Please One Another: The Sovereign's Glory (Romans 15:5-7)

The highest motivation a man can have is to give God glory. The reason that this is the highest motivation a man can have is because the desire to give God glory flows from a heart of love. Christians, whether strong in the faith or weak in the faith, desire to give God glory because they love Him for first loving them. This section of Scripture gives us three ways to give God glory.

First, Christians give God glory by having unity of mind (Romans 15:5). Christians are to be unified in the essentials and give liberty in the nonessentials. The nonessentials are to never be allowed to become issues over which Christians divide. Since all Christians, whether strong or weak in the faith, are in the faith, they are to be of the same mind toward one another (Romans 12:16) and their unity is to be based upon their agreement in the essentials of the Gospel. Unity of mind means that we believe the same thing about the Gospel. If we do not believe the same thing about the Gospel then we cannot have unity of mind. If we do not have unity of mind about the Gospel then we cannot strive together for the Gospel. This is why we are told to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). Striving together for the faith of the Gospel means that we believe the same thing about the Gospel (unity of mind) and that we are standing together defending the Gospel (see Jude 3) as the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Christians give glory to God by having unity of mind in the Gospel and by not allowing disagreements in the nonessentials divide the church.

Second, Christians give God glory by having unity of voice (Romans 15:6). Unity of mind in the essentials of the Gospel leads to unity of voice in declaring and guarding the Gospel. When Christians have unity of mind they also have unity or harmony of voice (literally, mouth). This means that in a cliché, “We are all singing off the same page in the Hymn book.” Disagreement in the nonessentials is to never interrupt the unity of mind or unity of voice among Christians. The Gospel is God’s tuning fork for His children and it gives us unity of mind and unity of voice so that God gets the glory for His amazing orchestration and harmonization of sinners saved by His grace. Christians give God glory by having unity of mind and unity of voice in the Gospel and by not allowing disagreements in the nonessentials divide the church.

Third, Christians give God glory by having unity of purpose (Romans 15:7). Unity of mind and unity of voice leads to unity of purpose. When we are unified in these three ways, we accept one another rather than fight one another. Christians cannot stand firm against those who corrupt the Gospel when they are fighting each other. Christians are to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love [accepting one another], united in spirit, intent on one purpose [striving together for the faith of the Gospel] (Philippians 2:2). The real purpose of the church cannot be achieved if our unity is something other than the essentials of the Gospel or if we do not accept one another when we disagree in the nonessentials.

When we disagree in the nonessentials, we please one another on the basis of the Sovereign’s glory. We get back to the basics and have unity of mind, voice, and purpose for the glory of God.

Please One Another: The Scripture's Instruction (Romans 15:4)

When we disagree with one another as Christians, first of all we are to please one another on the basis of the Savior's example. Second when we disagree with one another as Christians we are to please one another on the basis of the Scripture's instruction (Romans 15:4).

The principles found in Scripture are forever relevant. The Word of God is continually contemporary. Therefore it instructs us through how God has dealt with the men and women of faith in the past and how they suffered for their faith, laid aside their liberties, and were used by God for His glory.

When we disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ in the gray areas we are to look to the permanent principles revealed in God's continually contemporary Word so that we can be instructed from the Scripture on how to please one another.

First, when we look to the Scriptures we find that God is faithful. God is unchanging. He is immutable. He humbles those who exalt themselves and he exalts those who humble themselves. We have examples in the Scriptures of how God deals with the unrepentant in severity and the repentant in kindness. Those men and women of faith in the Bible found God to be absolutely, utterly, totally faithful. Knowing that God is faithful enables us to please one another even at the expense of our own liberties.

Second, when we look to the Scriptures we are given perseverance. We can look at the men and women of faith in the Bible and see their suffering and their perseverance and be strengthened to persevere just as they did. This will enable us to endure all things for the sake of the elect (2 Timothy 2:10). Laying aside a few liberties for the sake of God's children isn't such a big thing when compared to the suffering endured by the faithful in Scripture. God is faithful and that gives us perseverance in difficult circumstances.

Third, when we look to the Scriptures we are given encouragement. We are encouraged by the Scriptures when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances and are reminded by God's Word that these difficult circumstances are actually a sign of salvation (Philippians 1:27-29). This is to give us encouragement in Christ (Philippians 2:1-3). God is faithful and that gives us perseverance and encouragement in difficult circumstances.

Finally, when we look to the Scriptures we are given hope. The Scriptures give us certainty (biblical hope) that we will be glorified after suffering for a while for our faith. Giving up a few liberties for the sake of the elect is nothing in light of suffering persecution for the faith and yet both are working for us a greater glory than the sufferings we are experiencing (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). God is faithful and that truth gives us perseverance and encouragement and hope so that we are able to lay aside our liberties for the sake of our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ. We learn this from the Scripture's instructions.

Please One Another: The Savior's Example (Romans 15:1-3)

Romans 14:1 – 15:7 is dealing with what we could call the gray areas of the Christian life. These are the nonessentials that have no bearing on whether or not someone is saved. These are matters that are strictly between the child of God and his Lord. Since this is true then Christians can and will disagree in the nonessentials.

Since these are gray areas of the Christian life, we are not to judge one another nor hinder another’s obedience to the Lordship of Christ. The weak in the faith are not to be bossy, trying to impose their beliefs on the strong and the strong in the faith are not to be bullies, trying to force-feed their beliefs down the throats of the weak. This is what this section is about and it gives us three principles to maintain unity when Christians disagree:

(1) Accept one another (Romans 14:1-12). When Christians disagree in the gray areas of the Christian life we accept one another because God has accepted us (Romans 14:1-3); we accept one another because Christ is Lord of each and every child of God and we are lord of none (Romans 14:4-9); and we accept one another because God is judge and we are not (Romans 14:10-12).
(2) Build up one another (Romans 14:13-23). When Christians disagree in the gray areas of the Christian life we build up one another because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Because we are brothers and sisters in Christ we don’t cause a child of God to stumble (Romans 14:13); we don’t hurt a child of God (Romans 14:14-15); we don’t forfeit our witness to a watching world through family quarrels (Romans 14:16-18); we don’t tear down the work of God in a child of God by hindering his or her walk with the Lord (Romans 14:19-21); and the strong Christian does not flaunt his liberties (Romans 14:22-23).
(3) Please one another (Romans 15:1-7). When Christians disagree in the gray areas of the Christian life we please one another and not just ourselves. This third principle for maintaining unity when Christians disagree is our subject under investigation. There are three aspects to this principle that we will take one at a time in separate posts.

First, we are to please one another on the basis of the Savior’s example (Romans 15:1-3).

The strong are to have regard for the weaknesses of others (Romans 15:1). The strong are not to just think of their rights and their own pleasures but are to think of how they can use their strength to help others. Those without strength need help and the strong can either give them the help they need or selfishly only help themselves. The Bible says that “love does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:15) and that “love bears all things” (1 Corinthians 15:7). The strong Christian who does not have regard for the weaknesses of others is unloving and not following the Savior’s example.

Think of our Lord’s example in this area. For our sake, while we were helpless (without strength or ability to help ourselves), at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). To accomplish our salvation, the Lord “did not look out for His own personal interests but also the interest of others, and although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [utilized], but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:4-8).

Let’s make some application with this. The strong Christian knows that eating meat is not condemned in God’s Word. The weak Christian believes that eating meat is condemned in God’s Word. The strong Christian then is to lay aside his liberty for the sake of the weak Christian. The strong Christian is to have regard for the weaknesses of his brothers and sisters.

The strong Christian knows that drinking wine is not condemned but that getting drunk is condemned in God’s Word. The weak Christian believes that drinking wine is condemned in God’s Word. The strong Christian is to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and he is to lay aside his liberty for the sake of the weak Christian.

The strong are to have regard for the weaknesses of others.

The strong are to have regard for the good of others (Romans 15:2). Isn’t this very logical? Not having regard for the weaknesses of other family members is to not have any regard for their good either. Having regard for the weakness of other family members is to have regard for their good also. If one believes that it is wrong to drink wine and a stronger Christian disregards that weakness, will he not cause the weaker Christian to either judge him as an unbeliever (which is sin) or to violate his own convictions (which is sin).

Knowing that something is not condemned in Scripture does not mean that it is commanded in Scripture. This simply means that Christian liberties can be set aside for the good of others and to build them up rather than tear them down. Improper exercise of Christian liberties will indeed tear down others who believe that those liberties are wrong.

The strong are to have regard for the good of others.

The strong are to have regard for pleasing others (Romans 15:3). Pleasing others entails self-denial. However this is a characteristic of the strong that have a heart of love. The strong are never more like Jesus than when they are not seeking their own pleasure but instead are laying aside their privileges to have regard for the weaknesses of others and the good of others.

The strong are to have regard for pleasing others.

Build Up One Another (Romans 14:13-23)

The first principle for maintaining unity when Christians disagree (accept one another - Romans 14:1-12) has to do with our remembering that we are not the master of other Christians and that they are not our servants but the Lord’s servants. God is the head of the family and those whom He has accepted are His children. Since we are children in the family and not the head of the family we don’t try and tell the others what our Father’s will for them is in the gray areas. We accept those whom God has accepted because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The second principle for maintaining unity when Christians disagree (build up one another - Romans 14:13-23) has to do with our remembering that we are brothers and sisters with other Christians. Not only do we accept one another, we build up one another. Here we discover five responsibilities to build up one another in the family.

