This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ (Rm. 15:22-29).

Though it may seem unclear on the surface of our present text, the entire Epistle to the Romans has been building up to this point. For the apostle Paul has at this point concluded the purpose of his letter, which was declared in v. 1:5, viz. “To bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of [Christ's] name among all the nations.” For he brackets his entire letter by this objective, stating again in v. 15:18, 19, “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience–by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.” Everything in his letter can be traced to this purpose, and it is a purpose that is founded in a passage written by the prophet Isaiah concerning the End of all things.

The apostle highlights the underlying purpose of his writing by his desire to go to Spain to preach the Gospel. While it may not seem like much on the surface, his desire particularly to go to Spain is interesting one. For, why did he not make his objective the land of the Gauls (France) or even Britain, since the Roman Empire extended as far as these places and were by distance farther away? That reason, I believe, is because Spain housed a city of prophetic renown, namely Tarshish. You may remember Tarshish from the narrative of Jonah, where he sought to flee the calling of the Lord. Tarshish was not an arbitrary choice by the prophet, for the city was the symbolic end of the world, and Jonah’s desire was to go as far away from the land of the God of Israel as possible.

And references to Tarshish are not found merely in the narrative of Jonah, but they are scattered throughout the prophetic literature of the Bible. One reference that is particularly striking is that in Isaiah 60, and I believe that this prophecy is the basis of Paul’s entire epistle to the Romans.

This prophecy of Isaiah concerns the End of all things, when Israel will be glorified and will be established forever. The prophecy begins by speaking about the “great darkness” that has covered the earth until the time of Christ, and it speaks of the removal of that darkness by the light of the Gospel. I personally believe that this is tantamount to the binding of Satan in Revelation 20:1-3 (yes, I am Amillennial), where the god of this world who was once free to blind the whole world is now bound so that “he might not deceive the nations any longer” (Rev. 20:3; cf. 2Cor. 4:4). At this point, the prophet begins:

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
….and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
….and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
….and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
….and kings to the brightness of your rising (Is. 60:1-3).

I do not believe that this is a literal coming to the land of Israel, but a spiritual coming to the Messiah of Israel, who has decreed before the foundation of the world that he himself would arise in glory among the Jews and would set himself up to be the New Temple, so that those who worship God would no longer worship him geographically, as Christ told the Samaritan woman in John 4, but they would worship him in Spirit and in truth. For the apostle intimates as much in Rm. 15:8-12 where he speaks of Christ coming to the Jews in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

The prophet continues in this vein:

Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
….they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
….and your daughters shall be carried on the hip (cf. Rm. 9:6-8).
Then you shall see and be radiant;
….your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
….the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
….the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
….all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
….and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
….the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
….and I will beautify my beautiful house (vv. 60:4-7).

An interesting statement in this section is, “Your sons shall come from afar,” intimating that sons of Israel will come from the Gentiles. The apostle declares as much in Rm. 9:6-8, where he declares that it is not the children of the flesh of Abraham who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are counted as offspring. Indeed, elsewhere the apostle calls the church (i.e. those who have been called to adoption as sons through Christ from all the nations), the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).

Also, these sons who come from afar come to God’s altar with acceptance (Is. 60:7). The apostle picks up this language in our present section, writing, “[I am] a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified (made holy) by the Holy Spirit” (v. 15:16). And these sons do not come to the altar bearing bulls and goats, but they come bearing gold and frankincense (the same gifts presented to Christ by the magi who came from afar), and they come with good news (i.e. Gospel) and the praises of the Lord. And these things make their worship acceptable to the Lord.

The prophet continues:

Who are these that fly like a cloud,
….and like doves to their windows?
For the coastlands shall hope for me,
….the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from afar,
….their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
….and for the Holy One of Israel,
….because he has made you beautiful (vv. 60:8,9).

Here we see Paul’s reference to Spain in Tarshish, for it is Tarshish that is said in the prophecy to come first to the glorified Israel. Whether or not Paul viewed this literally or not is difficult to surmise, but he was certainly on mission to bring it about. Perhaps it is for this reason that Paul never made it to Spain by the will of God, so that he would, like Moses, be halted a step away from the shadow of the reality of the Coming Kingdom.

Later in the prophecy, Isaiah declares concerning the nature of Israel’s Kingdom:

Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
….with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
….a joy from age to age.
You shall suck the milk of nations;
….you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
….and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (vv. 60:15,16).

