Coffee Shop Chapel

The Stumblingstone - Romans 9:32-3 “...For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

Many Bible scholars and teachers present Romans 9-11 as a parenthetical passage; an afterthought; a passage that could just as easily have been left out. Some of these arguments were taught to me when I was in Bible College. The first time I preached through Romans I left out these chapters, not so this time. Paul ends Romans 8 with a tremendous hymn of praise, that he was “....persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-9) Paul understood that if the Gentiles were to believe that God “...would...keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12), that he would have to successfully explain why God had only set Israel aside (during the church age), not abandoned her. These precious chapters are not a mistake, they are God Almighty, revealing that His dealings with Israel, and Israel’s failure was consistent with (1) His Promises; (2) His Person; (3) His Prophetic Revelation; and (4) His Prerequisite of Faith.

What are some of the reasons that Israel and many Gentiles, then and now, find Jesus Christ to be a stumblingstone, a rock of offence:

1. Israel (in Jesus day until today, as well as many Gentiles) rejects the deity of Jesus Christ. Christ’s claim: as deity; as the Son of God; as equal with God, was and is an offense to Israel. The gospel of Jesus and His cross was “weakness” to the Romans, “foolishness” to the Greeks, but a cause of “stumbling” to the Jews. “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-25, 27-29) Those three problems still are with us today. People reject Christianity because they believe it to be a “religion” for weaklings - and they are not weak - and they don’t need “religion.” To others, Christianity is foolishness, it doesn’t conform to the “wisdom” of our secular, scientific age. And some find the idea of a Divine Son of God an offense, because they do not understand why they cannot “save” themselves.

2. Israel was looking for a physical messiah, not a personal redeemer who would save them from their sins. A stone is a lowly thing. If Christ had arrived on earth in the splendor of His divine glory, if He had come riding a majestic white horse, if He had been armed with a sword, Israel would have followed Him. But He came, lowly, a helpless baby, born of poor parents, born in an insignificant town on the “wrong side of the tracks,” spending his time with the poor and the uneducated. Israel then and most all people today, desire a superstar and a super hero, and Jesus did not and does not meet their expectations.

3. The gospel must be received by faith. Man wants to work for his salvation, and a free salvation is an offense.

4. God’s sovereignty in election offends the lost, it even offends many who truly name the name of Jesus Christ. These last two offenses completely show man’s inability to procure his own salvation. Man wants to provide, or at least have a hand in providing his own salvation, and when he finds he has no part in that provision, he is offended.

In closing, why would God create a gospel that is so offensive. God certainly does not seem to understand the techniques of good marketing. But rest assured, God knows exactly what He is doing, and what He is doing is humbling human pride, a necessity, before anyone can be saved. It was pride that introduced sin into God’s creation, in fact, pride is the very root of sin. There can be no salvation, until pride is cut down, ripped out by the roots, and totally discarded, and that is what the gospel does. Only when pride is destroyed, are we ready to believe on Jesus and build upon Him. (Parts of this devotional are adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

I will try to post a devotional Monday - Friday. There may be times when it will be impossible to do so, when my secular job takes me out of town and away from my computer.


Then I would need a little help from my friends!!

 

Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Yesterday I hinted that many Bible teachers have downplayed the importance of Romans 9-11. Often I find genealogies and other lists of names, seemingly unimportant. Paul’s exhortation to young Timothy reminds me that all of God’s Word is important. I believe that we deem passages unimportant because we are too lazy to search out the riches that are found in them.

Boice prefaces Romans 9-11 with “What in the World is God Doing?” Romans 9-11 deals with history. Henry Ford called history “bunk.” But that is not the Christian view - because the Christian view sees God at the beginning of history (taking charge of it), the cross at the center of history (giving it meaning), and the return of Christ at the end of history (bringing it to a triumphant conclusion).

Romans 9-11 is not written in a vacuum, as many believe and teach. These chapters are connected to the preceding chapters. The question is how? In Romans 8, Paul dogmatically teaches the doctrine of eternal security. Death, life, angels, demons, present events, future, events, powers, height, depth, and all creation are unable to separate us from the love of Christ.

A cursory view of the history of Israel might cause us to doubt the Apostle’s assertion that we are secure in Christ. As we look at Israel, we see a people that God previously chose (elected), yet a people who look like they have been cast off. We might well question, “If God cast off Israel, a people He loved and chose for Himself, how can we trust Him when He says that we are eternally secure?”

