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SECTION f (continued) – The Conduct
of The Saints (12:01
– 15:07)
Balanced
by SECTION F – The Conduct of Mankind (1:18
– 3:20)
Romans Fifteen – Verses 1 to 21
01. Now we,
the able, ought to be bearing the infirmities of the impotent,
and not to be pleasing ourselves.
Knowledge
puffs up. There is a prideful tendency to make a show of our liberty in
Christ. But grace considers the weak rather than the strong. If there is to
be peace and unity it must come from the condescension of those who are
able. The weak in faith are not asked to consider the strong. Christ is the
most brilliant example in this as in all else. What marvelous condescension
He displayed in His dealings with His disciples, whose weakness and lack of
faith was a constant source of distress to Him! If He could bridge the
great gulf between Him and His disciples, surely we can bear with those
whose infirmities we all share. Concordant
Commentary
Here, Paul refers to ‘impotent’ believers by the Greek
adunatön, literally un-able, which is alternatively rendered impossible.
These, as yet not having been enabled to understand their placement
within the ecclesia, may be having problems adjusting to their spiritual
environment.
Those of us who have been blessed with a deeper
knowledge of the faith and in the practice of it, should ensure that any
criticism of such ones should be constructive. We should be patient and
sensitive to their needs and understand the present phase of their
experience. They, too, have been called into the body of Christ and sealed
with holy spirit. Jesus Christ is as much their Lord as He is ours. He
will see to it that they will grow as He sees fit.
Rom.14:1-4 Now the infirm in the faith be taking to
yourselves,
but not for discrimination of reasonings.
2 One, indeed, is believing to eat all
things, yet the infirm one is eating greens.
3 Let not him who is eating be scorning
him who is not eating.
Yet let not him who is not eating be judging him
who is eating,
for God took him to Himself.
4 Who are you who are judging Another's
domestic?
To his own Master he is standing or falling.
Now he will be made to stand, for the Lord is able to make him
stand.
1Thes.5:14,15 Now we are entreating you,
brethren; admonish the disorderly,
comfort the fainthearted, uphold the infirm,
be patient toward all.
15 See that no one may be rendering evil
for evil to anyone,
but always pursue that which is good for one
another as well as for all.
Though we may not realize
it at first, these ‘impotent’ and ‘weaker’ members have been placed within
the ecclesia for our own spiritual development as we endeavour to edify
them. We are not independent but inter-dependent.
1Cor.12:22-24 Nay, much rather,
those members of the body supposed to be
inherently weaker are necessary,
23 and which we suppose to be a more
dishonored part of the body,
these we are investing with more exceeding
honor,
and our indecent members have more exceeding
respectability.
24 Now our respectable members have no need,
but God blends the body together,
giving to that which is deficient more exceeding
honor,
1Cor.12:25,26 that there may be no schism in the
body,
but the members may be solicitous for one
another.
26 And whether one member is
suffering, all the members are sympathizing,
or one member is being esteemed, all
the members are rejoicing with it.
Gal.6:1-3 Brethren, if a man should be
precipitated, also, in some offense,
you, who are spiritual, be attuning such a one, in a spirit of meekness,
noting yourself, that you, also, may not be
tried.
2 Bear one another's burdens, and thus fill up the
law of Christ.
3 For if anyone is supposing himself to be
anything, being nothing,
he is imposing on himself.
Gal.6:4,5 Now let each one be testing his own work,
and then he shall be having his boast for
himself alone, and not for another,
5 for each one shall be bearing his own load.
No one says it will be an easy task – otherwise it
will not be ‘work’. We are directed to the source of the energy we need to
accomplish this.
Eph.6:10 …be invigorated
in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
The word ‘invigorate’ comes
from the Greek endunamoö, literally make-in-able, to enable.
Dynamo, dynamic, dynamite are some related transliterations – the thought
being: ‘to empower’, ‘to give power to’. Here it is ‘to derive power from’.
02. Let each of us please his associate,
for his good, toward his edification.
Our endeavour, therefore, should
be towards the edification of the ecclesia. To be of service to the other
members, then, we need to ensure that we correctly cut the word of
truth and that we hold on to the pattern of sound words of our
evangel. We need to ‘see’ what has been directed to us within the
context of the whole body of revelation. It is our privilege, without
forcing our convictions on others, to impart our own growing grasp of
Scripture to our associates so that they, too, may appreciate what we have
all been graced with as members of the body of Christ.
1Cor.14:12 Thus you also, since you are
zealots for spiritual endowments,
seek that you may be superabounding to the edification of the ecclesia.
Rom.14:19 Consequently, then, we
are pursuing that which makes for peace
and that which is for edification of one
another.
1Cor.10:24 Let no one be seeking
the welfare of himself, but that of
another.
Phil.2:2-5 …that you may be mutually disposed, having mutual love,
joined in soul, being disposed to one
thing--
3 nothing according with faction, nor yet
according with vainglory--
but with humility, deeming one another superior
to one's self,
4 not each noting that which is his own,
but each that of others also.
5 For let this disposition be in you,
which is in Christ Jesus also,
1Cor.9:22,23 I became as weak to the
weak, that I should be gaining the weak.
To all have I become all, that I should
undoubtedly be saving some.
23 Now all am I doing because of the
evangel,
that I may be becoming a joint participant of it.
1Cor.10:32,33 And become not a stumbling block
to Jews as well as to Greeks and to the ecclesia
of God,
33 according as I also am pleasing all in
all things,
not seeking my own expedience, but that of the many, that they may be
saved.
03. For Christ also pleases not
Himself, but according as it is written,
"The reproaches of those reproaching
Thee fall on Me."
Ps.69:9 For the zeal of Your House, it
devours me,
And the reproaches of those reproaching You,
they fall on me.
Christ, our Lord, took upon Himself the gratuitous
reproaches that unenlightened people direct towards God. Where Christ is
concerned, God is first, sentient creation next, and Himself last –
preferring to serve rather than be served. We, rather than be aloof or
condescending, should be bearing with the infirmities of those we think
should know better, seeking to serve them in an appropriate way.
Phil.2:5-8 For let this
disposition be in you, which is in Christ Jesus also,
6 Who, being inherently in the form of God,
deems it not pillaging to be equal with
God,
7 nevertheless empties Himself,
taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the
likeness of humanity,
8 and, being found in fashion as a human,
He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross.
04. For
whatever was written before, was written for this teaching of ours,
that through the endurance and the
consolation of the scriptures
we may have expectation.
What is written in Scripture is not for one-time
relevance and then relegated to ‘dead file’ archiving. Rather, they are for
constant reference of God’s dealings with men through the years in the
context of our own evangel. Our grasp of Scripture grows through comparison
and contrast with earlier revelation. And from the strength derived from
recorded examples of God’s faithfulness we can expect to endure whatever
comes our way and to be consoled over our shortcomings.
