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28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. ~ Romans 11:28-32
Today, we return to our study of Romans 9-11 where the sovereignty of God is accentuated. From the day that God changed Jacob's name to Israel, Jacob represented the true Israel of God, those who have placed their faith in the God of the Bible. Whereas in Romans 9, we learn of God's past workings with the nation of Israel, in Romans 10 we learn of God's present workings with the nation of Israel. And, in Romans 11 we learn of God's future dealings with the nation of Israel.
In v.28 of today's passage we read, "Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers."
In context, the Apostle Paul has been discussing how God can be sovereign and yet have the nation of Israel, as a whole, reject God's promised Messiah. The fact that man has a free will underscores the sovereignty of God because control is not involved. The choice always underscores the main topic of the heart and that is love. Without choice their is no love.
Due to the choice of most Jews to reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they treat Christians like we are their enemies. Through their rejection of the free gift of being made right with God through Christ's sacrifice, they lack a personal relationship with God. They lack a personal relationship with God due to the fact that their sin has yet to be atoned for. So, presently the unbelieving Jews are the enemies of God; Right now, due to their lack of faith in Him, they are not God's friends. As a result, they have been cast away.
On the one hand, they are enemies, but, based upon God's promise that He gave to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, they are beloved of God. Unbelieving Israel is God's beloved enemy. Concerning the gospel, they're enemies. Regarding the choice of God, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. This means that the unsaved Jews are loved by an unchanging God. God loves every Jew, without exception. In fact, He loves everyone; He is by nature love. No matter how stubborn or resistant they may be, He has set His love upon them.
In v.29 of today's passage we read, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
This verse explains the previous verse, why Israel is the beloved enemy of God. In the end, many in Israel will have the story with God that you and I now have; Once the enemies of God but now beloved of God through Christ. God's calling will in the end be irrevocable or He does not withdraw the promise of eternal salvation that He has given to anyone willing enough to believe in Him. And, since we did nothing to earn His salvation, we could do nothing to lose it. This is the nature of grace. Grace is like water, it always runs downhill.
In v.30-31 of today's passage we read, "30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy."
The reason the gospel went to the Gentiles was because the Jews rejected it. So in a sense we owe our salvation to Jewish unbelief. But, we have no reason to boast or to be proud because we were once strangers to the promises of God. We had none of the privileges that God gave to Israel. But because of their unbelief we have been brought in and the gospel turned to the Gentiles. We Gentiles have come into the place of God's blessing because of His grace. And if we did not believe in the Lord Jesus, we would be cast out as well.
The key word in this section is the word "mercy" which speaks of God's generosity. It implies that salvation is not something we deserve but something we don't deserve. It is the mercy of God that withholds His punishment even though it is deserved by us. Mercy is God granting forgiveness when it is not deserved.
God allowed sin because He has in His nature mercy. And because God is a God of mercy, He has to exercise that mercy. And the only way that mercy can be exercised is where there is sin. So in order for God to reveal Himself as a merciful God, He had to permit sin so that He can show His mercy toward the sinner. So, God allowed the whole world to be enveloped in unbelief and sin. He didn't make man sinful, He allowed us to be so. As a result, He shut us up in the prison of His judgment so that He might demonstrate His mercy to us.
In v.32 of today's passage we read, "For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all."
Israel was set aside by God temporarily because of their unbelief. Presently, the nation of Israel is not God's special people to take the gospel of the Lord Jesus to the world. They have been set aside because of their unbelief. And the Gentile church has been brought in to replace them.
Our salvation is never gained by our merit, it is gained by us through God's mercy. In fact, it is not because we are worthy but rather because we are unworthy. And the day will come when God will grant His mercy to the believing Jew and the Jew will be grafted back into the place of God's blessing. The issue in both cases is mercy and nothing beyond mercy. It is mercy to the Gentiles. It is mercy to the Jew. It is merited in neither case by either.
At the end of this verse we read, "that He might have mercy on all." That does not teach universalism or the salvation of the whole of mankind. It simply means "all" in the sense of the Gentile church and the Jewish nation have the chance to experience God's mercy. God has allowed us all, Jew and Gentile to be imprisoned by sin so that "we might become the righteousness of God in Christ."
I'm so grateful to the Lord for the rough times in my life because they have served me in crying out to the Lord. He has strangely been incredibly merciful to me. And, I have always known that in me no good thing dwells. That is, there has never been in me anything that could have made me right with Him. He had to cause and allow certain things in my life, most of which were very painful, to position me to see my need for Him. For so many years I was shut up in the prison of myself, unable to be persuaded by the truth. My darkened mind could not see, that is until the God of the Bible awakened me to Himself. And now, I am free to live this incredible life He has called me to where I see Him at work in this fallen and needy world. And, I am in wonder!
