Romans 9:1-13

 

Question #8: What does Israel’s rejection of the gospel mean?

This may seem like a strange question to ask in the course of studying the doctrine of “the gospel of the grace of God.”  But it isn’t!  It is a perfectly logical question if you are considering the logic of the Bible. 

First, this question is dealt with numerous times in Scripture.  For example, in Isaiah 40:27 we read, Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? In other words, the people think God has forgotten them.  That is what it looked like to Israel, given the prophecies of judgment in Isaiah 1-39.  Instead, in Isaiah 40-66 God explains how the setting aside of Israel for a time is part of His plan to bring salvation to Israel and to the world.  This is comfort for Israel (40:1-2).

The Third Book of the Psalms (Psalm 73-89) answer the question, “why have you cast us off forever” (74:1).  The Psalms of the Sons of Korah in Psalm 43-49 deal with a similar question.  Both these collections come to a hopeful conclusion.  The Lamentations of Jeremiah was written as the prophet watched Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed by the Babylonians.  Jeremiah said, “my strength and my hope have perished from the LORD” (Lam. 3:18).  But moments later (beginning in 3:22) Jeremiah began to express hope as he remember that God, in His faithfulness, would keep His word to Israel.

There are other places in the Old Testament where this issue is dealt with.  But even in the New Testament we see that Jesus is careful not to express hopeless about Israel.  Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, speaks of very troublesome times for Israel.  But then He clearly affirms that God’s promises to Israel will be kept.  He says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words will not pass away” (24:35), immediately after concluding His parable of the fig tree. 

The fig tree (Israel) was cursed, but then a time will come when leaves again appear.  Given all this, it makes sense to deal with the question again in the context of talking about the gospel of God’s grace.  In the book of Acts some Jews put their faith in Christ, but overall the nation rejected Christ.  The question must be asked: has God finally given up on Israel? 

Not only do we want an answer because of Israel; we want an answer for the sake of our God!  In Deut. 32:26-27 God said He would not completely cut off Israel for the sake of HIS name, lest the nations think they were in the place of God.  In the time of the golden calf, Moses pled with God to be merciful to Israel, lest the Egyptians ridicule the LORD, that He was unable to bring them into the land (Ex. 32:11-13).  Joel 2:17 raises the same issue, lest people mock Israel saying, “where is your God”!  And Moses raised the question again at Kadesh Barnea when Israel “voted” not to enter the land (Num. 14:13-19).  This is all about the glory of God.  So the question must be asked and answered now, as it is in Romans 9-11.

Romans 8:5-39

The diagram for Romans 8 has added the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, and then five themes connected to dollar signs.  The dollar signs indicate these themes are the riches of glory associated with the believer who, in Christ, has every spiritual blessing.  The person, justified by faith in Christ, knows he has been died with Christ and been raised to live in newness of life.  Reckoning this to be true of himself, he has done the only reasonable thing: he has presented his body to Christ for holiness.  He now lives in the kingdom of grace, and thus rejects the law as the basis for his new life, and intends to find his strength in grace.  How does God’s grace become real in him?

First, his mind must be renewed, so that he thinks as God thinks.  He must set his mind on the things of the Spirit (8:5).  To continue to think according to the flesh will leave him incapable of pleasing God (9:6-8).  The Spirit of Christ lives in him and this Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead will give the him new, resurrection life, as well.  The five themes help us to understand how the Holy Spirit works to bring this about.

·       8:12-18: First, the Spirit will assure the believer that he is truly a “son of God.”  This reality leads to a deep and growing relationship with God our Father who will grant us all we need.

·       8:19-25: Then, given the fact that we live in a world that is filled with trials, the Father gives us hope based in the certainty that a time will come when we will be righteous as Christ is righteous.  This is a further explanation of Rom. 5:3-5.

·       8:26-27: The Holy Spirit will help us in our weaknesses, interceding for us even when we do not know what we need from the Father.  This is an amazing part of our riches in Christ.  You don’t know what you will need tomorrow as you face temptation.  But you know you have a heavenly Father who promises to see you through to the end, and that the Spirit will relay to the Father your deepest needs.

·       8:28-30: And you know what the end will be.  The day will come when you have been transformed into the likeness of Christ.  God promises this.

·       8:31-39: And in a mighty crescendo, God says He is for us, will give us all things, and no one or thing will be able to keep Him from fulfilling this promise of eternal love.  This is the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 119:81-96

 

Psalm 119:81-88 Kaph: Trust God with the “how long” of your affliction.

In this stanza it seems that the Psalmist pours out his heart to God concerning the length and depth of his affliction.  We hear his “how long” prayer, the prayer of the saints when they feel as if they would buckle under the seemingly endless difficulty.

His soul faints (v81) and his eyes fail as he constantly searches God’s word for comfort (v82).  He has become like a “wineskin in smoke” (v83), shriveled up and useless.  He wonders, “How long” before God will deliver him (v84),

Not only the length of his affliction; the weight of the burden is also having it’s way.  His enemies are going against God’s law (v85) as they wrongfully treat him (v86).  “They almost made an end of me on earth” (v87).

