into the abyss to bring the Messiah up? Has not Jesus died on the cross, descended into the abyss, and then ascended back to earth before ascending to heaven already?

In other words, salvation is very near to them in Christ who perfected the law for us. They’re so near yet so far because of their unbelief. A miss by an inch is the same as miss by a mile.

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Text: Romans 10:1-4 (ESV)

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW

Paul turns his attention to the Christians in Rome to whom he is writing this letter. He tells them that his heart's desire and prayer is that the Jewish people may be saved. Some Jews have come to faith in Christ Paul’s preaching, and from the other apostles. Yet the nation as a whole has rejected the Messiah, including the Jewish religious leadership. Sadly, this is still the case in the current times. They even tried to silence, even kill, Paul for preaching Christ.

They were sincere. In fact, they were very zealous but for the wrong reasons. Paul was like them before he knew Christ. [Phil 3:4-7] He was even a persecutor to Christians. Paul calls them ignorant of the righteousness of God. What did he mean?

Firstly, he may mean that they do not understand that God requires absolutely perfect righteousness in order for anyone to be received by Him on their own merits. No human being is able to achieve that level of righteousness (Rom 3:23). Or, they lack understanding that God offers His righteousness for free to all who come to Him through faith in Christ. In either case, they were missing the key to being accepted by God and saved from His wrath.

This ignorance caused them to try to set up their own standard of what it means to be righteous in God's eyes. Paul describes this as a prideful attempt to decide for what God should be satisfied with. Instead, they should submit to His declaration or revelation of what it means to be righteous before Him.

This revelation is Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. By His sacrifice at the cross, He kept it perfectly and fulfilled its righteous requirements once and for all. This righteousness is available to everyone who believes in Him. [2 Cor 5:21] Christ’s perfect sacrifice means to end man's dependence on rituals and animal sacrifices as explained in Hebrews 8.

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Text: Romans 9:30-33 ESV

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

-Rom 9:30-33 ESV

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH

Paul asks once more his standard question after making a profound and difficult point, that is “What shall we say then?” The Jewish readers might have asked, “Are you saying that the Gentiles who didn't even try to become righteous before God have received righteousness from God, anyway, because of their faith?"Precisely, this was the point of Paul. Whether Jews or Gentiles, righteousness is received only by faith alone.

In contrast, the Jews insisted on pursuing righteousness through the law but to no success. Why? Nobody can fulfill the law.[Rom 3:10,23] Righteousness is not based on works.

They were as blinded as Paul was. Paul argues that Jesus' sacrifice would be unnecessary if righteousness was through the law. He declares, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”[Gal 2:21] Paul was blameless with respect to obedience to the law as a Pharisee. But, he counted it as dung in order to obtain righteousness through Christ. He said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”[Phil 3:8-9]

Since they were blinded, they stumbled against the stumbling stone. They ignored and rejected Christ, whom God has provided. In the gospels, the Jews who rejected Jesus were offended by Jesus’ claim. Paul reveals that Jesus is the stone mentioned by Isaiah in Isa 28:16. They tripped over the cornerstone, they should trust. He who believes in Him will not be put to shame.

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