1Cor.10:11 Now all this befalls them typically.
Yet it was written for our admonition,
to whom the consummations of the eons have
attained.
Rom.4:23-25 …it was not written because of him
only, that it is reckoned to him,
24 but because of us also, to whom it is about to be reckoned,
who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus our
Lord from among the dead.
25 Who was given up because of our
offenses,
and was roused because of our justifying.
2Tim.3:16,17 All scripture is inspired by God,
and is beneficial
for teaching, for exposure, for
correction, for discipline in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be equipped,
fitted out for every good act.
2Tim.2:15 Endeavor to present yourself to God qualified,
an unashamed worker, correctly cutting the
word of truth.
2Pet.1:20,21 … no prophecy of scripture at all
is becoming its own explanation.
21 For not by the will of man was prophecy
carried on at any time,
but, being carried on by holy spirit,
holy men of God speak.
1Cor.10:12 So that, let him who is supposing
he stands
beware that he should not be falling.
1Cor.10:13 No trial has taken you
except what is human. Now, faithful is God,
Who will not be leaving you to be tried above
what you are able, but,
together with the trial, will be making the
sequel also, to enable you to undergo it.
05. Now may
the God of endurance and consolation grant you
to be mutually disposed to one another,
according to Christ Jesus,
When we deal with people, with human beings (all of us
flawed with a dying condition even from the time of Adam), there is always
the problem of relationships - given time, our innate selfishness surfaces
and we rub each other the wrong way. This dying condition has not, as yet,
been removed from believers – we have to wait for vivification for that to
happen – so we still fall short of the ideal. We should be aware, then,
that such behaviour can be present among the members of the ecclesia.
1Cor.1:11 For it was made evident
to me concerning you, my brethren,
by those of Chloe, that there are
strifes among you.
1Cor.3:3 … For where there is jealousy
and strife among you,
are you not fleshly and walking according
to man?
2Cor.12:20 For I fear, lest
somehow, on coming,
I may not be finding you such as I want,
and I may be found by you such as you do not
want;
lest somehow there be strife,
jealousy, fury, factions, vilifications,
whisperings, puffing up, turbulences.
We need to be mutually
disposed to one another – to realize and to hold before our minds that
each one is a member of the body of Christ, all of us being one
in Him. It is not an easy path, so we need the God of endurance and
consolation to enable us to endure when the going gets tough and
to console us when we meet with failure, and rejection, and
misunderstanding, as we are bound to during our lifetime.
Rom.13:13,14 As in the day, respectably,
should we be walking,…
not in strife and jealousy, 14 but put on the Lord Jesus
Christ,
and be making no provision for the lusts
of the flesh.
1Cor.1:10 Now I am entreating
you, brethren,
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all may be saying the same thing,
and there may be no schisms among you,
but you may be attuned to the same mind and
to the same opinion.
Phil.2:1-5 If, then, there is any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any communion of spirit, if any compassion
and pity,
2 fill my joy full, that you may be mutually disposed, having mutual
love,
joined in soul, being disposed to one
thing--
3 nothing according with faction, nor yet
according with vainglory--
but with humility, deeming one another superior to one's self,
4 not each noting that which is his own,
but each that of others also.
5 For let this disposition be in you,
which is in Christ Jesus also,
Rom.12:16 being mutually disposed to one another,
not being disposed to that which is high, but
being led away to the humble.
2Cor.13:11 Furthermore, brethren,
rejoice, adjust, be entreated, be mutually disposed, be at peace,
and the God of love and of peace will be with
you.
Phil.1:27 Only be citizens walking
worthily of the evangel of Christ,
that, whether coming and making your
acquaintance, or being absent,
I should be hearing of your concerns, that you
are standing firm
in one spirit, one soul, competing together in the faith of the evangel,
1Pet.3:8,9 …Be all of a like disposition, sympathetic,
fond of the brethren, tenderly compassionate, of
a humble disposition,
9 not rendering evil for evil, or reviling
for reviling,
but, on the contrary, blessing, seeing that you were called for this,
that you should be enjoying the allotment
of blessing,
If we look to
fellow-believers for strength we will be disappointed for they are only
human and the flesh is weak. Many factors may sway their resolve and
even their most sincere intentions. It is still to the Lord and to God and
we must have our true recourse. Paul experienced this.
2Tim.4:16,17 At my first defense no
one came along with me,
but all forsook me.
17 May it not be reckoned against them!
Yet the Lord stood beside me, and He invigorates me,…
Phil.4:13 For all am I strong in
Him Who is invigorating me--Christ!
06. that, with
one accord, with one mouth, you may be glorifying
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Paul prays that God grants
us this needed endurance and consolation so that we, as one in Christ, will
be glorifying God now. We are sure that the day is not
too far away when we, the body of Christ, will glorify the God and
Father of Jesus Christ together, as one.
May God grant us the grace to begin this unison through mutual concern.
Col.3:17 And everything, whatsoever you may
be doing, in word or in act,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
giving
thanks to God, the Father, through Him.
2Cor.1:3-5 Blessed is the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of pities and God of all
consolation,
4 Who is consoling us in our every
affliction
to enable us to be consoling those in
every affliction,
through the consolation with which we
ourselves are being consoled by God,
5 seeing that, according as the sufferings
of Christ are superabounding in us,
thus, through Christ, our consolation
also is superabounding.
Eph.1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing
among the celestials, in Christ,
07. Wherefore
be taking one another to yourselves
according as Christ also took you to Himself, for the glory of God.
We should be lovingly
concerned for one another, assisting wherever we can towards mutual growth,
both spiritual and practical.
Rom.14:1-3 Now the infirm in the faith be taking to yourselves,
but not for discrimination of reasonings….
for God
took him to Himself.
Gal.6:2 Bear one another's
burdens, and thus fill up the law of Christ.
Jn.13:34,35 A new precept am I giving to
you, that you be loving one another;
according
as I love you, that you also be loving one another.
35 By this all shall be knowing that you are My disciples,
if you should be having love for one
another."
This is what Christ has
been doing – accepting us, in spite of all our weaknesses and failings, and
enabling us so that we will be for the glory of God. We are
not left to our own devising to have and develop this love and concern for
our fellow-believers. We draw strength from the fact that it is our Lord
Who invigorates us towards this end.
2Tim.2:1 …be invigorated by the grace
which is in Christ Jesus.
2Tim.4:17 Grateful am I to Him Who invigorates
me, Christ Jesus, our Lord,
Phil.4:13 For all am I strong in
Him Who is invigorating me--Christ!
Eph.1:9-12 making known to us the
secret of His will…
to head up all in the Christ--both that in the
heavens and that on the earth--
11 in Him in Whom our lot was
cast also,
being designated beforehand according to the
purpose of the One
Who is operating all in accord with the counsel
of His will,
12 that we should be for the laud
of His glory, who are pre-expectant in the Christ.
