The Notes are Good

As we move in to Romans 10, Paul shifts from the Jews of the past to his fellow Jews of the present time (at least the present time when he was writing this).  He starts with a compliment.  They are zealous for God.

That isn’t a good thing.  That is a great thing.  Paul himself is zealous for God.  He is writing this letter because of His zeal.  He is particularly writing these chapters of this letter because of his passionate desire for more Jews to receive the gift of faith.

But he also has a shared background of his zeal for God before he met Jesus.  Paul has a very passionate and specific perspective on the plight of the Jews.

The illustration I think of is someone free floating in space.  No booster packs, not rockets, no ropes.  Just, plop, there you are in space, with nothingness around you.  Paul is saying these Jews see the light and they are absolutely zealous.  They are flapping their arms and legs and screaming and shouting and bending and stretching and everything else you can physically imagine.  And, they are going nowhere.  All of that motion, alone is space, produces nothing.

But, if we tether ourselves to Christ, in faith in Him, then everything changes.  We are not alone.  We are connected.  We join his ship of righteousness and, all of a sudden, we are going places not just flailing about.

The answer to your problems and challenges, your hurt and pain, your shame and your fears, will not be found in more zeal.  Everything you do, every self-help, every good intention, is nothing more than flapping your arms and hands about unless and until you are tethered to something solid that is on the right path.  There is only one thing in the universe that is offering you a life line and His name is Jesus.

My Answers:

6.
He is a Jew, a Jew’s Jew. His parents and relatives are all Jews. Most of his friends are Jews. Plus he has a heart that is being shaped to be like Jesus and Jesus loves God’s chosen people.
Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us – I am called to do the same for family, friends, neighbors and even those I don’t know.

7.
They didn’t know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness

8.
The law was a foreshadowing of what Christ would provide as the ultimate sacrifice. It was a direction not a destination. Jesus is the destination. We cannot earn our righteousness because the fact that we don’t have it is an admission that we are broken and we cannot be unbroken on our own.

We pick up our study this week in the last 3 verses Romans 9 where Paul, with a broken heart of love for his people, laments where they went wrong in the past.  That the Gentiles, who sat on the sidelines and did not make any attempt to keep the law, to offer sacrifices, to participate in purification, to devote themselves to God, that they have now obtained God’s righteousness by faith while the Jews have not obtained their goal, is part of Paul’s heartbreak.  Not against the gentiles, but because the Israelites got lost along the way.

But he doesn’t approach this in a “that is unfair or unjust” manner, instead, he is simply pointing out where things went wrong so that it can be fixed.  Not to lay blame or pass judgment but to point the direction to change so that his kinsmen can be saved.

The Jews had mistaken the device for the destination.  Said another way, they cared more about the car where the car could take them.  They polished the car.  They washed it.  They kept it enshrined and protected.  They were meticulous in every detail, ensuring they were perfectly clean each time they approached it.  They kept it in the synagogue and didn’t let outsides come near, like a private museum.  It was their law and it was priceless, on loan to them by Moses by God.

But the law was not meant to be an idol or an exhibit in the museum.  It wasn’t something that was to be made into images and replicas to be worn around as a badge or souvenir.  It wasn’t something to be visited periodically on required days.

Jesus, on the other hand, born a Jew, the Son of God, took a different approach.  He paid the price to buy the car off the museum showroom and drive it.  His death, as a man, paid the price for mankind to own something that before they could only look at and admire, Righteousness.

But Christ did not buy it to have it sit in a museum.  When he paid the price, the curtain to the museum was torn.  He bought righteousness for mankind so that we could go.  It is the one and only vehicle out of this life and into an eternal life with God and Jesus invites all of God’s elect to climb aboard.

But, as Paul points out, this really messed up some of the Jews.  Who is He to get in the driver’s seat?  What is this idea of driving the car? He thinks I’m just going along for a ride, doesn’t He know how much  I have worked?

The Jews never understood the meaning of God with us.  They looked for a conquering God to come with them to defeat and rule with them, all on the same team.  They didn’t not expect a God who would conquer form them and then invite them to join in the victory lap.  God needed their help.  They had done all of this for God and it is only just and fair that they be recognized and rewarded.  They did not want to be with God, they wanted God to be with them.

And many of us, Jews and Gentiles have been there, too.  We want God to have our back.  We want God to bless and recognize our efforts and give us due recognition.  We want to go search out and find God, because, obviously, He is missing from this world, just look around.