First, don’t cause your brother to stumble (Romans 14:13). Instead of judging each other, Christians are to determine (judge) this – not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Second, don’t hurt your brother (Romans 14:14-15). The apostle Paul was a strong Christian. He knew his liberties in Christ. He knew that he could enjoy anything the Lord hadn’t declared sinful. But he also knew that there were weak Christians who thought certain things were unclean and not permissible although the Lord had not declared it so. So the strong Christian is completely right in his conviction that he is at liberty to enjoy anything the Lord does not declare to be sinful. The weak Christian, on the other hand, is wrong in his understanding about some of those things. But he is not wrong in the sense of being heretical or immoral. He is wrong in the sense of not having complete and mature understanding of the Word of God in these areas, which causes him to believe that something is sinful when it isn’t really.

However, if he believes something to be sinful and then is enticed by a strong believer to partake in it, he violates his conscience and his submission to the Lordship of Christ, he stumbles and is hurt (see 1 Corinthians 8:7-13). The strong Christian, then, is no longer walking according to love. This is harmful and not helpful. It will seriously impair the spiritual growth of the weaker Christian (15b).

Third, don’t forfeit your witness (Romans 14:16-18). A strong Christian can lose his witness if he uses his liberties in a manner that puts an obstacle or stumbling block not only in a brother’s way but also in the way of men outside of the faith.

Fourth, don’t tear down the work of God (Romans 14:19-21). A strong Christian can also misuse his liberties to the point that his good thing can become an evil thing because he gives offense through it.

Fifth, don’t flaunt your liberties (Romans 14:22-23). The strong Christian who knows his liberties must be so concerned for his weaker brothers and his own witness that he keeps his conviction between him and God. The strong Christian then is to exercise his liberties in private. He is not to force his opinions on anyone else. That goes for the weak Christian also. The reason is that whatever is not from faith is sin. I can’t give another Christian permission to do something he thinks is wrong. His permission must come from his understanding of God’s Word because his obedience obedience must be to the Lord and not me.

When Christians Disagree: Accept One Another (Romans 14:1-12)

Romans 14:1 – 15:7 is dealing with what we could call the gray areas of the Christian life or the nonessentials. All Christians are to agree upon the essentials of the Gospel because we are saved by the knowledge of the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Failure to agree upon the essentials of the Gospel means that there can be no union or partnership with those with whom we disagree (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). But there is to be liberty in the nonessentials and we are to maintain Christian unity with those who agree on the essentials but with whom we may disagree on the nonessentials. So this section of Scripture gives three principles of guidance to maintain unity when Christians disagree: (1) Accept one another (Romans 14:1-12); (2) Build up one another (Romans 14:13-23); and (3) Consider one another (Romans 15:1-7).

For now we will examine the first principle of guidance for maintaining unity when Christians disagree.

Accept one another (Romans 14:1-12). When Christians disagree over the nonessentials they are to accept one another. With those whom we agree on the essentials of the Gospel but disagree over the nonessentials we are to put out the welcome matt and not the wrestling matt. We do wrestle against the spiritual forces of wickedness that seek to corrupt the Gospel and cause us to compromise it (Ephesians 6:10-17). We do war against speculations and every lofty thing raised against the Gospel (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We do separate from those with whom we disagree over the essentials of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). We do not wrestle with, war with, or separate from Christians with whom we agree in the essentials (a necessity for even being a Christian) but with whom we disagree in the nonessentials. Instead we accept one another. Romans 14:1-12 gives us three reasons for maintaining unity with other Christians when we disagree in the nonessentials.

First, we accept one another because God has accepted us (Romans 14:1-3). These verses make it plain that agreement in the nonessentials is not the basis of God’s acceptance of us and it should not be the basis or our accepting one another. Both the strong and the weak in the faith are in the faith and should accept one another because God has accepted them or else they would not be in the faith. In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty!

Second, we accept one another because Christ is Lord as we are not (Romans 14:4-9). The main point of these verses is that no Christian has the right to “play Lord” in another Christian’s life. How the Lordship of Christ works itself out in another Christian’s life is the Lord’s business and not ours (Romans 14:4). My business is to be sure that whatever I do, I do for the Lord’s sake, being fully convinced that this is what he wants me to do (Romans 14:5) and that He very well may want another Christian to serve Him in a different way (Romans 14:6-9). This truth is illustrated in John 21:15-25 where the Lord told Peter the kind of death he would die in order to glorify God and Peter turned around and saw John following them and Peter asked the Lord, “What about this man?” to which the Lord responded, “If I want him to remain until I come [live], what is that to you? You follow me!” So our concern is to be busy doing what we are convinced the Lord wants us to do and not worry about what he wants someone else to do.

We accept one another because Christ is Lord and we are not. In the essentials, unity; in the nonessentials, liberty. Another way of putting it is this: in the essentials, we must agree; in the nonessentials, we must allow Christ to be Lord. We accept one another because God has accepted us and we accept one another because Christ is Lord and we are not.

Third, we accept one another because God is Judge and we are not (Romans 14:10-12). Since we are not the Lord, then reason demands that we are not the Judge either. These verses quickly put us back in our places as servants of the Lord who are not God and who are not the Judge. Instead of standing in judgment over our brothers and sisters in Christ, we must all stand before the judgment seat of God. For Christians, the judgment seat of God will be a time when we will give an account of how well we lived under the Lordship of Christ. Faithfulness to the Lordship of Christ will result in praise from the Lord when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Lack of faithfulness to the Lordship of Christ for Christians will result in shame and loss of reward but they will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). The Lord will judge His servants and their service or lack there of to Him. As servants, we are not to judge the service of another.

We do not have the ability to accurately judge the service of another to the Lord because we are not God. That is why we are told, “Do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Notice that the Lord has the ability to bring to light the things hidden in the darkness. This is another good reason to wake up, lay aside the deeds of darkness, and behave properly as in the day (Romans 13:11-14). The Lord is not going to allow us to get away with hidden sin. You can hide your sin from me and I can hide mine from you but we none can hide it from the Lord.

Notice also that the Lord has the ability to disclose the motives of men’s hearts. Here the Lord will reveal the reason we do or do not do something. Whether our actions are because we love the Lord and are submitting to His Lordship, whether we were making provision for the flesh under the pretense of living for the Lord, or whether we were seeking the praise of men under the pretense of dying for the Lord.

The Lord will judge us and He has the perfect ability to do it. We will not judge each other because we are not God and do not have the ability to judge accurately. That is why we shouldn’t be doing it now. In the essentials, unity; in the nonessentials, liberty; in all things charity. When Christians disagree we accept one another because God has accepted us in Christ Jesus; we accept one another because Christ is Lord and we are not; we accept one another because God is Judge and we are not.

The Lordship of Christ in Gray Areas (Romans 14:1)

The Lordship of Christ in the life of the Christian is exactly the same in many areas for all Christians. In other words there are specific commands which apply to all Christians and the observance of those commands are clearly spelled out. For instance, all Christians are commanded to avoid fellowship with false teachers and their teachings (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Second John 10); all Christians are commanded to abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7); and all Christians are commanded to lay aside falsehood, stealing, and unwholesome words (Ephesians 4:25-29) just to name a few.

However, there are also some areas in which the Lordship of Christ in the life of the Christian will not look the same as for other Christians. Here I am speaking of gray areas. These gray areas can be a cause for disagreement among Christians and even stumbling if not handled properly. The Bible classifies Christians as either strong or weak in faith and where a person is in his understanding of God’s Word will determine how he lives under the Lordship of Christ. This is what this section is about.

The Problem (Romans 14:1) – two opposing opinions. There are two opposing opinions among Christians because there are strong and weak Christians. The Bible says that the weak are weak in faith – literally “weak in the faith.” The weak are saved but not convinced of Christian liberty. Christ is his Lord so his motive for not doing something is loving loyalty to Christ and not legalism.

The strong in the faith are convinced of Christian liberty (Romans 14:14). Their motive for doing something is loving gratitude to Christ, knowing that what they are doing is not forbidden, and therefore they are not guilty of libertinism.

The problem is that with weak and strong Christians we have two opposing opinions or convictions. The weak genuinely believe that it is wrong to do certain things that the strong know and understand are perfectly acceptable. This may lead the weak to judge the strong as libertines and the strong to judge the weak as legalists. The text specifically says that the weak will judge the strong and that the strong will regard with contempt the weak (Romans 14:3).

The Solution (Romans 14:1). The strong are to put out the welcome matt and not the wrestling matt. The strong are not to accept or receive the weak for the purpose of passing judgment on their opinions. While the strong will want to build up the weak in the faith (Romans 14:19), he is not to attempt to do it by accepting or receiving him to straighten out his misconceptions in gray areas. Since the weak do what they do “for the Lord” (Romans 14:6-9) they are acceptable to God (Romans 14:3, 18). The strong are to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and build them up (Romans 15:1-21).

This is how the strong are to disciple the weak – “please his neighbor for his good, to his edification” (Romans 15:2). This means that the strong are not to abuse their liberty and attempt to push it down the throats of the weak. The strong are to set aside their liberties to not cause a weaker brother to stumble – not passing judgment on his opinions or deliberately indulging in liberties to try to convince the weak of Christian liberty.