Rom.5:2 through Whom we have the
access also, by faith,
into this grace in which we stand,
and we may be glorying in expectation of the
glory of God.
SECTION e - Previous Ministry (15:08-21)
Balanced
by SECTION E - Previous Ministry (1:14-17)
08. For I am
saying that Christ has become the
Servant of the Circumcision,
for the sake of the truth of God, to confirm the patriarchal promises.
Contrast
the two ministries of Christ and Paul (16). Christ was the Servant of the
Circumcision. Paul was a minister for the nations. Christ confirms the
patriarchal promises. Paul acts as a priest in the evangel of God. Christ
never went outside the land of Israel. He was not sent but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Paul, on the contrary, was not called until
he had left the land of Israel. He was sent to the Uncircumcision. It is of
the utmost importance that we recognize these distinctive ministries, for
the distinction has been virtually ignored. Christ is taken as the minister
to the nations and Paul is forgotten. Yet throughout the Lord's public life
He emphasized the fact that His mission was to Israel exclusively. A few
proselytes, indeed, received blessing, but they were counted as one with
the favored nation. The Syro-Phoenician woman had to take the place of an
outcast before she could get a crumb from Israel's board.
Paul
is a direct contrast to all this. Later he describes himself as the apostle
of the nations (2Tim.1:11). He made an agreement with Peter and John that
they should go to the Circumcision while he went to the nations (Gal.2:9).
He was severed from the rest in order to fulfill this ministry. As a result
all the truth for the nations at the present time comes only through the
apostle Paul. Those who wish to be established in present truth should
master his epistles, especially Ephesians. After they have learned the
mysteries or secrets in his writings and scaled the heights to which he
alone can guide them, they never will be tempted to descend to the level which
is found in our Lord's earthly ministry and in its continuation by the
twelve, as recorded in the book of Acts and in the epistles from their
pens. Concordant Commentary
Many feel that Jesus Christ
had just one mission to carry out when He became flesh – to save mankind.
This is not quite true for it is, in fact, only one of the ways
through which to carry out what is actually His ONE mission – to please His
God and Father.
Phil.2:5-8 For let this
disposition be in you, which is in Christ Jesus also,
6 Who, being inherently in the form of God,
deems it not pillaging to be equal with
God,
7 nevertheless empties Himself, taking the
form of a slave,
coming to be in the likeness of humanity,
8 and, being found in fashion as a human, He
humbles Himself,
becoming obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross.
Jn.5:30 I can not do anything of
Myself.
According as I am hearing am I judging; and My
judging is just,
for I am not seeking My will, but the
will of Him Who sends Me.
Jn.8:29 And He Who sends Me is with
Me.
He does not leave Me alone, for what is
pleasing to Him am I doing always
2Cor.1:20 For whatever promises are
of God, are in Him "Yes."
Wherefore through Him also is the
"Amen" to God, for glory, through us.
In His obedience He came to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel, those who were set apart to believe in Him, in
His office and message. Together, this is the Israel of God.
Mt.15:24 Now He, answering, said,
"I was not commissioned except for the lost
sheep of the house of Israel."
Mt.10:5-7 These twelve Jesus commissions,
charging them, saying,
"Into a road of the nations you may not
pass forth,
and into a city of the Samaritans you may not be
entering.
6 Yet be going rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 Now going, herald, saying that `Near is
the kingdom of the heavens!'
Jn.1:11,12 To His own He came, and those who
are His own accepted Him not.
12 Yet whoever obtained Him,
to them He gives the right to become children of
God,
to those who are believing in His name,
13 who were begotten, not of bloods, neither
of the will of the flesh,
neither of the will of a man, but of God.
God does not look on those who reject Him as
part of His people Israel – they are considered ‘utterly exterminated’. As
far as revelation is concerned, they are ‘dead’.
Deut.18:18,19 A Prophet
shall I raise up to them from among their
brothers, like you,
and I will put My words in His mouth,
and He will speak to them all that I
shall instruct Him.
19 Yet it will come to be that the man who
should not hearken to My words
that the Prophet shall speak in My name,
I Myself shall require his blood from
him.
Act.3:22,23 "Moses, indeed, said that: A
Prophet will the Lord your God,
be raising up to you from among your brethren,
as me. Him you shall hear,
according to all, whatsoever He should
be speaking to you.
23 Yet it shall be that every soul
whatsoever which should not hear that Prophet
shall be utterly exterminated from among the people.
Jn.8:28 … and from Myself I am
doing nothing,
but, according as My Father teaches Me,
these things I am speaking.
Jn.8:45-47 Yet I--seeing that I am speaking
the truth, you are not believing Me.
46 Who of you is exposing Me concerning
sin?
If I am telling the truth, wherefore are you
not believing Me?
47 He who is of God is hearing God's
declarations.
Therefore you are not hearing, seeing
that you are not of God."
Jn.14:10 … The declarations which I am
speaking to you
I am not speaking from Myself.
Now the Father, remaining in Me, He is doing
His works.
Jn.14:24 He who is not loving
Me, is not keeping My words.
And the word which you are hearing is not
Mine,
but the Father's Who sends Me.
Jn.14:31 But that the world may
know that I am loving the Father,
and according as the Father directs Me, thus
I am doing,…
Mt.10:32,33 "Everyone, then, who shall be
avowing Me in front of men,
him will I also be avowing in front of My Father
Who is in the heavens.
33 Yet, who should ever be disowning Me
in front of men,
I also will be disowning him in front of My Father
Who is in the heavens.
Act.3:13 The God of Abraham and the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, glorifies
His Boy Jesus,
Whom you, indeed, give up and disown
before the face of Pilate,
when he decides to release Him.
Those who rejected Him,
even giving Him up for crucifixion, were circumcised ones, Jews according
to the law. They were Jews ‘of the letter’ rather than of the spirit.
They were just going through the motions of their religion, even being
fanatical over it. They were circumcised only in flesh but not in heart.
Rom.3:1-3 What, then, is the
prerogative of the Jew,
or what the benefit of circumcision?
2 Much in every manner.
For first, indeed, that they were entrusted with
the oracles of God.
3 For what if some disbelieve?
Will not their unbelief nullify the
faithfulness of God?
Rom.2:28,29 For not that which is apparent
is the Jew,
nor yet that which is apparent in flesh
is circumcision;
29 but that which is hidden is the
Jew,
and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit,
not in letter,
whose applause is not of men, but of God.
Jer.4:4 Be circumcised to
Yahweh,
And turn aside the foreskins of your heart,…
Deut.10:16 Hence you will circumcise the
foreskin of your heart,
and you should no longer stiffen your neck.
Mt.15:7-9 Hypocrites!
Ideally Isaiah prophesies concerning you, saying,
8 This people with their lips is honoring
Me,
Yet their heart is away at a distance
from Me.
9 Yet in vain are they revering
Me,
Teaching for teachings the directions of
men."
This bears reiteration:
Those of the Jews who believed in Jesus, and the evangel He proclaimed, are
the true Israel of God; those who rejected Him are cut off from being part
of God’s people. According to Scripture, then, the religious Jews and the
secular nation of Israel of today are not His people - no matter
what they (or Christendom) may claim. Anyway, the Israelite (not
Israeli) is a Semite, an Asian - and not a blonde, blue-eyed,
Yiddish-tongued European who is not of the blood of Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob.
Rom.9:4,5 who are Israelites, whose is
the sonship and the glory
and the covenants and the legislation and the
divine service and the promises;
5 whose are the fathers, and out of
whom is the Christ according to the flesh,…
Mic.7:20 You wilt render the truth to
Jacob, the kindness to Abraham,
which You swear to our forefathers
from days aforetime.
Lk.1:70-73 …
He speaks through the mouth of His holy
prophets, who are from the eon;
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And out of the hand of all those who are hating
us,
72 To do mercy with our fathers, And to be
reminded of His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swears to Abraham
our father,
Act.3:25,26 You are the sons of the prophets
and of the covenant which God covenanted
with your fathers,
saying to Abraham: And in your seed all the
kindreds of the earth shall be blessed.
26 To you first, God, raising His Boy, commissions
Him to bless you
by turning away each of you from your
wickedness."
1Pet.2:9,10 Yet you are
a chosen race, a "royal
priesthood," a "holy nation," a procured people,
so that you should be recounting the virtues
of Him Who calls you out of darkness into His
marvelous light,
10 who once were "not a people"
yet now are the people of God,
who "have not enjoyed mercy," yet now
are "being shown mercy."
This does not address present-day Christians. It
speaks to Israelites who, because of their stubbornness, had lost their
national privileges that are to be restored in the near future.
In the days of the prophet Hosea, God caused the house
of Israel to cease and its kingdom taken away. This forfeiture took place
in the ‘vale of Jezreel’ – which is also known as ‘the vale of
Jehoshaphat’ and ‘the vale of decision’.
Hos.1:4,5 And Yahweh is saying to
him, Call his name Jezreel,
for still a little and I visit the blood of
Jezreel on the house of Jehu,
and I cause the kingdom of the house of
Israel to cease.
5 And it shall come to be in that day
that I break the bow of Israel in the
vale of Jezreel.
The restoration of the kingdom to Israel and of its
citizens as God’s people will only be when Christ returns to rule. This
same ‘vale of Jezreel’ will feature prominently in this re-emergence of
Israel.
Joel.3:2 I will also convene all
the nations
and bring them down to the vale of
Jehoshaphat.
And I enter into judgment with them there
concerning My people, and My allotment, Israel,
whom they disperse among the nations, and My
land which they apportion,
Joel.3:12-16 All the nations
shall rouse and ascend to the vale of Jehoshaphat.
For there will I sit to judge all the nations
from round about.
13 Send forth the sickle, for the harvest
is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine trough is full, the
wine vats run over,
for great is their evil.
14 Throngs, throngs in the vale of
decision!
For near is the day of Yahweh in the
vale of decision!
15 The sun and the moon are somber, and the
stars gather in their brightness.
16 And Yahweh shall roar from Zion,
and from Jerusalem shall He give forth His
voice,
and the heavens and the earth shall quake.
Hos.1:10,11 And it comes to be
in the place in which it was being said to
them, Not My people are you,
there shall it be said to them, sons of the
living El.
11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of
Israel shall be convened together.
And they shall place one head over them, and
they shall go up from the land,
for great is the day of Jezreel.
This restoration of the kingdom (which the Lord had
proclaimed to be ‘near at hand’ at the beginning of His ministry to Israel)
was on the minds of the apostles even as Jesus was about to ascend to His
Father.
Act.1:6,7 Those, indeed, then, who are coming
together, asked Him,
saying, "Lord, art Thou at this time restoring
the kingdom to Israel?"
7 Yet He said to them, "Not yours is
it to know times or eras
which the Father placed in His own jurisdiction.
Mt.4:17 Thenceforth begins Jesus to be
heralding and saying,
"Repent! for near is the kingdom of the
heavens!"
Mk.1:14,15 Now, after the giving
up of John,
Jesus came into Galilee, heralding the evangel
of the kingdom of God,
15 saying that "Fulfilled is the era,
and near is the kingdom of God!
Repent, and believe in the evangel!"
Mt.4:23 And Jesus led them about in the
whole of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues and heralding the
evangel of the kingdom,
and curing every disease and every debility
among the people.
‘…the Servant of the Circumcision…’
Jesus was the Servant of the Circumcision
within the context of the covenants God made with Israel. He did not
abrogate the law given through Moses but, rather, enhanced it and taught
that the spiritual intent of the law supercedes its letter.
Mt.5:17,18 You should not infer that I came to
demolish the law or the prophets.
I came not to demolish, but to fulfill.
18 For verily, I am saying to you,
Till heaven and earth should be passing by,
one iota or one serif may by no means be
passing by from the law
till all should be occurring.
Mt.5:19,20 "Whosoever, then,
should be annulling one of the least of
these precepts,
and should be teaching men thus,
the least in the kingdom of the heavens
shall he be called.
Yet whoever should be doing and teaching them,
he shall be called great in the kingdom of the
heavens.
20 For I am saying to you that, if
ever your righteousness
should not be superabounding more than that of
the scribes and Pharisees,
by no means may you be entering into the kingdom
of the heavens.
Mt.5:22 "You hear that it was declared
to the ancients, `You shall not murder.'
Yet whoever should be murdering shall be liable
to the judging.
22 Yet I am saying to you
that everyone who is angry with his brother
shall be liable to the judging.
Yet whoever may be saying to his brother,
`Raka!'
shall be liable to the Sanhedrin.
Yet whoever may be saying, `Stupid!' shall be
liable to the Gehenna of fire.
Mt.5:27,28 You hear that it was declared, `You
shall not be committing adultery.'
28 Yet I am saying to you
that every man looking at a woman to lust for
her
already commits adultery with her in his heart.
Mt.5:31,32 Now it was declared,
Whoever should be dismissing his wife, let him
be giving her a divorce.
32 Yet I am saying to you that
everyone dismissing his wife (outside of a case of prostitution)
is making her commit adultery, and
whosoever should be marrying her who has been
dismissed
is committing adultery.
Mt.5:38,39 You hear that it was declared,
`An eye for an eye,' and `A tooth for a
tooth.'
39 Yet I am saying to you not to
withstand a wicked person,
but anyone who slaps you on your right cheek,
turn to him the other also.
Mt.5:43,44 You hear that it was declared,
`You shall be loving your associate' and you
shall be hating your enemy.
44 Yet I am saying to you,
Love your enemies, and pray for those who are
persecuting you,
Ex.20:8-10 You are to remember the sabbath day
to hallow it.
