All Nations Christian College Ltd. Registered Company No. 990054 Romans 9 -11 The Mystery of Israel and the Purposes of God
May 10, 2015
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
Romans 9 -11
The Mystery of Israel and the Purposes of God
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
The Context of Romans 9-11
• Date – c.55 a.d.• Place – Multicultural
Rome (1m inhabitants, 40,000 Jews)
• Recipients - Messianic Jews and Christians from the nations in world capital
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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The Reasons for the Letter
- Missionary – for evangelism and support– Pastoral – for unity
and understanding– Apologetic - a
doctrinal statement– Who? What? When?
Where?– How? Where? Who?
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
To find out more
• www.mmjt.eu• Prayer updates• Teaching• Articles• support
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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Introduction
• Paul’s project – the Good News to all nations
• Paul’s practice – to the Jew first
• Paul’s problem – the unbelief of Israel
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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Previously….8:28-30 Good News
God's predestines (29)God calls (30) God justifies (30)God glorifies (30)
8:31-39 Our AssuranceIn the face of adversity – (31)in the face of need – (32)in the face of accusation – (33)in the face of guilt – (34)in the face of hardship – (35)
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Two Key Questions• What about Israel?
– Why doesn’t Israel believe?– Is Israel still God’s covenant partner?
• Can you trust God?– Have His plans gone wrong?– What of his promises to his elect/Chosen
people?
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Two extremes to avoid
• God has finished with Israel – the church is the ‘new Israel’
• Israel does not need to be believe in Jesus in order to be saved
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3 Key Affirmations
• Not ‘all Israel’ are ‘Israel’ (9:6)
• God has not abandoned Israel (11:1)
• ‘All Israel’ will be saved (11:26)
• So…who is ‘Israel’?
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The Meaning of ‘Israel’
• Ish – ra’ah El – the man who sees/is seen by El
• Ish- zarah-El – the man who strives with God
• Ish- yashar – El – the man/upright with God
• Ish- sar – el – man-prince with God
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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‘Israel’ and ‘Jew’
• Jew – from Judah – Judaean – vs. Greek/Hellenism
• Boundaries of Sabbath, circumcision, kosher food
• Israel – name of covenant people
• Paul uses ‘Israel’ in relation to God
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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Paul’s Sadness (9:1-5)
• The heart of the matter (cf. 10:1)
• The promises of God to Israel
• The physical line of the Messiah
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God's word has not failed!
• 9:6-13 Israel’s hardening is God’s doing:
• The choice of Israel (‘election’) is God’s doing, not based on anything in us
• ‘Not all Israel are Israel’– Isaac, not Ishmael (7-9)– Jacob, not Esau (10-13)
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9:14-29 Is this fair?
• God is sovereign, even over Pharaoh (17)
• We are clay in his hands (19-23)
• Anyone can become his people (23-29)
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The Fulfilment of the Law
• The Torah fulfilled in Christ (10:4)
• Faith comes by hearing (10:9-13)
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The Remnant – ch. 11
• Elijah’s remnant (11:1-6)• The Olive tree (11:17-24)
– The root – Patriarchs and Messiah
– Natural branches broken off– Unnatural branches grafted in– Natural branches re-grafted
• All Israel (?) will be saved (11:25-32)
• Doxology (11:33-36)
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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Paul’s Gospel
• Creation and Fall (Genesis 1-11)
• Election of Israel to be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12-Malachi)
• Coming of the Messiah to include the nations in promises to Israel
• Return of the Messiah to restore all things
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
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Our Response• Prayer for Israel• Witness to Israel and
all nations• Eager expectation of
future restoration• Live each day in light
of his coming!
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
Types of Supersessionism
• Punitive supersessionism – Israel punished for her rejection of Jesus
• Economic supersessionism – Israel no longer needed in the purposes of God
• Structural supersessionism –Creation – Fall - Redemption - Consummation (omitting Election of Israel as Blessing to the Nations)
All Nations Christian College Ltd.
Registered Company No. 990054
Registered as a Charity
Aims of Covenant Theology
• To stress the moral obligations of Christianity• To show God’s grace in including the Nations in
the Abrahamic blessings• To deny that Israelites received the promises
simply because they were physical descendants of Abraham
• To demonstrate the unity of the divine economy of salvation
• To explain the discontinuity between the Old and New Covenants in scripture