Introductory remarks:
In chapter nine it was shown how God dealt with Israel in the past; in Chapter ten it presented God's present dealings with Israel; and in this chapter we will see how God will deal with Israel in the future. It is important to remember with regard to Israel, that all of the covenants God made with them were unconditional covenants, that is, we can be sure that Israel does have a future with God. "A remnant of Israel will continue, the rest of Israel is blind. But in their failure, the Gentiles have gained God's favor. Paul hopes that the Jews see their loss and turn to God again. The Gentiles shouldn't look down on the Jews, because just as God cut off Israel, they could be cut off, and just as God accepted them, He would accept the Jews again, if they turn back to Him. The prophets clearly say that God promised to remove ungodliness from Israel and take away their sins" (A survey of Romans- by Brenda). This chapter may be outlined as follows: the remnant of Israel vv. 1-10; the Salvation of the Gentiles vv. 11-24; the restoration of Israel vv. 25-36.
The Remnant of Israel
Verse 1, "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
LGT "I say then, Did God thrust away His people? May it never be. For I also am an Israelite, of [the] seed of Abraham, of [the] tribe of Benjamin."
I say then: Paul looks back and the last two chapters, especially 10:19-21.
Calvin notes on this phrase:
"What Paul has hitherto said of the blindness and obstinacy of the Jews, might seem to import that Christ at his coming had transferred elsewhere the promises of God, and deprived the Jews of every hope of salvation. This objection is what he anticipates in this passage, and he so modifies what he had previously said respecting the repudiation [denial] of the Jews, that no one might think that the covenant formerly made with Abraham is now abrogated, or that God had so forgotten it that the Jews were now so entirely alienated from his kingdom, as the Gentiles were before the coming of Christ. All this he denies, and he will presently show that it is altogether false. But the question is not whether God had justly or unjustly rejected the people; for it was proved in the last chapter that when the people, through false zeal, had rejected the righteousness of God, they suffered a just punishment for their presumption, were deservedly blinded, and were at last [temporarily] cut off from the covenant."
Did God thrust away His people: has God broken His unconditional promises made to Israel? May it never be: there has always been, and always will be a remnant of Jews who believe in Christ. At the last day, when Christ comes back to earth all Israel will be saved, that is, the ones living on earth during the last half of the Tribulation Period. For I also am an Israelite: Paul says that he is living proof that God has not forsaken the Israelites completely, for he himself is a Jew, and not a proselyte, who believes that Christ is the Promised Messiah. Of the seed of Abraham: "Descended from Abraham. The apostle mentions this to show that he was a Jew in every respect; that he had a title to all the privileges of a Jew, and must be exposed to all their liabilities and dangers. If the seed of Abraham must of necessity be cut off, he must be himself rejected. The Jews valued themselves much on having been descended from so illustrious an ancestor as Abraham (Matt. 3:9); and Paul shows them that he was entitled to all the privileges of such a descent" (Barnes). Of the tribe of Benjamin: it was the custom of the Jews to not only mention the fact that they were Jews of the seed of Abraham, but they also mentioned which of the twelve tribes they belonged, of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul did this in order that he was counted a true Israelite.
Verses 2, 3, "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? How he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life."
LGT "God did not thrust away His people, whom He foreknew. Know ye not what the Scripture says of Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they killed thy prophets, [and] they dug down thine altars, and I was left alone and they sought my life."
God did not thrust away His people, whom He foreknew: Paul assures them that God had chosen Israel, and certainly all of them had not failed Him. Know ye not what the Scripture says of Elias: Paul quotes I kings 19:10, 14, where Elijah stood for God, and he stood alone against 450 prophets of Baal. How he pleads with God against Israel: Elijah complained to the Lord that he was alone, and the Lord assured him that he was not alone.
Verse 4, "But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal."
LGT "But what says the divine answer to him? I left to Myself seven thousand men, who bowed not the knee to Baal."