The rule for both parties but especially for the strong is to walk according to love (Romans 14:15). In both cases, the weak and the strong are living under the Lordship of Christ. None of us are the Lord of another Christian and therefore we should be careful to not play God in the life of another Christian (Romans 14:4).

We should all seek to live under the Lordship of Christ remembering that each one of us will give an individual account of our lives to the Lord (Romans 14:10-12).

In Non-Essentials, Liberty! (Romans 14:1-12)

“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity!” This quote is often attributed to the great theologian Augustine, of the fourth century, but it actually came from a lesser known German Lutheran theologian, Rupertus Meldenius, of the early seventeenth century. The phrase occurs in a tract on Christian unity written (circa 1627) during the Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648), a bloody time in European history that initially began over religious differences. Although this statement is a slogan, it captures the guiding principle of Romans 14 and 15.

However, some explanation of the slogan is needed for balance and clarity so that we can see that its principle is indeed scriptural and fits our text.

“In essentials, unity...” means that there are certain doctrines and convictions upon which there can be no disagreement among genuine Christians. Specifically, this applies to the Gospel and the saving work of Christ. There must be agreement on the exclusivity of the Gospel – that there is no other way for God to forgive sinners and remain just in the process except through faith in Jesus Christ – which means that God is not saving anyone any other way. There must be agreement on the work of Christ as all-sufficient for our salvation including His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection so that nothing is either added to or taken away from the Gospel. There must be agreement on the power of the Gospel – that it changes everyone who believes into a new creature and that one cannot be saved and remain unchanged. Disagreement in the essentials is grounds for separation and commanded in Scripture (for examples see Romans 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 1:6-8; Philippians 3:2; 2 Timothy 3:1-5). “In essentials, unity!”

“In nonessentials, liberty...” means that there are certain convictions genuine Christians have and disagree on but these are not essential for salvation. Genuine Christians can disagree on a variety of convictions that are nonessential for salvation and still be Christian; still love the Lord; and still love each other. When we say that a conviction is nonessential we are not saying that it is not important. What we are saying is that if a conviction is not essential for salvation then there is room for disagreement and liberty in those beliefs while we maintain unity over the essentials. For example, as long as someone believes in the exclusivity of the Gospel, the sufficiency of the Gospel, and the power of the Gospel, then I can disagree with him over what we believe about the end-times; which version of the Bible should be used; whether or not to eat meat; whether or not to drink wine; and whether or not one day is more important than another while still being in unity over the essentials and yet disagreeing on the nonessentials.

Disagreement over the nonessentials only means that there will be diversity among Christians in how the Lordship of Christ over their lives works itself out. We are not to play Lord in another’s life by demanding that their convictions be the same as ours in the nonessentials. There are two dangers we are to avoid: (1) we are not to make an essential into a nonessential or else we will have sinfully compromised the Gospel. (2) We are not to make a nonessential into an essential or else we will have sinfully corrupted the Gospel. Remember, in the essentials unity; in the nonessentials, liberty. We are to agree on the essentials but we are to allow disagreement in the nonessentials.

Notice how if you read Romans 14:1-12 with the principle, “In nonessentials, liberty” in mind, that the principle is crystal clear and captures the essence of the text. We are not to be divided or separated over nonessentials. Division or separation is only to occur from disagreement over the essentials. Therefore we must know the difference between essentials and nonessentials. In essentials, agreement is necessary; in nonessentials, disagreement is allowable.

“In all things, charity...” means that if we do not agree on the essentials we are not going to fellowship, partnership or be in harmony with infidels but neither are we going on a crusade to kill them. We will protest against reprobates but we will not persecute them. We will not give in to the spirit of our age which wants fellowship between light and darkness by attempting to reverse the principle and get us to give liberty in the essentials while we unite with lawlessness over the nonessentials. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). We will not reverse the principle for to do so would be unloving by rejoicing in unrighteousness while not rejoicing with the truth.

Not only are we to not harm reprobates who do not agree on the essentials but we are not to hurt our brothers and sisters in Christ who do agree on the essentials but disagree on some of the nonessentials (Romans 14:15). We are to walk according to love (Romans 14:15) and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ by not only giving them liberty in the nonessentials but by setting aside our liberties for their good (Romans 15:1-2). “In all things, charity.”

Wake up; Clean up; Dress up! (Romans 13:11-14)

Over and over in the Bible, Christians are exhorted to be on the alert, to wake up and warned against apathy, drowsiness and being unprepared. Christians are to live in light of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our love for our Lord and certainty of His return is to motivate our faithfulness to Him so that we are ready for His coming. Our readiness for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ will affect how we live in this world. If we are awake and ready for the return of the Lord we will not be like the poor deceived and deranged souls who believed the lies of Harold Camping about the day and hour of Christ’s return and many of them sold their belongings, emptied their bank accounts, quit their jobs, and got rid of their pets. No dear friends, instead we will be disciplined in our lives and diligent in the Lord’s work.

In Romans 13:11-14, the apostle Paul exhorted the Christians in Rome to wake up, clean up, and dress up because of the certainty of the return of Christ and their love for Him for saving them. We are to wake up, clean up, and dress up because of the return of Christ and our love for Him for saving us.

First, we are to wake up because the return of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). God the Father has set the date for the return of Christ and He is the only one who knows when that day is. But this one thing is for sure – since the return of Christ is a certainty set on God’s calendar, each passing day brings us one day closer to that day. Just as our text says, “Salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” The opportunity for us to express our love for our Lord through our faithfulness to Him is passing away with each passing day.

So what should we do to express our love for our Lord? The Bible says, “Do this....” Do what? Do Romans 12:1 – 13:10 which is summed up in loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength by presenting your bodies to Him as living sacrifices and loving your neighbor as yourselves by loving the brethren, loving others, loving your enemies, and by being the very best citizens this world has ever seen.

Why should we “do this”? We should do this, “knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” We should love God and love others because the return of the Lord is closer now than ever. Because His return is drawing nearer and nearer we are to awaken from sleep. We are to wake up! Those who are asleep are not alert, they are not expectant, and they are not ready for the return of the Lord. It is our love for the Lord Jesus Christ and His coming that will wake us up. When we are excited about and anticipating the Lord’s coming we will wake up.

Second, we are to clean up because the return of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:12-13). Romans 13:11 is speaking of our need to wake up because of the Lord’s certain return. Romans 13:12-13 are speaking of our need to clean up because of the Lord’s certain return so that we are prepared when He gets here. Have you ever noticed that getting out of bed before daybreak and getting ready for something or someone you are excited about is much easier than waking up and getting ready for something or someone you don’t really care about? We are to wake up and clean up because we are excited about the Lord’s coming and we do not want to disappoint Him. Jesus said that we are to be alert (awake) and ready for His coming (see Matthew 24:42 – 25:13).

Part of our cleaning up is taking off the garments in which we were sleeping – “Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness...” (Romans 13:12-13). Before we dress up we are to clean up because dressing up without cleaning up is disgusting. We are not to put on clean clothes over dirty clothes. We’ll talk more about dressing up in just a moment but for now we must understand that the logical order for dressing up is to clean up first. We get prepared for the Lord’s return by waking up and taking off the deeds of darkness. The deeds of darkness (garments of the night) are improper behavior such as carousing and drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, and strife and jealousy.

To attempt to cover up the garments of darkness with the armor of light is to be like the devil who disguises himself as an angel of light. To still be wearing the garments of darkness means that the Christian still hasn’t woke up because he still hasn’t seen his need to clean up. We are to wake up and then clean up by laying aside the deeds of darkness.

Third, we are to dress up because the return of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:14). We wake up, we clean up by taking off the deeds of darkness, and then we dress up by putting on the armor of light (Romans 13:12) or to put it another way, by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14). To put on the Lord Jesus Christ means to become more like Him. To put on the Lord Jesus Christ means that we walk in truth and love and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust.

We are not to provide our sinful natures with what it needs to succeed.

Love Fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8-10)

At the root of all sin is an unloving attitude of the heart that may or may not express itself outwardly. Regardless of whether or not an unloving attitude is expressed outwardly, it is still sin (Matthew 5:27-29). The Law of God is actually an expression of love. It is designed to reveal just how unloving we sinners are. For instance, murder is a capital crime because it is a violation of the obligation to love one's fellow man or men. At the root of murder is an unloving attitude that turns into an unloving act. This expresses the truth that the violation of any of God's Laws is a violation of the moral obligation to love. Love therefore fulfills the Law. This is what Romans 13:8-10 is all about.

The debt of love (Romans 13:8)
Owe nothing to anyone – Paul has just been speaking of paying taxes so the focus is still on the Christian’s financial obligation. However, neither the Old nor New Testament categorically forbids borrowing money. There are verses throughout the Bible that deal with lending and borrowing. But the principle set forth in Scripture is that the borrower is a slave to the lender and that the debt must be repaid as agreed upon both promptly and fully. The Scripture does not justify borrowing for the purpose of purchasing unnecessary things, especially luxuries that cannot be afforded. The ideal however would to be completely out of debt and live within your means. So the financial principle here is to pay what you owe to whomever you owe so that you do not owe.

