Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Short summary of
Paul had said in that the gospel, the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
He picked this theme up in by following a line of logic back: to believe one must hear the gospel, to hear one must have the gospel preached to them, to preach one must be sent - and God indeed sends
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
The conclusion was that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
Paul described the action of calling upon the Lord in two ways
Confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord
Believing in the heart that God raised him from the dead
BUT, Israel has not believed - why?
Because they didn’t hear?
No.
Because they didn’t understand?
No.
Because they were hardened in their pride and sought to earn their way to God by their own merit rather than by his grace.
And he quoted from Isaiah the prophet to describe this:
So now Paul asks a very difficult question: Has God rejected his people?
To put it another way, does a person rejecting God mean that God has rejected them?
If a person has not placed their faith in Christ right now, does that mean God has fully and finally rejected him?
If so, should we give up trying to share the gospel with some people?
The short answer is NO
Are they rejected by God?
All are disobedient, but God has mercy, and that’s the point of the gospel
God has
Should we give up on people because we think they are too far gone?
I. God has not rejected his people
Romans 11:1
God has not rejected his people because Paul, a Jew, is a Christian
Example of Elijah: God has always been at work preserving a faithful remnant among his people
Paul quotes from the book of Kings
Elijah believed he was the only one left who worshipped God, and God’s response was that he had “kept for himself” seven thousand men.
“Kept for himself” - an act of God’s sovereign purpose
Paul compares this to the present situation where God has likewise preserved a remnant who Paul is among.
The theme of grace again: This remnant is not chosen by anything other than God’s grace - God does not choose people because of their works but because of his grace
Conclusion: Israel has always been divided into “national” Israel and “true” Israel
Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking: reference back to
Israel was seeking a law that would lead to righteousness but didn’t obtain righteousness
Why?
Because they pursued it by works instead of by faith
As a result they were hardened, while the “elect” obtained righteousness
Paul then quotes and to describe the hard heartedness of Israel
Israel has been hardened just like the Pharaoh of Egypt was hardened, back in chapter 9
Again, God does not harden people who have not first hardened themselves - people in their hardened state are compromised in their ability to respond to God, but it’s still their responsibility for being in that state
Illustration: student on PCP in college - had no idea what he was doing, but he was still responsible for getting into that state
Despite all of this, God has not rejected them: Not even the ones who are hardened!
II.
God used Israel’s rejection of him for good
Romans 11:1-
Has Israel stumbled in order to fall?
Here, Israel must refer to national Israel: it’s not “remnant” Israel who stumbled
The idea is that a stumble can be recovered from, whereas a fall cannot
Illustration: Running at youth conference and stumbled, tried to catch myself but couldn’t
Israel has NOT stumbled in order to fall, but rather their stumbled is being used by God for good
Israel’s lack of faith has led to salvation for the Gentiles
Two implications:
God is able to work even human lack of faith and human evil toward his good purposes
Salvation in the Gentiles is supposed to make Israel jealous
That means that our faith in Jesus should result in lives and communities that are attractive to others, in this case particularly Jews
Christians have not always lived up to this
Our history is full of people who were horribly anti-semitic
Paul uses two “lesser to greater” arguments
If the lesser thing is good, how much better will the greater thing be!
Their trespass means riches for the world, how much more their full inclusion?
Their rejection means reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
Illustration of dough and root
Dough is a reference to
A grain offering taken from the first harvest
The cake made from this grain presented to the Lord consecrated the whole batch
Root and branches
The Patriarchs and the covenant God made with them were holy
Therefore, the branches that came off of that root (Israel) are holy
Illustration of olive tree
Warning here not to be arrogant toward Israel
Illustration: Siblings that are smug and arrogant when their sibling is in trouble
We have been joined to the root and now share in its nourishment
God has not chosen a “new” people but has adopted Gentiles into his people
We do not support the root; the root supports us
God’s redemptive plan worked out through Israel has made salvation possible for us
We owe our spiritual existence to Israel, not the other way around
We have only been grafted into this tree by God’s kindness received through faith, and that’s the only way we remain in this tree
The moment we presume that we are in this tree based on anything other than God’s grace received through faith, we have left the gospel
The gospel is not grace + ______; the gospel is grace
Not grace plus “I’m awesome”
Not grace plus work, morality, ethics, intelligence, wisdom
Just grace, received through faith
On this basis, Israel can still be grafted back into this tree through faith
IF they do not continue in their unbelief
Because God is able to graft any branch to any tree he wants
Transition: God has not rejected his people: He has used their rejection of him for good, and is able to regraft them back into his family.
III.
There remains future hope for Israel
Romans 11:25-32
Israel’s hardening is only “partial”
It has come upon only part of Israel (Remember, Paul has come to Christ)
It is temporary; until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”
Full number?
Gentiles as a whole?
Fulfillment of God’s purpose of bringing Gentiles into his kingdom
In this way all Israel will be saved
This cannot refer to only “true” Israel
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