The themes we find in Romans 9-11 will answer the above question, and will show us that God can be trusted, that all believers are eternally secure. Boice says that in these chapters Paul “introduces some of the most profound and mind-stretching material to be found anywhere in the Bible.” The themes we will find in these chapters are:

1. The historical advantages of Judaism;
2. The importance and biblical proof of election;
3. The doctrine of reprobation (disapproval);
4. The justice of God in saving some and passing by others;
5. The glory of God displayed in His judgments;
6. The reason for Jewish failure to believe on Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah;
7. The place and power of gospel preaching in God’s plan;
8. The importance of Christian missions;
9. What God is doing in the present age, and why;
10. The eventual salvation of the Jews as a nation; and
11. The great and indescribable knowledge and wisdom of God that guides it all.

A brief outline of Romans 9-11 will set the stage for our understanding of this tremendous passage.
God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because:
1. all whom God has elected to salvation are or will be saved, 9:6-24.
2. God had previously revealed that not all Israel would be saved and that some Gentiles would be, 9:25-29.
3. The failure of the Jews to believe was their own fault, not God’s, 9:30-10:21.
4. Some Jews (Paul himself was an example) have believed and have been saved, 11:1.
5. It has always been the case that not all Jews but only a remnant has been saved, 11:2-10.
6. The salvation of the Gentiles, which is now occurring, is meant to arouse Israel to envy and thus be the means of saving some of them, 11:11-24.
7. In the end all Israel will be saved, and thus God will fulfill His promises to Israel nationally, 11:25-32.

In closing for today, the doctrine of election gives me great comfort. For if God had not chosen me, I certainly would never have chosen Him. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) John makes it very clear that we would never love Him, unless He had loved us first. I do not pretend to understand the sovereignty of God in election, but the Bible states that it is so, and that settles it. I firmly believe that some of the questions that we will never completely understand, are why God loved us, when we were so unlovely; why Christ died for us, when we were so unworthy; and why He continues to tolerate us, when we disobey Him so often.

Praise God, “ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Devotional for June 23:

Romans 9:1-4 “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites;”

Do we like to be told the truth, the hard cutting truth, the truth that is difficult to hear? No, but most of us will respond positively if it the truth is told to us in love, rather than in vindictiveness.

In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul was about to embark on a message to his kinsmen (the Jews) that would alienate them even more than they were already alienated. Paul began and closed Romans 8 on an emotional high, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, and there is absolutely nothing in all creation that can separate a believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Paul goes through a sudden mood swing in Romans 9, from great elation to great sorrow. Why was he in great sorrow, why would he be willing, if possible, to forfeit his salvation? The answer is that he is now thinking of the members of his own people, the Jewish people, a group of people who were rejecting the gospel of God’s grace, the very message he had been preaching. Paul anguished over this, he cries out that he could wish that he was accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsman according to the flesh.

Paul had become the worst of all possible enemies to the Jews. Paul was a believer in the One the Jews would have called “that blaspheming imposter,” and he was going about trying to convert both Gentiles and Jews to this religion. To the Jews, Paul was not only wrong, he was a traitor, a man who was trying to destroy the Judaism he once embraced. But Paul was not a traitor, he was rather a preacher of prophecy. The Jewish prophets had written about a coming Messiah, and Paul proclaimed Jesus as Israel’s true Messiah.

There are two others in the Scriptures who deeply loved those, who not only hated them, but often were ready to use any means available, to silence them. The response of these two, as well as Paul, should motivate us to be willing to lay down our lives, if necessary, to give the gospel to a lost and dying world.

First, there is our Savior, Who did willingly die, for those that hated Him, and that includes you and me. “...when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son...” (Romans 5:10). Think about that, Jesus Christ died for His enemies. Our Savior spoke of great love in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” But Paul tells us that Jesus gave His life for His enemies, that incomprehensible truth should cause us to shudder with unceasing gratitude and boundless obedience to obey our Savior’s command to go to a lost and dying world with the truth that gives life.

Second, there was Moses. God’s man to lead Israel for 40 years. I’m convinced that we have no inkling: how bad Moses was tormented by the Israelites; how much he loved Israel; or how often God threatened to obliterate those unfaithful people. Moses pled with God to spare Israel, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Exodus 32:32)

The spirit that was in Jesus, Paul and Moses should be in each of us, if we would be soul winners. Only Jesus could die for the salvation of others, but we can love as He loved, and that love will point others to Christ.

