Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Romans 11:1-12
11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,1 a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion2 mean!
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
We are continuing our study of the apostle Paul's letter to the Roman church, and we will be starting Romans 11 this morning, and we will be finishing Romans 11 this morning. We're gonna look at all of it. So Romans chapter 11, you can find it printed in your worship guide, along with Romans chapter 9. Chapter 11 is one of the most complex sections in all of Romans. And so if you can have a copy of it in front of you, it will be helpful in our time together, for us to to be making our way through Romans chapter 11.
Jeffrey Heine:I would like for us to start, actually by looking at the ending, where this chapter is really going, and how it concludes in verses 33 through 36. And so that's what we're going to read here as we as we start. Romans chapter 11 verses 33 through 36. And let us listen carefully, for this is God's Word. Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.
Jeffrey Heine:How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the lord, Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to us. Let's pray together. Lord, you are good and you are good to us.
Jeffrey Heine:You know us better than we know ourselves, and yet you love us. And whether we know it or not, each and every one of us here this morning are desperate to hear from you. So would you meet us in your word by your Spirit? Lord, we need to see Jesus. So speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You've probably heard the phrase before opening Pandora's box, And you may recall that the origin of this phrase is an ancient Greek myth, a poem by Hesiod called The Works and Days. It was written around 700 BC. I'm sure a teacher tried to tell me that at some point in my life, but I actually learned it from my daughter June.
Jeffrey Heine:She is our family's resident Greek mythology expert. So. In the poem by Hesiod, the vengeful god Zeus had the first earthly woman created named Pandora. And she was created with the purpose of bringing evil into the world. Pandora does this by opening a jar that Zeus has filled with corruption and misery and quote countless plagues.
Jeffrey Heine:We say box today, because the Greek word for jar is close to the Greek word for box, and it got mistranslated about 500 years ago. So, here we are. Pandora's box. Today, we use this idiom of opening Pandora's box to describe the inadvisable decision to bring up a precarious, a tricky topic. And for 10 chapters, the Apostle Paul has brought up his fair share of precarious and tricky topics.
Jeffrey Heine:You don't make a lot of friends by telling people they are enemies with God. Trust me. Preaching through these challenging topics can feel like opening Pandora's box, unleashing spiritual theological conundrums, stirring up trouble. If you're in a home group, maybe you've seen some of that trouble being stirred up in conversation. But, as all of you classics majors know, after Pandora unleashed all that trouble into the world, one thing remained in the jar, and what was left was hope.
Jeffrey Heine:And that's what I'd like for us to focus our attention on this morning. Yes, Paul has brought up a host of challenging and complex arguments about God's sovereignty, His power and authority over salvation and judgment of sin, But still, as Paul moves to conclude this section of teaching in chapter 11, we cannot miss the resilient hope that remains. So before the Apostle Paul moves on from the weighty topics of salvation, election, predestination, foreknowledge, and sovereignty, he wants to address some lingering concerns. First, he has concerns for the Israelite Christians in Rome. Second, he has concerns for the gentile Christians in Rome, and both sets of those concerns have a great deal to say to us today this morning.
Jeffrey Heine:And since I know this is a lengthy text, we have broken it down into 3 sections in your worship guide. You can see these 3 sections. We'll take it section by section as we go. These three sections move us from Paul's first concerns regarding Israel and the Israelite Christians in Rome, to the second section, where Paul addresses his concerns for the gentile Christians in Rome. And the last section, we will find the culmination of all of Paul's teaching on God's sovereignty and salvation and judgment from chapters 9, 10, and 11, it all concludes in this overflow of worship.
Jeffrey Heine:So let's first consider this first section, Paul's concerns for the Israelite Christians in Rome. That's verses 1 through 12. After Paul's teaching in chapter 10 regarding the rejection of the gospel by some Israelites, Paul anticipates the Romans asking the question, has God rejected His people? Throughout the Old Testament, we see God making promises to His chosen people, Israel. We call these promises covenants.