"Elijah was totally unaware that God had been working in the hearts of seven thousand men. If there were seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal, then it follows that there were about twice as many women who did not bow the knee either, if you go by percentages. For the northern kingdom this was a sizeable remnant in the day of Ahab and Jezebel" (McGee). "The word Baal in Hebrew means Lord, or Master. This was the name of an idol of the Phoenicians and Canaanites, and was worshipped also by the Assyrians and Babylonians under the name of Bel; this god was represented under the image of a bull, or a calf; the one denoting the Sun, the other the Moon. The prevalent worship in the time of Elijah was that of this idol" (Barnes).
Verse 5, "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."
LGT "This then also in the present time there has been a remnant according to the election of grace."
This then also in the present time: that is, in Paul's time. There has been a remnant: a remnant of Jews that believe in Christ as Savior, just as there was a remnant in Elias' time. The remnant is few compared to the whole, and that is the way it has always been. This remnant is the true Israel that believe, and not those who simply claim to be children sons of Abraham. According to the election of grace: this gratuitous election is that at all times, the ones who believe are saved by God's grace, and that man's works are not ever considered. It is the process of salvation and not the choosing of individuals that is here being considered. God's plan of salvation has always been faith alone in Christ alone.
Verse 6, "And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise works is no more work."
LGT "But if by grace, no longer of works; since [in that case] the grace no longer becomes grace."
"In its manifestation grace loses its character of grace if it involves the least amount of works" (Meyer). The last sentence in this verse is omitted in the best manuscripts. The point Paul is making is that salvation has always been all the work of God for man, and not man's work for God. Man's work then must be defined by his simply believing what Christ accomplished on the cross, and this is not a work, but simply accepting the fact that God has already performed all the work necessary (Eph. 2:8,9). "It is important to notice that they were hardened because they failed; they did not fail because they were hardened. A lot of folk get the cart before the horse" (McGee).
Verse 7, "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."
LGT "What then? What Israel seeks for, this it did not obtain; but the election obtained [it]: and the rest were hardened,"
What then: what is the proper conclusion to this argument? What Israel seeks for: Israel sought to be saved by their own obedience to the Law. This they did not obtain; God's purpose in grace could not be accomplished in this way. But the election obtained it: Israel was chosen to be God's people, and they were; but only on God's terms, which was by faith alone in Christ alone. But the rest were hardened: those in Israel who claimed to be Israel based on their obedience to the law. Their hearts were hardened based on their stubborn decision to come to God on their own self-righteous terms; All day long have I stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people (Rom. 10:21). They were hardened because they refused the grace of God.
Verse 8, "(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day."
LGT "Just as it has been written [and stands written], God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so as not to see, and ears so as not to hear, unto this day."
Just as it has been written: they were blinded as it has been written as an example. God gave them a spirit of stupor: this is a quotation from Isaiah 29:10. This phrase means that they were in a state of unconsciousness. "For the Lord has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers hath he covered." God did not actively have a part in giving them this stupor; He allowed the natural consequence of their stupidity to take place, for they did not fight this ignorance. Eyes so as not to see: when in a stupor the eyes are not aware of the surroundings, and ears so as not to hear: the same with the hearing. Unto this day: the experience that existed during the days of Isaiah are also existing during Paul's day. The Jews rejected the Good News of grace about Jesus Christ that Isaiah prophesied about, and they rejected the Good News of Grace that Paul was teaching, and they are even rejecting the Word of God regarding the Good News of grace in our present day.
Verse 9, "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them."
LGT "And David says, Let their table be for a snare, and for a trigger stick, and for cause of offence, and for a recompense to them."
