A Mystery Exposed

Romans 11:25-32

I’m into mysteries are you?  Vince Flynn who left this world at age 47 was one of my favorite authors; his novels are full of mystery and thrillers as his main character Mitch Rapp a counterterrorist CIA agent takes on the bad guys all over the world, but those novels are fiction, and the mysteries in the Bible are 100% true, but still a mystery.

The apostle Paul is going to expose a mystery and yet it comes with a caution; watch out for your own conceits, what’s that all about?  When the word conceit is used these words come into play, pride, arrogance, superiority, and self-importance and one must examine self; asking the question, self are these words in play as I go about my daily life?

As we look deeper into verses 25-27, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Partial by definition means limited, unfinished, or incomplete and that means God has no desire to leave His chosen people in a state of blindness to their Messiah.  But grace has been extended to the non-Jew, and that includes radical Muslims, pew sitters who go by the name Christian, and the political person and the foolish ones who have no regard for God, in that they have become gods to themselves.  Yes, grace and faith has been given for a time to all people, but that time is going to come to an end.  So the question must be asked, when will the time of the Gentiles come, or as Paul states the fullness of the Gentiles, and the answer lies only in the heart of the Father, so be ready.

But when the fullness of the Gentiles comes the Jewish people will enter into a new covenant with the Father, and the chosen people, the nation of Israel, or Israelites, and do not let anyone mislead you by saying this Scripture is referring to the church, for the title Jews, Hebrews, or Israelites is not used as a title for the church.

Shall we look at verses 28-32, “As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.  But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”  Maybe it is time to ponder on these verses, but watch-out for these are not the thoughts of man, these are not the ways of man, they are the thoughts and ways of God, the one that created all things.  And by the way, He has not asked for your approval or counsel, but this I know because of these Scriptures,  “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” 

Before the age of 27, before a small group of men confronted me with the love of Jesus Christ, before I bowed my knee to His will and confessed that I was a sinner who deserved the fullness of God’s wrath, before I confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart that Jesus Christ was raised by God the Father from the dead, and sat at the right hand of the Father, I was imprisoned in disobedience with no way to escape.  But God has mercy on all who will receive mercy, all who by faith will put their hope in the finished work of the cross, in the blood that was shed to cover their sin.  Have you entered into a relationship with the Father and the Son?  If you have the Holy Spirit is your Helper, look to Him and listen.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice