ROMANS: RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH FROM START TO FINISH

X. Righteousness Applied To Life And Service, Romans 12:1-15:13

I. Righteousness Applied To Edifying Jews And Gentiles

(Romans 15:7-13)

I. Introduction

A. The theme of the epistle to the Romans is that God’s righteousness is available to man by faith from start to finish (Romans 1:16-17; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 441).

B. This belief is often not accepted in Christendom: Some claim that one must have faith plus works to be justified, and others say that though we are justified by faith, we cannot righteously live a godly life by faith.

C. In concluding his prolonged section on the application of God’s righteousness to life and service, Paul at Romans 15:7-13 summarized Christ’s purpose in coming to earth relative to discipling Jews and Gentiles. Such insight directs us to praise the Lord for His having richly edified both Hebrew and Gentile believers:

II. Righteousness Applied To Edifying Jews And Gentiles, Romans 15:7-13.

A. As Paul urged his Christian Hebrew and Christian Gentile readers to “keep on accepting or receiving one another” (proslambanesthe, present imperative; Ibid., p. 495; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 571) based on the fact that Christ had accepted them both for the glory of God (Romans 15:7), he proceeded to explain two objectives of Christ’s ministry on earth relative to Jews and to Gentiles in Romans 15:8-9a;

1. First, Christ became a servant of the Hebrew people for the truth of God, that is, to confirm as true God’s Old Testament promises unto the Hebrew forefathers on the coming of their Messiah, Romans 15:8; Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 495.

2. However, Christ also ministered that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, Romans 15:9a: “God had made covenants only with Israel (9:4), not with the Gentiles (cf. Eph. 2:12), so God had no covenantal promises to confirm with the Gentiles. Any spiritual blessings that come to the Gentiles spring solely from the mercy of God. Nevertheless, God eternally purposed to bless the Gentiles spiritually through the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and through His covenants with Israel (e. g., Gen. 12:3; cf. John 4:22).” (Ibid.)

B. Significantly, Paul in Romans 15:9b-12 then cited four Old Testament passages from the Hebrew Scriptures that magnificently fully validate God’s discipling of the Gentiles from the Hebrew Old Testament itself:

1. These quotations are taken from all three divisions of the Old Testament – “‘the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms’ (Luke 24:44)” (Ibid.), so this testimony is broad-based in the Old Testament.

2. Furthermore, these citations come “from three great Jewish heroes: Moses, David, and Isaiah,” Ibid.

3. Third, these quotations develop a progression of thought on God’s gracious discipling of Gentiles:

a. The first quotation is from David’s song of deliverance in 2 Samuel 22:50 and Psalm 18:49 where he predicted that he would praise God among the Gentiles, singing to His name, Rom. 15:9b; Ibid.

b. The second quotation is from Moses’ “valedictory song to the people of Israel (Deut. 32:43)” where Moses called the Gentiles to rejoice with Israel, Romans 15:10; Ibid. Where David spoke of his testifying of the Lord among the Gentiles, Moses directed the Gentiles to respond to God’s grace by rejoicing in Him.

c. The third citation is from the Bible’s shortest and middle chapter, Psalm 117:1, and it calls the Gentiles to direct their praise to the Lord in relationship to Him, Romans 15:11; Ibid., p. 495-496.

d. The fourth quotation is from Isaiah 11:10, and it predicts that Gentiles will be ruled by Israel’s Messiah, the son of David, and that the Gentiles will trust in Him as His people, Romans 15:12; Ibid., p. 496.

C. In conclusion, Paul gave a benedictory prayer that the God of hope might fill his saved Hebrew and Gentile readers with all joy and peace in believing in Christ, that by the power of the Holy Spirit they might abound in the hope of their future glorification and participation in God’s eternal blessings, Romans 15:13.

Lesson: Both Hebrew and Gentile believers in Christ should keep on accepting one another in the Lord because Christ has accepted them both. He came as a servant to the Hebrew people to confirm the truthfulness of God’s promises of sending them their Old Testament-promised Messiah and mercifully to save and to disciple Gentile believers by grace in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies by the Hebrew heroes Moses, David and Isaiah.

Application: (1) May Gentile believers trust in God and praise Him for having led the Hebrew heroes Moses, David and Isaiah to predict their full discipleship in Christ and then to fulfill those prophecies. (2) May Hebrew believers praise God for upholding His truth in fulfilling His promises to send them the Messiah in sending them Jesus Christ. (3) May both Hebrew and Gentile believers keep accepting each other since God has accepted them both.