But faith in Jesus is the stumbling block we fall over time and again as we head down that path.  We can’t find God, He was never lost, we were.  And as we traipse off searching for God, we trip over Jesus because He is already right where we are.  The nice thing about stumbling, though, is that it takes you to your knees.  That may be the funny part in God’s plan, because that is the right position for our journey to begin.

My Answers:

3.
The Israelites chased after it through works. The Gentiles received it through faith.

4.
Pursuing righteous behavior is an act to honor God and to shine His light into the world. If we live like everyone else, what message do we send? But trying to “earn” salvation through works is to indicate that Christ’s work was insufficient and needs to be added to. The first is a response to faith, the second is an indication of the lack of faith in Christ

5.
Jesus. That He is sufficient.

What makes something extremely valuable?  Most often it is rarity.  Supply and Demand.  Millions of things that are all the same are generally going to be relatively inexpensive.  But the one masterpiece painting is priceless.

But it is not just the rarity of the thing that makes us appreciate it’ value.  It is its contrast in how much better it is than everything else.  I may only craft one statue of David in my life (probably out of play-doh).  But, while it would be rare, it would stand out as being different or better than anything else.  But Michelangelo’s sculpture of David is a different thing entirely.

Paul ponders the question, why does God put up with all the wickedness in the world?  Why is He so amazing patient, especially given His power and authority?  His hypothesis is that this is no accident, but instead it is something that He has done and continues to do for us, for believers.  Before we were ever born He planned to offer us His mercy.  He planned to come down, not have us climb up, and accept the gift of His son.  He sent His Holy Spirit to soften our hard heart, like a gardener tills the soil.  He planted His Word and watered it with mercy and compassion and grace.  He did that for you and me, yes, as Paul said, “even us”.  I know, it is so hard to believe.  Why us.  Not because we earned it.  Surely not because we deserved it or just got lucky.  Not because of our parents or ancestry.  No, Paul specifically points that out, that it is a calling that is made to both Jew and Gentile.

Why?  Paul’s answer or hypothesis is that God does all of this to “make the riches of His glory known”.  He wants to share His glory with us whom He had prepared for glory.  Not to show off, but to give it, too.  When we choose Jesus it isn’t at a distance.  We are engulfed in God’s glory.  Not veiled.  Not behind a curtain, but totally permeated and renewed by it.  This doesn’t happen all at once in the same way a plant doesn’t immediately spring from seed to full fruit.  But it does happen.

But if everyone and everything was filled with God’s glory, would we appreciate it?  Would we see it’s full riches?  I don’t know.  But I do know that 1/3^rd of the angels evidently did not.  They followed Lucifer the father of lies and fell from God’s grace.  Do we really think we would have faired better?

But God had a better plan for us.  It isn’t up to us, we just respond to the call and He does the rest.

My Answers:

11.
He demonstrates it through patience of wickedness to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy

12.
His glory. His love and justice. His righteous acts. His willingness to listen to my prayers and intercessions. His provision for my needs. His acceptance of my works.

13.
While the Jews were and are God’s chosen people, He always intended to not be limited by ancestry of Israel but to bring in others. And, while they are His people He always also knew many/most would reject Him over and over again.

I get the whole concern and unease about predestination and election.  How can God create people that He knows are going to hell?  How can a loving God do that?  We want to say that isn’t right.  That isn’t fair.  We want to judge God and let Him know that this is just wrong.

But, what do we propose as the alternative?

God is the creator and knows all things, past, present and future.  He not only knows all things but He controls all things.

Should such a God only give life to the people He knows will choose Him?  There is not mystery or mistake here, God knows.  But if the only people created are the ones who make the right choice, then is there truly a choice at all?

Of course not.  That is not showing love.  But, there are only 2 roads, God only gives life to people who will become believers or God gives life to people who will love and choose Him and to those who will curse Him and turn from Him.  He does have control, but if He exercises that control to save all, then is there really a choice?

Being God is hard.  I don’t want the job and I’m surely not going to stand in judgment of God.  But, there is a difference between standing in judgment and seeking to better understand God.  We do the second every time we study His word.  So what does His word say?  It says He is God.  He makes decisions.  He makes choices.  He knows more and better than everyone else combined.  But it also says He is a God of unbounding love.  Look at Ezek 33:11, “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’”

God allows us to choose.  Some hearts He goes the extra mile to soften.  Others, He allows to remain hardened.  But there is not a one that He desires to be cursed.  There is no pleasure to God in death.  Death is something mankind choose.  Wickedness is a choice that we made.

