Grace Messages

Last week, we began to look at the olive tree illustration that Paul used to communicate that the entire world (Jew and Gentile) are in a position of unprecedented blessing to benefit from the work of Jesus Christ. This was predicted in the Abrahamic Covenant (see Genesis 12:3b with Galatians 3:8), and it came into effect in Paul’s day and continues to our day. This week we see that the ONLY way for someone NOT to benefit from this position of blessing is rejection of Jesus Christ, meaning they have NEVER believed in Him. In contrast, how does anyone remain in this position of blessing?

GCF's The Book of Romans is a verse-by-verse study through the book of Romans in the Bible. Pastor John Clark dives deep into Romans, revealing and teaching us what this book of the Bible has to say about salvation, God's grace, good works, living by faith, and much more! Start with week 1, or watch one that seems most interesting to you!

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Speaker: Pastor John Clark

Location: Grace Community Fellowship in Newnan, GA

Grace Community Fellowship

"Christ-Centered, Bible Teaching Ministry for the Whole Family"

This week Paul introduces two illustrations to explain what God is doing with Israel’s rejection and Gentile blessing. Paul uses an Old Testament firstfruits example, and then uses an olive tree example which he will continue to build upon through verse 24. What was the main point?

That there was blessing promised in the Abrahamic Covenant to both Jews and Gentiles is undisputed. “How” that blessing would come about was an issue of confusion in Paul’s day amongst his Jewish brethren. Although a time of unprecedented blessing will come upon Gentiles (i.e. nations) during Christ’s earthly Millennial Kingdom reign, the blessing of faith-righteousness is available now to any Gentile who will put their faith in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. What was missed in regards to “how” God would accomplish this?

Since Israel has rejected God and His provision for righteousness through the gospel, has God written off His people? This is the question before us in Romans chapter 11. What we will find in this chapter is not only the explanation of Israel’s present state, but also God’s future plans of blessing for the nation. The nation of Israel has been set aside as God’s primary vehicle of dispensing truth. However, what we learn from Romans 11 in some detail are two things... And we will learn about those today!

In our passage today, we see an unfortunate rejection of God’s provision for righteousness (i.e. the gospel). The gospel message had been shared with the Jewish people throughout their Old Testament Scriptures so that they are without excuse. “Yes!” - They have heard and “Yes!” – They have understood. Their Scriptures are filled with instructions pointing forward to what their Messiah would accomplish on their behalf (See Isaiah 53). Surprisingly, the Gentiles, who had none of these privileges have been responding to the gospel message for 2,000 years while the Jews, in large part, continue to reject the message. Even this was predicted in the Old Testament.

This morning, we will cover an often misunderstood and misused passage in Scripture. Based upon the context, we can see that Paul is attempting to convince his Jewish brethren that God’s righteousness is obtained by faith in the finished work of Christ and NOT through law-keeping, circumcision, or physical birth. Belief precedes both verbal confession and calling on the Lord. Only believers in Jesus Christ verbally confess Jesus is God, and will verbally call upon the Lord Jesus for deliverance of any kind, especially (as it relates to this context) into the Kingdom.

Paul compares and contrasts two types of righteousness this week: law-righteousness versus faith-righteousness. In order to contrast them, Paul uses an Old Testament passage, originally used of the law to make the comparisons. He makes some subtle changes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to show that faith-righteousness is near (not something far off), and attainable, because Christ has done it all. This is something that Paul’s Jewish readers should have known based upon the Old Testament, and they did not need to keep looking for something else or something more – Christ had already come down from heaven, died for their sins, and rose again from the dead to provide righteousness for all who believe.

For the Jew, salvation meant being physically delivered from their enemies during a time called “Jacob’s trouble” (i.e. the seven-year tribulation period) and being delivered INTO their promised kingdom. What we learn from Paul this morning is that the Jew must possess a righteousness equal to God’s righteousness to experience salvation into their kingdom. They must obtain this righteousness from God through the gospel or they will not enter or be “saved” into their kingdom. Join us as Paul develops his argument for his beloved countrymen.

Last week, Paul closed out our section with the statement: “Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” As a result of that statement, Paul anticipates two objections which can be summarized as: “If this is true, then how could God hold anybody accountable since He is the One who makes the ultimate decision as to who gets mercy?” The answer, which is given in seven responses over the next ten verses, is that God has the right to choose “how” and “by what means” He will advance His plans as long as they do not violate His promises or His character.