And David says: Paul is quoting Psalm 69:22; "Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap." Let their table be for a snare: this is their wicked feasting, representing their wicked prosperity in their ignorance. The Jews delighted in their feasting to their own ruin; this is not speaking of the feasts, such as Passover that God had instituted for them. And for a trigger stick: a trigger stick is a fowler's snare. And cause for offence: "What the Jew delighted in was the Law, and the Law, misunderstood, proved their ruin. In seeking a righteousness of their own based upon it, they missed and forfeited the righteousness of God which is given by faith in Christ" (TEGT). And for recompense to them: to repay them. "Their perverse attitude to the Law is avenged in their incapacity to understand and receive the gospel" (TEGT). " From the use which the apostle makes of this passage in the Psalms, it is clear that he regarded it rather as a prophetic denunciation for their sins - a prediction of what would be - than as a prayer. In this time it had been fulfilled: and the very national privileges of the Jews, on which they so much prided themselves, and which might have been great blessings, were the occasion of their greater sin in rejecting the Messiah, and of their greater condemnation. Thus their table was made a trap, etc." (Barnes).
Verse 10, "Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back always."
LGT "Let their eyes be darkened so as not to see, and bow down their back continually."
Let their eyes be darkened: they did not seek the Lord, and when He did come they rejected Him because of their spiritual blindness; God did not cause them to be blind, but they became blind because of their deliberate unbelief. The Jew first had to believe the Word of God before they could believe in the Word of the Word of God; they rejected their Messiah and with that rejection became blind fools. And bow down their back continually: the Jews rejection is the same as the Gentile rejection; they become in bondage to sin, which bows them down with a heavy weight no man can bare.
The Expositor's Greek Testament notes:
"This condition in which by God's act, requiting [the act of retaliation] their own sins, and especially their self-righteous adherence to the law as a way of salvation, the Jews find themselves. It is a condition so grievous, and so remote from what one anticipates for a people chosen by God, that it confronts Paul again with the difficulty of verse 1, and obliges him to state it once more - this time in a way which mitigates [lessens] its severity, and hints that the fall of Israel is not the last thing concerning them to be taken into account. What if God's purpose includes the uses their fall? What if it is not final? It is with new ideas of this sort, introduced to take the edge from the stern utterances of verses 8-10, that Paul deals in verses 11-24."
The Salvation of the Gentiles
Verse 11, "I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."
LGT "I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be: but by their fall salvation [is] to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."
I say then: taking up the problem again. Did they stumble that they might fall: that is, did they stumble in order that they might fall for good, where there is no rising again. May it never be: Paul rejects this question completely, and goes on to explain. But by their fall salvation is offered to the Gentiles: by their moral fall, the unbelieving part of the Israelites, that is, their rejecting Paul's gospel of grace, salvation has come to the Gentiles. For to provoke them to jealousy: the whole idea in this verse is that Paul turned away from the unbelievers among the Israelites because they rejected his gospel; then he turned to the Gentiles who would believe his message; the stumbling did not represent a final fall, for their will be recovery for them someday.
Verse 12, "Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?"
LGT "But if their fall [be the] wealth of the world, and their default [be the] wealth of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?"
But if their fall: if the temporal falling of the Jews: be the wealth of the world: the blessings of the gospel of grace has been bestowed on the Gentile world. And their default be the wealth of the Gentiles: The fall of the Jews turned out to be a blessing to the Gentile world. How much more their fullness: when the whole nation of the Jews will turn back to God and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior; when all Israel will be saved in the Last Days. "There is an exhaustive study of the word plaroma [fullness] by Prof. J. Armitage Robinson in The Expositor, April, 1898. His paraphrase of this verse is very good. 'If the Gentiles have been enriched in a sense through the very miscarriage and disaster of Israel, what wealth is in store for them in the great Return, when all Israel shall be saved 'when God hath made the pile [quantity] complete!' The enrichment referred to is in both cases that which comes through participating in the blessings of the Gospel" (TEGT).