9 Six days shall you serve and do all your
work,
10 yet the seventh day is a sabbath to
Yahweh your Elohim.
You shall not do any work, you, your son or your
daughter, …
Mt.12:11,12 …"What man of you
will there be, who will have one sheep,
and if ever this should be falling into a pit on
the sabbaths,
will not take hold of it and raise it?
12 Of how much more consequence, then, is a
man than a sheep!
So that it is allowed to be doing ideally
on the sabbaths."
Mk.2:27 And He said to them, "The
sabbath came because of mankind,
and not mankind because of the sabbath,
Though Jesus carried out His ministry among the Jews
and proselytes in the land, His ‘target audience’ were the Jews and
proselytes who were to believe in Him.
Mt.13:2,3 And gathered to Him were vast
throngs, so that He steps into a ship to be sitting, and the entire
throng stood on the beach.
3 And He speaks many
things to them in parables,…
Mt.13:10-16 And, approaching, the disciples say
to Him,
"Wherefore art Thou speaking in
parables to them?"
11 Now, answering, He said
to them that
"To you has it been given
to know the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens,
yet to those it has not been
given….
13 Therefore in
parables am I speaking to them, seeing that,
observing, they are not observing, and
hearing, they are not hearing,
neither are they understanding.
14 And filled up in them is
the prophecy of Isaiah, that is saying,
`"In hearing, you will be hearing,
and may by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be observing, and
may by no means be perceiving."
15 For stoutened is the
heart of this people,
And with their ears heavily they
hear,
And with their eyes they squint,
Lest at some time
they may be perceiving with their
eyes,
And with their ears should be
hearing,
And with their heart may be
understanding,
And should be turning about, And I shall
be healing them.'
16 "Yet happy are your
eyes, for they are observing,
and your ears, for they are
hearing.
According to the prophecy of Moses, then, these
who were given to believe Him and understand His evangel were the true
Israel of God – the rest of the nation could not believe and are outcasts.
Jn.14:6 Jesus is saying to him, "I am
the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one is coming to the Father except
through Me.
Jn.12:37-40 Yet, after His having done so
many signs in front of them,
they believed not in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah
the prophet, which he said, may be being fulfilled,…
39 Therefore they could
not believe, seeing that Isaiah said again
40 that He
has blinded their eyes and callouses their heart,
lest they may be perceiving
with their eyes,
and should be apprehending with their
heart,
and may be turning about, and I shall be
healing them.
The term ‘the Circumcision’ was not applied to
the Jewish believers until Paul’s ministry among the nations began as all
who became believers under his evangel were termed ‘the Uncircumcision’.
Gal.2:7-9 But, on the contrary,
perceiving that I have been entrusted with the
evangel of the Uncircumcision,
8 according as Peter of the
Circumcision
(for He Who operates in Peter for the
apostleship of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the nations),
9 and, knowing the grace which is being
given to me,
James and Cephas and John, who are supposed to
be pillars,
give to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship,
that we, indeed, are to be for the nations,
yet they for the Circumcision--
09. Yet the nations are to glorify
God for His mercy, according as it is written, "Therefore I shall be
acclaiming Thee among the
nations,"
"And to Thy name shall I be playing music."
Mercy
for the nations "with His people" is not in force now, for His
people are not blessed. We are blessed because of their defection. In the
millennial age, however, the nations will be abundantly blessed through the
restored nation of Israel, with Christ on the throne. Concordant
Commentary
Paul had just declared
Christ the Servant of the Circumcision. But, what about the nations?
Have they been left out of the blessings? Are the Circumcision the sole
beneficiary of Christ’s work? How do we, of the body of Christ, fit in?
Paul refers to the record
of the Hebrew Scriptures (verses 9-12), written long before, to show
that the nations have always been in God’s purpose, destined for His
blessings.
Ps.18:49 Therefore, I shall acclaim You among
the nations, O Yahweh,
And to Your Name shall I make melody.
This is where correctly
cutting the word of truth and placing events in their proper timeframe
becomes imperative – otherwise we harbour false expectations. These
jubilant verses speak of the nations enjoying blessings with the faithful
of Israel, not now, but during the kingdom period that fast
approaches.
Jn.10:16 And other sheep have I which are not of this fold.
Those also I must be leading, and they will be
hearing My voice,
and there will be one flock, one Shepherd.
2Sam.22:50 Therefore I confess
You, O Yahweh, among nations.
And to Your name I sing praise.
But none of these citations even hint at the
superlative privileges that have been reserved for those of the body of
Christ, the Uncircumcision.
Rom.9:22-24 Now if God, wanting to display His
indignation
and to make His powerful doings known, carries,
with much patience,
the vessels of indignation, adapted for
destruction,
23 it is that He should also be making
known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy, which He makes ready
before for glory--
24 us, whom He calls also,
not only out of the Jews, but out of
the nations also.
Eph.2:4-7 yet God,
being rich in mercy, because of His vast love
with which He loves us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and
the lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you
saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the
celestials, in Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying the transcendent riches
of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Eph.1:11,12 … being designated beforehand
according to the purpose
of the One Who is operating all in accord
with the counsel of His will,
12 that we should be for the laud
of His glory, who are pre-expectant in the Christ.
10. And again
he is saying, "Be merry, ye nations, with
His people!"
This citation is from Deuteronomy, which is part of
the law given through Moses. This theme is found in many psalms.
Deut.32:43 Jubilate, O heavens, together with
Him,
and worship Him, all the messengers of Elohim!
Jubilate, O
nations, with His people!
Ps.66:1-4 Raise a joyful shout for Elohim, all the earth!
2 Make melody for the glory of His
Name! Make glorious His
praise!
3 Say to Elohim, How fear inspiring are
Your doings!
Because of the vastness of Your strength Your
enemies shall cower before You.
4 All the earth shall bow down to You and shall make melody to
You.
They shall make melody to Your Name.
Ps.98:3 He has remembered
His benignity and His faithfulness to the house
of Israel;
All the
limits of the earth have seen the salvation of our Elohim.
11. And again
he is saying, "Praise the
Lord, all the nations,"
And "let all the peoples laud
Him."
This verse is from the
Psalms – which has many others along the same lines.
Ps.117:1,2 Praise Yahweh, all nations! Laud Him, all clans!
2 For His benignity is masterful over
us,
And Yahweh's faithfulness is eonian. Praise Yah.
Ps.67:3,4 May the peoples
acclaim You, O Elohim!
May the peoples acclaim You--all of
them!
4 May the national groups rejoice
and be jubilant,
For You shall judge the peoples with
equity,
And You shall guide the national groups
in the earth.
Ps.68:32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to Elohim! Make melody to Yahweh,
Ps.97:1 Yahweh reigns; let the earth exult; Let the many coastlands rejoice.
12. And again
Isaiah is saying, there will be "the root of Jesse,
And He
Who is rising to Chief of the nations: On Him will the
nations rely."