My Answers:

8.
God has the ability to harden or soften any heart to hear the truth, but we are active participants in it as well. God is all knowing and does not desire any to perish (Ezek 33:11 “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.”)

9.
a.
The created does not have the right to judge the creator. God makes things and people for different purposes but loves each.

b.
God made me this way so it is alright. or. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. or I can’t believe in a god who would allow _______

10.
He allowed me to experience the pain and repercussions my sin so that I could see His mercy when He brought me out of it. It did not allow it to continue forever but gave hope even in the midsts. He allowed me to lean on Him and cry out to Him without holding it against me.

Here is what I know about my family and friends who are not believers:  no offense intended, but they are incredibly hard-headed and stiff necked.  They ping pong between denial of their own mortality and a level of self-righteousness that is truly appalling.  And, don’t even get me started on their judging of others, especially those with beliefs that differ from their own.

Their unbelief is not because they have not been informed.  Their unbelief is not because it has not been made clear or modeled.  They don’t believe because they don’t want to believe.  Frankly, they like being god of their own life.

But the fact that salvation is by grace and not by human effort provides me with great hope that my prayer will bear fruit.  Honestly, if it is up to them, they are not going to change and suddenly approach God.  But, it is not up to them, it is up to God.

I’m not saying they don’t get a choice.  They do.  But the hope comes in the assurance that God hears my prayers, loves me, loves them and, despite the fact that He is God, He is willing to come down to them and soften their hearts of stone into jelly.

This fact and realization changes how I must prayer.  Not for them to change, but for God to change them.  Not for them to come to God but for the Holy Spirit to knock so hard their heart cracks.  God not only can, but He will do these things.  That is hope!

My Answers:

6.
a.
God’s promise is true but it is not limited to physical ancestry. Not all descendants of Abraham are descendants of the promise. It falls on those who love God.

b.
Jacob and Esau. Isaac and Ishmael. Not by family or by physical ritual (circumcision).

7.
It shows God comes down to us, not us up to Him. It gives hope because God has the ability to soften any heart – He is in charge.

In John 15:13, Jesus tells us, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  In Romans 5, Paul discussed how rare it was for someone to offer their life for another, especially someone unrighteous, yet “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Now, in our lesson today, we see Paul demonstrating this same level of love for his fellow, unbelieving Jews.  Not only would he offer his life, but he would offer his salvation and eternal life if it would make a difference.

We know it would not.  God does not trade one man’s life for another, nor is it necessary since Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient.  But Paul, nor any of the rest of us, can make the choice  for another to accept that gift of perfect sacrifice.  It cannot be cast upon us.  It cannot be bartered for by another.  It is each individual’s own choice.  Accept or reject.

However, in this passage we also see a challenge to grown in our Christian life.  What would you be willing to give for another to turn to Christ and be saved?  Would you give your salvation?  Would you give your life?  Would you give a Saturday morning or Monday night?  Where do you draw the line?

Wherever you draw the line, you have to step back and look at the things on the side of the line that you would not cross.  Are those things truly more eternally valuable than the eternal life of a family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker?  Are they even more eternally valuable than the eternal life of a stranger?

I get it, this sounds like a really harsh exercise, but we each have that line.  I’m too busy to go on a mission trip.  I’m too busy to serve.  I’m too busy to volunteer.  All of those are choices on how we use our time.  I’m too busy to study God’s word every day.  I’m too busy to go church.  I’m too busy to pray.  I get too grumpy to fast.  I’m not wealthy enough to give.  We make choices in where we draw the lines in our spiritual disciplines every day.

I’m not saying that is wrong.  Without lines we wouldn’t hold down jobs and support our families.  But, if we are honest, some of our lines (ok, maybe it is just my lines), really are stupid lines when compared with eternity.  Paul shows us the kind of love that God had.  He is all in, body and soul.

My Answers:

3.
Because many Jews had chosen not to believe in Jesus but instead had hardened their hearts. Like Moses and Jesus, he prayed for and interceded for the Jewish people and like both he would have rather offered his own life than see these others perish.

4.
a.
Cursed is to be cast aside, removed from the book of life, dis-owned from the family of Christ. No believer can be removed from Christ’s family (no one can tear them away). Paul’s point is that this is the most important and valuable thing and he would willingly give it up to save other Jews.

b.
To go all in. To not hold back even the things that are most valuable and most precious to us.

