The next declaration that Paul makes is both comprehensive and profound. It reveals the fact that God is central to everything. For from him, through him, and to him are all things created. God stands in the center of history. In terms of the created order, God is central. In terms of the human experience, [...]
Encountering God inspires his praise and discloses his transcendence. There is more, however. Encountering God reveals his sufficiency—and our insufficiency. Paul continues by referring to Isaiah and Job. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” In other [...]
Think about that. A.W Tozer wrote, “Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the [...]
Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind [...]
I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble [isn’t that the way the nation of Israel has been treated for centuries—even by the Church?] But [...]
It’s certainly possible to say, “Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!” Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re [...]
But I don’t want to go on about them. It’s you, the outsiders, that I’m concerned with now. Because my personal assignment is+ focused on the so-called outsiders, I make as much of this as I can when I’m among my Israelite kin, the so-called insiders, hoping they’ll realize what they’re missing and want to [...]
Another illustration Paul uses shows that God chose a remnant by grace. Paul reminded the readers of the story where Elijah met with the prophets of Baal and the evil Queen Jezebel. Elijah had challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest to see who the real God was—kind of a “Battle of the Gods.” [...]
For several years I have followed the studies from Tom Bradford, who is the founder and teacher in Torah Class, which is an independent, non-denominational organization of gentile Christians and Messianic Jews. Through his studies, I have come to realize that the Hebrews never believed they could “work their way to heaven” and this was [...]
Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 11 (pt 12 of 12)
So far we have discovered that encountering God inspires His praise, discloses His transcendence, reveals His sufficiency, and declares His centrality. But there is a final element in our text. Encountering God demands His Glory. Paul says—To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
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Bible Commentaries, Bible Study, Romans