And so he prays again to be revived by God’s grace, his concern being that if God does not intervene he may be tempted to disobedience (v88).

Let us note a couple of important thoughts from this section of Psalm 119.  First, the saint does pour out his complaint to God.  We need to be assured of the fact that God does want to hear what is on our hearts.  He is the one who has bid us come and cast our cares on Him (1 Pt. 5:6-7).  He is the one Who tells us to pray about everything (Phil. 4:6-7).  He commands us to come to His throne in our time of need that we might receive what we need from His grace (Heb. 4:16).  He does not reproach us when we ask for wisdom (Jas. 1:8).  He treats us like the perfect and holy Father He is (Matt. 7:7-12).

Come to Him when you hurt.  This glorifies Him!

But also note that in the pouring out of his complaint, the saint does not question the word of God.  He continues to “hope” in it (v81); he does not forget it (v83) nor forsake it (v87); he trusts in it (v86). 

We may need to ask God for the ability to understand His word or for insight into how it is to be applied.  But if we question its veracity, we only open the door to leave behind the only sure counsel, direction and basis for hope that is available to mankind.

  Bring your burdens to Him today.  Do not be shy about proclaiming your weakness to Him.  But at the same time affirm your absolute trust in His word which is able to build you up (Acts 20:32).

 

 

Psalm 119:89-96  Lamed: God’s word fits every situation forever.

Do you ever wonder if the Bible has something to say about issues that seem to be unique to our day and time?  If you haven’t wondered about it yourself, there has never been a shortage of those who have doubted the Bible’s usefulness today, given the fact it is an ancient book.

This stanza seeks to dispel this thought.  It begins by affirming the timelessness of God’s Word: Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven (v89). God’s word does not need to change; it is settled! The stanza ends by affirming the breadth of issues the Bible addresses: I have seen the consummation of all perfection. But your commandment is exceedingly broad (v96).  In other words, for all time, and for every situation, the word of God is profitable.

The verses in-between affirm the same.  A critical affirmation is made in v90-91.  God is faithful in all generations.  We think a lot about change when we contemplate the generations.  If those before us were believers, we may acknowledge how the Scriptures fit their lives.  But we may think the challenges of today exceed those of past years, thinking those were “simpler times.”  Then we may fear for our children or grandchildren as the world becomes increasingly more difficult.  But these verses make it clear: God is faithful to all generations. Verses 92-93 affirm the life-giving nature of Scripture.  As Jesus said to Satan: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4; cf. Deut. 8:3).  Because of all this, the Psalmist is committed to God’s testimonies, regardless of what the enemy throws at him (v94-95).

Heb. 4:12 claims the Bible is living; it contains living oracles (Acts 7:38).   Rene Pache (The Inspiration & Authority of Scripture) calls this the “eternal youth of Scripture” (p293).  “The revelations of old have lost nothing of their efficacy, being forever quickened by the divine voice which gets through to our hearts here and now” (p86).

Those who read the Bible on a regular basis can testify to the way that, in every context of life, wherever they are reading, they find Scripture to have something that fits the current issues of life.  What a wonderful Book.  It is God’s Word for all time, for every situation.  Seek His precepts in it daily and you will truly live.

Rom. 7:1-8; 8:1-4

Know-Reckon-Yield-Obey brings us to the place where we are submitted in faith to the Lord Jesus.  We are assured “sin shall not have dominion” over us (6:14).  But where does the power come from for this victorious walk with Christ?  The same verse answers this question: for you are not under law but under grace.  Romans 7 explains how seeking to be righteous by keeping the law will only lead to defeat.  Romans 8 explains how the grace of God empowers us.

In Christ we have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that you should bear fruit to God (7:4).  What is the problem with the law of God?  Before we were justified by faith our sinful passions were actually aroused or animated by the law (v5).  The law said “you shall not covet” (v7) and my passions were aroused in rebellion (v8).  As we could not be saved by keeping the law, so we also cannot grow in holiness by the law (in the diagram there is an “X” over the law).

The problem is not with the law but with our passions.  In 7:13-23 we see how this works.  If we try to live by the law, we cannot do the things we want to do and we will not avoid doing the things the law says we should not do (thus the conflicting arrows in the diagram).  The frustrating conclusion is understandable: O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  As long as we place ourselves under law, sin has dominion over us.

The answer comes with a shout of joy!  I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!  We live our new life in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter (7:4)  Chapter 8:1-4 explains.  We have been justified so that there is no condemnation (thus the “X” over the judgment seat).  We should not wallow in guilt.  Rather, we see that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (the principle that the indwelling Spirit gives us Jesus’ life) has made me free from the law of sin and death (the principle that say the wages of sin is death).  This freedom is in Christ who condemned sin in the flesh.  As Col. 2:14 puts it, He nailed the law to the cross, fulfilling the requirement of the law by dying in our place.  By the Spirit of Christ the law can be fulfilled in us day by day!  The rest of Romans 8 will help us see the ways that the Holy Spirit’s power is unleashed in the believer in Christ.

Romans 6:1-23

 

Question #7: How does grace (the gospel) lead us into the righteousness of eternal life now?

