Lesson 135
Romans Chapter Ten
The Faithfulness of God
Review: Introduction 10:18-21
1. In these verses, v.18-21, we have a single theme/focus,
the response of Paul's countrymen!
- He says to
2. It's as if Paul is looking for
any excuse to explain the failure of the nation
- The B.L. we'll find is that they have no excuse but
their own negative volition, their own failure to believe the word about
Christ.
3. The specific application of the context is to
- we conclude this from the
witnesses that Paul introduces to make his case; v.18 Psa. 19:4 is David;
- v.19 quotes Dt
32:2 thus Moses;
- v.20-21 quotes Isa. 65:1-2 so
the witness is Isaiah
4. What Paul is doing is bringing evidence against
5. Paul leaps all the way back to the OT for his evidence
to convict Israel of their rejection of truth, to make his point clearly on the
basis of the word of God, he wants to keep his arguments as objective as he
can.
- Here's what God said to you,
- If you recall Paul did the same thing in Rom 3:9 and
following; Makes
a major statement, indictment of all! Especially pointed to
the Jew, to
- what follows is a series of
quotes, primarily from Psa.; here is the basis of God’s judgment, that is
our condemnation before God; a very
strong indictment
6. The wording also in v.21 makes it clear [look at v.21]
7. The section's specific application is to
8. So the bottom line,
She
cannot say she has not heard! vs:18
She
cannot say that she could not understand v.19-20
But
I say, surely they have never heard, have they?
Yes they have!
Logical
question at this point:
-
What's your evidence Paul??
Context
of 19:1-5 is one of the most important passages dealing with natural revelation
[N.R.]!
- Therefore natural revelation says what may be concluded
about the Creator from His works, specifically from creation.
- vs:1 = the heavens shout the
glory of God; not Scripture, not the Bible!
- vs:2 = the witness is constant,
its always there!
- vs:3 = the witness is not in
words, its inaudible!
- vs:4a = the witness is
universal, its everywhere!
- vs:4b-6 rest of context says
that the witness of nature, God's creation is dramatic, uses a number of
metaphors to express great drama.
- Look at the testimony of the Jews of that day them self!
Acts
17:1-8; whole
known world was being reached also Acts
- There is no way that they can say they have not
heard! Have NO Excuse!
- It seems difficult to believe that
- Who are the other people? Those that God would use to
make them jealous? Gentiles!
It
clearly predicts that God will use the Gentiles to achieve His purposes for His
people.
It
is consistent with the salvation of the Gentiles and the judicial hardening of
the Jews for their persistent rejection of the truth.
- The idea is that those who did not have privilege, the
Gentiles, as did the called people Israel and they responded more often to the
message of the gospel than did those with great privilege.
* The easiest thing to do is to take truth for granted,
become complacent, apathetic.
Must hold
tenaciously to the truth or it will slip away!
-
Excuse #1 - they haven't heard à Wrong!
-
Excuse #2 - didn't understand à Wrong!
-
Excuse #3 - God gave up on them! Turned
His back on them! à Wrong!
- The flow of the argument here is those whom you would
have expected to respond didn't and those whom you didn't expect to respond
did!
First, it reminds us of the sinfulness of man.
- Those who had received the greatest revelation of all,
the Jews, acted in total disregard of that which God revealed to them.
As
clear as the Scriptures are about all that is taking place among the Jews and
the Gentiles, the nation
There
are no valid excuses for unbelief, my friend. There is never an excuse for
unbelief.
Since
this text reveals the sinfulness of man, it also testifies to the faithfulness
of God and of His Word in spite of man's sin.
The
Word of God is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it is the basis for our
belief and behavior. It is that revelation of truth on which we must base our
faith and on which our lives should be built.
Let
us be men and women of the Word, not only in studying it but in living God's
Word, and developing a close relationship with Christ.