Today is Day 23 of our study of the Book of Romans. Thanks for reading along with me!
Our Bible reading for today is Romans 15: 8 - 13 ...
For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, 9 and so that Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written:
Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles,
and I will sing psalms to Your name.
10 Again it says: Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people! 11 And again:
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
all the peoples should praise Him!
12 And again, Isaiah says:
The root of Jesse will appear,
the One who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in Him.
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In our Bible passage today, Paul reminds the church at Rome that the saving of the Gentiles was always God's plan.
One of the verses Paul quotes from the Old Testament to prove his "case" is Psalm 117: 1: "Praise the Lord, all nations!
Glorify Him, all peoples!"
But Paul also reminds new flock that the Jews are not written off from God’s plan, but that the faithful remnant of Israel will also be saved.
He quotes Isaiah 11: 10 here: "On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious."
We know that this was always God’s heart for all mankind, if we read the promise He made to Abraham that through his descendants, all of the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12: 1 - 3).
Any doctrine that contradicts these Scriptures, and teaches that the church has replaced the nation of Israel in God’s plan is known as "replacement theology" or "supersessionism".
This view is unBiblical.
Scripture never uses the words "church" and "Israel" as interchangeable terms.
Further, Paul clearly teaches in Romans 11 that "Israel has been temporarily set aside in God’s program during these past 2,000 years of dispersion" (www.gotquestions.org).
While the divisions between them must have seemed overwhelming to the members of the new church at Rome, Paul knows that their diversity is in fact a God-given strength! He prays for them that they will be filled with the peace, joy, and hope of the Father, which will empower them to persevere and reconcile their differences in Christ.
I pray that we will do the same in our local churches!