Jeffrey Heine:These are binding promises. And Paul is writing at the inauguration of the long promised, long anticipated new covenant. Prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied that one day this new covenant would come, and it was established in the blood of Jesus. And Paul has just spoken about Israelites who will be judged for their unbelief, and Paul anticipates that the Israelite Christians in Rome might be wondering, has God rejected His people? At the end of chapter 10, Paul is also calling the Roman Christians, both the Gentile Christians and the Israelite Christians, to preach the good news of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:And many of them, in particular those Jewish Christians there in Rome, would have shared the good news of Jesus with Israelite friends, Israelite family members, only to be met with rejection. And these Israelite Christians were left asking the question, Has God rejected His people? Paul poses that question at the very start of chapter 11. He poses the question, has God rejected His people? And he promptly responds.
Jeffrey Heine:Look at verse 1. By no means. For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Paul offers himself up as a testimony that God has not rejected His people whom He has called and elected.
Jeffrey Heine:Indeed, many Israelites were coming to trust in the grace of Jesus. And Paul explains that God is preserving a remnant, a remnant of Israel whom God has always foreknown before the foundations of the earth itself. Paul goes on to give a picture, a picture of this sovereign, ultimate power of God. Look at verse 2. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
Jeffrey Heine:Paul quotes Elijah now. Elijah says, Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. And Paul says, but what is God's reply to Elijah? God says to Elijah, I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So Paul says, so too at this present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
Jeffrey Heine:But if it is by grace, it is no longer in the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. It's a historical illustration and explanation. Paul points to the story of Elijah and how God rescued out of a rebelling Israel a remnant to preserve a faithful Israel. And Paul says that God is doing the same work in His own day.
Jeffrey Heine:In their present time, a remnant was being chosen by grace. And Paul goes on to say how even the disobedience of the Israelites who reject the gospel in their day is used for the sovereign purposes of the mission of God, to rescue and redeem a people beyond the confines of Israel, that is the nations, the Gentiles. Look with me at verse 11. So I ask, did they, unbelieving Israelites, stumble, disobey, in order that they might fall or be rejected forever? By no means.
Jeffrey Heine:Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, that means the gospel going out to the nations, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Paul is highlighting that while many Israelites rejected the gospel of grace, their refusal is how the message of the Gospel has now come to the Gentiles. Their refusal means riches, means good for the world. And when the elect of Israel, those who are foreknown and called by God, when they do accept and trust in the grace of Jesus, the glorious riches will be greater still.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul uses the word jealous there, and it might be a little bit confusing at first. It reminds me of the parable that Jesus told about the prodigal son. The story is recounted in Luke chapter 15, and Jesus tells this story about a son who says to his father, in short, I wish that you were dead, and I had my inheritance now. And the father gives the son the money. The young son goes off and lives a life of excess until he is broke and broken.
Jeffrey Heine:And when the son finally comes home, a shell of his old self, ashamed and pitiful, the father does not reject him, but embraces him with all love and forgiveness. And the boy's older brother, as you might recall, is jealous. But while that jealousy was wrong, it proved helpful because it was through that jealousy that the older brother learned that he had had access to the riches of the father all along, but he had ignored it. And that's what Paul's talking about. These undeserving Gentiles who receive the vast riches of God's grace and mercy in Jesus, it should prompt a jealousy that awakens the older brother to receive the gospel of God's extravagant riches of mercy.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is emphatic that hope remains for God's people in Israel, and he declares that gospel hope has now come to the nations, to the Gentiles, through Israel. And together, the believing Gentiles and the believing Israelites, they are the people of God, What Paul referred to in chapter 9 as the children of promise. And as the people of God, Paul says that they can trust in the promises of God. His word does not fail. And so we ask ourselves, and you might be asking yourself right now, and I think it's important for us to ask, what does this have to do with me?
Jeffrey Heine:We're 2000 years removed from Rome and these specific issues that Paul is addressing, and we can ask, why should I care? Now, there are some things that we read in the Scriptures, and it's just true. Like, we're not supposed to walk away with some big lesson or life goal that we need to reorient ourselves around. Some things we read in the Bible, we just need to know it's true because we need God's truth in our hearts and our minds. But I think it's important for us to ask, what does this matter for us today?