Paul quotes from various
parts of Scripture on this theme, which threads through revelation, that on
‘the root of Jesse’ will the nations rely.
Isa.11:10 And there comes, in that day,
the Root of Jesse,
Who will stand for a Banner of the
peoples;
of Him will the
nations inquire, and His rest will come to be glorious.
Mt.12:21 And on His name the nations will
be relying.
Isa.42:1 Behold My Servant! I am upholding
Him.
My Chosen! Accepted by My soul!
I bestow My spirit upon Him, and He shall bring
forth judgment to the nations.
Isa.49:6 And he is saying to me,
"A slight thing is it for you to become My
servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and the
dispersed of Israel to restore.
Behold! I give you also for a light of the nations,
to become My salvation unto the ends of the earth."
Ps.22:27,28 All the limits of the earth
shall remember and return to Yahweh;
All the families of the nations shall worship before Him.
28 For Yahweh's is the kingdom, And He is
the One ruling among the nations.
Ps.72:17-19 His Name shall remain for the
eon;
Before the sun shall His Name be
propagated,
And all
nations shall bless themselves in Him and call Him happy.
18 Blessed be Yahweh, Elohim, the Elohim of
Israel,
Doing marvelous works by Himself alone,
19 And blessed be His glorious Name for the
eon!
The entire
earth
shall be filled with His glory!
Mic.4:1-3 And it comes in the days
hereafter,
the mount of Yahweh's house shall be established
on the summit of the mountains, and it is borne
by the hills,
and all the peoples stream unto it.
2 And many nations go and say:
Go, and we will ascend to the mount of Yahweh,
and to the house of the Elohim of Jacob,
and He will direct us in His ways, and we will
go in His paths.
For from Zion shall fare forth the law, and the
word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 And He judges between many peoples, and
corrects staunch nations still afar,
and they pound their swords into mattocks, and
their spears into pruners;
nation is not lifting the sword against nation,
nor are they learning war any more.
Dan.7:13,14 Perceiving am I in the visions of
the night, and behold,
on the clouds of the heavens, One as a son of a
mortal is arriving:
Unto the Transferrer of Days He reaches, and
they bring Him near before Him;
14 to Him is granted
jurisdiction and esteem and a kingdom,
and all the peoples and leagues and
language-groups shall serve Him;
His jurisdiction, as an eonian jurisdiction,
will not pass away,
and His kingdom shall not be confined.
13. Now may
the God of expectation be filling you with all joy and peace in believing, for
you to be super-abounding in expectation, in the power of holy spirit.
Christ came to Israel and for Israel - ministering to and serving the Circumcision to
confirm the truth of God concerning the promises He made to the patriarchs
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
Isa.43:1 …thus says Yahweh Elohim,
your Creator, Jacob, and your Former, Israel:
"You must not fear, for I redeemed you, I
called you by your name.
You are Mine
But when that mission was accomplished, Christ took
us, of the nations even, to Himself and thus fulfilled the many scriptures
which prophesied blessings to the Gentiles - though there was no hint, at
the time the prophecies were made, of the power and scope of our
evangel!
The God of endurance and
consolation is also the God of expectation and He will fill us with
joy and peace as believers so that we, in the power of the spirit, overflow
with the expectation of our evangel!
All too often this is a missing factor in our lives.
Rom.15:5,6 Now may the God of endurance
and consolation
grant you to be mutually disposed to one
another, according to Christ Jesus,
6 that, with one accord, with one mouth,
you may be glorifying the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
1Tim.1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,
according to the injunction of God, our Saviour,
and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Expectation,
2Thes.2:16,17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself,
and God, our Father, Who loves us,
and is giving us an eonian consolation and
a good expectation in grace,
17 be consoling your hearts and
establish you in every good work and word.
14. Now I myself also am persuaded
concerning you, my brethren,
that you yourselves also are
bulging with goodness,
filled with all knowledge, able also to be
admonishing one another.
Paul believed that those in
Rome whom he was addressing, were practising what they had come to know of
the evangel, noting their eagerness to do good and their ability to
knowledgeably admonish one another. But the fact that he was, even then,
writing to them on doctrine and practice indicates there was a need for a
more complete grasp of the evangel he was dispensing. There is always the
need to refresh our grasp of the evangel so that we know it ‘more
accurately’.
1Tim.4:6 By suggesting these
things to the brethren,
you should be an ideal servant of Christ Jesus,
fostering with the words of faith
and of the ideal teaching which you have fully
followed.
2Tim.1:6,7 For which cause
I am reminding you to be rekindling the gracious
gift of God
which is in you through the imposition of my
hands,
7 for God gives us, not a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love
and of sanity.
Even the Circumcision
apostles felt it necessary to remind those they were in charge of their
evangel.
2Pet.1:12 Wherefore I shall ever be about to
be reminding you concerning these things,
even though you are aware of, and have been established
in, the present truth.
1Jn.2:21 I write not to you seeing that you
are not acquainted with the truth,
but that you are acquainted with it, and that no
lie at all is of the truth.
15. Yet more
daringly do I write to you, in part, as prompting you,
because of the grace being given to me
from God,
He had just declared that
Christ is ‘the Servant of the Circumcision’ and had shown by citations from
the Hebrew Scriptures that the nations could expect blessings with
the people of Israel during the kingdom eon.
Now he reminds the Roman
ecclesia of the claim he had introduced this letter with and which he had
reiterated just a little earlier.
Rom.1:1-6 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,
a called apostle, severed for the
evangel of God
2 (which He promises before through His
prophets in the holy scriptures),
3 concerning His Son …. 5 Jesus Christ, our Lord,
through Whom we obtained grace and
apostleship
for faith-obedience among all the
nations, for His name's sake,
6 among whom are you also, the called of
Jesus Christ:
16. for me to
be the minister of Christ Jesus for the nations,
acting as
a priest of the evangel of God,
that the approach present of the
nations may be becoming well received,
having been hallowed by holy spirit.
While
the priests at Jerusalem still offered the sacrifices according to the law,
their ministrations were not acceptable to God, for they had rejected the
true Lamb of God. God had no pleasure in the blood of slain beasts, for the
hearts of the offerers were far from Him. Is it not a marvel how God, in
His wisdom, finds true worshipers among the despised aliens, who offer
themselves as living sacrifices well pleasing to Him? In spirit, Paul's
ministry among the nations takes the place of the divine ritual at
Jerusalem. He officiates as a priest. Though not sanctified by the altar at
Jerusalem, they were hallowed by the holy Spirit. So it ought to be today.
Though the temple worship has ceased, it is our privilege so to walk as to
be a sweet savor of Christ. Concordant Commentary
'..a minister of Christ Jesus for the
nations..'
Paul reminds them that by
God's grace, he is the appointed minister of Jesus Christ for
the nations (just as Christ was the Servant of the Circumcision when He
came to Israel).
Gal.1:15,16 Now, when it delights God,
Who severs me from my mother's womb and calls me
through His grace,
16 to unveil His Son in me that I may be
evangelizing Him among the nations,…
Act.9:15,16 Yet the Lord said to him
"Go, for he is a choice
instrument of Mine,
to bear My name before both the nations and kings, besides the sons of Israel,
16 for I shall be intimating to him
how much he must be suffering for My name's
sake."
Act.13:2 Now, at their ministering to
the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said,
"Sever,
by all means, to Me Barnabas and Saul
for the
work to which I have called them."
Act.22:21 And He said to me,
`Go! For I shall be delegating you afar to the nations.'"
Act.26:16-18 But rise and stand on your feet,
for I was seen by you for this,
to fix upon you before for a deputy and a
witness
both of what you have perceived and that in
which I will be seen by you,
17 extricating you from the people
and from
the nations, to whom I am commissioning you,
18 to open their eyes, to turn them
about from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God,
for them to get a pardon of sins
and an allotment among those who have been
hallowed by faith that is in Me.'
Rom.11:13 Now to you am I saying, to the
nations, in as much as, indeed, then,
I am the apostle of the nations,…
The evangel that Paul was
entrusted with is a direct revelation of Jesus Christ and not a
delegated message from any human source or resource.
Gal.1:11,12 For I am making known to
you, brethren,
as to the evangel which is being brought by
me, that it is not in accord with man. 12 For neither did I accept it from a man, nor was I
taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus
Christ.
Gal.2:7,8 … perceiving
that I have been entrusted with
the evangel of the Uncircumcision,
8 according as Peter of the Circumcision
(for He Who operates in Peter for the apostleship
of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the nations),
Gal.2:9 and, knowing the grace which is being given to me,
James and Cephas and John, who are supposed to
be pillars,
give to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship,
that we, indeed, are to be for the
nations,
yet they for the Circumcision--
1Cor.15:10,11 Yet, in the grace of God I
am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I--
yet not I, but the grace of God which is
with me.
11 Then, whether I or they, thus we are
heralding and thus you believe.
In keeping with the evangel
of grace that he was to propagate, God appointed Paul to this ministry
in spite of the fact that he had been fanatically devastating the ecclesia
of the Jews who believed in Jesus Christ. Paul was not appointed when he
was in fellowship with believers but at the zenith of his ferocious
persecution of them. Nothing of what Paul was, or of what he was doing,
could stand in the way of God’s overwhelming grace.
Act.26:9-11 "I, indeed, then,
suppose myself bound
to commit much contrary to the name of
Jesus the Nazarene,
which I do also in Jerusalem.
10 And besides, many of the saints I
lock up in jails,
obtaining authority from the chief priests.
Besides, I deposit a ballot to despatch them.
11 And at all the synagogues,
often punishing them, I compelled them to
blaspheme.
Besides, being exceedingly maddened against
them,
I persecuted them as far as the outside
cities also.
1Tim.1:11-16 in accord with the evangel of
the glory of the happy God,
with which I was entrusted.
12 Grateful am I to Him Who invigorates me,
Christ Jesus, our Lord,
for He deems me faithful, assigning me a
service,
13 I, who formerly was a calumniator and a
persecutor and an outrager:
but I was shown mercy, seeing that I do it being
ignorant, in unbelief.
14 Yet the grace of our Lord
overwhelms, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
15 Faithful is the saying, and worthy of
all welcome,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, foremost of whom am I.
16 But therefore
was I shown mercy, that in me, the foremost,
Jesus Christ should be displaying all His
patience,
for a pattern of those who are about to
be believing on Him for life eonian.
'..acting as a priest of the evangel of God..'
Priesthood signifies a system of mediation,
where the deity rules its subjects, with rewards and punishments, through a
consecrated ministry and the people approach the deity through that same
ministry. The Temple system in Judaism, with its rites and rituals
and sacrifices, is one example of this system. Within the evangel of the
Circumcision, with its Mosaic element, Christ is Priest (not
under the Aaronic tradition but according to the order of Melchizedek),
Prophet, and King.
Heb.10:19-22 Having then, brethren,
boldness for the entrance of the holy
places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a recently slain and
living way
which He dedicates for us, through the
curtain, that is, His flesh,
21 and a great Priest
over the house of God,
22 we may be approaching
with a true heart, in the assurance of faith,
with hearts sprinkled from a wicked
conscience,
and a body bathed in clean water.
Heb.7:14-17 For it is taken for granted that our
Lord has risen out of Judah,
to which tribe Moses speaks nothing
concerning priests,
15 And it is still more
superabundantly sure,
if a different priest is rising according
to the likeness of Melchizedek,
16 Who has not come to be
according to the law of a fleshy precept,
but according to the power of an
indissoluble life.
17 For He is attesting
that
"Thou art a priest for the eon
according to the order of Melchizedek,"
There is no priesthood under the evangel of the
Uncircumcision for it declares that there is only one Mediator of
God and mankind, Christ Jesus, our Lord. Through His faith in God and
through what He has accomplished in that faith, He has cleared the way for us
to come with confidence directly into the presence of the Father.
1Tim.2:5 For there is one God,
and one Mediator of God and
mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus,
Eph.3:11,12 … the multifarious wisdom of
God,
in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our
Lord;
12 in Whom we have
boldness and access with confidence, through His faith.
Rom.5:1,2 Being, then, justified
by faith,
we may be having peace toward God,
through our Lord, Jesus Christ,
2 through Whom we have
the access also, by faith,
into this grace in which we stand,
and we may be glorying in expectation of
the glory of God.
The catchphrase ‘the priesthood of believers’
is not part of our evangel but a concept pilfered from the Circumcision
evangel that Peter was commissioned with. During the kingdom administration
that is soon to dawn, Israel will be a priest-nation acting between God and
the nations. Through Moses it was prophesied, and through Peter it is
confirmed.
Ex.19:5,6 Now, if you shall hearken, yea
hearken to My voice
and observe My covenant then you will
become Mine,
a special possession, above all
the peoples, for Mine is all the earth.
6 As for you, you shall
become Mine,
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These are the words which you shall speak
to the sons of Israel.
1Pet.2:9,10 Yet you are a chosen race, a
"royal priesthood,"
a "holy nation," a procured
people, so that you should be recounting the virtues
of Him Who calls you out of darkness into
His marvelous light,
10 who once were "not
a people" yet now are the people of God,
who "have not enjoyed mercy,"
yet now are "being shown mercy."
Zech.8:23 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: In those
days
ten mortals, from all the languages of
the nations, will take fast hold.
And they will take fast hold of the hem
of a man, a Jew, saying,
We will go with you, for we hear that
Elohim is with you.
None of us belong to the consecrated tribe of Levi to
qualify for Aaronic priesthood, nor have we anything to do with the order of
Melchizedek.