In this text, it is made clear that the Kingdom of which the prophet is writing is an eschatological and eternal Kingdom. He declares that Israel will no longer be forsaken and hated, but that she will be made majestic forever and a joy for eternity. And she will be filled with the wealth of the Nations forever, and by it know that the Lord is her Savior and Redeemer. This declaration directly parallels the eschatological declarations of the apostle in Romans 11.

And then the prophet declares what is, I believe, the very heart of the Epistle to the Romans:

Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
….and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
….instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
….your taskmasters righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
….devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
….and your gates Praise.

The sun shall be no more
….your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
….give you light;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
….and your God will be your glory.
Your sun shall no more go down,
….nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
….and your days of mourning shall be ended.
Your people shall all be righteous;
….they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
….that I might be glorified (vv. 60:17-21).

I have heard it said many times that the Epistle to the Romans is divided into two sections–the doctrinal section (chapters 1-11) and the practical section (chapters 12-16). However, though I do not disagree with this entirely, I believe the Epistle to the Romans is more accurately divided into sections on righteousness, the Promise of redemption, and peace. And these three sections are all contained within the declarations of Isaiah 60. Allow me to demonstrate this:

The first eight chapters deal clearly with the work of Christ for the righteousness of his people. This mirrors the declaration from Isaiah 60:17 that the Lord will make righteousness his people’s taskmasters. After his introduction to the Roman church, the apostle demonstrates his purpose, writing, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith‘” (vv. 1:16,17). The apostle continues in vv. 1:18-3:20 demonstrating that the greatest problem for humanity is unrighteousness and the separation from God it affords.

However, the apostle introduces Christ as the remedy for unrighteousness, writing, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe” (vv. 3:21,22). From this point, the apostle builds upon what the work of Christ has accomplished in vv. 3:21-8:17 for the sake of the righteousness of his people. Roughly speaking, chapter three deals with the righteous state afforded by Christ for those who believe; chapter four deals with the truth that righteousness has always come through faith from the very beginning with Abraham; chapter five deals with the peace with God that justification (i.e. righteous-ification) the work of Christ affords and the contrast between the unrighteous work of Adam and the righteous work of Christ, the second Adam; chapter six deals with baptism (i.e. identification in Christ’s death and resurrection) and how baptism has made it so that we who are in Christ are made to be slaves of righteousness; chapter seven deals initially with the Christian’s release from slavery to the law and sin to the slavery of the new (righteous) way of the Spirit (vv. 1-6) and ends with the demonstration of the inability of those who are in the flesh to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law; chapter eight ends the section on righteousness with the glorious work of the Godhead for the sake of righteousness:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done, what the law weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (vv. 8:1-4).

For this reason, it is of little surprise that chapters one through eight contain at least fifty-five references to righteousness or justification (which in the Greek is from the same root as “righteous”) and the rest of the epistle only contains nine such references.

The second section of the epistle deals with the eschatological Promise of redemption. It begins in v. 8:18 and ends in v. 11:36. The latter part of chapter eight deals with the redemption of the creation of which Isaiah 60:19-22 also speaks. Chapter nine deals with the nature of the Promise given to Abraham, articulating that the Promise was not given according to the flesh (viz. physical Israel), but it is based upon God who has mercy on all peoples. Chapter ten deals with Israel’s unwillingness to submit to the Righteousness that comes from God, and chapter eleven deals with the eschatological promise that Israel will be restored (the very subject of Isaiah 60), with God having “cosigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all (v. 11:32; cf. Is. 60:10).

The third section of the epistle deals with peace that the church is to exhibit to the world, thereby being a light unto the eschatological peace seen in Isaiah 60:17, 18. This section begins in v. 12:1 and ends in v. 15:7. In this section, the apostle exhorts the church to, by its practices, be at peace with itself though self-sacrifice (vv. 12:1-13), with those who persecute the church (vv. 12:14-21), with the governing authorities of the world (vv. 13:1-7); by practicing love for one another (vv. 13:8-14), by not quarreling over opinions and passing judgment (vv. 14:1-23), and, finally, by following the example of Christ (vv. 15:1-7). All these things are done with the purpose of pursuing that which “makes for peace and for mutual upbringing” (v. 14:19) for the end of living “in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together [we] may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 15:6). For this is also the end of the redemption of Isaiah 60, that the walls of the Israel of God shall be called Salvation and her gates one voice of Praise unto the Lord of glory (v. 60:18).