Jeffrey Heine:And it matters because it matters if God keeps His promises or not. It matters if God will abandon those whom He has foreknown, called, elected, chosen. It matters if there are things that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is taking this very precarious issue head on. The promises that God made to Israel have not failed.
Jeffrey Heine:Yes. Many have rejected Christ and as Paul said in chapter 10, there is just judgment for those who reject Christ, but God has not rejected His people. None whom He has foreknown and chosen in Christ will be turned away. The promises of God have not failed, and they are not over. That truth matters to each one of us this morning because that is where we find our hope.
Jeffrey Heine:We hope in the unfailing promises of God. And Paul is explaining that that hope is merited, and God's promises are trustworthy. And now, we move to the second section, Paul's concerns for the gentile Christians in Rome, Beginning with verse 13. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles, In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them? For their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
Jeffrey Heine:Paul turns his attention to the Gentiles in Rome, and just as he wanted to reassure the Israelite Christians in Rome that God has not rejected His people. He wants to instruct and caution the Gentiles about their place in the people of God. And to do this, Paul offers an illustration. Now, illustrations, of course, are supposed to make things clearer, more accessible, and easier to understand complex points. But sometimes, illustrations just don't work that well.
Jeffrey Heine:Sometimes, people don't wanna hear about ancient Greek mythology, and I get that. So, I empathize with Paul here, because he seems pretty confident about his horticultural illustration he's about to give. It's an illustration about olive tree grafting. Now, I, started the week watching YouTube videos of tree grafting, and finally ended up in the place where I am in awe of this illustration, and so hopefully you will make that journey with me. Tree grafting is an illustration that would have been very helpful and accessible in Paul's time.
Jeffrey Heine:And though it might be unfamiliar to us in our modern context, I think that we can still see the point. Tree grafting was a regular practice in ancient agriculture, and it's still commonplace today, just maybe not all of us have done it. In short, you take the branches off of 1 fruit tree, a scion, a little dormant stick, a branch. And in the early springtime, you cut into the healthy tree with the healthy, deep rootstock, and you attach that stick to the cut and the strong tree. And in time, that healthy rootstock will take that stick into itself and give it life, give it nourishment, give it fruit.
Jeffrey Heine:This practice was especially important in dry, arid land, where a healthy root system was a very valuable commodity. You wanted to protect and nurture and maximize those healthy roots. Paul begins his illustration in verse 16 saying, if the root is holy, so are the branches. Verse 17. But if some of the branches were broken off, so pruned off unbelieving Israelites, and you, Gentiles, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others, those are the believing Israelites, and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, That's the children of promise Israel.
Jeffrey Heine:Do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith.
Jeffrey Heine:So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Paul is saying to the believing Gentiles, which includes most of us in this room, Unbelieving Israelites are the branches that were cut off from the root of Israel. They were pruned off so that you would be grafted in. You, the dormant branches, the dead sticks, you've been added to the strong root of Israel.
Jeffrey Heine:And Paul is imploring the Gentile Christians, remember your place. You were grafted into the people of God because of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. And as you learn about election and predestination, as you learn about being called and chosen, do not let these truths turn your heart toward pride. You are an added branch to the root of Israel. The Spirit attached you to the root.
Jeffrey Heine:You who were far off were brought near by the blood of Jesus. You do not look down on anyone, nor think too highly of yourself. You should be in awe. You should be humbled. You should be dumbstruck that you were included and brought into the promises of the people of God through Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:You had no claim on these promises, and yet here you are, children of promise, children of the living God, grafted by grace. Paul's warning to people, if the knowledge of your election and salvation are yielding pride in your heart, you might actually not be a part of the people of God, because that pride is not from God. So be on guard. That arrogance is an affront to the grace of God. And you might just prove yourself to be cut off from the promises and kindness of God.
Jeffrey Heine:Pride is the family trait of the enemy, not the family of God. The children of God are to be humble, because when we are humble, we look like our Savior, and when we seek righteousness, we look like our Father in heaven. Paul is saying, be careful. The knowledge of your election and salvation should yield a humility and thankfulness, unending gratitude. These truths should yield a holy fear that recognizes that we do not deserve this place or this position, and it is only by the riches of God's grace and His kindness that we have been saved.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, you see why Paul is about to explode into worship. We're almost there. Paul continues in verse 22. Note then the kindness and severity of God, severity to those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.
Jeffrey Heine:And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? Paul is saying that the unbelieving Israelites, if they do not continue in their unbelief, but turn and believe to God, they will be grafted back into the root, the believing Israel. It reminds me of, Thomas. Some call him doubting Thomas.
Jeffrey Heine:I just think it's Thomas. We don't have to get all high and mighty here. So Thomas, Thomas is not believing. And what does Jesus say to him? He says, Do not go on unbelieving, but believe.
Jeffrey Heine:I think that's the same as what's being said here. If these Israelites do not go on unbelieving, but believe, then they will be grafted back into their natural place in the believing Israel. That is the persistent hope of the gospel of Christ. God does not turn his back on his promises, and he does not. He does not ever let anyone whom he has called to himself go.
Jeffrey Heine:And not only does he have the power to see every promise through, he does so through Jesus without fail. Paul warns the Gentiles again in verse 25 saying, lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion.
Jeffrey Heine:He will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As regards to the gospel, they are enemies 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. Paul is framing the present reality of the Roman Christians and our present time of sharing our faiths with some persons who might reject it. He's framing all of this in light of God's providential plan of salvation. In particular, Paul is saying that the refusal by some Israelites to believe is to the benefit of the gospel going to the nations.
Jeffrey Heine:And further, Paul says that those whom God has foreknown, those whom He has sovereignly known in election, they are beloved and their calling is irrevocable. Paul wants these Roman Christians, and I believe us today, to be aware of the mystery of salvation. Most often when Paul uses the word mystery in his writing about salvation, he's talking about the inclusion of Gentiles into the people of God and the reality that some people, born Israelites, will reject the Messiah. The mystery is that God's plan for those whom He has foreknown and will call the people of God. It's been hidden from humanity until it was revealed in Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul wants us to know this mystery of salvation by grace alone through Jesus. And Paul wants this mysterious truth to keep us from becoming too wise in our own sight, that is, prideful, as though somehow we earned or somehow deserved these blessings in Christ. And when you realize that you were a mere dormant stick plucked from the ground and added to the root of God's people, brought from death to life. When you see and understand that you were brought from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the sun by the riches of God's mercy, you cannot be prideful and arrogant. It can't happen.
Jeffrey Heine:The caricature of the arrogant Christian should be an impossibility. That's as foolish as a dead stick thinking that it's a flourishing fruit tree. It's utter nonsense. Pride and Christians should not go together. It's an affront to Jesus Himself.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul ends this section and summarizes the mystery of God permitting unbelieving Israelites to reject Him, saying in verse 30, 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 might have mercy on all. He's talking about in this present time where where God is allowing this disobedience to happen, and he's saying, just like you Gentiles were disobedient and now receive mercy, I am permitting those whom I have foreknown and have called to myself to go in that disobedience that they too might receive my mercy and be grafted in to my people. God has allowed disobedience to persist in order to display His great mercy in ransoming a people for Himself. God does not call the perfect, for there are none.
Jeffrey Heine:God does not elect the deserving, for there are none. But to all who do receive him, who believe in Jesus' name, God gave the right to become the children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but born of God. God calls though those whom He has foreknown, whom He wills. And this gospel of grace does not result in despair or pride, but hope and humility. This hope and this call to humility, they matter for each one of us today.
Jeffrey Heine:First and foremost, they should lead us to worship. That's exactly where Paul goes next. This last section, Part 3, glory forever. At the conclusion of all this complex teaching in chapters 9, 1011, Paul erupts and prays, saying, verse 33, Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments.
Jeffrey Heine:How inscrutable His ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
Jeffrey Heine:To Him be glory forever. Paul begins this section with an interjection, oh. He uses the word in an overwhelmed wonder, oh, the depths. And then he lists off, he lists 3 attributes of God. Three attributes that we have seen in God's sovereign work over salvation and judgment.
