When Grace Ceases

Introduction

What does it mean for the Jews if God has put his focus on Gentiles? That question had to be going through many of the Jewish Christian minds in Paul’s day. By the time Paul wrote Romans, the non-Messianic Jews had all but won the day. Few Israelites—few Jews—were accepting Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. The number of Gentile believers far outnumbered the Jewish ones. So what did this mean for the Jews? This was what Paul was seeking to answer in chapters 9-11. After all, he ended chapter 8 with nothing being able to separate anyone from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus. Then he starts to talk about Israel’s unbelief and the seeming failure for God to live up to his word, and the seeming injustice of God’s sovereign election. Much of chapters 9-11 are Paul’s argument against those assumptions of failure and injustice.

The text this morning is no different. So what does it mean for the Jews if God has put his focus on Gentiles? Paul asks this with three of his own questions. Does it mean Israel hasn’t heard? Does it mean Israel didn’t understand? Does it mean Israel is shoved out of the way? In fact, it doesn’t mean any of those things. So then, what does it mean? That’s what we are going to look at today.

Romans 10:18–11:6 ESV

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Israel Hasn’t Heard?

The first question Paul asks and answers is simply, “Has Israel not heard?”

Romans 10:18 ESV

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

Could this be an excuse for the Israelites in Paul’s day? “Hey! We never heard that the Messiah came! Don’t blame us!” But Paul wrote that this was not a good argument. And he uses a passage of Scripture to prove his point. He quotes Psalm 19:4. But here’s the problem with Paul using this Scripture. This passage has nothing to do with the gospel message and nothing to do with the Messiah at all. Psalm 19 is a wonderful chapter of the Bible. It deals with both general revelation and special revelation. The first six verses of the chapter are general revelation, which means there is enough revealed in nature to know that there’s a God. We did not all just get here from some cosmic accident. Nature, everywhere proclaims that there is a God. “Their voice, nature’s voice, has gone to all the earth, and nature’s words to the ends of the world.” So no gospel message meant. No messianic message is meant in this verse. So why does Paul use it as a proof text? And we know it was a quote because Paul quotes it verbatim. It’s not some mere coincidence that he used similar language. It was exact language.

I think, and there are various reasons that people give, but I think that Paul is quoting the passage, but is not seeking to go back as if to say that Psalm 19:4 was referencing the gospel. The reason I say that is because there is no indication. Paul does not say, “As it is written,” or “As Isaiah wrote,” or “Moses said,” etc. He quotes it out of no where. Thus, Paul is using Scriptural language to establish a fact even though he wasn’t specifically referring back to Psalm 19. He wrote something similar, but in non-Scriptural language in

Colossians 1:23 ESV

if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

What Paul was saying is that the gospel message was everywhere. One would have to purposefully ignore the message. It was pervasive; it was ubiquitous. This wasn’t an excuse to not tell the gospel. We just saw last week that we are to do that and we see Paul pointing out in Romans 15:20 that his plan was to go to Spain because it had not been preached there. But neither can it be an excuse for those Jews at judgment day when they stand before God’s throne.

We’ve already seen that those without the law—the Gentiles—have no excuse on judgment day.

Romans 2:15 ESV

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

We saw that the Jews who had the law also have no excuse. But now we see that the Jews who cry foul because they didn’t hear have no excuse. The gospel is everywhere. The proof that it is everywhere is that every country has some type of policy regarding it: it’s either legal to proclaim it or illegal. Some promote it. Some ignore it. Some criminalize it. But the gospel is everywhere. This doesn’t make our job of evangelism any less necessary. But it certainly can make it easier. The gospel is at our fingertips 24 hours a day. We’ve got tracts, but better than that, we’ve got YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Gab, a million other ways to tell the gospel. We can text someone, send a video to someone, video chat with someone. We’ve got the Bible in every language on our phones.

Not hearing is no excuse. But neither is us not telling.

Israel Hasn’t Understood?

So the first question was answered. Has Israel heard? Yes. Everyone has. The gospel is everywhere. What then is the second question? Has Israel understood?

Romans 10:19–20 ESV

But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

Going all the way back to Moses, Paul points out that Israel was told from the beginning what God was doing. If they missed it, they then had Isaiah to reemphasize what God said to Moses. In essence, the Gentiles, not any particular nation, but the Gentiles who were rebellious and ignorant of who God was and is in the first place, would suddenly be courted by God. The consequence of God courting non-Jews would be that the Jews would become angry. They’d be jealous. And this is exactly what we see in Acts. How many times was Paul beaten, stoned, run out of town for preaching to the Gentiles even though the Jews refused to listen?

When Moses said what he said, you’ll read that Israel was going after other gods. They were cheating on God and provoking him to jealousy. Likewise, God would court those outside of Israel. Isaiah was saying the same thing. Throughout Israel’s history, they had continuously rejected the God who saved them. During Moses’s time, Joshua’s time, the Judges’ time, the king’s time, and even after the exile in some ways. When God sent his Son, they rejected him too. Jesus told a parable to explain it.

Mark 12:1–9 ESV

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

The Jews would not listen. They understood that they would lose the blessings of being God’s chosen if they refused to believe. They were told over and over again. They were told in no uncertain terms. It was not that they didn’t understand. It is that they did not care or they did not believe what God had said.

