The Gifts and Callings of God

Introduction

We are coming to the end of chapter 11 and Paul is going to finalize his last argument related to the role of the Jews. Addressing the Gentiles, Paul acknowledges the enigma of the now and not yet in God’s dealings with Israel. The tension that exists between how the lost Jews respond to the gospel and their special character as God’s peoples. We are going to begin this morning in Romans 11:28 “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.”

Paul says as it relates to the gospel, they are enemies. The question to ask is whose enemies. Is it God’s or ours, or both? I think while all are true to some extent, the answer is that they are God’s enemies on one hand. Why? because they oppose the gospel and in fact have tried to hinder the gospel being spread. Remember the story of Paul in Thessalonica the Jews opposed Paul. Immediately after Thessalonica, he went to Berea where the Jews listened until Jews from Thessalonica came and stirred up trouble. So if they are the enemies of God should we declare war on them and persecute them as so many have in the past? The war we wage is a spiritual war. Preaching the gospel is our opposition, but even here, this is only part of the story.

The rest of the verses says they, the unsaved Jews are beloved. So on one hand they are opposed by God, but on the other other hand they are beloved by God. How can God war against and love at the same time? If you think that such an attitude is a contradiction think about a parent with a child. A child might choose to do something or stand for something that a parent finds utterly repulsive and wrong. The parent stands against their actions and viewpoints without compromise, but the parent still loves that child. Paul argues that while God opposes them, he still loves them because of his covenant relationship with the fathers. The fathers are the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God remember’s his covenant with them fondly and will not go back on his word.

I have hit on this point over and over again in this text: God’s faithfulness to fulfill his promises to Israel are important if He is to be trusted. Various theological positions try to get around this by saying either that the church is Israel so now God will fulfill them to us and not them; or that Christ is the perfect Israelite and all the promises are fulfilled in Him. The last perspective is partially true, but it is still sidestepping the issue.

If a man came to your family and sat you all down, mom and dad and kids and promised each of them as a family that he would give them a thousand dollars a month, but then he only gave that thousand dollars to your sister; did he keep his word. The question we must wrestle with is, Are the promises of God to Israel going to be fulfilled to Israel? If they haven’t yet Why should we be confident that God has a future for Israel? This morning we are going to look at three more reasons to be confident that God still has a plan for Israel in the future.

God’s Election is Irrevocable

Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

The first reason is that God’s gifts and calling are without repentance. Does God change His mind? This is the question theologians have asked for centuries. Genesis 6:5–6 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” seems to indicate that God changed his mind. With this one in particular, the word repent speaks of being grieved. God clearly did not change his mind about creating mankind because humans still exist today. In other passages, we must distinguish between conditional and unconditional statements.

The covenants of God can be either conditional or unconditional. I am not going to do an overview of the covenants again on this basis, but to show two specific covenants:

The Abrahamic covenant- Genesis 12:1–3 “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Later in Gen 15 God re-establishes the covenant by putting Abraham to sleep and He Himself passes through the offering showing that He alone would be responsible to keep this covenant.

The Mosaic covenant- Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:” Israel’s blessing in the land was dependent on their obedience to God.

When our text speaks of the gifts and calling of God here it is primarily referencing back to the Abrahamic covenant. The whole context has been about God’s promises to the people of Israel. The previous verse spoke about Israel being beloved because of the patriarchs. So the gifts and the calling have something to do with God’s obligations to Israel because of the covenant made to Abraham.

gifts- not the normal word for gift, but related to the words for grace, spiritual gifts etc- the benefits or blessings received not on the basis of any merit Romans 9:4 “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;”

call- This is corporate election, their inclusion in the corporate people of God- Isaiah 43:1 “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, And he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” Isaiah 45:4 “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”

This calling is extended to the Gentiles Amos 9:11–12 “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, And close up the breaches thereof; And I will raise up his ruins, And I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, Which are called by my name, Saith the Lord that doeth this.”

repentance- the normal word for repentance is metanoia while here the word is ametamelomai- which means not feeling remorse over- God isn’t sorry he gifted and called the Jews and by implication the word carries the idea of something be irrevocable.

God has made an unconditional promise to Abraham and that promise will be fulfilled. It is irrevocable because it was never dependent on Israel’s obedience. At the core to understanding this promise is the character of God:

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

God is merciful

Romans 11:30–31 “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.”

The second reason to be confident of God’s plan for Israel is His mercy. Verse 30-31 kinda give us a full circle. In the past, Gentiles were faithless and had no hope, but now we do because of their unbelief. This is a reminder that the unbelieving branches were broken off so we could be grafted in: Romans 11:19–20 “Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:” Because of their unbelief, we now have mercy.

