Romans 15:14-22

Paul assures his readers that he has nothing against them, that the church is basically doing well.  He has written boldly to them because the gospel is so important, it is so important that they get things right. The gospel is not to be taken lightly, we need to understand it fully and properly.

Paul has written boldly “because of the grace of God given to him”. Guilt can make us reluctant to be bold, or to act irrationally. In the gospel we are set free from guilt, and grace enables us to do the tasks that God has given to us with boldness. Note that boldness is not the same as arrogance, and we need to be aware that it is oh so easy to slip from one to the other. Paul’s desire was that the Gentile Christians would truly now God, and so be an acceptable offering to the Lord.

Paul’s only concern about his life was what Christ has accomplished through him. Paul did this by words and signs and wonders. A fully functioning church will have sound teaching, powerful preaching, and demonstrations of the Spirit’s power in signs and wonders.

In particular Paul’s aim was to see the gospel take new ground, to go to places where it had not been before.  We should pray to be filled with the same zeal, even for our own country. For our nation is increasingly unchristian, so there is much ground to be taken.

Romans 15:8-13

Jesus came to save the Jews (the circumcised).  The Old Testament is full of promises to them (to the patriarchs), and Jesus is the fulfilment of those promises.  But this was also part of the plan to save the rest of the world as well.

While the Old Testament contains many promises to the Israelites, it also contains promises for the rest of the world as well. Numerically the ones to Israel outnumber the ones to the Gentiles (the rest of the world), but the ones for the Gentiles are still there. Isaiah is particularly strong on this point.

So just as in Old Testament times it was a fatal mistake to assume God was only interested in Israel, so now it is an equally bad mistake to assume God is not especially interested in Israel. God’s plan is to bring people into the kingdom from all nations, and one day Israel herself will truly turn to Christ.

So Paul prays for his readers to be filled with joy and peace, and to abound with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to enable us to abound in hope, so we should ask Him to do this for us. Whatever circumstance we are in just now, may we abound in hope.

Romans 15:5-7 -

Notice that endurance and encouragement are granted to enable us to live at harmony with each other. We all know that getting on with some other people can be difficult at times.  And the truth Is that at times we ourselves can be difficult to get on with. So we (and those who have to get one with me!) need endurance and encouragement. We need to stick at it and not give up on people. We also need encouragement that there is hope! You see the Bible is both completely realistic about how things are, but also full of hope about how things can be.

Jesus prayed that we would be one. Unity exalts the Lord. Now this is not a unity that ignores truth or real differences, but let’s be honest, most of our differences are not really about rational disagreements.

God’s purpose for humanity is that all of us will glorify Him together. So we are to welcome each other as Christ welcomed us. When He welcomed us were not attractive, we had done nothing to earn His respect. In fact we had done quite the opposite, yet He invited us to get to know Him. Now how do we react when we meet people? We ask ourselves if we like them or not, we look for good qualities in them. Now up to a point this is OK and is very sensible. However, we have been sent out to call the lost, and many of the lost will be dresses in rags. They will have all sorts of character flaws (just like you and me, by the way). We need the grace of God in our lives to be able to get to know people who we might naturally recoil from.

Now this is not a call to be total fools. We need wisdom and discernment, but Godly discernment includes knowing when someone, despite all sorts of outward reactions is actually reaching out to God. Lord gives us the love that you have.

Romans 15:1-5 - Endurance and Encouragement

Again the principle of looking out for the well being of others instead of exalting ourselves comes out. We are to bear with the failing of the weak. Paul may be using the term "failings" a little ironically here. Whatever the case we are to seek to build others up. Jesus is the example. He took the failings of others upon Himself, He took insults upon Himself. 

Verse 4 is so important. Everything written in Scripture was written to teach us. Then note that it focuses on the "endurance taught in Scripture". There are some who talk a lot about the prosperity taught in Scripture, but Paul gives a different emphasis. We would do better to focus on what Paul focuses on.

Endurance and encouragement are gifts from God, and are ones that we should expect to receive from Him. We should look to the Holy Spirit to work in our minds so that we have the same attitude as Jesus. Then with one mind and one voice we will glorify the Lord. 

Do you see the contrast here? We so easily get puffed up with own self-importance or wisdom,  but the true man or woman of God is concerned with the glory of Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:13-23 - Think of others

First a caveat that "not passing judgement" on each other does manifestly not mean anything goes. If someone is committing adultery it is wrong, if someone is stealing it is wrong, if someone is abusing someone else it is wrong. The context of this verse is clearly relating to secondary (even tertiary?) matters. Even so, the instruction is very poignant.