Except to love one another – is a constant obligation. It is a debt we are constantly paying and constantly owing. We are to pay this debt everyday and forever owe it because of the love given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Our love for God because of His love for us is to motivate our love for others whether they are brothers or sisters in Christ or unbelievers or government workers or enemies. Our ability to love one another only comes through our presenting ourselves to God as living sacrifices because of His love for us. We can give ourselves to every humanitarian and social cause and still not love one another (see 1 Corinthians 13:3). To fulfill Romans 13:8 we must fulfill Romans 12:1-2. Stanza four of At the Cross says, “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do” (157).

For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law – will be further developed in the next two verses. Just before we move into these next two verses let me say that when we practice love, there is no need for any other laws. As believers, we do not live under the Law; we live under grace. Our motive for obeying God and helping others is the love of Christ in our hearts. As we love others because we love God we fulfill the law.

The discharge of love (Romans 13:9)
Love is discharged not only by what we do for others but also by what we don’t do. Love is discharged when we don’t commit adultery (this includes looking on another person with lust). Love is discharged when we don’t commit murder (this includes being angry with your brother). Love is discharged when you don’t steal (this includes not paying taxes or debts and being a free-loader). Love is discharged when you don’t covet. Love is discharged when we love our neighbor as ourselves.

There are many other ways to demonstrate godly love. Of supreme importance is to teach and live God’s truth (1 John 5:2). Godly love never turns its freedom into an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13). Love never rejoices in anything that is false or unrighteous (1 Corinthians 13:6). Love refuses to do anything, even things that are not sinful in themselves, that might offend a brother’s conscience and cause him to stumble (Romans 14:21). Love is kind and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

The definition of love (Romans 13:10)
Love does not wrong to a neighbor and therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. When Jesus was asked by a lawyer (one skilled in the interpretation of God’ Law) what commandment was the foremost of all He answered, “The foremost is Hear O Israel! The Lord Our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31).

The first and greatest law is to love God.

Israel's Rejection is Passing (Romans 11:25-32)

We have already studied the truth that Israel’s rejection is partial (Romans 11:1-10). Paul, a past remnant and a present remnant all proved that Israel’s rejection is only partial. We also have seen the truth that Israel’s rejection has its purposes (Romans 11:11-24). God is using Israel’s rejection for the purpose of giving the Gentiles the opportunity to be saved by His grace and God is using Israel’s rejection for the purpose of graciously warning the Gentiles of His severity. Now we see that Israel’s rejection is passing (Romans 11:25-32).

Paul began leading into the truth that Israel’s rejection is passing in Romans 11:23-24. Paul pointed out that if Israel did not continue in their unbelief that God would graft them in again (Romans 11:23). This establishes the truth that God will not reject anyone who repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile. Paul also turned to the Scriptures to show that the day is coming when Israel will not continue in unbelief and God will graft them in again (Romans 11:25-27).

So the Gentiles who are now being shown mercy are not to be arrogant (Romans 11:18), conceited (Romans 11:20), or wise in their own estimation (Romans 11:25) against Israel because Israel’s rejection is passing (Romans 11:25-32). This section gives us three very good reasons to praise and glorify God:

First, we are to praise and glorify God for His sovereignty (Romans 11:25).
In God’s sovereign plan, Israel’s hardening is not total but is partial – “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uniformed of this mystery (a truth which in other generations was not made known but has now been revealed) – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel.” Not every Jew has been or will be hardened. God in His sovereignty has graciously preserved a believing remnant of Israel so that His promises to them can be fulfilled. In God’s sovereign plan Israel’s hardening is not total but is partial.

In God’s sovereign timing, Israel’s hardening is not permanent but is temporary – “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Here we notice God’s perfect sovereign timing – He will not bring Israel to national repentance until He has saved the fullness of the Gentiles. Israel’s hardness will last only for God’s divinely determined duration. There is a fullness for Israel (Romans 11:12) and a fullness for the Gentiles (Romans 11:25). The fullness of the Gentiles will come first because when the fullness of Israel comes in then Christ will return and set up His millennial Kingdom and usher in eternity. Today, God in His grace is visiting the Gentiles and taking out a people for His name (Acts 15:12-14). A remnant of individual Jews are being saved, but this present age is primarily a time when God is saving Gentiles and building His church. When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then God will once more deal with the nation of Israel. In God’s sovereign timing, Israel’s hardening is not permanent but is temporary. We are to praise and glorify God for His sovereignty.

Second, we are to praise and glorify God for His faithfulness (Romans 11:26-29). God is faithful to His promises (Romans 11:26). God has promised in His word that He will save all Israel (Isaiah 59:20) and He will keep His promise. This is a promise for national conversion. It does not mean that every Jew that has ever lived will be saved but that the Jews living when Jesus returns will receive Him and be saved (see Zechariah 12-13 especially 12:10). God’s promise to save all Israel is preceded by His promise to take out from among the Gentiles a people for His name and is followed by His promise to restore Israel afterwards through the appearing of the Deliverer (Acts 15:12-18).

God is faithful to His covenant (Romans 11:27-28). God chose Israel in His grace and not because of any merit in her (Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 9:1-6). Since the nation was not chosen because of its goodness, God has made a covenant to take away their sins (Romans 11:27). This quote is from Isaiah 59:21 and emphasizes that when the promise is fulfilled by the appearing of the Deliverer, God will then be faithful to His covenant to take away Israel’s sins. God’s covenant with Abraham was unconditional and therefore God will accomplish this totally by His grace through the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in God’s sovereign timing. However, because Israel is right now partially hardened and enemies of the Gospel it appears that they have been rejected by God and that God is not going to be faithful to His covenant. That is not true. They are enemies of the Gospel right now so that we Gentiles can be saved (Romans 11:28). But God is not through with them and from the standpoint of God’s choice and for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are beloved (Romans 11:28). God will keep His covenant with Israel.

God is faithful to His nature (Romans 11:29). Since God does not change, His gifts to Israel and His calling of Israel cannot be changed. God is immutable. He is unchanging in His nature. God will not change His plans for Israel’s spiritual regeneration. This verse speaks of gifts. If something is a gift then it must be by grace or unearned. This verse also speaks of calling. Paul has already established the truth that God’s calling is also by grace. Just as God’s gifts and calling cannot be earned, neither can they be overturned – they are irrevocable. They are irrevocable because God is faithful to His nature. We are to praise and glorify God for His faithfulness.

Third, we are to praise and glorify God for His graciousness (Romans 11:30-32). Paul’s explanation of God’s grace has gone full circle. First, because of Israel’s unbelief, the nation was partially and temporarily set aside, and the Gospel of salvation was extended to the Gentiles (Romans 11:30). Second, if God extended His grace to pagan Gentiles even while they were in unbelief, how much more surely will He extend His grace again to His chosen people Israel while they are in unbelief (Romans 11:31)? Finally, God has completed the full circle of His grace by shutting up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. God has included all in unbelief so that all may have the opportunity to be saved by grace (Romans 11:32). There is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are to praise and glorify God for His graciousness.

We are not to be arrogant, conceited, or wise in our own estimation against Israel because Israel’s rejection is passing. This gives us three reasons to praise and glorify God. We are to praise and glorify God for His sovereignty, for His faithfulness, and for His graciousness.

Israel's Rejection: Warning to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24)

Romans 11:1-36 is establishing the truth that God has not forever rejected Israel because of their rejection of Christ, but that God is a promise keeping, wise, and redeeming God who is worthy of worship and praise. We have already considered the truth that Israel’s rejection is only partial (Romans 11:1-10). We have began considering the truth that Israel’s rejection has its purposes (Romans 11:11-24). There are two main purposes that arise from Israel’s rejection of the Gospel and God’s rejection of the majority of the nation. First, Israel’s rejection is bringing salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15). Second, Israel’s rejection is serving as a warning to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24).

We have already considered the first purpose of Israel’s rejection – that it is bringing salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15). Since the majority refused to believe in salvation by grace through faith in Christ, it opened and has extended the opportunity for Gentiles to be saved. The Bible makes it clear that when Israel believes in Christ, He will come again and the door to salvation will be closed (Acts 3:19-21). Now we will begin our consideration of the second purpose of Israel’s rejection – that it is serving as a warning to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24).

We are living in the day of what I term, “Positive Christianity.” Over the last century there have arisen more and more proponents of a positive Christianity who insist that preaching should be positive and never negative. In our day, what is needed preaching is often called negative preaching. The motto of the day is, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.” After all, we are living in the dispensation of grace, which according to the proponents of positive Christianity, leaves no room for anything negative in the preacher’s message.

It is precisely here that positive preachers fail to accurately communicate the grace of God. Even the warnings of God are expressions of His great grace and mercy. Negative preaching that warns of the severity of God is as needed as positive preaching that woos with the kindness of God. We have already been wooed with the kindness of God where we have seen that He is using the rejection of Israel to bring salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15). Now let us consider three warnings of the severity of God to the Gentiles through His rejection of Israel (Romans 11:16-24).

