Romans 10:1-4 (NIV)
1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Paul was a Jew among the Jews. Paul does not want anyone to accuse him that he is against the Jews. So again he reiterates his love for his people. He wants the Israelites to come to faith in Christ. Paul sees a problem within the Jewish community and that is they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Paul was helping to kill Christians and was doing it in the name of God. Paul knows about zeal without the proper knowledge. Knowledge is power. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. People can think they know, but they don't know. Paul many times prays for eyes to be open, for understanding of God, because he knows the importance of truth. The Israelites were totally wrong on how we gain righteousness from God. There is no such thing as self-serve righteousness. Only God can bring us His righteousness and no one else. How do you like verse 4? Christ is the end of the law. If you ever doubted, then this verse ought to help you to have clarity. In the new covenant everyone can have this righteousness because it comes by faith in Christ. We live in great times. We must do whatever is necessary to get this message out to people in the most effective way possible. Notice how Paul says that this message is for everyone who believes! We must not forget this truth. Let God use you today in telling others about Christ.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Romans 9:27-33 (NIV)
Romans 9:27-33 (NIV)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
I want to reiterate that I find chapters 9-11 of Romans some of the hardest passages to grasp. You will find good Christian people who disagree with each other on these passages. I am more settled about their meaning than I was some years ago, however I still struggle at times with what is being said by Paul. With all that being said, lets dig into these rich verses.
We have already heard Paul say that not all of Israel is Israel. In other words, just because you were born a Jew does not mean you are automatically in the kingdom of God. The remnant are those who exercised faith in God by obeying Him. The other Jews exercised their works in hoping to please God to let them into His kingdom. The non-remnant exercised no faith whatsoever. To be born a Jew and to have all the advantages of being a Jew becomes a disadvantage when they miss the point of faith. Again the Jews are upset because the Gentiles are getting in on all the promises and they are not Jewish; they were not born a Jew! If you are not born a Jew then how can one get in on the riches of God's grace? Paul says it is receiving righteousness that is by faith and not by works. We know that this is true because even Abraham believed and it was credited to his account as righteousness. Then Christ shows up and teaches this righteousness by faith and what do many of the Jews do? They reject Him! The one that could complete them and bring it all together for them, they throw upon a cross. This truth is dripping with irony and pain. How do you escape the pain and shame? You take this Jesus Christ as as your Savior and Lord. It is still true today that Christ is either a stumbling block or He is the stepping stone of blessing.
Caesar was more talked about in his time than Jesus, and Plato taught more science than Christ. People still discuss the Roman ruler and the Greek philosopher, but who nowadays is hotly for Caesar or against him; and who now are the Platonists and the anti-Platonists? There are still people who love him and who hate him. . . . The fury of so many against him is a proof that he is not dead.
Giovanni Papini (1923– )
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
I want to reiterate that I find chapters 9-11 of Romans some of the hardest passages to grasp. You will find good Christian people who disagree with each other on these passages. I am more settled about their meaning than I was some years ago, however I still struggle at times with what is being said by Paul. With all that being said, lets dig into these rich verses.
We have already heard Paul say that not all of Israel is Israel. In other words, just because you were born a Jew does not mean you are automatically in the kingdom of God. The remnant are those who exercised faith in God by obeying Him. The other Jews exercised their works in hoping to please God to let them into His kingdom. The non-remnant exercised no faith whatsoever. To be born a Jew and to have all the advantages of being a Jew becomes a disadvantage when they miss the point of faith. Again the Jews are upset because the Gentiles are getting in on all the promises and they are not Jewish; they were not born a Jew! If you are not born a Jew then how can one get in on the riches of God's grace? Paul says it is receiving righteousness that is by faith and not by works. We know that this is true because even Abraham believed and it was credited to his account as righteousness. Then Christ shows up and teaches this righteousness by faith and what do many of the Jews do? They reject Him! The one that could complete them and bring it all together for them, they throw upon a cross. This truth is dripping with irony and pain. How do you escape the pain and shame? You take this Jesus Christ as as your Savior and Lord. It is still true today that Christ is either a stumbling block or He is the stepping stone of blessing.
Caesar was more talked about in his time than Jesus, and Plato taught more science than Christ. People still discuss the Roman ruler and the Greek philosopher, but who nowadays is hotly for Caesar or against him; and who now are the Platonists and the anti-Platonists? There are still people who love him and who hate him. . . . The fury of so many against him is a proof that he is not dead.
Giovanni Papini (1923– )
Monday, June 14, 2010
Romans 9:19-26 (NIV)
Are you ready for a little more of Rome? Here we go!
Romans 9:19-26 (NIV)
19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?"
20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction?
23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--
24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"
26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
Let us review the context of chapter nine. I believe verse 25 helps us to see that Paul is addressing the issue of Israel being set aside in God's grander scheme of things. He is showing that even in the prophets it was predicted that a people would come along that had not been part of God's plan. If God wants the Gentiles to now have a prominent place in His plan then God can do that if He so wishes. In verses 20-21 Paul goes back to Jeremiah to help him frame his argument in the attribute of God's sovereignty. It is ironic that the Jews or anyone would question the plans of God, since it was His to begin with. In our lives we must always understand who we serve and why it is we serve Him. The Jews were really struggling with this thing called the church. They were really struggling that Gentiles could really know God and be used by God. Christ had come and turned the Jewish world upside down. In turning their world upside down, God had in turn, turned the Gentiles world upside right?!?! Amen! Rejoice in God's plan and purposes and remember to let God be God in your life today.
Romans 9:19-26 (NIV)
19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?"
20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction?
23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--
24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"
26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
Let us review the context of chapter nine. I believe verse 25 helps us to see that Paul is addressing the issue of Israel being set aside in God's grander scheme of things. He is showing that even in the prophets it was predicted that a people would come along that had not been part of God's plan. If God wants the Gentiles to now have a prominent place in His plan then God can do that if He so wishes. In verses 20-21 Paul goes back to Jeremiah to help him frame his argument in the attribute of God's sovereignty. It is ironic that the Jews or anyone would question the plans of God, since it was His to begin with. In our lives we must always understand who we serve and why it is we serve Him. The Jews were really struggling with this thing called the church. They were really struggling that Gentiles could really know God and be used by God. Christ had come and turned the Jewish world upside down. In turning their world upside down, God had in turn, turned the Gentiles world upside right?!?! Amen! Rejoice in God's plan and purposes and remember to let God be God in your life today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