We very easily get on our high horse about something, losing all sense of proportion and reality. In doing this we can put stumbling blocks in the way of other people. Our consciences are very important. If we do something that goes against our conscience we find it very difficult to live freely. So there are two consequences of this. First we need to be very wary of doing anything that goes against our conscience. Secondly, we need to be even more wary of causing someone else to go against their conscience. This latter part works in two ways. On the one hand we can be making someone else feel guilty about something they have no need to feel guilty about. On the other hand we can be leading someone else to do something that would go against their conscience. We may claim we are leading them into a greater freedom, but what we will actually be doing is leading them to be bound up with guilt.

So we are to use wisdom and concern for the well-being of others. Paul expresses this in terms of eating food, which was an issue at the time. He agreed that there was nothing that was inherently unclean, but if eating meat caused problems for others, then it was generally wise to refrain.

In all this we need to avoid thinking that rules can solve the matter. Guidelines can help, but rigid rules will just replace one problem with another.

Romans 14:5-12 - Days

The next issue is one of special days. This probably refers to some people considering certain Jewish festivals to be special and others not doing so. In present day terms the nearest equivalent would be our attitude towards Sunday, and possibly various seasons in the Christian calender (Easter, Christmas, Pentecost etc).

The key thing is to be convinced in our own mind, and then to respect the views of others. Do I have a clear conscience with what I do before the Lord? Two people can take different views yet both can be equally honouring the Lord. So if you make Sunday very special that is fine, if someone else does not, that is also fine.We are to live and die for the Lord.

So first we decide in our own mind what is right before God. Then we respect the other person. So if I treat Sunday as much the same as any other day and you don't you had better not judge me as somehow being inferior to you. Equally, I should not judge you, thinking that somehow you are less free than me. By the way, I am just using this as an illustration, I don't have extreme views on the place of Sunday.

Romans 14:1-4 - Respecting the views of others

Yet another example of "forget the chapter division for a moment". Paul's teaching here is an example of what it means to clothe ourselves with Christ, and not to gratify the desires of the flesh or human nature. By nature we all like to prove ourselves right, to demonstrate our superiority. We sometimes seek to do this in spiritual matters, managing to fool ourselves that we are being more spiritual than others, when what we are actually doing is feeding our pride.

The situation here was that meat offered on sale in markets had often been offered to idols. So one group said "this food is tainted so we should not eat it", the other group said "idols are nothing, just bits of wood or metal, so we can eat the food". What both groups tended to forget was to think of others instead of exalting themselves. Paul here does not say one set of actions is better than the other. Each person must decide before God what is right for them, and then accept that the other person has done that as well and respect the decision.

Now we immediately need dome caveats here, for in our culture one of the prevailing thought is that each person must decide for him or herself what is right, and all decisions are equally valid. There are some matters where this is true, others where it is not true. For instance, it is not up to you or me to decide whether or not sex outside marriage is OK or not. It is fine for you and me to decide whether to drink alcohol in moderation, it is not fine for you or me to get drunk. 

So where the Bible is clear we need to be clear, we need also to recognise secondary issues when we see them. We need grace and wisdom to do this, for when we "see" something we immediately tend to see it as obvious and vital.  For instance,there are sometimes heated debates over whether the earth is several thousand or several billion years old. In this area we would do well to respect the views of others. 

Romans 13:8-14 - Live as Christ

Paul now starts talking about law, and it seems that Paul is talking about the Law of Moses here. He is very much taking a "spirit of the law" approach, whereas the Pharisees seemed to take an "every little detail" approach or nit-picking approach. The whole tenor of the Law, Paul says, is to love one another. This is consistent with Jesus' words on the Law being summed up by love God and love your neighbour. Note that when we talk about love we are not talking about some mushy sentimentality. True love shows itself in actions. On a legalistic level a law can be said to be fulfilled, but we have an unending debt of love. There is always more loving to be done.

Paul then puts all this in the context of the return of Christ. We are in the last days. As has been well said, whether or not Christ returns in our lifetime, these are definitely our last days. Our time on earth is finite. If this life was all there is there might be a certain logic to just living for yourself. But this is not all there is. Christ will return, there will be a final judgement, and then everything will change beyond all recognition. We are to live our lives in preparation for the new kingdom. This most definitely does not mean living as hermits, or as recluses, abandoning the world. Rather it means we live as Christ in the world. We avoid wrong behaviour in all its forms, and instead clothe ourselves with Christ.

Romans 13:1-7 - Respect authority

This chapter deals with our relationships with civil authorities. We need to understand the context within which this was given. We do not fully appreciate the significance of the phrase "Jesus is Lord". In Paul's day it was a highly political phrase, not just a religious one. According to Rome Caesar was Lord, so saying Christ was Lord was to challenge this statement. A few years after Romans was written a period of terrible persecution would begin on the church in Rome. Today saying Christ is Lord is beginning to achieve its powerful meaning once again. Our society is increasingly anti-Christian, we need to be ready to tell society that Christ, not man, is Lord.