First, God in His grace warns us against arrogance toward Israel (Romans 11:16-18). We notice the word arrogant twice in verse 18. The word “arrogant” carries the idea of “to brag or to boast against.” The KJV uses the word “boast” instead of “arrogant” – “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” Arrogance is over-exalting one thing at the expense of another which results in wrong conclusions. This is boasting with a sense of false superiority. So in these verses we as Gentiles are warned against arrogance toward Israel. Let’s follow Paul’s argument and take heed to the warning against arrogance toward Israel.

First, we must understand God’s overall plan for Israel (Romans 11:16). The apostle Paul used the principle of the offering of first-fruits to establish Israel’s future revival in God’s plan of salvation. The principle of the offering of first-fruits was that the Lord’s acceptance of the first piece offered was an “earnest” or pledge on His part of a full and final acceptance of the remaining harvest. Not only was this principle symbolized in the offering of the first sheaf of barley presented to the Lord at the beginning of the harvest season (Leviticus 23:9-14) but also in the offering of the first piece of dough when Israel entered the Promised Land (Numbers 15:18-20).

Paul used the concept of the first-fruits pinched from the dough as an offering to God to teach that since God has accepted the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He will also accept the remaining harvest of Israel who have the same faith of the patriarchs. God is not through with Israel because His promises to Abraham concerning them and the principle of first-fruits have not been fulfilled yet. God is going to bring in a full and final harvest of Israel (Romans 11:25-27). There is no need for Gentile arrogance toward Israel.

Second, we must understand God’s overall place for Israel (Romans 11:16-18). Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). There is no getting around this truth. The promises of God for salvation are in His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through whom is the Christ. It is in Christ Jesus alone that the blessings of Abraham come to the Gentiles (Galatians 3:14). This means that the patriarchs are both the first-fruits in God’s overall plan for Israel and the root in God’s overall place for Israel.

The root provides nourishment to the branches, not the branches to the root. God did not graft in the Gentiles to provide nourishment to the root but so that the root could provide nourishment to the Gentiles. It is connection to the root that determines fruit. God did not graft in the Gentiles because they were fruitful but so that they would become fruitful.
Who in his right mind believes that the root is dependent upon the branches rather than the branches upon the root? No branch supports the root – the branch either partakes of the rich root or perishes. The branch does not impart life to the root or improve the life of the root. All that the connected branch can do is bear the fruit of the root (John 15:1-11).

Branches were broken off – some, not all (Romans 11:17) – not because they failed to provide life to the root but because they failed to receive life from the root. We as Gentiles are not to over-exalt a false superiority over the branches that were broken off. We are not to boast against the cut off Jews. Arrogance is a false claim of superiority and worth. Arrogance denies salvation by grace and exalts salvation by works or worth. To claim Jewish unworthiness and Gentile worthiness is to make the same mistake that the broken off Jews made concerning their false superiority over the Gentiles. God doesn’t change. If He judged the arrogant Israelites He will judge arrogant Gentiles. God in His grace warns us of the dangers of grace rejecting arrogance toward Israel.

Next, God in His grace warns us against conceit toward Israel (Romans 11:19-20). Both arrogance and conceit are forms of pride. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling (Proverbs 16:18). Pride is the antithesis of grace. The person full of pride would believe that he is saved because of his worthiness and not in spite of his wretchedness. He would misinterpret God’s grace as a sign of his own goodness.

Paul anticipated the prideful response of the Gentiles toward Israel and that there was real danger for the Gentiles to misinterpret God’s grace as a sign of their own goodness or worth (Romans 11:19). We are not to misinterpret God’s grace as a sign of our own goodness.

Paul answered the prideful response of the Gentiles toward Israel and gave a warning against conceit (Romans 11:20). Paul explained the reason for the broken off branches – their unbelief! The broken off branches stumbled because of unbelief. The grafted in branches stand because of faith. Since pride is the antithesis of grace it is a manifestation of unbelief. The branches were broken off for unbelief which means they thought too highly of themselves and saw no need for grace. They were conceited.

So Paul issued a warning against conceit. “Do not be conceited, but fear.” Conceited means having an excessively favorable opinion of oneself. It is to be wrongheaded and wrong-hearted about your own ability or importance. Instead of being conceited, we should fear. The word fear comes from the word phobia. It means “to put to flight; terrify; to frighten.” We should be terrified or frightened of any trace or evidence of arrogance or conceit toward those who are perishing. We should especially be terrified if we are prideful toward broken off Israel. The Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ doesn’t puff up – it humbles; it doesn’t make you conceited – it makes you contrite. God in His grace warns us against grace rejecting conceit toward Israel.

Finally, God in His grace warns us of His immutable holiness (Romans 11:21-24). The word “immutable” means that God does not change. This is speaking of His essence and His nature. The holiness and righteousness of God will never change and will never be compromised. On this basis, Paul issued a warning to the Gentiles from the example of God’s dealings with Israel.

Paul antidoted the prideful response of the Gentiles toward Israel and warned of God’s impartiality (Romans 11:21). Here is a powerful antidote for Gentile pride – “For if God did not spare the natural branches [physical descendants of Abraham; Israel], He will not spare you [Gentiles], either.” Pride is the antithesis of grace and is outright unbelief. If God did not spare Israel for their pride and unbelief, He certainly will not spare the Gentiles for pride and unbelief. We are to learn from Israel’s mistakes and not repeat them. God is no respecter of persons. He does not show personal favoritism. No man will ever be able to boast before God and therefore we should never be arrogant or conceited.

Paul analyzed the perfect righteousness of God toward both belief and unbelief and warned of God’s severity (Romans 11:22-24). If there is one thing we should learn from Israel’s pride and unbelief, it is the severity of God toward pride and unbelief – no matter who is guilty. The immutable holiness of God which shows itself in the perfect righteousness of God has both a positive and a negative outworking.

First, Paul analyzed the negative side of the perfect righteousness of God (Romans 11:22). God is unchanging in His dealings with pride and unbelief. Since pride and unbelief are rejections of the grace of God, God in His perfect righteousness gives the unrepentant what he or she deserves and has earned – eternal destruction. All men are sinners and all men have earned death and eternal destruction as sin’s wages. God has provided the only remedy by which He can give sinners who have earned Hell what they have not earned – Heaven – while still upholding His perfect righteousness. God saves by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. Salvation is by the kindness of God and not the works of man. Those who do not see their need for God’s grace through faith in Christ will receive the severity of God’s perfect righteousness.

Second, Paul analyzed the positive side of the perfect righteousness of God (Romans 11:22-24). God is unchanging in His dealings with humble repentance and belief. Since repentance and belief are receptions of the grace of God, God in His perfect righteousness gives the repentant and believing sinner what he does not deserve but what has been earned for him by Another – eternal life! “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). That’s grace! As long as Gentiles repent and believe they will be grafted in and given eternal life. If the Gentiles ever get to the point that they no longer repent and believe they will be cut off (Romans 11:22). If Israel ever gets to the point where they no longer are prideful and unbelieving, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again (Romans 11:23-24).

God is immutable in His holiness and perfect in His righteousness. His mercy is for anyone who believes whether Jew or Gentile. His wrath is for anyone who does not believe whether Jew or Gentile. We must never forget or lose the doctrine of both the kindness and severity of God.

God’s dealings with unbelieving Israel clearly show His unchanging nature toward pride and unbelief. Since He didn’t spare them, He will not spare anyone else either. Is God going to destroy all who have not been humbled and brought to repentance and belief through the Gospel? Yes!

God’s dealings with the believing Gentiles clearly show His unchanging nature toward humble repentance and belief. Since He grafted them in, He will certainly graft in anyone else who believes. Is God going to redeem all who have been humbled and brought to repentance and belief through the Gospel? Yes!

Israel's Rejection is Bringing Salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15)

In Romans 11:1-36, the apostle Paul proves that God has not rejected Israel and that He is not through with them as a nation. God is faithful! He keeps His promises and nothing or no one can stop Him from doing what He has said He will do. This is the thrust of Paul’s argument from Romans 9 through Romans 11. Paul is proving in these chapters that Israel’s past election was by God’s grace and not their deeds (Romans 9 – God’s sovereignty); that Israel’s present rejection of salvation by grace is by failure to submit to God’s Word (Romans 10 – human responsibility); and that Israel’s future reception of salvation by grace is by God’s faithfulness in spite of Israel’s rejection (Romans 11 – God’s wisdom and ways).

So Romans 11:1-36 is proving that God has not forever rejected Israel and that He is a faithful, promise-keeping God. We could outline Romans 11 like this: Israel’s rejection is only partial (Romans 11:1-10). Israel’s rejection has its purposes (Romans 11:11-24). Israel’s rejection is passing (Romans 11:25-32). Israel’s rejection is to the praise of God’s glory (Romans 11:33-36).

Romans 11:1-10 proves that Israel’s rejection is only partial. Paul gave three proofs in those verses that Israel’s rejection is only partial: (1) Paul was proof - Paul was a saved Israelite so God hadn’t totally rejected Israel (Romans 11:1). (2) A past remnant was proof – in Elijah’s day of widespread apostasy God reserved for Himself 7,000 (Romans 11:2-4). (3) A present remnant was proof – there were other saved Israelites in Paul’s day and continue to be to this day (Romans 11:5-10).

Romans 11:11-24 proves that Israel’s rejection has its purposes. There are two main purposes that God is accomplishing through the rejection of Israel: (1) Israel’s rejection is bringing salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15) and (2) Israel’s rejection is serving as a warning to the Gentiles (Romans 11:16-24). For now we will consider that Israel’s rejection is bringing salvation to the Gentiles.