This was a merely a brief overview between the connection of the Epistle to the Romans to Isaiah 60, and I am sure that there is much more to be gathered between these two sections of Holy Scripture. May we all be encouraged to pursue righteousness and peace looking upon the Promise of Redemption.

He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress of every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality (Rm. 2:6-11).

]]> http://faithforfaith.org/2009/10/08/the-epistle-to-the-romans-the-isaiah-60-of-the-new-testament/feed/ 0 http://faithforfaith.org/2009/07/30/submission-to-government-ii-a-cause-upon-which-to-rebel/ http://faithforfaith.org/2009/07/30/submission-to-government-ii-a-cause-upon-which-to-rebel/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:57:31 +0000 D. Matthew Brown http://faithforfaith.org/?p=2319 ]]> Unfortunately, rebellion against government by those who call themselves Christians is not an uncommon occurrence. The reasons behind such rebellion, be it actual or philosophical, more often than not has more to do with one’s political theory than one’s desire to live peaceably with all men (cf. Rm. 12:18). For despite one’s belief where true authority should be vested (e.g. in the Magna Carta or in the king; in the Constitution or in the governors), authority truly resides only where there is actual power. For any human document is only as powerful as its government allows it to be, and where there is perceived conflict between the human code and the human government, the government is the one to whom the Christian must submit, for it is the government who has authority.

And though exceptions might be brought up in the case of the national Israel in the Old Testament, national Israel is unique in that she was governed by a document written by God. Therefore in its case, not to submit to the law of the land was tantamount to rebellion against God himself, for he was the Author of the law.

Therefore, when modern political theory is discussed, Israel’s case must be viewed as the exception not the rule. For national Israel has ever existed as a shadow of heavenly things, and to think that we should mimic national Israel’s government in our present dealings with our governments is to miss the point of national Israel’s existence.

The question, however, that remains to be answered is, “Is there ever a time that submission to government is not commanded or required of the Christian?” I believe the question can be answered quite simply. Submission to government is demanded of Christians insofar as they are not personally required to rebel against the ordinances of God. In other words, a Christian is to submit to government so long as that government does not require him to act in such a way that is contrary to God’s command.

This rule is clearly demonstrated throughout the Word of God. It is seen in the book of Daniel where the three young men were commanded to bow before the idol of the King, and they refused; it is seen also in Daniel’s willingness to adapt to the customs and cultures of Babylon insofar as those things did not conflict with the law of God; and it is seen in Paul’s willingness to submit to governing authorities as long as those authorities did not hinder the clear command by the Lord to preach the Gospel. All these cases demonstrate that human government is to be obeyed so long as they do not require one to act in a way that is contrary to the demands of the Lord.

Therefore, rebellion against the governing authorities should be, at least in the United States, a rare practice by the Christian. For it is a rare occurrence that an American Christian is asked to act in such a way that contradicts biblical mandate. Christians in America should rather submit without question to the authorities of the land, seeking to live peaceably with them and giving them no offense save in the Gospel of our Lord. In this way, Christians will demonstrate to their country that their only concern is the Gospel, and may, by God’s grace, change the face of their country by the Gospel.

]]> http://faithforfaith.org/2009/07/30/submission-to-government-ii-a-cause-upon-which-to-rebel/feed/ 14 http://faithforfaith.org/2009/05/29/a-partial-hardening-has-come-upon-israel-ii-for-your-sake-the-jews-are-gods-enemies/ http://faithforfaith.org/2009/05/29/a-partial-hardening-has-come-upon-israel-ii-for-your-sake-the-jews-are-gods-enemies/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 11:12:31 +0000 D. Matthew Brown http://faithforfaith.org/?p=2122 ]]>

As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all (Rm. 11:28-32).

[Warning: Post is at present unedited] This passage of Scripture is perhaps one of the most difficult passages in Romans, perhaps in all of Scripture, to grasp. It is so because of the language that is used in it– language that is complicated by our natural tendency to assign strict definitions to words that do not in themselves demand strict definitions. In this particular passage, the word of which I am speaking is the word that is translated “election” in v. 11:28, which I shall deal with in short order.