Boice asks five thought-provoking questions:

1. “Do you anguish over others?” We must sorrow over those who do not know Jesus Christ and who are perishing without Him.

2. “Do you anguish over those closest to you, the members of your own family?” Paul grieved over the Gentiles, but he grieved greatly over Israel, the nation that gave us Messiah, and the nation that rejected Messiah.

3. “Do you anguish over those who are your enemies?” Paul sorrowed over his enemies. Christ wept over Jerusalem, a city filled with His enemies.

4. “Do you anguish over those who are great sinners?” Often we write off those who are great sinners, believing they are so evil and sinful, that they could never be saved. Paul states that he was chief of sinners, yet he came to Christ.

5. “Do you anguish over those who have great privileges?” Israel possessed great privileges in Paul’s day. Most of the English speaking world have great privilege today, but privilege does not save, the Gospel does.

There is a lost and dying world out there. It’s not just in the far flung reaches of the earth, but it’s in our neighborhoods and our families. Our prayer must be, God, break my heart for the lost.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

I will pray.

 

June 24

Romans 9:4b-5 “... to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”

Benjamin Disraeli served as prime minister of England in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880. Shortly after Disraeli was elected to parliament, at the age of 33, he was attacked by Daniel O’Connell, an Irish leader, who referred to Disraeli’s Jewish ancestry. Disraeli replied, “Yes, sir, I am a Jew. And I remind my illustrious opponent that when the ancestors of that right honorable gentleman were brutal savages eating nuts in a German forest, my ancestors were serving as priests in the temple of Solomon and were giving law and religion to the world.”

Disraeli’s statement reminds me that God’s intention was for Israel be a missionary nation. (Isaiah 42:6-7 “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”) Israel was a nation of great advantage. In our text, Paul lists eight real advantages:

1. The adoption as sons. God selected the Jews as an elect nation - through which He would bring salvation to the world.

2. The divine glory. This refers to the Shekinah Glory - the “visible” symbol of God’s presence among His people.

3. The covenants. Covenants established by God with, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. These covenants are an excellent example progressive revelation, ever increasing information given to each of these O.T. saints that foretold the coming of Messiah.

4. The receiving of the law. No other nation on earth has been so blessed by God. Israel was the repository of the Law of Almighty God. Though the Church of Jesus Christ has been at least equally blessed as the holder of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ, the Church is not a nation, making Israel unique indeed.

5. The temple worship. The regulations for the religious rituals, practiced in the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. There the sacrifices were offered, sacrifices that were figures of the ultimate and true sacrifice, Christ Jesus, the Messiah.

6. The promises. The promise of redemption to be fulfilled by the Messiah.

7. The patriarchs. Illustrious men to whom God revealed Himself in special ways, and through whom He worked to call out and bless His ancient people.

8. The human ancestry of Christ. The greatest of all blessings (advantages) Israel possessed, through her, came the Messiah.

In spite of this tremendous list of advantages, Paul’s message is poignant, Advantages Alone Do Not Save. In spite of the adoption, in spite of the divine glory, in spite of the covenants, in spite of possessing the law, in spite of the temple worship with its important symbolism, in spite of the promises and the patriarchs, in spite of all these things, no one, not a nation, not an individual, is saved or can be saved apart from Jesus Christ.

Israel rejected her Messiah, in spite of her advantages. God has blessed the English speaking world. We have the advantage of God’s Word being in the language of the people, we have the advantage of having a church on every corner, we have the advantage of technology (TV, Radio, Video, DVD, etc), America has the advantage of a government that was founded on the Judeo-Christian world view, but all those advantages mean absolutely nothing, unless individuals come to Christ for His salvation, salvation that is freely offered to repentant sinners, based on the finished work of Jesus Christ.

But alas, advantages notwithstanding, most members of the English speaking world are complacent, nominal Christians, which is to say they are not Christians at all. Is Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life or are you depending upon your advantages to get you to heaven? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Trust Christ, before it’s too late.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

June 25

Romans 9:5 “...of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”

The greatest of all advantages that Israel possessed was the Messiah, the Redeemer of the human race, and He came through Israel. Even more startling is the fact that this Jewish Messiah, born of Israel according to the flesh, is very God.

What can we learn from this text?