Israel’s Rejection is Bringing Salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-15).

Not only is Israel’s rejection partial – God is preserving a remnant so that He can fulfill His promises to them – Israel’s rejection has its purposes. God is using Israel’s rejection to bring salvation to the Gentiles.

We can praise God’s wisdom and ways because Israel’s fall is not permanent – “They did not stumble so as to fall did they” (Romans 11:11). The word Paul used here for “fall” is a word that means to fall completely out of sight or beyond recovery. In other words, did their stumble injure or paralyze them beyond healing? Perish the thought! That could never happen or else God’s Word will fail.

We can praise God’s wisdom and ways because Israel’s fall is for a purpose – “But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous” (Romans 11:11). Israel’s transgression – her rejection of the Gospel of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ – has brought salvation to the Gentiles. Israel refused it so God offered salvation to the Gentiles – “To the Jew first and then to the Greek.” In one of His parables, the Lord Jesus said that those who had been invited to the King’s wedding feast refused to come so He sent His servants to the main highways to invite as many as they found to the feast (Matthew 22:1-14). He was speaking of the rejection of the Jews that would precipitate the invitation to the Gentiles.

We can praise God’s wisdom and ways because if Israel’s fall is profitable, then their fullness will be perfection (Romans 11:12). Here Paul argues from the lesser to the greater – he is saying that if Israel’s fall (transgression) is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles then their fullness will mean the restoration of all things (see Acts 3:17-21)!

We can praise God’s wisdom and ways because Israel’s fall and Gentile blessing is provoking some of Israel to salvation (Romans 11:13-14). When Israel sees others receiving their promises and their blessings by faith rather than by works – some of them will get saved.

We can praise God’s wisdom and ways because if Israel’s fall is reconciliation of the world then their acceptance will be resurrection (Romans 11:15). God will revive Israel! He is going to grant Israel repentance (Zechariah 12:10); deliver Israel from ungodliness (Romans 11:26; Isaiah 59:20); and keep His covenant with them (Romans 11:27; Isaiah 59:21). The Lord will come and set up His kingdom and Israel’s acceptance will be resurrection from the dead (Revelation 19:11 – 20:6).

One of the purposes of Israel’s rejection is to bring salvation to the Gentiles. We can praise God’s wisdom and ways and for the glory of His grace.

Israel’s fall is not permanent but has the purpose of bringing salvation to the Gentiles, restoration to the world, revival to Israel, and resurrection from the dead.

A Present Remnant is Proof God Hasn't Rejected Israel (Romans 11:5-10)

Have you ever made a promise that you did not keep? For that matter, have you ever made a promise that you did not intend to keep? Sad to say but both of these are situations that are common in the human experience because of our common fallen condition. These are serious offenses for people created in the image of God for the express purpose of accurately reflecting the nature and character of God. Every time we make a promise and don’t keep it, we are reflecting something that is absolutely not true about God. No matter what vow we have made, if we break it we are liars and prove ourselves to be untrustworthy – even if we had our fingers crossed when we made the promise.

Has God ever made a promise that He did not keep? Has God ever made a promise that He does not intend to keep? God is truth and there is no lie in Him at all. It is impossible for God to lie, therefore it is impossible for God to fail to keep His promises. The apostle Paul knew that there would be people who would interpret his preaching of Israel’s failure to believe the Gospel and the hardening of the majority of the nation as a sign that God had rejected Israel (Romans 11:1) and failed to keep His promises (Romans 9:6). So in Romans 11:1-10, Paul gave three proofs that Israel’s rejection was only partial in order to help the Christians at Rome (both Jew and Greek) understand that God keeps His promises and men need God’s grace.

The first proof that Paul gave to show that God has not rejected Israel was his own salvation as an Israelite (Romans 11:1). The second proof that Paul gave to show that God has not rejected Israel was Elijah and the remnant of 7,000 (Romans 11:2-4). The third proof that Paul gave to show that God has not rejected Israel was the present remnant that received grace while the rest were hardened (Romans 11:5-10). All of this was to show that God keeps His promises and therefore we can trust and serve Him because of His great faithfulness. This portion of Scripture shows us three reasons we can trust and serve God.

First, we can trust and serve God because He graciously preserves a remnant of Israel so that He can keep His promises to them (Romans 11:5). From the fall of man into sin in the Garden of Eden, the devil and his demons have done everything in their power to thwart the promises and purposes of God. Their first attempt was to defile the entire human race through cohabitation so that they could destroy the godly, believing line of men and women through whom Christ would come into the world. God sent a flood and destroyed the whole world except for Noah and his family. God preserved a godly line to keep His promises to Adam and Eve.

After the earth was repopulated, God entered into a covenant with Abraham and promised to bring the deliverer through his descendants. Once again there was an attempt to thwart God’s promises and purposes with an attempt to destroy the Hebrew race by destroying all the male Hebrew children. But God rescued Moses and raised him up as a deliverer from Egyptian bondage.

When Christ was born an attempt was made to take His life through the killing of all the male children two years old and under in the region where He was born – but God warned Joseph in a dream and sent them to Egypt ahead of the slaughter.

All through Israel’s history the nation was tempted and led into apostasy and idolatry but God kept for himself in every generation a remnant of Jewish believers. Nothing can stop God from keeping His promises.

Second, we can trust and serve God because salvation is by grace and not works (Romans 11:6-7). If our blessings depend upon our efforts; if our salvation is determined by our works; if our pleasing God is decided by our abilities then we are all doomed. If these things were true then we could never trust and serve God because in the end it would all be for naught. If salvation is conditioned upon our works rather than God’s grace in Jesus Christ then the promise of salvation is one that God doesn’t intend to keep because no man can be saved by the works of his own hands.

Those who seek to be saved by works rather than by grace will not be saved because the promise of God for salvation is in Jesus Christ in whom all the promises of God are “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). The problem with the majority of Israel was that they sought salvation as though it were by works and therefore didn’t enter into the promises of God (Romans 11:7) and proved themselves to be children of the flesh rather than children of the promise (Romans 9:8). Thank God salvation is by grace!

Third, we can trust and serve God because His judgments are righteous (Romans 11:8-10). The context of these two quotes from the Old Testament gives us the setting for God’s just judgment on the majority of the nation. First, Paul quoted from the writings of Moses to show that Israel rejected God’s miraculous signs (Romans 11:8; Deuteronomy 29:1-4). The Psalmist in Psalm 106:7, giving commentary on Israel’s rebelliousness, added the truth that Israel rejected God’s multitude of mercies – “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders [miracles]; they did not remember Your abundant kindness [multitude of mercies], but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.” Next, Paul quoted from the writings of David to show that Israel rejected God’s Messiah [King] (Romans 11:9-10; Psalm 69:22-23; Psalm 35:1-7).

In light of the truth that Israel rejected God’s miracles, His mercies, and His Messiah, we see that the judgments of God are righteous, that He will judge the world in righteousness, and that He always does what is right.

We can trust and serve God because He preserves a remnant so that He can fulfill His promises; salvation is by His grace, not our works; and His judgments are righteous. God keeps His promises and men need His grace.

A Past Remnant is Proof that God Hasn't Rejected Israel (Romans 11:2-4)

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, in the eleventh chapter, is dealing with the question of whether or not God has rejected Israel. He opened up this chapter with this question: “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has he?” This question is of utmost importance because if God has made specific promises to this nation that He is not going to keep then the trustworthiness of God is on the line. If God cannot be trusted to keep His promises to Israel, then logic would dictate He cannot be trusted to keep any of His promises. This would mean that His promise, whoever believes in Christ will not be disappointed, cannot be trusted. This would mean that His promise that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, cannot be trusted. This would mean that God is not to be trusted.

However, we know that God keeps His promises and that it is impossible for God to lie. We as God’s people are fully assured that what God has promised, He is also able to perform. There are those who say that God has forever rejected Israel because of Israel’s rejection of Christ. However, I want to be quick to point out that those who believe that God has rejected Israel and is through with the nation do not believe that God doesn’t keep His promises. On the contrary, they believe that He does keep His promises but that His promises to Israel were conditional promises and not unconditional. But as is plain from Romans chapter eleven, God has not rejected Israel and therefore He has not violated His promise to the nation which we believe to be an unconditional promise given at first to Abraham and then to Isaac and then to Jacob whom God changed his name to Israel.

In Romans 11:1-10, Paul gave three proofs that God that God has not rejected Israel and therefore has not violated His promise. First, Paul pointed to himself as a saved Israelite whom God has not rejected (Romans 11:1). Second, Paul pointed to Israel’s past during a time of great apostasy in Elijah’s day to show that God had not rejected His people but had a remnant (Romans 11:2-4). Third, Paul pointed to the truth that a present remnant had received grace while the majority was hardened (Romans 11:5-10).

We have already considered Paul is proof that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial (Romans 11:1). Now we will consider Romans 11:2-4.