First, as always, we must understand the context in which this passage is spoken. As has been so throughout Romans 11, Paul is speaking of two groups of people–the Jews and the Gentiles. And because of God’s good wisdom and pleasure, he has decreed that salvation would only come to Gentiles if the Jews on the whole (less the remnant) would reject the Messiah. This purpose of the Lord is summed up in the apostle’s final statement in Romans 11 concerning the matter, viz. “For God has consigned all [both Jews and Gentiles] to disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.” This is a reiteration of what the apostle has declared earlier in the epistle, viz. “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin” (Rm. 3:9). For what reason? “So that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (v. 3:19). Therefore, just as the law has stopped the mouths of the whole world (for they have no justification in themselves), so too this section is designed to stop our self-righteous mouths and declare what the apostle declares at the conclusion of this treatise: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! etc.” (vv. 11:33-36).

Now, what we must understand as Gentiles in this mystery is this: that the Jews in respect to the Gospel are the enemies of God for our sake, but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers (cf. v. 11:28). This passage is somewhat difficult on the surface, because, as said before, we wish to apply definitions that we have given to particular words in other passages to different passages where such definitions do not work. In this particular instance, we take the “election” of Rm. 9:11 which is, in that context, regarding particular persons, and apply that “personalized” definition to the corporate election spoken of in v. 11:28. What we should do however is understand that “election” in its most basic of definitions is the sovereign choice or decree of God, not necessarily the choosing of particular persons from the foundation of the world unto salvation (which is indeed true in several instances). Understanding this, we can attempt to grasp the mystery the apostle is speaking of in this passage.

The reason that we must understand election this way is first because the context demands it and second because we would have a terrible contradiction on our hands if we did not. For in the same breath the apostle declares that the Jews are the enemies of God on the one hand and are beloved for the sake of their forefathers on the other. Now, if this “belovement” was salvific in nature, the Gospel would be void and Paul’s deep concern in Rm. 9:1-5 for his brothers according to the flesh would be empty. However, we must understand as Paul declares earlier in this chapter, that there will be many of the Jews who are not “elect” and will by their unbelief and lawless deeds bend their backs forever (cf. vv. 11:7-10).

Therefore, this election of the Jews for the sake of their forefathers is the same of which the apostle has already spoken in the chapter, which he declares in his self-answered question: “Did [the Jews] stumble in order that they might fall? By no means!” (v. 11:11a). In other words, Israel’s disbelief has not come so that they might be rejected forever corporately but so that “through their trespass salvation [would] come to the Gentiles” (v. 11:11b). Therefore, it can be said that on the one hand that the Jews on a whole are presently the enemies of God with regards to the Gospel and their personal salvation, but with regard to the promise made to their forefathers and God’s sovereign plan, they are corporately beloved. In other words, as the apostle clearly declares throughout the chapter, God is not finished with corporate Israel (i.e. the descendents of Abraham according to the flesh) but has decreed that one day they, by the grace of God, will come to the Jesus Christ for salvation.

What we must gather from this passage as Gentiles is not some eschatological truth (for it is not clear from this passage that this future belief of the Jews is eschatological in nature), but it is that salvation is from the Lord. Romans 9-11 exists chiefly to remind us of this truth and for us to be humbled by it. For if it were not for God’s good pleasure, we as Gentiles would have continued in our disbelief (cf. v. 9:30) and the Jews who are now unbelieving would never come to repentance. But God, being rich in mercy has consigned the whole world to disobedience so that he might have mercy on all, both Jews and Greeks. We who are in Christ are mere vessels of God’s grace and mercy given for his glory and for his glory alone. For “from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (v. 11:36).

Also part of what the apostle wishes the Gentiles to understand is that it is “in this way [i.e. by the present partial hardening of Israel] that all Israel will be saved” (v. 11:26). However, in spite of the apostle’s wish for clear understanding concerning this matter, at least a couple of interpretations have come from this statement. Some have interpreted the apostle’s meaning in this verse to be this: In this way, all of spiritual Israel will be saved, i.e. an Israel comprised of both Gentiles who were grafted in and the remnant of Israel that remained. This interpretation is not too much of a leap, for it acknowledges that all who are grafted into the root of the Promise, whether Jew or Gentile, are in some way a part of the Israel of God (cf. Rm. 9:6; Gal. 6:16).

However, given the context, it is difficult to imagine that the apostle means anything but physical Israel. First, in the verse that precedes our present statement, the apostle refers to Israel as the ones upon whom a partial hardening has come. He then makes our present statement, “In this way all Israel will be saved,” without further clarification of the term “Israel.” Therefore, it must be assumed that the apostle intended the “Israel” of v. 11:26 to be the same as the “Israel” of v. 11:25.