Verse 13, "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office:"
LGT "But I speak to you the Gentiles: inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry:"
But I speak to you Gentiles: Paul says, I have a serious word to say to you Gentiles, who make up the church at Rome. "The sentence does not state the reason for the prominence of the Gentiles asserted in vs. 12, but makes a transition from the statement of Paul's own course of working on the line of that plan. He labors the more earnestly for the Gentiles with a view to the salvation of his own race" (Vincent). Inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles: Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15); not that he did not preach to the Jews, nor that the other apostles did not preach to the Gentiles, except for maybe James, but that this was his principle calling.
Verse 14, "If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them."
LGT "If by any means I shall provoke to jealousy my flesh, and save some from among them."
My flesh: that is, my fellow Jew. And save some from among them: Paul's making reference to the gospel being given now to the Gentiles was in the back of his mind, a hope that it would provoke the Jews to jealousy and cause them to accept The Gospel of Grace. Vs. 13, I glorify my ministry: Paul says that his ministry is a glorious one in that he glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ in his service. A true minister of the Word of God can never take the glory due our heavenly Father; when we see men of great renown in Christian circles, we have to scratch our heads and wonder how they arrived at this great popularity; it certainly isn't by adopting the attitude of John the Baptist who said at the height of his ministry, "I must decrease in order that He [Jesus Christ] would increase." Jesus Christ Himself said to His disciples, "They hated Me, and they will also hate you." Any man who preaches the true Gospel of Grace will never be popular among men, not even among saved men.
Verse 15, "For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?"
LGT "For if their casting away [be the] reconciliation of [the] world, what the reception, except life from the dead?"
For if their casting away: their being excluded as God's people through their deliberate unbelief. Be the reconciliation of the world: the Gospel of Grace being given to the Gentiles is the good effect of the Jews rejection. What shall the receiving of them be: so much good has been accomplished by the Jews rejection; but how much more will be accomplished when the Jews will finally be saved in the Last Days. Except life from the dead: Israel is now dead, but then they will live; this is how Paul explains their conversion.
Verse 16, "For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."
LGT "But if the first-fruit [be] holy, also the lump: also if the root [be] holy, also the branches."
But if the first-fruit be holy: this is referring to the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also the lump: the whole body of the people of Israel. "The reference here is to Num. 15:18-21; according to which the Israelites were to set apart a portion of the dough of each baking of bread for a cake for the priests. This was called first-fruits." (Vincent). Also if the root be holy: this metaphor is similar to the first with two exceptions: (1.) The root refers singly to Abraham, and (2.) The branches admit an application to the Gentiles (Vincent).
McGee notes on this verse:
"You may recall that in the Book of Numbers, God said, 'Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave offering in your generations' (Num. 15:21). Dough, of course, is bread dough! A part of the dough was offered to God as a token that all was acceptable. The 'first-fruit' evidently refers to the origin of the nation: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 'Holy' has no reference to any moral quality, but to the fact that it was set apart for God. Now if the first-fruit, or the first-dough - that little bit of dough - was set apart for God, what about the whole harvest? Since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were set apart for God, what about the nation? It all belongs to God, you see. God is not through with the nation Israel."
Verse 17, "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree."
LGT "But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, belonging to the wild olive, were grafted in amongst them, and did become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree,"
"Paul's figure is: But if some of the branches were broken off: the Jewish nation is a tree from which some branches have been cut, but which remains living because the root (and therefore all the branches connected with it) is still alive. And thou, belonging to the wild olive, were grafted in amongst them: Into this living tree the wild branch, the Gentile, is grafted among the living branches, and draws life from the root. And did become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree: The insertion of the wild branches takes place in connection with the cutting off of the natural branches (the bringing in of the Gentiles in connection with the rejection of the Jews). But the grafted branches should not glory over the natural branches because the cutting off of some of the latter, since they derive their life from the common root" (Vincent).