But this needs to be balanced. Jesus told Pilate that he only had power because God had given it to him, but He also told him that his (Jesus') kingdom was not of this world. We do declare that Christ is Lord, but we are not leading a political insurrection. This is at least part of the reason for Paul's instructions here.

So we are to respect governing authorities. Now if they tell us to do something that is clearly wrong, this does not mean we have to do it. "I was only obeying orders" is no excuse. But our starting point is that we obey the authorities. God has placed governments in power. Remember that the Roman government was definitely not godly. Also remember that these words are directed to the citizens. They do not mean that governments can then get on their high horses and do what they like. To governments themselves the words of Jesus reminding them why they have power, and the words of many of the Old Testament prophets are the ones that God directs to them.

So, if we rebel against human governments we are rebelling against God. Jesus commended the Roman soldier who knew how to trust Jesus because he knew how to respect human authority. Our attitude to human authorities will affect and reflect our attitude to God. Now is Paul living in an idealistic world with all his talk of governments rewarding good and punishing evil? Surely not, for he had suffered enough at the hands of rulers. But our starting point is to respect authority, and my biggest problem, and your biggest problem is not the stupid government we have to live under, but the rebelliousness that resides within our souls.

We are also to pay taxes gladly. We should pray over our taxes, praying that God will bless that money!

Romans 12:17-21 - Love your enemies

Paul knew what it was like to experience evil. He received false accusations from other "Christians" (eg the super-apostles of 2 Corinthians), the beatings and imprisonments, often as a result of Jewish opponents. So when we read this instruction from Paul we need to remember it is not from someone who had never really suffered in life, but from someone who knew exactly what he was talking about.

We are to do what is right. Now this does not mean we will not be criticised or worse, for there are occasions when it doesn't matter what we do, someone will find fault. Also, we need to remember that Paul was sometimes robust in his responses to attack, as we read in Acts. However, we do not needlessly offend people, the gospel is offensive and challenging enough, if truly presented, without us adding to it!

We must not take revenge. God is the one who will judge. He knows exactly what is right, and the right time to execute judgement. Sometimes it will be in this life, on other occasions it will not be until the final judgement. 

We overcome evil with good. Indeed, this will often be more effective. In verse 20 Paul quotes from Proverbs 25:21,22. A couple of comments on this. First it shows that "loving your enemies" was not a new concept introduced by Jesus, it was already in the Old Testament. Secondly, the comment on "heap burning coals" makes it read just like a clever way of getting revenge! This is not the way to take it. Hopefully the burning coals will bring the person to their senses.

Romans 12:14-16 - Loving others

Verse 14 is reminiscent of Jesus' words to love our enemies. Remember that Paul knew all about persecution. Many times he was thrown into prison, he was beaten up, and even left for dead. So this is not just nice warm advice, but an instruction that comes from someone who knows what he is talking about. So we are to bless everyone, including those who persecute us.

At anyone time we have our own feelings, others have theirs. We are not to live just according to our own feelings. Even if we are having a tough time we should still rejoice with those who rejoice. And if we are enjoying blessings, then we should still mourn with those who mourn. We do not deny the present state of our own affairs, but we live for others as well as for ourselves. 

We are to live in harmony with each other. At times this will mean denying ourselves. We are not to be proud. Every single human being was created in the image of God, so is a valuable person.

Romans 12:9-13 - Practical love

Love is not just words, but actions, and it must be sincere. Ie it is not a matter of trying to gain advantage by being kind. We are to hate what is evil and hold on to what is good. We are to use discernment, deciding what is good and what is not. We are to be devoted to one another and to honour each other above ourselves. Self-centredness is a key element of our sinful condition. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are to put this sin to death. This is not a debasement of ourselves, but an honouring of others. Make decisions which put others first.

We are to have zeal and spiritual fervour serving the Lord. So serving the Lord is not to be an act of drudgery, but one of joy. Now there will be times when it is hard work, when our enthusiasm does wane, but we are not to accept these times as permanent. Instead we should ask the Lord to renew our joy and zeal. And we are to do this in all circumstances. There is no circumstance in which we cannot know the joy of the Lord. This does not mean we will not know suffering as well, but joy and suffering are not mutually exclusive.

When times are tough we are to be patient, and we are to pray. This is not just praying for ourselves, but praying for others. In fact an excellent thing to do in the midst of difficulties is to make it our practice to spend time praying for others, putting ourselves aside for a time. 

As well as praying for others, we are to give to others in practical ways as well. When we do these things we will find that all the theology that Paul has given in the first eleven chapters becomes a living reality.

