Read Romans 11:11-15. What great hope does Paul present in this passage? In this passage, we find two parallel expressions: (1) “their [the Israelites’] fulness” (Rom. 11:12) and (2) “the receiving of them [the Israelites]” (Rom. 11:15). Paul envisioned the diminishing and the casting away to be only temporary and to be followed by fullness and reception. This is … Continue reading –>
Read Romans 11:1-7. What common teaching does this passage deny clearly and irrevocably? In the first part of his answer to the question, “Hath God cast away his people?” Paul points to a remnant, an election of grace, as proof that God has not cast away His people. Salvation is open for all who accept it, … Continue reading –>
Read Romans 10:1-4. Keeping in mind all that came before, what’s the message here? How could we, today, be in danger of seeking to establish our “own righteousness”? Legalism can come in many forms, some more subtle than others. Those who look to themselves, to their good deeds, to their diet, to how strictly they keep … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Romans 10, Romans 11. Memory Text: “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” (Romans 11:1). This week’s lesson covers Romans chapters 10 and 11, with a focus especially on chapter 11. It’s important … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Later English Reformers”, pp. 261, 262, in The Great Controversy; “Faith and Works”, pp. 530, 531, in The SDA Encyclopedia; Ellen G. White Comments, pp. 1099, 1100, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1. “There is an election of individuals and a people, the only election found in the word of God, where man is elected … Continue reading –>
“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith” (Rom. 9:30-32). What’s the message here, and, more … Continue reading –>
In Romans 9:25 Paul quotes Hosea 2:23, and in Romans 9:26 he quotes Hosea 1:10. The background is that God instructed Hosea to take “a wife of whoredoms” (Hos. 1:2) as an illustration of God’s relationship with Israel, because the nation had gone after strange gods. The children born to this marriage were given names signifying God’s rejection and punishment of idolatrous Israel. … Continue reading –>
“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” (Isa. 55:8-9). Read Romans 9:17-24. Given what we have read so far, how are we to understand Paul’s … Continue reading –>
“It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:12-13). As stated in the introduction for this week, it is impossible to understand Romans chapter 9 properly until one recognizes that Paul is not speaking of individual salvation. He is … Continue reading –>
“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exod. 19:6). God needed a missionary people to evangelize a world steeped in paganism, darkness, and idolatry. He chose the Israelites and revealed Himself to them. He planned that … Continue reading –>