Through your mercy they also may obtain mercy- But the cycle is not completed yet. The Jews now lie in unbelief, but their is coming a day when they will be saved. Paul has argued that God having mercy on us will provoke the Jews to jealousy. And that jealousy will eventually lead them to experience mercy themselves.

The point here is that human disobedience and divine mercy are seen in both the Jews and the Gentiles. We have both been faithless, we have both been disobedient, we are all sinners in need of a savior. We have all been brought to a point where we need a savior.

I don’t recommend this course of action, but have you ever met a bully who thought he was smarter and better at everything than everyone else. How is a teacher going to be able to teach a student like that? He already knows it all. The teacher is going to have to work with him to realize, he doesn’t know it all. It may take putting him in a situation where he fails utterly, maybe is even embarrassed by his failure before he is woken up to his need to learn.

The Gentiles were so utterly gone that their need was more obvious, but now God has worked in such a way that the Jews have to acknowledge their unbelief. When they see their Messiah on the mount and weep, they will be overwhelmingly confronted with their blindness, their pride, their foolish rejection. Its like someone who has argued for 20 minutes vehemently that Katy is not here and then she walks into the room. They will be faced with their unbelief, but the purpose of all this is so they can experience God’s mercy.

God’s Universal Desire to Save

Romans 11:32 “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

This final passage was interesting to study because of that word concluded. Concluded- to put in a place where something cannot be removed. It comes from a word that means to imprison, but the idea is that Jews and Gentiles all have experienced this time of unbelief. God hands them over to their chosen unbelief. Our own lack of faith can become our prison. Sometimes, we cannot get out of our own way so someone else can help us. It is like when you are struggling emotionally, but you push others away. You think either I don’t want to inconvenience others or I can handle it on my own. Both are a prison of your own making because most of the time, you will just did a deeper pit for yourself. Our unbelief is a prison of our own making and both Jews and Gentiles have been there.

We have been bound up in the consequences of our sin. Our refusal to take God at his word can lead to some drastic consequences. Sin is addictive. And the consequences that come from sin can make us feel like we have no other choices. Think of the girl who is considering an abortion because she got pregnant before marriage. Her boyfriend abandoned her, her parents kicked her out of the house, he church community consigned her to the outcast group. Without job or home or support she feels stuck. It is merely an illusion because help is out there and oh that we could be a help to those who find themselves in a position like this.

This is all tied to unbelief because we choose sin, we choose idolatry, we choose our own way because we do not believe God when he tells us truth. That word all reminds us that everyone of us has been here and maybe this is where you are today. I want to point out that this is only the first half of the verse. Our unbelief binds us, but this is the place where we can find mercy. Both Jews and Gentiles unbelief places them in the perfect position to receive mercy.

Who is more likely to actually receive help: A guy who works in downtown manhatten and drives a mazaratti. His bills are paid, he eats out at fancy restuarants each night and needs nothing or that homeless man on the side of the street with a sign begging for money for food? The one who sees his need will accept the help.

God has been working in Israel now for quite sometime to bring them to the point where they see their need. We are all sinners, wandered away from God. We have all be chained by our unbelief, but this puts us all in a perfect position to be saved.

God desires to extend mercy to all- Not all receive mercy, but the offer is made available to all; both Jews and Gentiles I think Paul is circling back to his statements in Romans 10:11–13 “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Whosoever, any, all Jew or Gentile can receive mercy. No matter who you are you can receive mercy, no matter what you have done, you can receive mercy.

But this is not a promise that everyone will receive mercy. This is not a promise of mercy without exception, but mercy without distinction. This is not saying “All human beings will eventually be saved” but that all humans whether Jew or Gentile can be saved. They key words here are might have. In English, we have three major moods to our verbs that describe the relationship of the action to reality. We have the indicative which states something as it really is from the perspective of the speaker. We have the imperative which expresses something you command to become reality. It hasn’t happened yet, but you are using your will to tell someone to make it so. Then you have the subjunctive mood which tells us that something possibly could become true. It is a possibility. Those words might have are in the subjunctive mood.

Conclusion

Not every Jew will be saved, but they all can be saved. The nation as a whole will one day turn to their Messiah, but that does not mean every individual will place their faith in Jesus. Jesus has made a way for everyone to be saved, Jesus desires everyone to be saved, everything he has been doing has been to open the door for everyone to be saved; but only those who receive His mercy by placing their faith in Jesus will receive that mercy. If you today feel that trap, you feel the prison of your unbelief. Living life apart from God has left you boxed in, miserable; there is hope in Jesus.

Christian, for you this morning I challenge you to meditate on the unconditional promises of God. What things has he given you that are without repentance? Meditate this morning on the heart of God who desires mercy and not sacrifice? The heart that has done all this to make the gospel available to everyone. How does knowing this is God’s heart impact your life?