Romans 12:3-8 - Grace

We now get practical teaching on what having a transformed mind means, and what offering our bodies as living sacrifices means.
Paul gives the teaching "by the grace given to me". Grace gives us authority. Someone may say "what right have you got to say or do this", but grace gives us authority. This also means we do not "lord it over" others. We do not teach or preach out of any sense of superiority, not out of our own authority. We preach and teach as servants of Christ.
First, we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. We should not have too high an opinion of ourselves, we should not be "full of ourselves". Conversely, this does not mean we should have a demeaning view of ourselves, instead we are to have a sober view of ourselves, a realistic view. 
None of us is gifted or perfect at everything. None of us knows everything, but to each one of us God has given each one of us some gifts and some wisdom, distributed according to His grace. The church functions as a body. It is not matter of proving who is the best, who is he most gifted. We function as a body, needing each other, depending upon each other, working together with each other. If ever we imagine we do not need others we are in deep trouble. 
So whatever gift we have, prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, leading or whatever, we are to use the gift. We do not use it trying to show that our gift is the most important, nor do we use the gift thinking "I only have the gift of ...". We are all part of the one body, and God's plan is that we work together.

Romans 12:1,2 - Transformed

We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. This means living our lives for God, giving our lives to Him, being willing to do whatever He wants us to do. Why do we do this? In view of God's mercy. It is not in order to gain anything or to seek to earn salvation. God has freely forgiven us, purely out of His love for us. We go wrong whenever we think that our giving or serving earns anything. "Giving to get" is one example of how we can go wrong. The Christian life is one of giving and receiving.

We have been declared righteous, so our "sacrifice" is pleasing to God. A life dedicated to Him is true worship.

We are not be conformed to the pattern of this world. This world has gone completely wrong in every sphere, including the religious sphere. It is only in Christ that we find true religion and true service.

So we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The whole of Romans has been challenging our thinking. The whole of the Bible teaches us to think in a different way. Now note that we are to use our minds, but the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. When we put God first, when we recognise His wisdom we begin to become truly wise ourselves.

When we do this we can then start to think clearly, to see what is God's will in various situations. We will begin to find a freedom, new insight. Sin distorts our vision and thinking, the Spirit brings clarity.

Romans 11:25-36 - Israel will be saved!

Now Paul comes to the final outcome of the plan. First we should notice the warning that Paul gives. We must not adopt a superior attitude and think that Israel has been rejected forever. There are other clear warnings in the New Testament that if we only heeded them we could avoid a lot of rubbish theology. Jesus' words on not knowing the day or hour of His return is the prime example.
All Israel will be saved. This is the result. At present, and for the last two thousand years, God is focused on bringing many Gentiles into the kingdom. Once this is complete Israel itself will be saved.
There is much debate about exactly what "all Israel" means. Three interpretations are: (i) the total number of elect Jews (I must admit this does not seem a particularly helpful answer, as it gives no clue to the total number of the elect); (ii) the total number of Jews and Gentiles; (iii) a large number of Jews in the last generation. In (ii) the Gentiles are being viewed as part of the true Israel. Whatever the case, a significant number of Jews will turn to Christ. We are to pray for this happen, and some of us are to work directly for it to happen.
Paul then quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah. A simple fact we need to remember is that the Old Testament is stuffed full of promises of Israel's eventual redemption. God has not changed His mind. Paul says this in v29. At the time Israel appeared to be an enemy of the gospel. often persecuting the Christians. This was a temporary state of affairs. God's overall plan will prevail.
In the same way we are sinners, but the end result will be that we become just like Christ. In the end God will have mercy on Israel.
Paul concludes all this with a hymn of praise to the Lord. The key theme is that God's plans are far greater than anything we can imagine. We are to use our minds, but the fear of the Lord always needs to be our starting point. God's mind is far greater than ours.

Romans 11:13-24 - To not be arrogant

Paul is addressing the Gentile (non-Jewish) believers. Paul clearly thought it important for them to understand the place that Israel had, the place that it has, and how God's overall plan will work out. This implies that we too need to have an understanding. Why is this? What has Israel got to do with us? Essentially the reason is twofold. First, without understanding how God's salvation works with Israel, we will not understand how it works with us. Secondly, we should pray for Israel and look forward to the day when they finally believe in Christ. This will be the culmination of God's plans.

What exactly is Paul saying in verse 16. Short answer is I am not sure! Maybe he is urging them to see themselves as part of God's overall plan, and this does make some sense, and is true. The first fruits and the root could refer to Christ. Jesus came to earth as a Jew, we cannot and should not forget this fact. And so eventually all Israel will be saved.

Paul then warns them (and us) against pride. We must not consider ourselves better than the Jews. There have been times in history when the church has failed woefully in this regard. Israel shows that God treats unbelief and disobedience very seriously. He will also treat unbelief and disobedience on our part very seriously. There is no scope whatsoever for arrogance.

