Dr. Guy Waters, explains how Romans 9–11 reveals God’s unfailing word and sovereign plan of redemption. Through Paul’s teaching, we see that God’s mercy extends to both Jews and Gentiles, and his purposes in salvation bring glory to him alone.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
How does Romans 9-11 shape our understanding of God’s redemptive plan?
Romans 9-11 is one of the most important sections of the epistle to the Romans. It’s not an appendix, but it is at the very heart of what Paul is arguing. Think of how that section ends. “From him, through him, to him are all things. To him be the glory.” So how does Paul get there? What is it that prompts Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11? The very last verse of Romans 8, Paul triumphs, and we triumph with him. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” However, there’s a problem. So it seems. What about Israel? Israel, according to the flesh. Israel who’s rejecting the gospel, has something separated them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Well, what Paul says early on in chapter nine, he says it at verse six, perhaps the most important thing that’s said in those three chapters. It is not as though the word of God has failed. Nothing that’s taking place in the first century, as Israel is turning away from the Gospel in large numbers, nothing is taking God by surprise. And Paul goes on to say that nothing is happening that God hadn’t said would occur through the Old Testament prophets. And that’s the burden of so many of these chapters. Paul is very clear at the beginning and throughout these chapters that there is one people of God and one way of salvation. So the hope for the Jew is the hope for the Gentile. That is to believe the gospel preached the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior from sin and Lord, to embrace him by faith and to join with the people of God, the church, until Christ returns. That’s the framework. So what are we to do then? Paul says about the reality of so many people believing Israelites. Well, he says there’s more that’s going on than meets the eye. He goes on to say those same promises in the Old Testament, those same prophecies in the Old Testament, which spoke of Israel’s unbelief, also said that God was going to bring in Gentiles in large numbers. And that’s happening. And that’s happening for a purpose. Paul says it is to provoke Israel to jealousy. He says that in chapters 10 and 11. And this is the way, Paul says that God will bring the Israelites, the Jewish people, to faith in Jesus Christ. So, when we reach the end of history, as described in chapter 11, we will have what he calls a fullness of Gentiles and a fullness of Jews, a fully redeemed humanity in Jesus Christ. And what that does is show that salvation is entirely the result of God’s wisdom and mercy. And that’s why Paul concludes as he does, to God alone be the glory.
