Village Schools of the Bible

ROMANS: Heart & Soul of the Gospel
A Devotional Study of Romans
by Max Frazier, Jr.

ROMANS 11: "The Experience of Merciful Purpose in Reception"

The theme of this chapter is found in verse 1: has God cast away His people? God is here speaking to national Israel and not to elect Israel. The whole of this chapter can be summed up in two statements:

1. Paul shows first that the rejection of Israel is not total, but partial.

2. Paul demonstrates that even this partial rejection of Israel is not final, but only temporary

Notes on verses 1-10: Has God cast off His people? Paul's answer is "God forbid!" Why? Because there is a present election. Two schools of interpretation:

1.In the church God has fulfilled everything in the Old Testament and there is no future for the Jew as a nation (I reject this interpretation)

2.God has set Israel aside for an age, and at some future time (in the next age) God will fulfill to the letter every promise He has made to Israel as a nation (see Jeremiah 31:36-37, Jeremiah 33:24-26).

Paul shows some evidence that God has not cast off His people:

1.He takes his own case - "was Paul cast off?" - No!

2.Paul points to God's foreknowledge. If God's foreknowledge of us as individuals cannot fail, neither can it fail when it comes to this nation of Israel which He foreknew in ages past.

3.Paul uses the illustration of Elijah. There was a remnant of 7,000 in Elijah's time. In Paul's time there were Jewish Christians to indicate God had not cast off His people.

Verse 5: makes the application to Israel. They did not deserve to be saved, but it was grace that saved them.

Verse 7: Israel did not obtain what it was seeking. For what was it seeking? Righteousness (Romans 10:13).

Verses 8-10: Israel had been hardened and blinded, not because of any arbitrary decree on God's part, but because of the response in their own hearts.

Notes on verses 11-24: There will be a future reception. "Is the rest of Israel cast off?" "Why did Israel stumble and fall?" So that salvation could come to the Gentiles (see John 1:11). The Jews crucified Jesus and that opened the door of salvation to the whole world.

Verse 12: How much more shall their fullness be? If the Gentile world gained through their fall, think what it will gain when God received the Jews back again (see Psalm 67:7). When God blesses Israel, then all the ends of the earth will hear of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that they have never heard before. That is the "fullness" here to which Paul makes reference.

Verse 13: "magnify my office" - How? The more Jews that are saved, the more Gentiles there will be saved, and the greater will be the ministry to the Gentiles.

Verse 15: Is there a contradiction between verses 2 and 15? Jonah was cast into the sea, and yet he was not cast into the sea. God cast Israel into the sea of the nations, and yet He has not cast them away. He has cast them away into the nations, but in the nations He has preserved them, just as Jonah was preserved in the whale.

Verses 16-24: Discourse on the olive tree. Olive tree is not the church for Jews are still Jews and Gentiles are still Gentiles. What is this olive tree? It represents the place of favor or privilege. The tree does not save anyone. The apostle is saying that because the Jew did not live up to his privileges and the light God gave him, he has been cut out and the wild branches (Gentiles) were grafted into the place of favor. All the Gentiles are here. The great lesson of the passage is: That just as the Jew in the Old Testament became bigoted, proud, and exclusive, and thought that God knew him only, now that very same thing is happening in Christendom to the Gentiles. There is only one thing that can retain favor in the eyes of God - faith (see verse 20).

Notes on verses 25-32: There wil be a final salvation. Verse 25: What is the "fullness of the Gentiles?" (see Acts 15:14 and Luke 21:24). When the body of Christ is complete, the Lord will come, Gentile times will finish and Israel shall be put in again. All Israel shall be saved - all Israel that is on the earth then is going to be saved.

Notes on verses 33-36: Doxology. Verse 33: Paul uses two words to describe God's wisdom: unsearchable and untrackable.

Versed 36: out of God all things come - He is the origin. Through God all things exist - He is the sustainer of all things. Unto God, back to God - He is the goal. There is the circle of eternity: out, through, back.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS:

The thought expressed in verse 29 has always been an encouragement to me. There Paul writes, "For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." Now the word "irrevocable" means: "something that cannot be recalled or undone; unalterable."

There is a certain stage where my grandchildren came to me to give me something. It might be a piece of candy or a book or a toy. They would say, "Grandpa, this is for you." I would say, "Thank you." Pretty soon, they would come back and take the piece of candy or the book or the toy out of my hands. I would say, "Hey, I thought you have given this to me." And their response was usually, "Oh, Grandpa!" Now I usually knew when they gave me something that they would soon want it returned to them. So I learned not to value too highly what I had been given. But, praise God, the Apostle Paul declares that God does not operate like my grandchildren. When He gives us something, and He delights in doing that for His children - the Bible describes them as good things, they are ours. He never recalls them. He never comes and says, "Max, I want that gift back." His heart may be pained when I do not use such gifts as He would desire, but He never comes and takes it away from me. I may be disciplined for being lackadaisical, but the surrender of the gift is never part of the discipline. Friends, I take great comfort in that promise. I think it also pertains to salvation because it, too, is a gift to us from God. Therefore it cannot be recalled. Because my spiritual gifts are from God I must guard them jealously and carefully. I must never sit there and ponder, "I wonder when God is going to come and take them away." My grandchildren may do that; my God never.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER AS ONE READS THESE VERSES:

1. How is the remnant of Israel to be saved? How does this fact relate to your salvation? Cite several verses to support your conclusion.

2. Why is the nation of Israel blinded to the things of God today? What is the believer's responsibility to Israel?

3. What was the result of Israel's fall and their refusal to accept Christ?

4. What is the time of the fullness of the Gentiles? Relate this to Jesus' statement in Luke 21:24.

5. Even though Israel has rejected Christ, what is to be our attitude toward the Jews today?

6. In verses 33-36, list all the various ways Paul uses to describe God. Which way is most meaningful to you?

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