Jeffrey Heine:The depth of God's wealth, the depth of God's wisdom, and the depth of God's knowledge. Paul summarizes and embodies our response to God's work in salvation, saying how unsearchable are His judgments, how inscrutable His ways. And maybe you have felt that. Maybe as we've been going through Romans 9 and 10, that as you've thought about God's work, His sovereign work over salvation, His work in foreknowledge, His work in election, His work in predestination, You say, I don't understand it. I don't, I don't, it doesn't make sense to me.
Jeffrey Heine:Have you found yourself in that place yet? Because Paul's there. Paul's there when he says, how unsearchable are His judgments? It doesn't mean that we stop asking tough questions, but it does mean that we yield to the truth of God. We yield to His glory.
Jeffrey Heine:We say, no, I don't understand it, but I I want to. No, I don't get it, and maybe I don't even like it, but I I want to. I will yield before the truth of God. Paul then asks 3 rhetorical questions based on the attributes that he just described. God's knowledge, he says, for who has known the mind of the Lord?
Jeffrey Heine:God's wisdom, he says, who has been God's counselor, and for the riches and wealth of God, he says, who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? Paul then gives 3 declarations about God's supremacy, Him being over everything, His power over all, saying all things are from Him and through Him and to Him. All things are from Him. Everything finds its origin in Him. All things are through Him.
Jeffrey Heine:God sustains everything. And all things are to Him. Everything in creation, seen and unseen, is for Him. Not us, Him. And all of this is for His glory.
Jeffrey Heine:And I would attach that culminating point, all of this to the glory of God forever. I'd attach every doctrine, every verse that we touched on in Romans 9, 10, and 11 about salvation and judgment. All of these things, this this judgment that is unsearchable, these inscrutable ways, all of these things are to the glory of God forever. This worship is the reasonable response to beholding the doctrines of salvation, predestination, election, God's power, sovereignty, ultimate authority over all things. And we should have a Job like moment.
Jeffrey Heine:In fact, a number of the indented quotes that happen, as you see in your text there, are from the book of Job. But we should have a Job like moment where in wondrous awe of God's wealth and mercy, the depths of His wisdom, the depths of His knowledge, and we close our mouths and we bow down before him. When we realize, truly see our place, and understand that to be a child of God is to be overwhelmed by the grace of Jesus, that God is rich in mercy and He lavishes His mercy upon us in Christ Jesus. When we truly see and believe these things, the only reasonable response is complete and total adoration in love, in trust, and in obedience. Why?
Jeffrey Heine:Because he is worthy. He's worthy. And that's what brings us to his table. We do not make our way from our pew to this table to receive the body and blood of Jesus because we are good enough. We do not come to this table because we deserve it, or we have claim to it, and anything of ourselves.
Jeffrey Heine:We come to this table because of the lavishing of God's mercy upon those who do not deserve it. We come in all humility. Each step that you take from your seat to this table is a step of confession that you need Jesus. And this table stands ready that He is enough for you. Each step that you take is a step of humility and a step of confidence.
Jeffrey Heine:It's because of the body and blood of Jesus that we are able to come to God's throne with all humility and all boldness. And so as you make your way this morning, as you make your way up here, not not to take communion, but to receive communion, you are receiving the promises that have come to you through Christ alone. May we then in turn live the lives of adoration and worship and the telling of this good news that Christ has come, and He will come again. God, by your spirit, would you take these common elements of bread and wine and make them for us a nourishment for our souls, that we would meditate on the goodness and graciousness of Jesus, that we would proclaim his death and his resurrection, and we would proclaim that we are a people who believe that he will come again for us. Lord, I pray in particular for anyone who thinks that they are not worthy to come to this table.
Jeffrey Heine:Lord, may they hear by your Spirit the call of Christ to come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, rest for our souls, not just for today, but for eternity. Lord, may we hear your Spirit bid us to come, come to your table. Though we cannot afford it, that we come and we receive all the riches that you have for us in Jesus. We pray these things in his name. Amen.