5.
I have the ability to know God unlike any other generation of believers because of the cumulative writings and access. Instead of relishing it, I often try to “fit it in” wasting time on far less meaningful tasks. I also have the ability to reach more people in more places and any previous time, but I barely know my neighbors.

Verse 37 says, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Let’s break that sentence down and look at the depth of what it is saying.

We: believers in Christ.  Not some of us, not a few of us, not the leaders among us, but we, collective, all of us, past, present and future

Are: Not will be, not might be.  Are.  Closed book.  Present tense but complete.  Not similar to.  Not like.

More than conquerors:  Not fighters, soldiers, warriors, but conquerors.  The object of our battle is already defeated, conquered, done.  Not only that but we are more than conquerors.  We are those who inherit the land and live in peace having conquered.

Through Him:  Not by our own thoughts, words or deeds, but through Christ Jesus and His work, His grace, His power, His sacrifice

Who loved us: the reason why Christ came and sacrificed himself, for God so loved the world.  It is also the reason we have been adopted as “more than conquerors” with Him, because we are part of the royal family whom He loves.

In all things: Not just the hold of sin on our lives, but in ALL things, we are more than conquerors.  Our identity is not as weak, but as victor, not as fighter, but as conqueror, not as trying, but as complete.  Not in some things, but in ALL things.

Paul goes on to explain that not only is this true, but there is absolutely nothing in Heaven or Earth of Below the Earth that can take this away from us.  This is who we are in Christ.

But here is the unstated question:  Are you living the life of someone who is more than a conqueror?  Are you still fighting the battle that is already won?  Are you still acting like you are weak and unimportant?  Do you think you are unqualified, unworthy, untrained, unloved?

Do you believe the word of God?  If so, act like it.  You are a conqueror.  Done.

My Answers:

11.
These are not new questions, but instead of us being like sheep to be slaughtered, Jesus Christ took on that role for us and was slaughtered as a sacrifice for our salvation.

12.
a.
The things are the things listed above and eluded to in the previous verses that, with God’s power, we can and do overcome. We conquer them through Him who loves us

b.
It has enabled me to turn things over to him, accepting that I do not know and do not have any of the answers but He is faithful and just and loving and will work things for good, for me and for those I love whom He also loves. He has given me words to speak and helped relieve my feelings of inadequacy and hurt and loss.

13.
finances, uncertainty, people are unpredictable, death is everywhere, hurt, pain, cancer, the instability and evil in technology, hyper connectivity, lack of connectivity, isolation, uncertainty.
I know that God is greater than all of these and that I, through Him, am a conqueror.

One of the things I love about Paul is that he is not afraid to ask stupid questions.  Too often, we don’t do this.  We go along.  We feel lost, we feel weak, we feel alone, and we just accept it.

But, Paul shows us it is OK to ask questions and it is equally OK to answer them.

Why would God leave me all alone to face this?  He didn’t, He is with you and already has the solution.

But what about the evil in the world?  God is greater

What about my life?  God is working for your good

How do I not be afraid?  Trust in God

We know the answers.  We just don’t ask the questions.

My Answers:

9.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? — The truth
If God is for us, who can be against us? — No one
How will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? — He will give us all things
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? — It is not possible except as a lie
It is God who justifies; who then is the one who condemns? — No one
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? — No one
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword separate us from the love of Christ? – No

10.
I struggle with the idea that God will give us “all things”. I know He is capable, but I often only ask for the bare minimum. Bread, not a banquet. It is encouraging to know where Christ is now.

What does God control?  The short answer is everything.  He knows everything.  He has planned everything.  He does the work.  He issues the call.  He gives us the power to accept.  It blankets us in the righteousness of His Son, justifying us through Christ and He brings us to glory to be with Him forever.  That is in addition to the universe and everyone and everything in it, all matter, all time and all space.

What do we control?  Our choices and our attitude.  The big choice we control is to answer God’s call.  It is a call that requires a response and we each have the free will to respond to that call.  Once we accept, we then have the choice to obey or disobey God; to walk in light or in the shadows, to speak words that glorify Him, to grow in our knowledge of Him.

Our main choice is over our emotions.  Og Mandino wrote:

• If I feel depressed I will sing.
• If I feel sad I will laugh.
• If I feel ill I will double my labor.
• If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
• If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
• If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
• If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
• If I feel incompetent I will think of past success.
• If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.

