Romans 11.32-God Has Confined The Entire Human Race To Unbelief In Order That He May Extend The Offer Of Grace To Them
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 3, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:32-God Has Confined The Entire Human Race To Unbelief In Order That He May Extend The Offer Of Grace To Them
Lesson # 388
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:28.
This evening we will note Romans 11:32 and in this passage, Paul draws an inference from his teaching in Romans 11:30-31, which states God has confined the entire human race to unbelief in order that He might extend the offer of grace to the entire human race.
Romans 11:28, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.”
Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:30-31, “For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.”
Romans 11:32, “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
The statement in Romans 11:32 infers a spiritual truth that is based upon the teaching in Romans 11:30-31, which states that just as formerly disobedient Gentiles obtained grace because of Israel’s unbelief so in the same way presently unbelieving Israel because of the grace the Gentiles obtained, will obtain grace as well.
Then, in Romans 11:32, he says “therefore, we can conclude, based upon this principle in Romans 11:30-31” God has shut up all men in unbelief in order that He might extend the offer of grace to all.
“God” is the articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to the Father since the articular construction of this noun in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity.
Furthermore, the Scriptures teach that the Father is the author of the plan of salvation for men (Ephesians 1:3-14) since both the Son and the Spirit proceed from Him and execute all that He has planned from eternity past.
“Has shut up” is the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb sunkleio (sugkleivw) (soong-kli-o), which literally means “to shut together with” since it is composed of the preposition sun, “with” and the verb kleio, “to shut, close,” thus the word literally means, “to shut together with.”
Paul uses it in Galatians 3:22 of the Father “imprisoning” or “confining” all men under the sin nature and the Law.
In Romans 11:32, the verb sunkleio has the same idea of the Father rendering a judicial decision of “imprisoning” or “confining” the entire human race to unbelief.
This word is a reference to the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden at the moment of physical birth.
All of these judicial actions of the Father depicted by this verb in Galatians 3:22 and 11:32 are related to the fall of Adam since Romans 5:12-21 teaches us that the Father imputed Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden to every person at the moment of physical birth.
Thus, making every member of the human race without exception physically alive and spiritually dead as well as a sinner by nature but qualified for grace.
At the moment of physical birth every person in the human race without exception receives the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden thus rendering them physically alive but spiritually dead but qualified for grace.
The Father’s judicial decision of condemning the entire human race the moment Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden resulted in the entire human race existing in the state of not only being spiritually dead and possessing a sin nature but also being in the state of unbelief.
Unbelief manifests itself in disobedience to the commands and prohibitions of God.
So Paul is saying in Romans 11:32 that confinement or imprisonment to unbelief is a manifestation of the Father’s judicial decision of condemning the entire human race through the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden at the moment of physical birth.
Romans 11:32, “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
“All” is the articular accusative masculine plural form of the adjective pas (pa$), which refers to the entire human race without exception, both Jew and Gentiles.
This is indicated by the fact that Paul’s statement in Romans 11:32 is an inference from his teaching in Romans 11:30-31, which compares God giving grace to the formerly disobedient Gentiles because of Israel’s unbelief with extending grace to the presently disobedient Jews because of the grace obtained by the Gentiles.
This is also indicated by Paul’s teaching in Romans 5:12-21 as well.
“In disobedience” is composed of the preposition eis (ei)$) (ice), “in” and the accusative feminine singular form of the noun apeitheia (a)peivqeia) (ap-i-thi-ah), “disobedience.”
Here in Romans 11:31, the noun apeitheia means “unbelief.”
The stem of this word, has the basic meaning of “trust.”
This stem is also the basis of the formation with pist-, the root of pisteou, “to have confidence in, to trust in, and to have faith in.”
Trust can refer to a statement, so that it has the meaning to put faith in, to let oneself be convinced, or to a demand, so that it gets the meaning of obey, be persuaded.
Peitho came to mean to have faith in another such as God.
The verb peitho is consistently used in the Septuagint to translate batach, “to trust, put confidence in, inspire trust” (2 Kin. 18:19; Job 39:11; Prov. 11:28).
Peitho is the term selected by the translators of the Septuagint to describe “putting one’s confidence in” God (Ps. 2:12; Prov. 16:20; 28:25; 29:25).
In the Greek New Testament, the verb apeitheo, its cognate noun apeitheia and cognate adjective apeithes do not stand in contrast with the Greek words for “obedience” but rather they stand in contrast with the words that denote faith.
Faith is demonstrated by obedience to God’s commands whereas unbelief demonstrates one’s disobedience to God’s commands.
A survey of the verb’s usage in the Greek New Testament indicates that it was connected to unbelief, which demonstrated itself in disobedience to the command found in the gospel of Jesus Christ to believe on Him for eternal salvation (John 3:36; Acts 14:2; 19:9; Romans 2:8; 10:21; 15:30-32; Hebrews 3:18, 31; 1 Peter 2:7-8; 3:2, 20; 4:17).
In Romans 11:32, the noun apeitheia is used with reference to the unbelief of the entire human race as indicated by the articular form of the adjective pas, “the entire human race.”
The noun apeitheia functions as the object of the preposition eis, which functions as a marker of entrance into a state of being.
It indicates that through the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden at the moment of physical birth, every member of the human race without exception “entered into the state of being” confined to or imprisoned in unbelief.
“So that” is the conjunction hina (i%na), which is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb eleeo (e)leevw) (el-eh-eh-o), “He may show mercy” in order to form a purpose-result clause.
This indicates that the Father’s judicial decision of confining the entire human race to unbelief when Adam sinned accomplishes what He intended by this decision in that it would allow Him to extend the offer of grace to the entire human race.
Romans 11:32, “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
“He may be show mercy” is the third person singular aorist active subjunctive form of the verb eleeo (e)leevw) (el-eh-eh-o), which means “to extend the offer of grace.”
It refers to God the Father offering grace to the entire human race through the communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ and is appropriated only through faith alone in Christ alone.
This grace is in the form of the forgiveness of sins and being entered into an eternal relationship and fellowship with God and being made a partaker of the abundant blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.
“All” refers to the entire human race without exception, both Jew and Gentiles as it did earlier in the verse.
So in Romans 11:32, Paul draws an inference from his teaching in Romans 11:30-31, which states God has confined the entire human race to unbelief in order that He might extend the offer of grace to the entire human race.
This passage refers to a judicial decision that the Father rendered the moment that Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden when He condemned the entire human race along with Adam in order that He might extend the offer of grace to Adam and his posterity.
Romans 11:32 also teaches that God does not make distinctions and considers all men to be sinners and in need of the grace and righteousness of God and refutes the false doctrines of double-predestination and the limited atonement.