Look at the Book

Romans 11:28–32: Our Disobedience and God’s Mercy

When you see personal pronouns (e.g. he, she, etc.), identify to whom they are referring. Is the writer speaking about his audience? If so, who is the audience? Is he speaking about believers or nonbelievers? To understand the passage, we have to identify the relevant parties.

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 23 Sep 2014
Audio Format:: other

In this session of Look at the Book, we're going to focus on Romans 1128 to 32. And this is a summary of God's way of saving Israel and the nations from election to the end of the age in the most roundabout way that makes our minds spin and causes Paul in the next verses to say, "Oh, the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God." And the first thing I want to do is read through it once and identify the pronouns and I'll just trust you to confirm that this is right from the context. Nobody argues about this, but they're not identified here and you'll have to look elsewhere or just trust me better to look elsewhere. As regards the gospel, they, Jews, I'm going to abbreviate "J" are enemies for your "G" Gentiles' sake, but as regards to election, they, Jews, are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you Gentiles were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they, Jews, too, have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you Gentiles, they, Jews, may also now receive mercy. For God has shown, God has consigned all Jew and Gentile to disobedience that he may have mercy on all Jew and Gentile. So there's the identification of who the pronouns are and you can get a little bit of the feel for how complex the argument here is. So let's read it and put together the pieces of what God is doing with the Jews and what he's doing through what he's doing with the Jews, with the Gentiles and through what he's doing with the Gentiles, what he's doing with the Jews. If that sounds complicated, that's because the way this text reads, but let's try to sort it out. As regards the gospel, they are enemies. I'm going to use orange for the Jewish statements for your sake and yellow for the Gentile statements. They became enemies of God and God rejected them so that benefits would come to the nations. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their fathers. So God expressed his promises, his calling to the fathers, that Israel would be his people and that election stands and they are therefore beloved in spite of the fact that they are presently at enmity with God. That's not the last word and here comes argument number one, four, put a one here and here's the second one. You see that with the word four, second one and here's the third one, four, so three arguments. Four, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable and since the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, this election here stands firm and this love here is unshaken and this enmity between God and Israel will not have the last word and here's how it's going to work out. Four just as you Gentiles were at one time disobedient to God, but now you, and let's go ahead and put a G, here's we know, G, you Gentiles have received mercy because of their disobedience. So somehow the disobedience of Israel has resulted in God turning to salvation, with salvation to the Gentiles. So they, Jews too, have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy, the mercy shown to you, they may also now receive mercy, very complicated, very strange. But this mercy shown to Israel corresponds with this love that God has for them and this election that God has for them, it is irrevocable. So this mercy is going to come. Now one last argument, for God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all, and we'll use yellow and orange because that's Jew and Gentile. God's deep purpose in this, it seems, is that he may have mercy on all. He means to be known as a God of mercy, and that's going to be the origin of the salvation for both Jew and Gentile in no other way, and it seems to be that he's trying to establish that. So let's step back now and put the pieces together. And use the bottom here to sketch it out. Israel is elect. We see that right here, and we see it in the love that God has for them. They are elect, it is an irrevocable election, and therefore it bodes for the, but bodes well for the future of Israel. What's next? This leads to the fact that Israel, nevertheless, disobeys, long history, disobeys of disobedience and a final rejection of the Messiah. They have become disobedient, right here. Because of their disobedience, simultaneously, the Gentiles were disobedient, and that's expressed right here, so you Gentiles were at one time disobedient. What is the result of the Jewish disobedience to their covenant calling? The answer is, Gentiles are included. They're brought into salvation. So by, nope, because of Jewish disobedience, that word because right there is in this arrow. Because of this disobedience, Gentiles are included. Because of Jewish disobedience, you Gentiles have received mercy. Now, is that the end of the story? Did God elect Israel? See their failure? Give up on them, choose the nations, throw Israel away, no future for them, no. Rather, what it says is, by the by, so that by right there is in this arrow, by the mercy shown to you, you Gentiles, that's right here, Gentiles are included, they may now receive mercy, so Israel will be saved. That's the way God goes about completing His covenant promises to Israel. And yes, I do believe, though it would take more effort from the whole chapter, to show that Israel here is corporate, ethnic Israel as a whole, will be drawn to the Messiah Jesus at some point and will be saved, not in some second means of salvation, but the exact same way Gentiles are saved, namely, grafted into the root of the olive tree, by faith alone, in Messiah alone, Jesus Christ. What's God up to in all of this? Let's end it like this, let's take this statement right here, which seems to be remarkably sweeping in its purpose, that He may have mercy on all. The point of this paragraph, and indeed the whole section, we are all Jew and Gentile, utterly dependent on God's mercy. We Gentiles can't boast over the broken branches because our disobedience is going to be a means of their salvation, and they can't boast over us because their disobedience was a means of our salvation. We're both serving the other through our own sinfulness, so God strips us of all our ability to boast in ourselves, and He shows Himself alone as the source of salvation, which is all by mercy. Thank you. [MUSIC]