1. The humanity of Jesus. The first heresy in church history was to deny the true humanity of Christ. Docetism taught that the Spirit of Christ came upon the man Jesus at the time of his baptism, and left him just before his crucifixion. They believed that it was impossible for God to die. The Bible writers are united in their insistence that Jesus was a true human being, a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. Jesus suffered as we suffer, He thirsted as we thirst, He hungered as we hunger, He experienced pain, hostility, and even death, as we experience pain, hostility, and death. Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Christ’s humanity is of great importance of us if we are to live a victorious Christian life, for He is our Supreme Example.

2. The deity of Jesus. Today’s heresy is opposite of that of the early church, our society denies Christ’s deity. When Christ’s deity is denied, what is lost is the value of His atonement for sin.
No mere man, no matter how good he was or is, can pay the infinite price required for our redemption.

Anselm, an English scholar from the middle ages wrote, “It would not have been right for the restoration of human nature to be left undone, and ... it could not have been done unless man paid what was owing to God for sin. But the debt was so great that, while man alone owed it, only God could pay it, so that the same person must be both man and God. Thus it was necessary for God to take manhood into the unity of his Person, so that he who in his own nature ought to pay and could not should be in a person who could ... The life of this one man was so sublime, so precious, that it can suffice to pay what is owing for the sins of the whole world, and infinitely more.”

3. The supremacy of Jesus. Jesus died, humbling Himself for our salvation. But Jesus also rose again, and is now ascended to heaven, where He is honored as God, having been given the name that is above every name, even the name of God (Jehovah) Himself. Philippians 2:8-11 “ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

4. The rightness of praising Jesus. Do we praise Jesus? and, Do we praise Him as we should? The angels praise Him, Revelation 5:12, “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, honour, and glory, and blessing.”

Someday we will join with them, Revelation 5:13, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”

In closing, If Jesus Christ is Lord, as Philippians 2:8-11 says He is, the supremacy of Christ includes His rule over us, who are His people. But we are not his people if we fail to submit to that rule.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

June 26

Romans 9:6, “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.

Does Israel’s unbelief besmirch the righteousness and the just character of God? The majority of Israel, by the time Paul wrote Romans, had rejected Jesus of Nazareth. To these unbelieving Jews, Jesus was a fraud and the apostles were frauds, with Paul being the worst fraud. Simply stated, Israel did not believe that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.

Paul anticipated several questions or arguments from his readers regarding the doctrine that is stated in Romans 9-11. And Paul answers these unspoken arguments in these chapters. Here is a list of some of these arguments:

1. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ offered salvation to all Gentiles, then God must have forsaken His ancient people Israel. While the gospel casts aside the Jewish ritual and works righteousness as a means of salvation, we must remember that God’s divinely-revealed law never was a means of salvation, it was only a means of expressing obedience to God (much as baptism and the Lord’s Supper are only a means of expressing obedience to God). God has never justified any person, Jew or Gentile, (not even Abraham) on any other basis than His grace, made effective by personal faith.

2. If salvation is from the Jews and is first of all to the Jews, why did Israel (including her highest religious leaders) reject Jesus as Messiah, Savior, and King? The gospel is clear, everyone, both Jews and Gentiles, are saved by faith. Salvation never comes from trusting in religious achievement, it is only by grace through faith. We will see that most Jews refused the free gift of salvation, thus rejecting their Messiah.

3. Granted that individual Jews must be saved by personal faith, what about the nation of Israel? Has God discarded His ancient chosen nation? Just as we as parents would discipline a wayward child, God has disciplined Israel for her unbelief. She has been temporarily put aside (not discarded) “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25)

Perhaps a brief outline will help us understand Romans 9 better:

A. Paul declares that the unbelief of Israel is consistent with God’s promises, verses 6-13.
B. Paul declares that the unbelief of Israel is consistent with God’s Person, verses 14-24.
C. Paul declares that the unbelief of Israel is consistent with God’s prophetic revelation, verses 25-29.
D. Paul declares that the unbelief of Israel is consistent with God’s prerequisite of salvation by faith, verses 30-33.

Paul begins his answers to the unspoken arguments by stating that the Word of God has not failed. God had not, is not, and will not revoke or rescind the ultimate fulfillment of His unconditional promises to Israel.

Jeremiah 32:42, “ For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.”

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

As believers in Jesus Christ, God’s faithfulness to Israel, is proof that He will keep His promises to us. But remember, chastening and punishment are elements of God’s divine faithfulness, integrity, and love. Hebrews 12:5-11, “ And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Adapted from “Romans” by MacArthur.

In Christ,
Dan Todd