We need to keep in mind both the kindness and the severity of God. So much of our current wrong thinking is a result of considering only the kindness of God. It is also essential that we recognise that we are part of the grand plan that started with Abraham, and of which Israel was and is a key part.

Romans 11:11,12 - Riches for All

Again Paul returns to the original question "did they stumble in order that they might fall". Ie was God's plan that  Israel would fall? Is Israel now out of the picture. Paul's answer again is an emphatic no. Rather God's plan was that the good news would go to the Gentiles, and then the Israelites will become jealous when they see God's blessing upon them and will eventually return to Christ. 

Now we might think this looks a bit contrived, and we have not yet seen the final outworking of this, for Israel has yet to return to Christ. However, the fundamental point is never to imagine that we fully understand God's plan. We see things at a certain stage, then we use our human intellect alone and work out the final ending. This is more than likely to end up with the wrong answer. And so it is with those who think that Israel no longer has a key role in God's plans. We have not seen the end yet, though we are actually told often enough that Israel will be saved, so it is not quite clear why some find it hard to accept. Maybe it is like the disciples and Jesus before the cross. Jesus told them He would die and be raised to new life, but the part on the resurrection just washed right over their heads.

Now look at what Paul says. Israel's failure lead to riches for the Gentiles, ie receiving the gospel, the good news. Their "full inclusion" will mean even greater riches for the world. We should long for Israel to return to Christ. The blessings that we have now will be multiplied a thousand times over when that happens.

As an aside, note that riches here is clearly referring to spiritual riches, namely receiving the good news, receiving forgiveness, the Holy Spirit and new life. God does bless us materially, but if we make material riches the focus we are on the wrong track.

Romans 11:1-10 - A remnant

Paul has said a lot of seemingly negative things about Israel, regarding their failure to obey the gospel, their failure to believe Christ. So has God rejected Israel? In fact Paul puts it even more potently, "Did God reject His people?" Israel is not just any nation, it is not just a group of people, they are God's people.

Paul's answer is a resounding no. Then he points first to himself. Paul was an Israelite, from the tribe of Benjamin and he believed. Then he cites the example of Elijah. Elijah felt like all of Israel had rejected God, but God told him that He has "reserved seven thousand people for himself." Likewise, there was still a remnant chosen by God, chosen by grace. Things are not always as bad as they seem. There was a remnant in Paul's day, and there was a remnant for the future as well.  

All this is by grace, not works. The fact that Israel had failed to fulfil the Law did not mean that God's plan was overturned, for salvation is by faith, not works. Grace, not merit.

So some Israelites accepted the gospel, but most did not, and their hearts were hardened.

Romans 10:17-27 - Excuses

Faith comes from hearing the message, and this happen through the word of Christ. A man or woman is born again by the work of the Holy Spirit. When we speak, preach or teach the word of Christ the Holy Spirit is also at work. In John 15:26, 27 Jesus said the Holy Spirit would testify about Him, and that we also must testify. God has chosen to work in partnership with us. 

So why did Israel not respond favourably? It wasn't that they did not hear. Throughout the ages the prophets (which includes people like Moses and David, as well as the Elijah's and Isaiah's) had been pointing the way forward to Christ. Jesus Himself went to the nation of Israel. Then the church started in Jerusalem. Israel had the first opportunity to respond to the word of Christ.

Well then, did they not understand? And here we start to get to the root of the problem, the stubbornness and hard-heartedness of Israel. God gave them many chances, but they repeatedly refused. So God would make them envious by sending His message to the nations. Those who did not seek Christ would find Him.

People make all sorts of excuses for not believing, but we need to look first at ourselves, and you need to look first at yourself. 

Romans 10:14-16 - Let them hear

Paul is continuing to explain here how salvation works. In the earlier parts of Romans he has focussed on the message itself. In chapters 6-8 he focusses on how it works out in the life of the individual. In chapters 9-11 he is explaining how God brings the message to the world. 

He has just established that all who call on Jesus will be saved. The logical next step from that is that if people are saved if they call on the Lord, then they need to believe in Christ. And in order to believe they need to hear in the first place. And if they are to hear, then someone needs to tell them. And if someone is to tell them, that person needs to be sent.

Another common objection to the gospel is that it is unfair on those who have not heard. The Bible has a very practical answer to this, if that is the case then go and tell them. It is a good thing to get good news.

Not all the Jews, indeed not many of them, obeyed the gospel. Note the use of the word obeyed. The good news is a command. And in the book of Isaiah, where many of Paul's quotes come from, the prophet was told that many would not believe.

Romans 10:5-13 - Confess with your mouth

The righteousness based on the Law depended upon someone fully obeying all the Commandments. Only one man has ever achieved this, Jesus Christ. The righteousness based on faith is simple and straightforward. We simply believe the word of Christ. We confess with our mouth and believe in our heart. Note that "believe in your heart" does not imply this is a pure emotional response, rather it involves both emotions and our mind.

