In chapters 9, 10, and 11 of Romans, the great Apostle Paul sidetracks. He doesn’t sidetrack from his great theme of Romans, which is Righteousness by Faith, but he sidetracks from his concern for the Christian church at Rome, and he directs his concern now to his own people, the Jewish nation. Even though Paul was called by God, set aside, to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentile world, he had a tremendous burden for his own people, the Jews. This concern, this fact is all the more amazing when we realize that his own people, the Jews, hated him. They felt that he was a traitor, and yet Paul loved them, as we shall see in this study. But the fact that we are dealing now with three chapters that have to do with the Jews does not mean that we Gentile Christians should skim over these chapters, because the same Apostle tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that the history of the Jews has been recorded in the Bible, for our benefit, upon whom the ends of the worlds have come. The famous historian Santana made the statement once that if we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. That’s exactly why God has recorded the history of Israel, because he doesn’t want us to repeat what they went through. He wants us to learn from their mistakes. The Jews were a very privileged people. In fact, if you look at Romans 9:4, listen to what Paul tells about his own people: Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. He says to these Jews God had given: 1. the adoption, 2. the glory, 3. the covenants, 4. the giving of the law, 5. the service of God, and 6. finally, to them God gave the promises. Or as Paul put it in Romans 3:2 which we’ve already covered: ...They have been entrusted with the very words of God. They were a blessed people, but what did they do with this wonderful truth that God gave them? They perverted the oracles of God and they rejected the promise of God in Jesus Christ. Likewise, I believe we, as Adventists, have been a very privileged people. I believe that God has given us some wonderful truths. Foremost, 100 years ago he gave us a clear understanding of God’s unconditional good news of salvation. And if we had not made the same mistake as the Jews, this earth would have already been lightened with the glory of Jesus Christ. But we are still groping in darkness. Continue…
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 02:04:57 +0000
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