I wonder if that might be the case with some here this morning. You’ve heard the gospel just like the Jews had. Who hasn’t? You understand the meaning of the gospel. You understand that if you do not put your trust in Jesus Christ to save your soul, you will experience God’s eternal wrath in hell. The problem is that you either do not care or you do not believe. I strongly urge you to do both. Care about your eternity. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Turn from your way of life, whatever it may be, and turn to Jesus.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Israel Shoved Out of the Way?

So we have two questions asked and answered. Has Israel heard? Yes. The gospel is pervasive; it can’t be missed. Then has Israel understood? Absolutely. They were told in no uncertain terms that if they keep rejecting God and his salvation, he would offer it to others. So then, does that mean that God is shoving Israel out of the way?

Romans 10:21–11:1 ESV

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

I find these verses rather comical which I’ll explain in a moment. But here is Paul who first wrote what God said about Israel. In Isaiah 65:1, God said what we find in Romans 10:20, that he was found by those who did not seek him and that he revealed himself to those who never asked him to do so. And then in Isaiah 65:2, the very next verse, God said that he was stretching out his hands to Israel. Now the context of this shows that God still wants Israel to be his people. His hands are stretched out in love and mercy if the people would just repent and believe. But the way that Paul is writing to the Romans, it almost seems like God was stretching out his hand to shove Israel away. That’s the word that Paul used in Romans 11:1. The ESV translators translated it as “rejected,” but the word literally means to push or to shove away. So what Paul does here is make a little joke. All day long God is stretching forth his hands; in an effort to push Israel away? In other words, in order to stiff-arm Israel? And his answer is, “No way!” That’s silly. If God was stiff-arming the Jews then that means he’d have to be stiff-armed too. But he is a believer, so Israel isn’t being stiff-armed. God isn’t shoving anyone away.

But the key is still in 10:21. The Israelites, the Jews (and all of us really) are a disobedient and contrary people. That word contrary means that we are rebellious. God says do this; we want to do that. God says no. We say yes. God says wait; we say go. God isn’t stiff-arming anyone. He’s hands have been stretched out. Israel just refuses to be hugged. They refuse God’s embrace. Instead, they’d rather court the world. They’d rather find love-interests.

And as James wrote,

James 4:4 ESV

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Understand that God is not keeping you at arms distance. You are keeping yourself there. It is not that God has rejected you so much as you have rejected God for whatever this world offers. It could be your reputation. It could be your sex life. It could be your job. It could be your insecurities. There are a million different gods that you could be embracing and none of them embrace you back. Only God, in Christ’s love, embraces his people.

Then What?

So if it’s not that Israel hasn’t heard, Israel hasn’t understood, or that Israel is shoved away, then what does it mean for Israel that God has sought the Gentiles? It means that God is sovereign and gracious.

Romans 11:2–6 ESV

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Notice some key phrases in this passage about God.

He has not rejected those whom he foreknew. In other words, those who are pre-loved by God have not been rejected. When Bruce preached back in August, he brought up the actual meaning of foreknowledge and I would encourage you to find that sermon on YouTube if you don’t remember it. But for now, the word foreknow is the word we get prognosis from. Gnosis is an intimate knowledge. It doesn’t always mean physical intimacy, but it is often used in that sense, as we would see that Joseph did not know Mary until after the birth of Jesus. So God does not reject those whom he loved before they were ever born.

God kept for himself a remnant. That was true in Elijah’s day, in Paul’s day as he mentioned in verse 5, and even in our day. God is doing the work. He is keeping for himself a remnant.

This remnant was chosen by grace. In fact, Paul gives what we’d call an epexegetic wording here. That’s a $1,000 word meaning, an explanatory word. What Paul said was that “there is a remnant,” and then explained what he meant further by using the word “chosen.” It looks to us like a verb, but it’s actually a noun in the Greek. Though it doesn’t really change the meaning, it could easily be translated as “There is a remnant, a chosen remnant of grace.” God not only kept the remnant, he chose the remnant. And it was all done in, by, through his grace. The remnant did not deserve salvation, but in grace,they received it according to his choice.

Conclusion

What does it mean for Israel that God went after Gentiles? It means that Jews are left without any excuses. But it also means that Jews, like you and me as Gentiles, can still receive grace from God’s outstretched hands. It means that we are all still in the same camp. We have all sinned and we all lack God’s glory. But by God’s sovereign grace, we can be saved. There is no other way than by God’s granting us our salvation. He does not owe it to us. He cannot be coerced into giving it to us. We cannot earn it. He stretches out his gracious hands toward a rebellious and contrary people. He has enough room in his arms for all who will come. But he has no room for the gods that we try to hold onto. We cannot earn it. God is never indebted to us. As Paul wrote,

Romans 11:6 ESV

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

If we do not want it by God’s grace, then we can have it no other way. So brothers and sisters, preach grace to your lost loved ones. Let them know of God’s outstretched hands. Believe it yourself in those moments when you feel too ashamed to run to him. Those hands are still there to receive you.

If you have yet to put your faith in Jesus. I invite you to do so today. Do not harden your heart. You have heard the gospel. You understand the implications of both accepting and rejecting the gospel. Receive it now. Turn from your rebellious and contrary ways and believe that Jesus died and rose to make you right with God.