Dr. Thompson says:
"In the kingdom of nature generally, certainly in the case of the olive, the process referred to by the apostle never succeeds. Graft the good upon the wild, and, as the Arabs say, 'it will conquer the wild;' but you cannot reverse the process with success . . .. It is only in the kingdom of grace that a process thus contrary to nature can be successful; and it is this circumstance which the apostle has seized upon to magnify the mercy shown to the Gentiles by grafting them, a wild race, contrary to the nature of such operations, into the good olive tree of the church, and causing them to flourish there and bring forth fruit to eternal life. The apostle lived in the land of the olive, and was in no danger of falling into a blunder in founding his argument upon such a circumstance in its cultivation" ("Land and Book, Lebanon, Damascus and Beyond Jordan," p. 35).
Meyer adds: "The subject-matter did not require the figure of the ordinary grafting, but the converse - the grafting of the wild scion [implant] and its ennoblement thereby. The Gentile scion was to receive, not to impart, fertility."
Verse 18, "Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."
LGT "Stop glorying over the branches: but if thou boastest against [them] thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."
Stop glorying over the branches: "Paul saw that some of the Gentiles might be in danger of exultation over the fallen Jews, and therefore cautions them against it. The engrafted shoot, deriving all its vigor and fruitfulness from the stock of another tree, ought not to boast against the branches" (Barnes). But if thou boastest against them thou bearest not the root, but the root thee: "The sense is, you owe all you are proud of to an (artificially formed) relation to the race you would despise" (TEGT).
Verse 19, "Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be engrafted in."
LGT "Thou will say then, The branches were broken out, that I may be grafted in."
Thou will say then: a presumptuous Gentile speaks. The branches were broken out: the Gentiles might assume that God's favored people Israel, were broken out that He might prefer to save the Gentiles; that I may be grafted in: however this is not the case, for as Paul explains in the next verse, the Jews were rejected because of unbelief.
Verse 20, "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear."
LGT "Well: by unbelief they were broken out, and by faith you stand. Be not high-minded, but fear."
Well: it is true that the Jews were broken out, and you were engrafted in, but as you suppose that there was something in you that pleased God. By unbelief they were broken out: they were rejected because they did not believe in Christ. And by faith you stand: the fact that you are now part of the church is by faith alone in Christ alone, and not because of some quality you possess. Be not high-minded: it is by grace alone through the instrument of faith that we have been saved (Eph. 2:8,9), so don't look down on the Jew as no longer favored of God; the Jew will once again attain through faith what we now enjoy in Christ. Paul warns us not to be high-minded, that is, arrogant and self-confident over our privileges: but fear: this is not fear and trembling, but in our blessed hope we need to have an attitude of thankfulness that we have been offered so great a salvation; we should be so thankful that we should be ready always to give an answer to anyone who might ask us the reason of the hope we possess (1 Peter 3:15).
Verse 21, "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee."
LGT "For if God spared not the branches according to nature - lest neither thee should He spare."
Since God did not spare apostate Israel, neither will He spare the apostate church; this is the church today that preaches a social gospel; the so-called evangelical churches today teach a humanist gospel that is devoid of all reference to a nasty old Hell, because that may cause someone to fear, for they might lose all their self-esteem. The churches today want everyone to be happy whatever state they may be in, and they say, God loves you just the way you are; now, this is a lie right from the pits of Hell. God can only love you as you are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ; and because of this union, we are made righteous, and God can love His Son in and through us.
McGee has an excellent note on this verse:
"Since God did not spare the nation Israel when they apostatized, the argument is that He will not spare an apostate church. I am more and more convinced that the church which is based on a philosophy or ritual or some sort of genuflection - the type of church, which was designated in the third chapter of the Book of Revelation as the church of Laodicea - will go into the Great Tribulation. As Dr. George Gill used to say, 'Some churches will meet on the Sunday morning after the Rapture, and they won't miss a member.' That's Laodicea.