The remnant of Elijah’s day is proof that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial (Romans 11:2-4). The story of Elijah is of great importance to establishing this truth that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial. If there had ever been a time in the history of the Israel that God should have outright rejected them, this was one of them. It was a time of widespread apostasy. This was during the reign of Ahab, the King of the ten northern tribes known as Israel. Ahab’s wife was Jezebel, a priestess of Baal, who, with her prophets of Baal, led seemingly the entire nation into apostasy and idolatry.

Baal was a false heathen god who was believed to be in control of the weather. He was the lord of Canaanite religion and seen in the thunderstorms. Baal was worshiped as a great god who provided fertility. It was in the middle of this apostasy and idolatry that Elijah prayed to the Lord that it would not rain for three and a half years at the end of which he would pray again for it to rain. This drought set the stage for the showdown between Elijah, God’s true prophet, and Jezebel’s prophets of Baal, to show the nation whether the Lord or Baal is God (1 Kings 18:20-46).

After Elijah’s great victory over the prophets of Baal, he expected that the nation would turn from its apostasy and come back to the Lord. Instead, Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and she sent him a death threat that made him realize that not only had the people not turned to the Lord, the King and Queen had not turned to the Lord either.

Elijah fled for his life, becoming despondent and depressed because he believed that he was the only faithful Israelite left in the land. This brought about Elijah’s pleading with God against Israel – “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life” (Romans 11:3; 1 Kings 19:10).

Surely God had rejected Israel and failed to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At least this is how it appeared but this wasn’t how things really were. As Paul put it, “But what is the divine response to him? ‘I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal’” (Romans 11:4; 1 Kings 19:18).

The divine response to Elijah was that God had preserved a believing remnant in Israel. This is important because this shows that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial. If God were going to reject the nation He would not preserve or keep for Himself a remnant.

Paul is proof that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial. Elijah and the remnant of 7000 are proof that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial. God has not failed to remain true to His covenant with Abraham. God’s rejection of Israel is only partial because God is a promise keeping God.

God Has Not Rejected Israel: Paul is Proof (Romans 11:1)

Most people who know anything about the Bible know that God has made certain promises to certain people in the past. We know these promises as covenants. Most Christians are particularly familiar with what we call the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. To Abraham God promised a Son who would be the redeemer of the world and He promised Abraham the land from the river of Egypt as far as the Euphrates. When God made this promise to Abraham He did it through the ritual of a covenant. God had Abraham cut certain animals in half and make a path in between the pieces by laying the halves opposite each other with a space in between. God then passed in between these animals cut in half and swore to Abraham that He would bring about what He promised (Genesis 15:7-18).

Abraham did not pass in between the animals cut in half, only God did. This means that God’s promise to Abraham was unconditional. In other words, there were no conditions that Abraham would have to meet for the promise to come about. God was making a promise to Abraham without Abraham having to make a promise of some sort back to God. This was not God saying to Abraham, “I’ll do this...if you do that.” That is a conditional promise. This was an unconditional promise – no strings attached.

God’s passing through the animals cut in half was an ancient Near East custom. The one making the promise passed between the slain animals and was in essence saying, “May the same thing happen to me that happened to these animals if I don’t keep my promise.”

God also made a promise to King David which we call the Davidic Covenant. In that covenant God promised David that one from his lineage would rule forever over God’s kingdom. Of course we know that God was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God keeps His promises. We as God’s people are to be fully assured that what God has promised, He is also able to perform. The author of the letter to the Hebrews appealed to the trustworthiness of God to encourage them to remain steadfast in the face of persecution and opposition. “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:13-18).

There are those who say that God has forever rejected Israel because of their rejection of Christ. Paul takes up this subject in this chapter. Here we see that the trustworthiness of God is on the line. Can we trust God to keep His promises – especially if He hasn’t kept His promise to Israel?

In Romans 11:1-10, the apostle Paul gave three proofs that God hasn’t rejected Israel and therefore hasn’t violated His promise. First, Paul points to himself as a saved Israelite whom God has not rejected (Romans 11:1). Second, Paul points to Israel’s past during the time of great apostasy in Elijah’s day to show that God had not rejected His people but had a remnant (Romans 11:2-4). Third, Paul points to the truth that a present remnant received grace while the majority was hardened (Romans 11:5-10). Paul uses these proofs to show that the setting aside of Israel was only partial because God keeps His promises.

Paul is proof that God’s rejection of Israel is only partial (Romans 11:1). In Romans 11:1 Paul asks a rhetorical question. That is a question that isn’t seeking an answer but making a statement. Paul emphatically states that there is no way that God has rejected His people. He uses the strongest negative in the Greek language to make his point – “May it never be!” In other words, “God forbid” or “perish the thought.” For God to reject His people would be for God to be untrue to His promises to them.

Now I want to point out in a hurry that God is under no obligation to keep misinterpreted promises. Just as in Romans 9:6-13, Paul explained that the Jews had misinterpreted God’s promise to Abraham as wholesale for all of Abraham’s descendants – it wasn’t for all his descendants as Paul proved from Scripture – it is possible to misinterpret His promises and believe that He has failed to keep His word.

How does Paul prove that God has not rejected His people and gone back on His Word? First of all, Paul points to the evidence that he too is an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. The logic is that if God has rejected His people then He would have also rejected the apostle Paul.

Were there any reasons that God would have rejected Paul? Well sure! We remember Paul’s past. He was no different than any other Israelite. He was seeking to establish a righteousness of his own through the Law as a Pharisee. He was depending upon his heritage as a descendant of Abraham. He was especially proud of the fact that he was of the tribe of Benjamin which was also the tribe from which the first king of Israel, Saul, came from. At first he rejected Christ and his witnesses. He persecuted the church. However, God saved him by grace and did not reject him.

The Jews had failed God. Paul had failed God. But God did not fail to remain true to his covenant with Abraham which was not a covenant that promised every single descendant of Abraham would be saved but that God would save some of them based solely on His grace and good pleasure. Those who were of the faith of Abraham are the children of Abraham and these are the heirs to the promises of God.

God’s rejection of Israel was only partial because He is a promise keeping God. Are you fully assured that what God has promised, He is able to perform?

Israel's Failure to Heed the Gospel (Romans 10:18-21)

I would like to give a quick summary of Romans 9-11 so that we can keep our text in its proper context to better understand what God is saying in this portion of Scripture. These three chapters are dealing primarily with the reasons for Israel’s rejection of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans chapter 9 describes Israel’s false hope of salvation by works rather than by grace. As a whole, most Jews believed they were guaranteed God’s favor because of their ancestry and their ability. In essence, they believed God chose Abraham because of Abraham’s ability to please God rather than the truth that God saved Abraham by grace (a truth firmly established in Romans 4). All through Scripture we see the Jews appealing to their ancestry and claiming Abraham as their father. Romans chapter 9 obliterates this false hope of salvation and establishes the truth that salvation is by grace and not by ancestry or ability.

Romans chapter 10 describes Israel’s failure to heed the message of salvation by grace. Since it was true that the majority of the Jews had a false hope of salvation based on their ancestry and ability, their failure to heed the message of salvation by grace was the logical and inevitable outcome. Their false hope of salvation by works led to their failure to heed the message of salvation by grace.

Romans chapter 11 describes Israel’s future salvation by grace after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Chapter 11, while dealing with Israel’s rejection and the good that God would accomplish through it (bringing salvation to the Gentiles), tempers the bad news about Israel’s stubborn disobedience with the good news that God will one day save Israel by grace.

As we conclude chapter 10 we will be considering the truth that Israel’s failure to heed the message about salvation by grace in Christ was predicted in Scripture. Chapter 10 deals with both the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ (God doesn’t save any other way than through faith in Christ) and the inclusiveness of salvation in Christ (it is for anyone who believes, Jew or Gentile). Israel failed to heed both of these aspects of the Gospel message and therefore Christ became a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to them.

Israel failed to heed the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ (10:18). Had they ever heard? Sure they had! Over and over God sent His prophets and they preached of the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ. In Genesis 3, God promised Adam and Eve that He would send an exclusive deliverer through the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head.

When giving the promise to Abraham and his seed, God spoke in the singular and not the plural (Galatians 3:16), speaking of Christ and the exclusiveness of salvation through Him. Moses also stated that God would raise up one exclusive Prophet to whom you shall give heed to everything He says or utterly be destroyed from among the people of God (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22-23). God proclaimed through Isaiah about the exclusive Suffering Servant who would pay sin’s penalty for His people.

Instead of trusting in the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ, Israel trusted in ancestry and ability rather than the finished and sufficient work of Christ. The exclusiveness of salvation in Christ was a stumbling stone to the Jews.

Israel failed to heed the inclusiveness of salvation in Christ (10:19-21). They didn’t know that God was going to include the Gentiles did they? Well, Paul gave two Scriptures that Israel failed to heed concerning the truth of the inclusiveness of the Gospel of Christ:

First, what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32:21. Here we see that the Scriptures predicted the inclusion of Gentiles in salvation in order to make Israel jealous (Romans 11:11) so that they might also be saved (Romans 11:14).

Second, what Isaiah is very bold and says in Isaiah 65:1. Here we see that God through Isaiah preached the truth that He was going to include the Gentiles who did not seek Him or ask for Him because salvation is by grace and not by works. The Jews were seeking God through their works but salvation is by grace through faith. Israel thought salvation was exclusive in the sense that they believed it was for them because of their works and not for the Gentiles because they weren’t even trying.