If we do this we will be saved. Note also that saying Jesus is Lord was a religiously and politically charged thing to do in those days. To the Jews it was saying Christ is God, the very reason that the religious authorities were so angered by Jesus. To the Roman authorities Caesar was Lord, so it was declaring that Caesar did not have ultimate authority. Today we have lost a lot of that pungency of the phrase, but with the increasing marginalisation and hostility to Christianity by the state it maybe that very soon declaring Christ to be Lord will be an equally dangerous thing to do.

So we are justified by what we believe and saved by what we declare. This is not salvation by works, but it is saying that faith is more than a mere one-off response.

Paul then returns to one of his favourite themes. The universality of Christ's salvation, and that the same criteria are applied to all. All are saved who call upon the Lord, and He bestows His riches on them all.

Romans 10:1-4 - Who decides the rules?

Paul reiterates his desire to see the Israelites saved. It is his hearts desire to see this happen. Being a Jew, and a persecutor of Christ before his conversion, Paul knew the mindset of the Jews. He knew that they were zealous for God. However, this zeal was not based on knowledge.

There is a crucial lesson here. We are all too ready to think that if someone's motives are right, then their actions are OK too. This is simply not true. We can be well meaning fools, well intentioned actions can lead to disaster. Some think that all religions are the same, or cannot see why one is better than the other. The reason is truth. The gospel is not about feelings, but about objective truth (which then affects feelings, but the truth is the starting point).

Behind this thinking is the notion that we decide how God is to be approached or pleased. A moment's thought will show how ridiculous such thinking is. If you were going to visit the Queen or the President of the USA who would decide how things were done? Who would decide if you were even invited at all? Yet we are so foolish as to think we can decide who God should invite, and how He is to be approached.

The Jews sought to establish their own righteousness, and so failed to submit to Christ's righteousness. Christ came to fulfil the Law so that righteousness would come by faith. 

Romans 9:30-33 - Summing Up

Paul summarise the situation. The Gentiles were not looking for righteousness with God, yet they found it, and this was obtained through faith. Israel, on the other hand, was pursuing righteousness, but sought to do so via the Law, and they failed to attain their goal.

The problem was not the goal, but the means chosen to achieve that goal. Now we need to look a little more closely at what this righteousness that they pursued entailed. In evangelical circles we tend to be so focused on people making "a decision", on "saving souls", which we see as people making a prayer of commitment typically at some evangelistic meeting or the like. Two consequences of this are (i) there is a very high attrition rate, with people who make a commitment falling away; and (ii) the outside world see Christianity as rather superficial. 

To the Jew the righteousness talked about here was not like that, rather it was a whole way of life. The Law encompassed every aspect of life, both for individuals and for the nation, from the smallest details of everyday life to national politics, economy and diplomacy. And the righteousness that the New Testament speaks of is the same, it affects all of life, it is not just "a decision". Jesus told us to make disciples.

Paul then  quotes from Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16. These verses were commonly used in the early church, for they encapsulated the situation. Jesus had been sent as the source of salvation, but He proved to be a stumbling block for the Jews. Conversely, those who did believe in Him were saved.

Romans 9:19-29 - Potter and the clay

So if God determines everything, how can we be held responsible? Again, Paul deals with a question that is still asked today. As before, Paul's answer is offensive to the modern mind (and probably the ancient mind as well, we haven't really changed that much!). "Who are you to answer back to God?". So we are faced again with the fundamental issue of submitting to God, of making Him Lord, instead of ourselves.

We were created by God. We had no say in the day we were born, not even if we were born. No man or woman who has ever lived has ever been able to determine whether or not they will be brought into existence. And we will all one day die. We need to recognise our fundamental role in the grand scheme of things. We are utterly dependent upon God. 

Instead of constantly arguing against God, we would be better to make Him Lord. And the truth is that God is far more merciful than we can ever imagine. He calls people who have been rejected, people who are not loved. Without God's mercy we would have no hope at all.

Romans 9:14-18 - Mercy and hardening

All this produces the inevitable charge "that's not fair". Remember this was written some two thousand years ago, people had the same reactions then as we have now.

See how Paul replies. He quotes Exodus 33:19. The only "fair" action on God's part would be to condemn us all to hell , for that is the judgement that we all deserve. When God forgives someone He is having mercy on them. Everyone else still gets what they deserve. And our reaction still puts us in the position of judge. Only God has the right to be judge. The root of rebellion is thinking that we should decide what is right and what is wrong, it goes back to the Garden of Eden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We need to get it into our heads and into our hearts that God is God, that is the starting point. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 

Then, as far as our modern thinking goes, Paul makes things even worse! For he declares that God raised Pharaoh up for the very purpose of displaying His power. God has mercy on whom He has mercy and hardens the heart of whom He wants to harden.