In contrast to this, He says to the church of Philadelphia, 'Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation [that is, the Tribulation], which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth' (Rev. 3:10). He promised to keep from the Tribulation that church which has an open door before it and is getting out the Word of God. My friend, I belong to that church; I hope you do also. It is an invisible body of believers. This is the church that will be taken to meet Christ at the time of the Rapture, which precedes the Great Tribulation." [I might personally add that this is exactly the way I believe; for it is the only way that makes logical sense to me in my own personal Bible studies, and this is the way I will continue to believe until someone has better Scripture proof. There are a number of good honest Bible teachers who have their own philosophy about the Rapture, but I am not interested in philosophy, simply grace logic].
Verse 22, 'Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise, if thou also shalt be cut off."
LGT "Behold then [the] kindness and severity of God: upon those who fell, severity; and upon thee kindness of God, if you continue in [His] kindness, else also you will be cut off."
Behold then the kindness and severity of God: you need to see the character of God in His dealing with you believing Gentiles, that is, His kindness in saving you by His grace; and then also the severity of God in His dealing with the disbelieving Jew. Upon those who fell, severity: the branches that were cut off. And upon thee kindness of God: the kindness of God's grace toward you believers in the church at Rome. If you continue in His kindness: that is if you stay true to the Word of God. Else also you will be cut off: the same as the Jew who did not stay true to God's Word. I believe the evangelical churches today that preach a humanistic gospel instead of the gospel of free-grace are in the process, if not already, cut off, and as McGee said above, "They will still meeting in their churches the Sunday morning after the Rapture".
Verse 23, "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again."
LGT "And they also, if they continue not in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able again to graft [them] in."
And they also: the Jew that was cut off because they rejected Christ as their Messiah; their unbelief was the sole reason they were cut off. If they continue not in unbelief: all it takes to be saved is faith alone in Christ alone. Shall be grafted in: just as you in the church at Rome have been saved by His free-grace. For God is able: this is the heart of the entire matter; "God is able to save unto the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Again to graft them in: in the case of the Jew, they will once again be grafted in as a nation when they return to the Lord, and accept Christ as their own personal Savior.
Verse 24, "For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"
LGT "For if you out of the wild olive tree according to nature were cut off, and contrary to nature, were grafted in to a good olive tree, how much more those according to nature shall be grafted into their own olive tree?"
For if you: Gentile believers in the church at Rome. Out of the wild olive tree according to nature were cut off: you Gentiles who were out of the commonwealth of Israel in your heathen state. And contrary to nature, were grafted in to a good olive tree: by faith alone in Christ alone you were saved by His marvelous grace out of your rank unbelief. How much more those according to nature shall be grafted into their own olive tree: Israel, being God's chosen people, returning to their Messiah. "If God had mercy on the Gentiles, who were outcasts from His favor, shall He not much more rather on those who were so long His people, to whom had been given the promises, and the covenants, and the law, whose ancestors had been so many of them His friends, and among whom the messiah was born?" (Barnes).
The Restoration of Israel
Verse 25, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."
LGT "For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, in order that you may not be in yourselves wise, that hardness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."
For I do not wish you to be ignorant: I am about to reveal something very important to you all regarding Israel's future salvation. Brethren: this not only concerns Israel but also the Gentile believers. Of this mystery: a mystery in this context is previously hidden doctrine that is now being revealed by inspiration. In order that you may not be in yourselves wise: that you may understand why you have been saved at the expense of Israel's casting aside. "Negative purpose here, to prevent self-conceit on the part of the Gentiles who have believed. They had no merit in themselves" (Robertson). That hardness in part has happened to Israel: not a partial hardening of Israel, but hardening over a period of time. Paul refuses to believe that there will be no more Jews saved. Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in: this is the mystery that was concealed in the Old Testament, and now Paul is making it known to all the believers. The fullness of the Gentiles I believe will be the Rapture of the Church based partially on Paul's statement in the next verse And so all Israel shall be saved; because this national salvation of a remnant of the Jews will not occur until the end of the "Time of Jacob's Trouble." This is the last seven years that Israel, as a nation, a remnant, that is, will be tried, and eventually their conversion.