He wrote this with a perspective of mind over matter or fake it until you make it.  While I have nothing against the power of positive thinking, I do not think it is sufficient.  Instead, I think his list is absolutely correct but for an entirely different reason.

• If I feel depressed I will sing praises to the God of the Universe who has promised to work for my good and lift me up high.
• If I feel sad I will laugh because I know true joy in Jesus and it is foolish and laughable to think of something that He cannot handle.
• If I feel ill/weak I will double my labor because by working and serving God and His people I find true nourishment and strength
• If I fear I will plunge ahead because legions of angel armies are at my side and greater is He who is with me than he who is in the world.
• If I feel inferior I will strap on the armor of God
• If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice to heaven and call on the one who knows all and is all powerful and has a perfect plan for my life
• If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come and the riches of God’s glory
• If I feel incompetent I will think of past success such as the stories of the Old Testament and Jesus’ life and conquering of sin and death
• If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals, not the troubles that I see all around me but the things to come because the things of this world are temporary but the things of God are eternal.

My Answers:

6.
a.
F: God knows all things outside of time bounds, so past, present and future
P: God is in control and has full knowledge so he knows and is master over all destiny
C: God invites, while He knows the choice we will make, He limits His power and allows us to choose
J: To be found not guilty by the fulfillment of the penalty of our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus
G: To be made back into our original “good” image that can live in harmony with God in His presence

b.
God is in control and uses that control for the ultimate good of His people and His creation

7.
God works through all things – some examples include struggles, challenges, temporary exile, hardship, blessings, bringing comfort and love into our lives, provision, the Word, believers, the Church. They do not because of the weight and burden of sin. Sin distorts us into something we, ultimately, do not want to be.

8.
Through the blessings of my wife and her daily prayer for me. Through the blessing and struggles of work and health. Through joy, peace, kindness and prosperity. Through my worries and doubts and the burdens I carry. Through my faith and my lack of faith. Through my prayer and the recognition when I have not prayed and pushed forward

When we think of God, we normally think of Him, seated on His throne in Heaven. While this is true, it is not the complete picture of God.  Instead, what we learn in Romans 8:28 is that God works.  Not only that but that God works for you and for your good.  Not only that but He is doing it in ALL things.

If that doesn’t blow your mind, it should.  No other religion, no other philosophy, no other belief system or people is so bold as to believe that their god is working for them.  Sure, maybe an occasional favor or wish or blessing if they work enough to appease their god.  But for a god to be alive and active and working for their benefit, no way.  They work for their gods, not the other way around.

This one verse is a radical concept.  It should change everything about our view of God.  Going back to the analogy of loving parents and an infant, we are the infant.  We do nothing but coo and smile at our best times and poop and cry at our worst and we often do both in the same day.  Our parents did all the work.

But, what do you say to those who don’t see it?  I became a Christian and I’m just as poor as I was before, not only that, but I seem to have less fun and more troubles than before.  I’m not getting the things I want.  I just want God to show up and deliver a little bit.  Is that too much to ask?

Too often our view of good and God’s view of good are two different things.  The parent who takes us away from shoving metal objects in the electrical outlet.  The parent who limits the number of cookies we have.  The parent who makes us go to school, which we hate!  The parent who makes us get shots, uggh.

We don’t like being thought of as infants, but all too often we act like them.  We throw our temper tantrums and get mad at God because, well, He isn’t delivering!  We try to claim we trust Him and His word, but then we want to go by what we think is right and our words.  We somehow think we have the right to do a performance appraisal on our creator.  If that isn’t childish, I’m not sure what is.

If we aren’t seeing God’s work for good in our lives, it isn’t God that needs to change, it is us and our perspective.  We may not be seeing the problems He kept us from.  We may not see the things He is aligning and putting in place.  Most of all, our vision may be focused on the next 20 minutes and not the rest of eternity.

My Answers:

3.
ultimately he justifies and glorifies His people

4.
a.
God is in control of all things and, ultimately, uses all things to bring those He loves to Him for an eternity of love and glorification

b.
To ask for help submitting to His sovereignty and authority. To be accepting of what I don’t like or understand. For Him to make His presence known to me.

5.
God works. God works for good. God works for the good of those who love Him. God calls. God has purpose for each person. God is good and works for the good of all His people.