We will leave it there for today, and come back to this tomorrow. In the meantime, let us meditate upon this truth, instead of rebelling against it, and let the Holy Spirit give us insight, instead of relying purely on human wisdom. When we put the fear of the Lord first our minds will become truly incisive.

Romans 9:6-13 - God's choice

So what is the situation with Israel? Paul looks at the whole situation in a little more depth. First, God's word has not failed. Now this is something we all need to take account of, but especially those who would say that Israel as a nation no longer has a part if God's plans. The Old Testament is stuffed full of promises concerning Israel, and it is quite difficult to ignore them! However, Paul does say that not all Israel is Israel. He is here echoing the words of Jesus when he says that not all the physical descendants are children of Abraham. This might seem to give succour to those who say Israel no longer really matters, but we would do well to read the rest of these three chapters before jumping to that conclusion. 
Paul then goes back to the importance of Isaac (Gen 21:12), stressing the importance of faith as the criterion for inclusion, as indeed he has been doing throughout Romans. It is all based on promise. In Galatians chapter 4 Paul talks a lot more about the two children that Abraham had, Isaac and Ishmael. So physical descent is not enough.
Next Paul talks about Jacob and Esau. They were twins and Esau was born first, yet it was Jacob who gained the inheritance. As it says elsewhere "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Mal 1:2,3). Now this causes us some difficulties, particularly about God "hating". First, this probably refers primarily to the two nations that sprang from these two men. Now Jesus talked about hating our mothers and brothers. He clearly did not mean hate in the normal sense of the word, but only in comparison to our love for Him. Accordingly, many take this to mean "love less". However, Calvin and others take in a stronger form, of to reject. God chose Jacob, but did not chose Esau.
However, we need to keep in mind here that the key point Paul is making is that it is all down to God's choice, and nothing man does overrides that choice.

Romans 9:1-5 - The place of Israel: not rejected, not forgotten

We now come to three chapters in the Bible that anyone who wants to know and understand about Israel's place in God's plan must read. And any idea that is contrary to what is contained within these chapters is deeply flawed. Moreover, we should not read these chapters as a sort of appendix to the main argument or presentation that Paul is making, but as a key part of it. We tend to think always in terms of "how do I get saved", whereas Paul is thinking in terms of "how has God saved us" or "how does God's plan of salvation workout and what should our response to it be". Because we are fallen creatures we have a terrible tendency to always become self-centred, whereas we need to be God centred. Everything begins with God, and more particularly with Christ.

I am going to make another of my "forget the chapter numbers" statements. What has Paul just said in the previous chapter? And remember that he was not starting a new chapter here, they did not exist when Paul wrote it! "Nothing can separate us from the love of God". What then about Israel? Has their crucifying of Christ  separated them from the love of God? What about all the opposition that Paul faced from the Jews, did he now consider them to be his enemies?

The answer to both these questions is a resounding no. Paul would have sacrificed his own salvation for the sake of Israel. He longed for them to know Christ. Now consider all that they had done to Paul, and Paul's reaction shows us what it means to love our enemies.

Paul then gives a list of "their is". Note the tense, is, not was. Israel is still part of the grand plan. Adoption is theirs. They have still been adopted. They saw the divine glory, both in terms of splendour at various points in history, and in the working out of God's plans. The covenants were given to the, the Law was given to them. The heroes like Abraham and David and Moses were theirs, people who are still heroes in the New Testament. Most of all the human ancestry of Jesus is traced to them. Humanly speaking Jesus is a Jew.  He then closes this section with the word Amen, let it be so.

Israel is still part of God's plan, and in the next three chapters we will learn how this works out.

Romans 8:31-39 - If God is for us

So we now faced with the following situation. On the one hand we have the fact that God is for us. He has forgiven all our sins, He has given us His Holy Spirit, and He has given us an assured future. He has given us new life. On the other hand we face the realities of life. We face difficulties and problems for all sorts of reasons  (some of them due to ourselves!). How do we deal with this situation. Well the way NOT to deal with it is to think "if I have enough faith I won't have any problems". Such thinking is fairy tale Christianity. Paul shows us the right way to deal with things.

The fundamental point is that God is for us. Compared to God, any opposing force or situation or person is as nothing. But, we may think, is God enough for me in this situation? Will He still help through these circumstances? Paul's answer is that God has already given His own Son on our behalf. If He is prepared to do this, then He is prepared to do anything. 

What about accusations? And when going through trials guilt often comes in, whether it is merited or not. But God has justified us, He has declared us to be in the right. Christ died for us and was raised from death. So we need to set all the accusations against what Christ has done for us. Moreover, Christ is at this very moment interceding for us at the right-hand of God. We read earlier that the Holy Spirit prays for us as well. We have a great intercession team, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, working on our behalf!