Paul could have given more Scripture showing that Israel should have known about the inclusion of Gentiles because of the predictions of Scripture. Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you’” (Galatians 3:8). The truth that God would include the Gentiles in salvation was reprehensible to the Jews. The inclusiveness of salvation in Christ was a rock of offense to the Jews.

Israel failed to heed God’s offer of salvation (10:21). Immediately after God told Israel through Isaiah 65:1 the truth that He was going to include Gentiles in salvation, He told them the sad truth of their condition in Isaiah 65:2 – “All the day long I have stretched out My hand to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

The apostle Paul, making application with the Scriptures, showed that Israel’s failure to heed the message of the exclusiveness of salvation in Christ and the inclusiveness of salvation in Christ, was predicted in Scripture.

The Parameters of Salvation (Romans 10:11-17)

Paul has been establishing the truth of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In his defense of the gospel he has shown that all men, including the Jews, are incapable of attaining to the righteousness of God because of men’s sin nature. Therefore, only those who have faith in Jesus Christ and His work of living a sinless life, dying a sacrificial death, and experiencing a supernatural resurrection, on their behalf, are saved.

In Romans 9-11 Paul was primarily answering the question of why the Jews who had the Word of God were mostly or as a whole rejecting the gospel of Christ and salvation by grace. Let me attempt to briefly summarize the problem of why most of the Jews rejected the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ:

(1) The Jews believed they were God’s elect and special people because they were better people than all other men in the world. This means that they believed in conditional election rather than unconditional election which would make salvation by merit and not by mercy; by works and not by grace.

(2) Since most of the Jews rejected the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, they also rejected the notion that God would save and include Gentiles in His family. By rejecting salvation by grace and attempting to exclude Gentiles from the promises and covenants of God, they excluded themselves. As a result, they did not pursue God’s righteousness by faith but as though it was by works.

(3) Since most of the Jews rejected the Gospel of grace, they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own. This caused them to reject Christ and the promises of God that are yes in Him. Instead of believing in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead and confessing Jesus as Lord, they did not believe in Him and they did not call on His name. Through this they missed the wonderful promises of God: “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed,” and, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

That brings us to our text where we will see the parameters of salvation.

Anyone can be saved who believes (Romans 10:11-13). I want you to notice something very important in the particular order of the promises found in verses 11 and 13. In verse 11 the promise is that “whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” and in verse 13 the promise is that “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The order here gives you an idea of the parameters of salvation that Paul is talking about in these verses. The logical order is that you believe in Him before you call on Him. It is your belief in Christ that enables your calling on Christ. What is it that you believe? You believe in His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection on your behalf as the only way a holy God can pardon your sins. This enables and motivates you to call out, “Lord, save me.” These two must always go together; believing in the work of Christ and as a result of that belief calling on the name of Christ. Anyone can be saved who believes.

Anyone who believes must hear (Romans 10:14-15). Here we see the parameters of salvation in reverse order. To be saved you must call on Him and to call on Him you must believe in Him and to believe in Him you must hear about Him and to hear about Him someone must tell or preach about Him and to preach about Him you must be sent by God with God’s message about Him and not your own. What do these verses say about people who have never heard God’s message about His Son? Can men be saved without hearing? Must what they hear be the truth about Christ? Look at the description the Bible gives of those who are sent and preach the good news – they are considered to have beautiful feet because they are the vehicles by which the good news about Christ is told.

It is impossible to believe in someone of whom you have never heard. Anyone who believes must hear.

Anyone who hears must heed (Romans 10:16-17). The word “heed” means to obey. The KJV puts verse 16 this way, “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” The ESV puts it like this, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” Notice how the Bible equates obeying or heeding with believing. Hearing the message and not heeding the message is because one doesn’t really believe the message.

In verse 16, many heard but did not heed. They heard but did not believe. They heard but did not obey. Had they believed what they heard they would have obeyed what they heard and would have called on the name of the Lord. Simply put, this means that they would have seen their works as filthy rags and His as beautiful and all sufficient.

Romans 10:16 has to be the most disappointing response to the gospel recorded in Scripture – “They did not all heed the good news.” Isaiah not only experienced this disappointing response from his countrymen, he prophesied about their future rejection of the Gospel – “Lord, who has believed our report?”

Isaiah wasn’t speaking to God as a co-author of the Gospel but was referring to himself and the other prophets as heralds of that message. Isaiah was sent with a message and didn’t manufacture one.

The conclusion is that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word about Christ (Romans 10:17). Men must hear the gospel to believe in Christ and call on His name for salvation. While hearing the gospel doesn’t guarantee faith because men must heed what they hear; not hearing the gospel guarantees no chance for faith in Christ and no chance for salvation.
Anyone can be saved who believes; anyone who believes must hear; anyone who hears must heed. These are the parameters of salvation.

The Truth of Lordship Salvation (Romans 10:5-13)

Nothing is more important in Bible study and Bible preaching than proper interpretation. If we do not arrive at God’s intended message – what He was actually communicating – then we cannot arrive at proper application. This would prove disastrous in any biblical doctrine but especially in the doctrine of salvation. The dangers associated with an improper interpretation of the Gospel are either legalism or libertinism.

Legalism can be either an attempt to merit God’s favor through works of the Law or a more subtle but just as deadly adding to the finished work of Christ. In the case of adding to the finished work of Christ one would profess faith in Christ plus some other stipulation. One might say that you have to believe in Christ but you also must do this or that.

The Judaizers that hounded the apostle Paul taught that you had to believe in Christ plus be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses in order to be saved. There are those in our day who say that you must believe in Christ plus a myriad of other do’s and don’ts in order to be saved. This is legalism and it is an attempt to make Jesus Lord.

Libertinism is just the opposite of legalism and instead of attempting to merit God’s favor through works of the Law or adding to the finished work of Christ it actually is against the Law and would even dare remove Christ’s obedience to the Law as necessary for our salvation. Libertinism actually takes away from the work of Christ and in essence says that a person can be saved by believing in Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. Libertinism subtracts from the Person and work of Christ. There are many in our day that say you must believe in Jesus as Savior minus His Lordship and His perpetual obedience to the Law from the cradle to the cross. They emphasize His death and resurrection to the exclusion of His Law-keeping obedience. Libertines want to have Jesus as Savior but not as Lord – or at least His Lordship to them is optional and not necessary for salvation.

However, both legalism and libertinism are deadly counterfeits of the true Gospel. Lordship salvation is the true Gospel and it isn’t making Jesus Lord or rejecting His Lordship but receiving Him as Lord. Since both legalism and libertinism tamper with the finished and sufficient work of Christ, neither one believes the testimony God has given concerning His Son. Therefore neither one can confess or “say the same thing” about Jesus that God says about Him. Why? Their belief in His resurrection is deficient – it isn’t from understanding with the heart.

The resurrection of Christ from the dead implies His Lordship! Follow the reasoning carefully. If a man lived a perfect life in perpetual obedience to God’s Law from his birth and then died then of necessity it means that His death was substitutionary and not a result of sin or violation of God’s Law. If His death was substitutionary then He was dying on behalf of others who had sinned and violated God’s Law. Since this was the case then the Law had absolutely no reason to hold this sinless Man in the grips of death because He had never violated the Law but was only upholding it. Therefore, it was impossible that He could be held by death (Acts 2:24) and God raised Him from the dead making Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) declaring Him the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4).

Now how is a sinner who is saved by the works of this sinless Man going to respond to Him? Is he not going to love Him? Is he not going to adore Him? Is he not going to worship Him? Is he not going to obey Him? Didn’t Jesus say, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”? Didn’t Jesus say, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say”? Isn’t our obedience to Christ as Lord the result of His work on our behalf (Romans 1:5)? Isn’t the goal of the Gospel loving, loyal obedience to Christ because He saved us?

Notice in our text that salvation is a Lordship issue – “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). And then Paul gave us the divine and logical order in which this happens – “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:10). First the heart understands the necessity and the actuality of the resurrection of Christ. Then the mouth confesses Jesus as Lord. So first there is the understanding of the work Jesus did to save us and immediately afterwards – because of His work on our behalf – we confess His Lordship submitting to Him as such. What we believe brings about our obedience and the Bible calls it, “The obedience of the faith” (Romans 1:5).

The Bible gives us a wonderful illustration of the truth of Lordship salvation years before Romans was ever written. In Luke 23:32-43 we read of Jesus’ crucifixion between two criminals. One of those criminals received salvation and the other did not. It’s very interesting to see how this played out. The criminal that did not receive salvation actually spoke to Jesus and wanted Him to be his Savior – “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39)! The other criminal owned his crimes and confessed Jesus’ innocence (Luke 23:40-41). He had been brought to the place of understanding that Jesus wasn’t dying for any crimes He had committed because He hadn’t committed any and that Jesus’ death was of necessity, substitutionary.

Notice what this criminal says to the Lord after realizing this: “And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in Your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42). He believed in his heart that God would raise Jesus from the dead – “When you come!” The apostle Paul said, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Notice also that this criminal confessed with his mouth Jesus as Lord – “And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in Your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42). That is a confession of the Lordship of Christ – only Kings have kingdoms.

Lastly notice that this criminal called upon the name of the Lord – “Jesus, remember me when you come in Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Romans 10:13 – “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”