Verse 26, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:"
LGT "And so all Israel shall be saved, Just as it has been written [and stands written], The deliverer shall come out of Sion, He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
And so all Israel shall be saved: at the end of the Great Tribulation all Israel will be saved; all others will have been taken in judgment. When Paul says all Israel he is speaking of Israel as a nation; however, at the end of the Tribulation, only the saved remnant will enter the Kingdom. Just as it is written: Paul here quotes Isa. 59:20f; 27:9. The deliverer shall come out of Sion: Jesus the Messiah (1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Cor. 1:10). When it says He shall come out of Sion, it means that He will come out of the Jewish people. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: Christ will be received as Savior. Christ will reconcile Jacob, that is, the nation Israel to God.
Verse 27, "For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."
LGT "And this [is] the covenant from Me to them, when I may have taken away their sins."
This is Christ's side of the covenant, that He should take away their sins, that is, they will finally accept Christ as their Savior. This quote is from Jer. 31:31ff. God will have no more to do with His chosen people until they repent of the obstinate unbelief.
Verse 28, "As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes."
LGT "As regards indeed the Gospel of Grace, [they are] enemies on your account; but as regards the election, beloved on account of the fathers."
The Jews are enemies of the believers in the Gospel of Grace because the Gentiles accepted Christ; but as regards to the covenant made with their fathers they are still beloved. "With reference to the gospel, they are enemies for your [church at Rome] sakes; but with reference to the election [the covenant], they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts of grace and the calling of God are without repentance - without a change of mind. Paul is summing up preceding discussion. There have been two lines of thought, which are seemingly contradictory, although both are true. In the first place, Israel is regarded as an enemy for the sake of the Gentiles - that is, so the gospel can go to the Gentiles. On the other hand, they are beloved for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, a Christian cannot indulge in any form of anti-Semitism" (McGee).
Verse 29, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
LGT "For the gifts and the calling of God [are] not to be repented of."
God is not sorry for His gifts to and calling of the Jews. God's workings with the Jews are not subject to recall. As regarding Israel and the Messianic Kingdom, these things can never be withdrawn. "According to what is said in verse 5, the gifts and calling of God be effectual towards some of the Jews throughout all ages, and toward the whole nation, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in; or, that though they may be suspended, they shall yet be made evident at the appointed time; so that what secures and renders certain the restoration of the Jews is the covenant of free grace which God made with their fathers" (Henry Beveridge).
Verse 30, "For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:"
LGT "For just as ye once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy through their disobedience:"
For just as ye once were disobedient to God: Remember Paul is writing to the church at Rome that was made up of mostly Gentiles. He tells them that even when they were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, God showed mercy and offered them free-grace salvation. The Gentiles were shown mercy even when they were estranged from God as heathen; and by the refusal of the Jews to accept Christ, their [the Jews] disobedience, the Gentiles were then offered this free-gift salvation; and just as they were shown mercy, the Jews will also be shown mercy sometime in the future when they also will finally accept Christ.
Verse 31, "Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy."
LGT "Just as also these now were disobedient to your mercy, that also they may have mercy shown [them]."
Just as also these now were disobedient to your mercy: "these now" are the Jews who were disobedient to your mercy; that is, they did not believe in Christ, and were not recipients of the mercy shown the Gentiles. That also they may have mercy shown them: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5). All that is needed to obtain this mercy is faith alone in Christ alone. The mercy is always the same, just as the means of appropriating this mercy is by unchangeable faith; all a Gentile has to do to receive salvation is to believe in Christ, the same as the Jew must receive Christ to be saved, no matter how favored of God he might think he is. All the religion in the world cannot save a man; salvation is the act of God in Christ, and it is based alone in Christ, and it has nothing to do with the worthiness of man. Salvation is strictly by God's grace, by means of faith, it is God's gift, and it is solely based on His mercy; God did not save us by His love; He saved us by His mercy; not one of us ever deserved to be saved; not by our righteousness, but according to His mercy He saved us.
