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November 2008
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Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
79
I want to extend an
individual welcome to each new visitor to this website and then thank each one
of you for joining us today.
In response to an
inquiry as to why these lessons are so lengthy:
I avoid assuming those
who visit this website possess an equal amount of Bible knowledge. Not everyone who visits HBS is saved. Others are young in the faith, but walking
with Lord Jesus Christ consistently.
Then there are those who have been Believers for many years; still growing
in the faith. We’re all at a different
place in our walk with the Lord but some of these folks have never opened a
Bible in their life.
My goal is to
present HBS to those who desire to study God’s Word in such a way so as to not
be below or beyond anyone’s learning ability.
Of special
interest, the internet address to Home Bible Study© was changed
recently.
Our new web address
is: www.2Tim215.net
Please
open your Bible to Romans 9, at verse 23.
Remember,
Paul is reviewing Israel’s past in chapter 9 because his countrymen are
perishing due to a lack of understanding and ultimately unbelief concerning what
God is accomplishing through Jesus Christ in this Dispensation of Grace
(Ephesians 3).
Romans 9
23: And He (God)
did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of
mercy, which He prepared beforehand (before the foundations of the earth) for glory,
24: even us, whom He also called,
not among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
Here
is more evidence of God’s sovereignty. When
Paul says, “even us,” he doesn’t
mean to say he’s a gentile. He means to
say that not only the Jews but Gentiles too
were called by God so that He could
make known the riches of His glory upon
vessels of mercy.
This
statement aggravated some of the Jews to be sure, but let both Jew and Gentile
rest on this fact: whatever we do not
understand about God’s saving grace, the one thing that stands out in v23 is
His ultimate purpose - to make known the
riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand (before
the foundations of the earth) for glory.
This
book says God desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4a), therefore,
God is patient toward you, not wishing
for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter
3:9b); Or do you think lightly of the
riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the
kindness of God leads you to repentance?
(Romans 2:4)
If
you are a Believer, then you are a “vessel
of mercy. Of course there’s a
flip-side to this verse. If you’re not a
Believer, you’re a vessel of God’s wrath (Romans 9:22).
Let’s
go to verse 25.
Romans
9
25:
As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY
PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ “(Hosea
2:23)
26:
“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY
PEOPLE, THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.” (Hosea
1:10)
Who are THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE? It’s nice to have the benefit of this book
and the knowledge it contains with it the answer to this question is easily
found. The answer is: Gentiles!
As Paul stated in v23-24 the Gentiles were “called” by God and prepared beforehand for glory.
Since the word “called” is
used by Paul in v24 and it appears again in short order in v25, we should take
a look at it.
The best way to do this is to go back to Paul’s
opening statement, For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for
the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, - the
majority of Paul’s countrymen were not trusting in Paul’s gospel or putting
their faith in Jesus Christ, crucified, in other words, and were
therefore accursed; perishing. This
created a crisis of trust amongst the Israelites. If God’s covenant people could be cut off,
how could God’s promises be trusted?
After all, God did promise to be faithful and He did promise salvation
to His chosen people throughout the Old Testament – it appeared to most that
God had turned His back on His promises and His people.
Paul responded to their crisis of faith in
v6: But
it is not as though the word of God
has failed. For they are not all
Israel who are descended from Israel;
v8: That is, it is not the children of
the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are
regarded as descendents.
Now let’s look at the word “promise.” The LORD promised to give Abraham and Sarah a
son, even though she was barren, at a specific time. What was expected of them? They were to believe or “take the LORD God at
His word.”
Faith
is the response God expects from his creation my friends.
Fast forward a few hundred years and we come
to one of the Major Prophets, Isaiah.
The book of Isaiah was written between the
years 740-680 BC. Isaiah preached a
message of hope to the Israelites. God
wanted His people to know He had not forgotten His promise of a Redeemer. Through Isaiah He reminded His people there
was One coming who would be called Immanuel, “God with us.”
This Bible prophecy contains a BUT and it
concerns the nation of Israel.
Jesus Christ was going to bring Light to Israel,
and He certainly was the Prince of Peace, Mighty God, etc. but His
ministry was going to be marked with conflict.
It was this conflict that Isaiah spoke of, “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of
Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 8:14)
The promised seed of Genesis 3:15 became
the Messiah for whom the world waited generations for. The Apostle John put it this way, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full
of grace and truth (John1:14)
When
Jesus started His ministry, He sent the twelve disciples out with this
command: “Do not
go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any
city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The
kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matthew
10:5b-7).
FYI: Jesus Christ sent out the twelve preaching
the gospel of the Kingdom to the nation of Israel (only) because of the
covenant promises (Romans 15:8).
This is where the nation of Israel stumbled.
God was calling His
people through the gospel but they rejected the message and His Messenger: He came to His own, and those who were His
own did not receive Him. But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, (John
1:11-12).
The Israelites had preconceived “notions”
about who God was and who the Messiah would be.
They also overlooked God’s purpose and plan for them which He outlined
in the Scriptures. There were two
significant truths of Jesus' ministry that created the conflict Isaiah
prophesied about: the lack of His militaristic triumph over the Roman Empire,
and His pattern of spiritual conduct that contradicted their existing religious
system. Both in the flesh and in the Spirit, Jesus did not measure up to
the people’s expectations. He wasn’t the
Messiah they were expecting. Jesus
literally became a stumbling block in these areas and others for the
majority of the people of Israel.
So,
the point of verse 24 is that the vessels of mercy include some Jews, though
not all, as some thought, only a remnant to be exact, but also a great many
Gentiles. The next four verses support
this statement.
25:
As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY
PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ “(Hosea
2:23)
26:
“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY
PEOPLE, THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.” (Hosea
1:10)
Our Apostle Paul quotes the prophet Hosea
in verses 25-26. The LORD is saying to
the people of Israel that after He rejected them “made them a no people” He
will one day call them His people again.
This isn’t doublespeak. The next
verse makes this statement quite clear: For
they are not all Israel who are descended
from Israel;
27: Isaiah
cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE
THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; (Isaiah
10:22)
28:
FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.” (Isaiah
10:23)
29:
And just as Isaiah foretold, “UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A
POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”
(Isaiah 1:9)
There is a lot of information we can gather
from these verses to say the least.
First, God planned to call (not save) both Jew and Gentile. Scripture clearly indicates that the Jews
thought they were included in God’s salvation plan simply because they were “Jews.” The Gentiles thought they were excluded
simply because they were, “Gentiles” (Ephesians 2:11-13).
However, there is no exclusion and there’s no
partiality with God (Romans 2:11).
Second, God draws people to Himself or
invites people to be saved through the gospel.
The choice is theirs. (2 Thessalonians 13-15; 2 Timothy 1:9-10).
Jesus died once for all (Hebrews 2:9). God’s invitation has gone out, and is open to
all men and women. There is no “special”
group of people. Now anyone can choose
to believe His good news; or not (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). But salvation comes through faith (alone) in Jesus Christ and has nothing
to do with one’s heritage or one’s works. (1 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 3:26)
This is a good place to stop. We’ll put a bookmark here until next week.
Let’s close in prayer:
Heavenly Father, watch over those whose names you
can read in my heart and the names of those only You know who are written in the
Lamb’s Book of Life. Watch over them; guard them with tender care; make
their paths straight and their burdens light.
Make Your presence known to them should tears fill their eyes. Heal those suffering from an illness,
encourage those in the midst of a trial; restore their hope if they lose heart. Bring us all ever closer to You through the
love we show for each other here on earth.
Amen
(To be continued)
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Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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