Tag: Understanding the Gospel

Morning Musing: Romans 11:7-10

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“What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.’ And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the journey that is parenthood, you know that one of the biggest ongoing challenges is figuring out how to effectively and adequately discipline children who misbehave. While there are plenty of books out there on the subject, no two children are the same. Some methods work on some children, other methods work on other children. There is no one-size-fits-all approach you can use that will do the trick every single time. That being said, there are some generally transferable approaches worth knowing. One of these is that sometimes the natural consequences are the most effective punishment. The outcome of a particular decision can be its own most effective consequence. This idea plays into what Paul has to say here. Let’s give it a look.

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Morning Musing: Romans 11:6

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“Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This verse really goes with the last section. I could have kept it all together, but what Paul says right here is important enough that I felt like it needed to be treated individually. It’s important enough that Paul actually dedicated most of an entire letter to exploring and unpacking it (that would be Galatians). We won’t spend quite that much time on it today, but let’s take at least a couple of minutes to talk about the clearest statement Paul may have ever written on this absolutely essential Gospel concept.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 11:1-5

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“I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!’ But what was God’s answer to him? ‘I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.’ In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Mike Tyson is famous for saying “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Having things all worked out in theory and being able to adapt quickly to obstacles that come along with the goal of completely disrupting if not outright derailing our plans are two very different things. God had a plan for what He wanted to accomplish in and through Israel. Yet even for us to hear that sentence calls to mind things that God may not have meant. This is important for us to understand because trying to make sense out of what we understand God’s plans to have been and how things actually went can be tricky. Let’s join Paul in thinking through some of that here.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 10:18-21

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“But I ask, ‘Did they not hear?’ Yes, they did: ‘Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’ But I ask, ‘Did Israel not understand?’ First, Moses said, ‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding.’ And Isaiah says boldly, ‘I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me.’ But to Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For the last two chapters now, Paul has been talking about Israel and their rejection of the Gospel. He has struggled with it emotionally even as he understands it experientially. But even though he understood the fact of it, he nonetheless marvels at it with his audience. Here, at the end of chapter 10, Paul begins asking some more hard questions about Israel’s rejection, God’s plans in light of it, and what this all means for non-Jewish followers of Jesus. Let’s start digging into this with him.

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Morning Musing: Romans 10:14-17

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“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’ But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that irks critics of Christianity more than many other things we do is our constantly trying to share our faith. Why are Christians so pushy with their beliefs? Why can’t they just leave other people to believe what they want rather than going around telling them they’re wrong all the time? What arrogance to think they know better than everybody else what’s right. What’s the big deal? What Paul says here has a lot to do with it. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

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