Verse 32, "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all."
LGT "For God shut up together all in disobedience, in order that He might show mercy to the all."
The "all' refers to both Jew and Gentile. The means of grace is the same; man is not worthy to be saved; it is base on God's mercy, and the obedience to the gospel of grace is faith alone in Christ alone. For God shut up together all in disobedience: God did not force man to be an unbeliever, He simply declares that he is lost in his present state without Christ: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). It isn't until man realizes that he is lost and headed for hell that he then might turn to Christ and accepts God's provision of salvation, faith alone in Christ alone.
Verse 33, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out."
LGT "O depths of riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God: How unsearchable His judgments, and untraceable His ways."
O depths of riches of wisdom and knowledge of God: in Bible doctrine as applied to the believer, knowledge is the appropriation of truth, whereas wisdom is putting these truths into everyday experience. Paul says that the wisdom and knowledge of God exceed the depths, that is, only God's knowledge is perfect, because it is part of His essence or character; you see, because God is perfect everything He does is perfect; I believe we will spend eternity seeking to understand the depth of His perfect character. How unsearchable His judgments: again, God's judgments are perfect because of His perfect character. And untraceable His ways: the only way we can ever know God is through His divine Word. The more we study Bible doctrine, the more we learn of His divine character; and the more we learn of God's divine essence, the more we have to admit we do not know much, and we have to quote the apostle Paul in this verse. It will be grand when we see Christ face to face and know even as we are known; now this does not mean we will know everything, however, it does mean that we will have the capacity to search out the unsearchable, and trace out the untraceable; Thank God!
Isaiah writes about God's divine character: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (55:8-9).
Verse 34, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?"
LGT "For who did know [the] mind of [the] Lord? Or who became His counselor?"
This is a quote from Isaiah 40:13. As I said in the last verse the only way we can know the mind of the Lord is by the study of Bible doctrine; we cannot find out anything about our God except as we examine His precious Word. As Paul said in Phil. 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Or who became His counselor: I believe a lot of men think they are capable of counseling God, because they think they know just about all there is to know; however, no one is really able to even speak with God if He did not allow it; so we should just keep studying His Word and be thankful we gain even a little of His wonderful perfect mind.
Verse 35, "Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?"
LGT "Or who first gave to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him?"
From Job 41:3, Who has been beforehand with me that I should repay him? "The initiative in religion belongs to God; or as He puts it elsewhere, that we have nothing we did not receive, and boasting is excluded. The relation of man to God in these conditions is one which naturally expresses itself in doxology" (TEGT). "Thus Paul, contrary to the prevailing doctrine of the Jews, shows that no one could plead his own merits, or advance with a claim on God. All the favors of salvation must be bestowed by mercy or grace. God owned them all; and He had a right to bestow them when and where He pleased. The same claim to all things is repeatedly made by God; that the exceeding greatness and goodness, and grandeur of His character might be evinced [demonstrated]" (Barnes).
Verse 36, "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen."
LGT "For of Him and through Him and unto Him [are] all things: to Him [be] glory to the ages, amen."
We are not able to take credit for one single act we do. We are not even able to make a wise decision with out the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us; we are such puny little creatures crying out for admiration, that we feel obligated to sooth our egos by claiming to be worthy; all we are worthy of is like the Apostle Paul, give God all the glory; For whatever we do in word or deed, do to God's glory. The more we glorify God the more we are able to appreciate all that Christ has accomplished on our behalf. As long as we seek our own glory, we are lost in ourselves, and we will never grow an inch in maturity. We should keep the sublime nature of this verse in our minds and we will be humbled by His greatness. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
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