Title: The Gentiles Were Always Part of the Plan
At this point in Paul’s letter to the Romans, the discussion takes a somewhat surprising turn, though if we go all the way back to the beginning of Chapter 14, it won’t seem like such an awkward deviation by Paul.
Starting in Chapter 14, about six sermons ago, Paul begins a discussion on what sort of matters should and should not divide a body of believers. He goes to great lengths to illustrate that believers will have different convictions on several secondary issues and that we ought to be respectful of each other when we don’t see eye to eye. We also, (as we studied last week) need to work through our differences, toward unity, so that the local church can be of one accord when praising God’s name.
What Paul does, beginning in verse 7, is use the momentum of his argument to now remind the Jews that Christ opening his salvation to the Gentiles is not a new idea, or even one brought on by Christ himself.
Rather, Paul carefully points out that the Gentiles have been part of God’s plan for redemption for hundreds of years, and evidence of that can be found all over the O.T. Scriptures.
I. Why would Paul bring this up now in his letter?
1. Roman church was a mix of Gentile/Jewish believers.
2. The letter was “ripe” for a challenge based on differing customs of the two groups.
3. Paul wanted to both remind the Jewish believers and encourage the Gentile believer’s of God’s sovereignty.
II. The Issue is a confirmation of Scripture.
For Paul, nothing is more important to his evidence than to be able to show how all of this is a confirmation of O.T. scripture.
1. For Christ, the confirmation comes in that He has become “a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God.”
(Jesus was a Jew, a Jew fully abiding in ALL PARTS of the Law, and therefore, the only pure, sinless sacrifice that could fulfill the laws demands forever.)
2. For the Gentiles, their salvation is a matter of confirmation of God’s glory in fulfilling his promises from the O.T.
Look at where the quotes come from:
“For this reason…” is from 2 Samuel 22:50 (The History)
“Rejoice…” is from Duet. 32:43 (The Law)
“Praise the Lord….” is from Psalms 117:1 (The Wisdom Literature)
and “There shall be…” is from Isaiah 11:1 (The Prophets)
Paul is being extremely thorough in providing ample evidence that the Gentiles were part of the plan all along.
Look at it this way: Now, after hearing Paul’s letter, particularly the section we call chapter 14 and 15. Both the Jews and Gentiles are without excuse in not being unified. Paul was fighting against the first potential church split.
It would have been easy for the Gentile Christians to say, “We’ll go worship over here, because our Christian Liberty makes us free from the practices of the Law.”
And the Jews reply, “And we’ll go over this way and continue practicing the Law, because those Gentile believers don’t have any respect for our convictions.”
But now, after hearing Paul’s words, both groups would be disobedient to Paul if they did this. Instead, Paul was teaching each group to be respectful and considerate to the other, to worship together, to praise God with one accord together, and to NOT LET CONVICTIONAL ISSUES DIVIDE THE CHURCH.
Why? Because of verse 13: (read) They are to be filled with all joy and peace (two groups as one) that they may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What a prayer to pray.