This question is answered in three chapters (Romans 6-8).  Chapter 6 explains how we walk in faith so we can live a righteous life.  Chapter 7 warns us that if we try to live in our own strength we will fail.  Chapter 8 reveals how God’s power works in us so that we live a righteous life.  This diagram helps us understand how these fit together. 

In the diagram the man is standing on the foundation of justification.  He has a smile and is looking upward.  Rom. 5:1-2 says having been justified by faith we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 6 begins with a question.  Since the grace of God in salvation abounds more and more, no matter how abundant the sin was in our hearts, should we continue to sin so that grace will be even more abundant?  God gives us an immediate answer: NO!  And He gives us an immediate reason: How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  The reason has to do with knowing what happened when we put our faith in Christ and how we were changed.  Four words help us understand what the Lord is saying here.

·       Know (6:1-10): We were “baptized” into Jesus’ death and resurrection.  “Baptism” means immersed. We were immersed with Jesus when He died for our offenses and was raised for our justification (Rom. 4:23-25).  Thus, we “died to sin” and we were raised to live a new life. 

·       Reckon (6:11): This “truth” must be considered be true of us.  We are not the old person who was ruled by sin, but we are made new in Christ.  As He was raised from the dead, so we have been raised to a new life.

·       Yield (6:12-14): In light of this, it only makes sense then that as we formerly presented our bodies to king sin we now present them to God for righteousness.  This is the act of faith carried out every day and every moment.

·       Obey (6:15-23: The result is that, having presented our bodies to Christ, we will live in obedience, in righteousness rather than in sin.  “Reckon” and “Yield” are commands.  “Obedience” is not a command but describes our lives when grace is in control.  Sin no longer has dominion but we are under grace.

Romans 5:1-21

 

Question #6: What change comes through the gospel now?

We might think that we have said all there is to say about the gospel.  Christ was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”  But believe it: there is more good news!  Romans 5 begins: “Therefore.”  There is something more to say.  Then we read: “Having been justified by faith.”  “Justification” is not the end of the story.  I have a right standing before God.  But what now?  Must I continue in the miserable guilt and shame that I have had for my entire life?  That would be “bad news” indeed.

But Romans 5:1-11 presents a much different picture, one of good news. Therefore, having been justified by faith …

·       v1: We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ …

·       v2: And rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

·       v3: And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.

·       v9: Much more then we shall be saved from wrath.

·       v10: Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

 ·       v11: And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have NOW received the reconciliation.

 

The salvation God brings to believers through the gospel is not only for “then,” when we appear before Him in judgment, but is for “now.”  It is important to understand Rom. 5:20-21.  We were born into a spiritual “kingdom” where sin abounded.  Sin was king, and everyone was spiritually dead.  The chart tells us about this kingdom, where because of one man’s sin (Adam) all were born into that kingdom.  But the good news is that through the gospel of Christ we have now been transferred into the kingdom where grace is King and grace rules through righteousness so that we have eternal life.  Justification, being declared righteous in God’s sight through Christ, has brought this about.  That is truly good news!

We see something wonderful about Christ in Rom. 5:19: By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.  God not only declared us to be righteous in Christ; His plan is that we will be made righteous in Christ.  How will this happen?  That is the next question, but the short answer is, “we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

Rom. 4:1-25

The gospel tells us what God has done so that He can “justify the ungodly” (4:5).  But there is still a problem: how can sinners, who suppress the truth about God and who break God’s law, going to qualify for this “justification?”

The Bible says that God justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.  Romans 3:27-31 tells us that there is nothing for a man to do but to believe in Jesus.  Man, who has already proven to break God’s law, cannot later be saved by keeping God’s law.  Romans 4 gives us an illustration from the Bible to help us to see this.  The illustration is Abraham!  The Bible says, Abraham believed God and it was accredited to Him as righteousness (4:3).  The story is in Genesis 15.

·       Abraham was not justified by works, 4:1-8.  We are just told, “Abraham believed God.”  He did no special work to earn this righteousness.

·       Abraham was not justified by circumcision, 4:9-12.  God, in Genesis 17, gave Abraham the religious rite of “circumcision” to be performed on all his male descendents as a sign that they were part of God’s chosen people.  This was after Abraham believed God and was counted as righteous.

·       Abraham was not justified by the law, 4:13-15.  Again, the law came through Moses several hundred years later, after Abraham was declared righteous.

·       Abraham was justified by faith, 4:16-22.  Faith is the absence of work.  Instead, it trusts God to do what He promised.  This is the only way our justification can be “freely … by His grace.”

o   Abraham trusted in God, who had created all things out of nothing, that He could also enable him to father a son in his old age.

o   God said He would give Abraham a son and Abraham believed God’s promise.

At the end of the chapter, this illustration of Abraham is applied to anyone who believes the gospel.  (“Imputed” means “counted” or “accredited.”  Abraham’s faith, and our faith, is “imputed as righteousness.”)

²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Like Abraham, we give glory to God when we believe, when we put our faith in Him to do what He promised to do by grace.  If it involves my work then I can boast in myself.  But I have nothing to offer.  Either I believe in the gospel, that Jesus paid the price for my sin, or I cannot be justified in God’s sight.