Through a close analysis of Romans and ancient prophecies, we uncover the complexities of God’s plan to extend grace to all humanity. Paul leads us to appreciate the interconnectedness of the events, from the Jewish rejection of the gospel to the eventual boomerang effect that ensures mercy for all. This episode challenges us to rethink the scope of God’s mercy and the certainty of a future redemption that transcends our current understanding.
We’re coming to the apex almost now of Paul’s argument for the salvation of the whole of Israel. And it’s a really very wonderful argument and reveals to us from the Holy Spirit, of course, that God’s intention is clearly to save the whole of Israel. And by extension, because Israel is a type of how God saves the world, by extension, the world saves. We look at chapter 11 then, and we look at verse 11. I say then, and we’ve talked about this before, I’m just doing a bit of review now. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Now look, that question is tremendously important to all Israel, because God had rejected, seemingly rejected Israel, thrown them out of his sight, according to 2 Kings, as I quoted to you the other day. Because they had rejected God, they had worshipped idols, they had sacrificed their children, they had done worse than any of the nations around them, and God was incensed. and threw them out. So that seems to be a final throwing out, doesn’t it? A final rejection. But no, not according to the gospel. But let me tell you, the gospel is not simply and only, though in the New Testament, is not simply and only revealed and expressed in the New Testament. It is revealed by type in the Old Testament. For Paul says, for rather Ezekiel says, after all the sinning and the judgment that God had brought upon Israel through the Babylonian captivity, that he would forgive them for all, the whole house of Israel this is, for all that they have done, that’s chapter 16, and would raise the whole of the house of Israel from the dead, that’s chapter 37. So Paul is leaning heavily upon those chapters, or rather that book of Ezekiel, and seeing its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, where he sees the revelation of God’s heart and his whole longing for the human race and his whole creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Well, they’ve certainly stumbled. But he’s using the word fall in an absolute sense here. Is it a final fall? Is it the final collapse of Israel? No, certainly not. But through their fall, oh, now he’s using the word fall in a different sense, not in an absolute sense, but a relative sense. But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. So note that there are two results from their fall, not one result. Christians have thought there is one result from the fall of Israel, that is, that the salvation now comes to the Gentiles as a result of their fall, because their fall led them to hand Christ over to the Romans and have him crucified. which led to the atoning work of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world, and therefore the salvation of non-Jewish nations. That’s one result. But there are two results from the sacrifice of Christ. What is the second result? creating jealousy in the Jewish people. Let me read the verse again. Certainly not, but through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. You see the two results there then. Provoking them to jealousy, that is the Jewish people, and the salvation that comes to the Gentiles. And they’re interlocked. Because the salvation to the Gentiles is the very thing that provokes the Jewish people. You say, where? When have they been provoked to jealousy? Well, one by one, here and there. individually, and occasionally in small groups. But where do you think it will happen most and completely? In the final judgment. That is going to be made clear as we look at the verses later on in this chapter. So then he says, for I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. Ah, you say, there you go, some of them. It’s only some of them that will be provoked to jealousy. Yes, some of them in Paul’s day, yes. We’re all Christians provoking one or two here and there as we witness to jealousy, so that they, the ones we witness to, want salvation also and want the peace and the joy that the Christian has. But there’s a far greater harvest to come. So look at the verse 14, rather verse 14 and 15 and 16. If by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some. For, verse 15, if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? Now, years ago, when I didn’t fully understand the message of Romans, I had learned to understand most of it, the centrality of the gospel, but I hadn’t grasped these chapters in 9, 10, and 11. When that time was, when I didn’t grasp these, I thought that Paul was simply talking propositionally, theoretically. If their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? A mere theory, you know, we imagine it. But no, this is not a theory at all. This is not a proposition. This is a categorical statement about what is going to happen. How do I know that? Because of what he says later, which I will read in a moment. So he says, if their being cast away is reconciling the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be? But life from the dead. In other words, if… God’s casting away of Israel temporarily, temporarily, obviously, we’ve seen that already, results in the reconciliation of the world, that is, results in the salvation of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, because… As I said, the Jewish people handed Christ over to the Romans to have him crucified, and that crucifixion became the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world, which led to the salvation of the Gentiles and is leading to the salvation of the Gentiles. Then what will their acceptance be? Now, wait a minute. Acceptance? I thought they were rejected. Well, you see, that’s where we must now learn to understand that the rejection of Israel was temporary. It was not a permanent thing. Otherwise, Paul could not possibly talk about their acceptance. And you say, how sure are you of this, Colin? Well, look ahead, go to Romans chapter 11, and go to, let’s read verses 28 to 32. And I’m simply going to read these, just brush over this at the moment, because we’ll go into more detail later. But by these verses, you can see that Paul is talking about a fact that will change. take place in history. Okay, let me read it. Concerning the gospel, that is, concerning the gospel, they are enemies. That is, the Jewish people are enemies because they don’t accept the gospel of Christ. but they are enemies for your sake. Why for your sake? Because their rejection of Christ led to the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world, and thus the salvation of the Gentiles, and that’s why it’s for your sake. But concerning the election, wow, the election? Yes, they are still elected people. The Israelites are still elected. They are beloved for the For the gifts, listen to this, and the calling of God are irrevocable. What does irrevocable mean? Cannot be revoked, cannot be pulled back. God makes a promise and he will not pull that promise back. So concerning the gifts and the calling, God is not going to change his mind concerning Israel. For as you were once disobedient to God, that is the Gentiles, he’s talking to the Gentiles now, they were once disobedient to God, yet have obtained mercy through the cross, of course. Notice what it says, through their disobedience, you have obtained mercy. We Gentiles in all the world have obtained mercy through through Jewish disobedience. What in the world does that mean? Because the Jewish disobedience led to the crucifixion of Christ. And so we have obtained mercy through their disobedience. Now verse 31, Even so, these also… have now been disobedient, that is, the Jewish people have been disobedient to the gospel, they have not accepted it, that through the mercy shown you, who’s you, that’s the Gentiles, they also may obtain mercy. This is the boomerang effect of the gospel. The Jewish people reject it, so it bounces onto the Gentiles, and once the Gentiles accept it, then it boomerangs back onto Israel so that they also may receive mercy. Let’s read that verse again. Even so, these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy. Yes, you say, Colin, but it’s only a few here and there. No, for goodness sake. Because it says in verse 32, for God has committed them all to disobedience. The word them is not in the Greek, so let’s read that again. For God has committed all to disobedience. Why? The word committed, by the way, means imprisoned people. confined, consigned, for God has handed all over to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. that he might have mercy on all. Repeat that a thousand times to yourself to get it into your head, because it is simply overwhelming to us. We can’t understand the generosity and largesse of God. that he might have mercy on all. Yes, there’s judgment to come, but there is mercy after judgment. Now, these verses that I have described in Romans chapter 11, verses 28 to 32, give certitude make certain what I have been saying about verses 11 to 15, where I’m making it clear that Paul is not talking about a sort of theory, a possibility, when he says, for if… They were being cast away as the reconciliation of the world. What will their acceptance be but life from the dead? He’s not talking merely theory there. He’s not talking about a propositional statement that may or may not happen. No, he’s talking about a categorical reality and a future. And to prove that, I’ve just quoted to you the latter part of chapter 11. So we have it. Here is the declaration that God is going to redeem all Israel, every last one of them, And since what God does to Israel, he does for all the world, he’s going to redeem all the world too. And that means for you and me, take heart no matter how deep your struggle, because God is going to pull you through. Thanks for listening, everyone, today. And may I plead for you, with you to make a donation. We are short on funds at the moment. And so you can send your donation to Faith Quest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