So we do not deny the things that come against us, we do not pretend they are not there, we do not long for some fantasy land where there are no difficulties. Rather we set those things that are for us, and compare them to those that are against us, and it is no contest. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and in all things we are more than conquerors.

Romans 8:29,30

Having looked at predestination in general in the previous post, let's look at it in the context of Romans 8. For, as mentioned yesterday, Paul talks about predestination for a purpose, not for a debate.

When we go through trials of various sorts and for various reasons we often wonder why things are happening, how it is all going to end, and how we are going to get through it.

We can be absolutely confident of God's purpose. His purpose is that we become more like Christ. And God's purposes will win through in the end. Christ was raised from the dead to be the firstborn of many brothers (and this includes sisters). We are part of God's plan, it will not fail.

Then we read of the pattern in verse 30. We were predestined, we were called, we were justified, we are glorified. How do we know we have been predestined (and remember, do not read this as though it is fate)? We know it because God called us. Through the cross we have been justified, and we will be glorified. We are not living this life alone, we are not living it as products of random chance, but as people who are part of God's plan.

Let me just once again give a warning about silly interpretations of predestination. Sometimes people wonder well if God has already decided who has been saved what is the point of anything. This is an utterly unBiblical way of approaching things. We are called to live our own lives in a way that is worthy of the calling, and we are called to make disciples of all nations. So we should just get on with it.

Romans 8:29 - Predestination

How do we know that everything works together for good? It is because those whom God foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Now that raises a question or two! Pre-destination is one of those topics that causes enormous controversy and misunderstanding. It is probably fair to say that the response of most is to ignore it and hope it will go away. We will not do that here. Let's look at it first from a philosophical perspective, and then from a Biblical perspective. The philosophical part will be based on the Bible, so don't panic. In fact we will do the Biblical perspective first.

Our great fear with pre-destination is that we confuse it with fatalism. Ie we think that it means that because God has decided that something is going to happen then that means that all that we do is irrelevant. This causes many to reject pre-destination. Conversely, those who are ardent pre-destinationists fear that if what we do influences what happens then that somehow negates the sovereignty of God. Both of these fears are unfounded, and the extreme positions on pre-destination are unbiblical.

First we need to accept the limits of our human intellect, and use the Bible as both our guiding light, and as a boundary setter. Ie warning us when we are in danger of straying off in a wrong direction.

Now every book, probably every single chapter, in the Bible makes it clear that what we do matters. There are also numerous incidents where what God has done has been influenced by what men or women have done. He ejected Adam and Eve from Eden because of their sin. He relented in destroying Nineveh because they repented. In the gospels Jesus interacted with people, He responded to faith, or to lack of faith.

Now consider the passages where pre-destination crops up. Why does the writer (often Paul) raise the matter? It is definitely not to start an academic argument. Rather it is always done so as an encouragement to us, an encouragement for us to serve the Lord with more enthusiasm, dedication and confidence.

Now let's take a philosophical view. God is eternal, He exists outside of time, indeed He created time. So when God makes a decision in eternity how does that map onto our temporal world? Not in a nice neat manner! Look at God's promises and plans in the Bible. Two things are clear: (i) God's plans are always fulfilled in the end; (ii) they are rarely fulfilled in a straightforward manner! Was Abraham's or Moses' or David's life stories straightforward and simple? Definitely not. Has life been simple since the cross and resurrection? I don't think so. 

God knows the beginning and the end, along with everything in between as well. So maybe decisions He makes are based on everything that happens. 

So, do not ignore pre-destination, do not be confused by it, but be encouraged. Our lives take all sorts of twists and turns, but we can be sure that God's plans will be fulfilled. So we should be all the more dedicated to Christ, and live and serve with ever greater faith.

Romans 8:28 - All things work for good

So in the midst of difficulties we know that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. He does so perfectly in line with the will of God, and God hears His prayers perfectly. That is the first encouragement. The second encouragement is this. We know that the Lord work through all things for the good of those who love Him. 

There are several things to focus on here. 

First is that it does not say that all things that happen to us are good, only that God works through all of these for good. Some things that happen to us are bad, some things are utterly evil, but whatever does happen, God will triumph in the end, and we will triumph in the end as well.

Next it applies to those who love God. We quite rightly focus on the fact that our forgiveness and new life is totally undeserved, we did nothing to deserve it, and could do nothing to deserve it. However, the fact that we love God makes a difference. We are in a relationship with God. Now the degree to which we love God does not affect how much He loves us, but it does affect how that love impacts our lives. Every relationship is two-way, and what is possible depends upon both sides of the relationship.

Finally we are called according to His purpose. It is not just about me, and it is not just about you. God has called us to a purpose, there is purpose and meaning to our lives. And God will work through events in our lives to achieve that purpose.