Second, the quotations from Scripture that the apostle gives for his statement demands it. He writes, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (vv. 11:26b, 27). From the apostle’s quotation, at least three things confirm that he is speaking of natural Israel. First, the quotation is concerning a future fulfillment when the Deliverer will banish ungodliness from Jacob. Second, the use of “Jacob” rather than “Israel” points to the physical descendants of Israel rather than to the spiritual descendants since it is after Jacob’s name is changed to Israel that the blessing upon him is realized (cf. Gen. 32:26-28). Third, the promise given in the apostle’s quotation is concerning the taking away of sins, which for those who comprise spiritual Israel has already been accomplished by the already imputed work of Christ.

Next: A Partial Hardening Has Come, II. As Regards the Gospel, the Jews are God’s Enemies

”Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace (vv. 11:3-5).

Therefore, the apostle’s point is the point that he puts in the form of a rhetorical question in v. 11: “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means!” In other words, God has not utterly destroyed physical Israel to the extent that they are beyond recovery. The apostle also makes this point in v. 23, “And even [the Jews], if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.”

The testimony of God’s plan and his power is demonstrated throughout this chapter, for Israel’s disbelief is great, but God’s power is greater, for, as the text declares and as our eyes perceive, physical Israel seems to be all but decimated. But God, who is powerful enough to raise the dead, can and will do the same when he raises up from the dry bones of Israel those with Abraham’s flesh who worship Jesus Christ in Spirit and in truth. But for now, as it was in the apostle’s and Ezekiel’s days, Israel, depending on your thoughts of present Judaism, is virtually non-existent or is still rejecting the Messiah until that time when all who had been appointed to eternal life among the Gentiles have believed.

As the greater context demands, our present subject is, as it has been since the beginning of Romans 9, the disbelief of physical Israel. Since beginning this discourse, the apostle has taken us on the pertinent side paths of God’s election of individuals (v. 9:11), God’s sovereign will and decree over the destination of souls (vv. 9:19-24), the necessity of the proclamation of the Gospel for salvation (vv. 10:14, 15), and the creation of faith by God in the individual soul to embrace and see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor 4:6; cf. Rm. 10:17). Thus our understanding as we begin Romans 11 is that, though there is a perceived problem with Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, God if faithful and has a sovereign and perfect plan.

As we look at the end of Romans 10 and as we in our position casually survey the world, the situation for the nation Israel looks impossibly bleak. The question then becomes, “Has God rejected the nation Israel? Have they stumbled in their disbelief so that they might fall?” Paul, who is himself a physical Jew, responds strongly and with this defense, “By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin” (11:1). Therefore, Paul by using himself as an example as one who is descended by blood from Abraham and also believes in Jesus Christ, demonstrates that God has not rejected Israel.

The phrase that might throw one off in Paul’s statement is, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew” (v. 2). This word, “foreknew,” as is hard not to notice, is the same that is used in Romans 8 in the glorious chain of God’s work in the lives of the saints, viz. “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (vv. 8:29, 30).

This use for forknew is one of the reasons for my opening disclaimer to this post. For it is quite certain that by the context that God’s foreknowledge of physical Israel is by necessity different than God’s foreknowledge of his saints. In the case of physical Israel, God’s foreknowledge is his singling them out of all the nations and blessing them with the “adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, etc.” (v. 9:4), and in the case his particular saints, God’s foreknowledge if necessarily demands faith in and conformity to Jesus Christ. To confuse these points or to demand that God’s foreknowledge of Israel and of his saints must be the same, will lead to some very strange if not heretical doctrines. Forknowledge must be allowed some flexibility in this text, and I believe the text will clearly demonstrate what that is.

To Be Continued…

In our study of the Epistle to the Romans, we encounter the apostle Paul contemplating the state of his countrymen, the Israelites, who themselves had great zeal for God. The apostle writes, “My heart’s desire and prayer for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:1, 2). Before can we begin to unpack this text, there are two important things that we must acknowledge: First is the Israelites’ great zeal for God as testified to by the apostle, and second is their unsaved and reprobate state despite their zeal for God.

If anyone were to enter into the Kingdom of God on the basis of their sincerity of heart and by their being in the neighborhood of the Truth, it would be the Israelites. These were the chosen, physical nation of God through whom the law, the prophets, and the Christ came, and it is through their Offspring that all the Nations have been blessed. In spite of all of this, the Israelites who rejected Jesus Christ were as lost and reprobate as the Romans who bartered for Christ’s garments as the foot of his cross.

One might object, “But the Israelites worshiped Yahweh—the one true God. Why would they be cast out?” Indeed, the Israelites did claim to worship Yahweh, but they in actuality were worshiping an idol. Their idolatry was demonstrated in this: Yahweh came to earth and dwelt among those Israelites, and they rejected him and crucified him. As Christ declared, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt. 15:8, 9) The Israelites thought that they worshiped Yahweh and did it with great zeal, but in the end they killed the one whom they claimed to worship.

The Israelites’ zealotry for God destroyed them in the end, because their zealotry was not bounded by the knowledge of God in Christ. They missed it. They had the law, the psalms, and the prophets, all of which pointed to Jesus Christ, and they missed it.

Dear Christian, do not think yourself so safe because you name the name of Jesus Christ and have a great zeal for God. If you are not constantly binding yourself to the Word of God and the Knowledge therein, you might find yourself among those of whom our Lord speaks:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Mt.7:21-23)

Be careful, my friend, and take care to examine yourself by the light of holy Scripture all the days of your life. Zeal for God apart from knowledge is worthless.

To address this, Paul goes directly to its root—the promise given by God to Abraham. Paul does not look at the promise itself, but to whom the promise is given. He writes:

Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” … For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son” (vv. 9:7, 9).

These statements are significant because, if you remember, Isaac was not Abraham’s first son. Abraham had taken Sarah’s maidservant and had a son with her by the name of Ishmael who by law and custom was the rightful heir of Abraham’s inheritance. Yet God had chosen Isaac over Ishmael as the one through whom the promise would be fulfilled.

Then someone objects, “God had said to Abraham from the beginning that it was through Sarah’s child that the promise would be granted; Abraham’s child through Hagar was illegitimate.” For this reason, Paul writes:

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger” (vv. 9:10-12).

These children, Esau and Jacob, are God’s great demonstration that he is the commander of destinies. The two sons of Isaac, from a worldly standpoint, were on equal playing ground. They were conceived at the same time by the same father, had done no deeds either good or bad, and neither of them had anything that would commend or condemn them in the sight of God, and God chose Jacob over Esau for the sole reason of demonstrating that it is he who calls.

How does this demonstrate that it is not the children of the flesh who are offspring of God but the children of the promise? In the case of Esau of Jacob, both were equally legitimate children of Isaac and were therefore equally legitimate children of Abraham. If the promise given to Abraham were a fleshly promise, i.e. one that was received by primogeniture, Esau would have been the bearer of the promise not Jacob. However, Jacob is not merely the chief recipient of the promise, he is the sole recipient, for it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (v. 9:13; Mal. 1:2, 3). This act of God demonstrates that God’s promise is not a fleshly one and that God’s people are not his people by virtue of their physical descent. For this reason, Paul is able to declare with great confidence that the word of God has not failed and that God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew (cf. vv. 9:6; 11:2).

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Next: III. Jacob I Loved; Esau I Hated, Pt. 1

They answered him, “Abraham is our father . . . We were not born of sexual immorality (i.e. like the Samaritans). We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:39, 41-44).

The ultimate rejection of Christ’s words was not limited to the Pharisees for it was true of most of Israel, which prompts Paul, after his glorious declaration of the unfailing love of God in Christ at the end of Romans 8, to address the unbelieving, condemned state of Israel by looking at the nature of the Promise of God to Abraham.

Before he begins to address the nature of the Promise to Abraham, Paul first assures his readers of his deep affection for the physical descendants of Israel. There were undoubtedly those who attacked the hard truths that Paul had written about, and they questioned the genuineness of his love and concern for the nation of Israel. To address this accusation, Paul writes, “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2). Paul says that he would spend eternity in hell, separated from God forever if it would mean that the nation Israel would believe in Christ and be saved. What love this man had for his people! Yet this love would not deter him from speaking the truth that so offended these persons, but his love drove him to preach the hard truth, for he said elsewhere, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (cf. 1Cor. 9:16). Paul knew that it is not the lack of offense that brings freedom and salvation, but it is the proclamation of truth, no matter its palatability (cf. John 8:32).

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Next: II. It is the Children of Promise Who are Counted as Offspring