Paul is ‘acting as a priest’ rather than being
one. He is neither a priest of God nor of the people. He acts as a
priest of the evangel of God dispensing it to all who are being
called in this present administration of God.
‘…the
approach present of the nations…’
The nations, as one, have no means of knowing the
true God. There is no way, then, that they could or would approach Him.
They are devoted subjects of their own deities.
Gal.4:8 But then, indeed, having
no perception of God,
you were slaves of those who, by nature, are
not gods.
1Cor.12:2 You are aware that when you were of
the nations,
you were led away to the voiceless idols,
as ever you were led.
Eph.2:12,13 that you were, in that era,
apart from Christ,
being alienated from the citizenship of
Israel,
and guests of the promise covenants,
having no expectation, and without God in
the world.
13 Yet now, in Christ Jesus,
you, who once are far off, are become near by
the blood of Christ.
Therefore, it is God Who must initiate any
relationship between Him and them. He must enable them to
believe Him and in Him. This faith that God gives to those whom He is
calling is His approach-present. As this gift of faith is open to the
nations, and not to Israel, it is ‘the approach present of the nations’
– it belongs to them as an enabling gift from God.
This bears repeating. It is not that the nations are approaching God with
their approach-presents to Him! Paul was acting as a priest,
presenting to the nations the
message of God's
approach-present to them,
which is His gift of faith so
that they can believe
through the operation of holy spirit.
Eph.2:8,9 For in grace, through
faith, are you saved,
and this is not out of you; it is
God's approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should
be boasting.
Act.26:16-18 for I was seen by you for
this,
to fix upon you before for a deputy and a
witness
both of what you have perceived and that in
which I will be seen by you,
17 extricating you from the people
and from the nations, to whom I am
commissioning you,
18 to open their eyes, to turn
them about from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God,
for them to get a pardon of sins
and an allotment among those who have been
hallowed by faith that is in Me.'
Paul is the appointed apostle of the nations – a fact
he insists on and reiterates often so that those of the nations must not
look elsewhere for the evangel meant for their belief.
Rom.1:1 Paul,
a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, severed
for the evangel of God
Gal.1:15,16 Now, when it delights God,
Who severs me from my mother's womb and
calls me through His grace,
16 to unveil His Son in me that I
may be evangelizing Him among the nations,…
Eph.3:1,2 On this behalf
I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you, the nations--
2 since you surely hear of the administration of the grace of God
that is given to me for you,
Rom.11:13 Now to you am I saying, to the nations,
in as much as, indeed, then, I am the apostle of the nations,…
1Tim.2:5-7 For there is one God,
and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man,
Christ Jesus,
6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent
Ransom for all
(the testimony in its own eras),
7 for which I was appointed a herald and an apostle
(I am telling the truth, I am not lying),
a teacher
of the nations in knowledge and truth.
2Tim.1:10,11 … through the advent of our
Saviour, Christ Jesus,
Who, indeed, abolishes death, yet illuminates
life and incorruption
through the evangel 11 of which I was appointed a herald and an apostle
and a
teacher of the nations.
Eph.3:8-9 To me, less than the
least of all saints, was granted this
grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches
of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is
the administration of the secret,
which has been concealed from the eons in God,…
'…having
been hallowed by holy spirit..'
It was Paul’s ministry to
clearly present the evangel of God’s grace to all those of the nations who
are to believe it through His enabling holy spirit.
Eph.1:13,14 In Whom you also--on
hearing the word of truth,
the
evangel of your salvation--in Whom on believing also,
you are sealed
with the holy spirit of promise
14 (which is an earnest of the
enjoyment of our allotment,
to the deliverance of that which has been
procured) for the laud of His glory!
Eph.2:4-10 yet God, being rich in mercy,
because of His vast love with which He loves
us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and
the lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are
you saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the celestials, in
Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying the transcendent riches of
His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For in grace, through faith,
are you saved,
and this is not out of you; it is God's
approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should
be boasting.
10 For His achievement are we, being
created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God makes ready
beforehand,
that we should be walking in them.
Rom.8:14-16 For whoever are being led
by God's spirit, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not get slavery's spirit to
fear again,
but you got the spirit of sonship, in
which we are crying, "Abba, Father!"
16 The spirit itself is testifying together
with our spirit that we are children of God.
Gal.4:6 Now, seeing that you are sons,
God delegates the spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying "Abba! Father!
These last two citations fault the ecumenist claim of
‘the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God’. Not very many have been
given the privilege of recognizing and acknowledging the true God as the
God and Father of Jesus Christ. They worship false gods and idols and
place their faith in these for some nebulous concept of salvation they
hold. And they will continue to do so until the true God intervenes.
Jn.17:3 Now it is eonian life that they may
know Thee, the only true God,
and Him Whom Thou dost commission,
Jesus Christ.
Jn.6:29 Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God,
that you may be believing in that One Whom He
commissions."
Jn.6:44 No one can come to Me
if ever the Father Who sends Me should
not be drawing him….
Jn.6:65 …"Therefore have I declared to
you that no one can be coming to Me
if it should not be given him of
the Father."
Jn.14:6 Jesus is saying to him,
"I am the Way and the Truth and the
Life.
No one is coming to the Father except through
Me.
Scripture reveals that there will be the time, though
definitely not now, when God will be the All in all humanity.
1Cor 15:22-28 For even as, in
Adam, all are dying,
thus also, in Christ, shall all
be vivified.
23 Yet each in his own class:
the Firstfruit, Christ;
thereupon those who are Christ's in His
presence;
24 thereafter the consummation,
whenever He may be giving
up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He should be
nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power.
25 For He must be reigning
until He should be placing all His enemies
under His feet.
26 The last enemy is being
abolished: death.
27 For He subjects all under His feet.
Now whenever He may be saying that all is
subject,
it is evident that it is outside of Him Who
subjects all to Him.
28 Now, whenever all may be
subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself also shall be
subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God may be All in all.)
17. I have, then, a boast in Christ
Jesus, in that which is toward
God.
Paul
labored more than all of the other apostles, and, before this crisis in his
ministry, performed greater miracles than the rest. In Acts, every sign in
the first part, by Peter, is duplicated in the last part, by Paul. This
ministry he has now completed. Concordant Commentary
Set apart in the grace of
God even before he was born, and commissioned by Christ Jesus for the work
among the nations, Paul has been true to his ministry. His ‘boast’ is not
in his own prowess and attainment but in Christ Jesus through Whom God
directs and invigorates him.
2Cor.3:4-6 Now such is the confidence we
have through Christ toward God
5 (not that we are competent of ourselves,
to reckon anything as of ourselves,
but our
competency is of God),
6 Who also makes us competent dispensers of a new covenant,
not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the
letter is killing, yet the spirit is vivifying.
Phil.4:12,13 I am aware what it is to be humbled
as well as aware what it is to be
superabounding.
In everything and among all am I initiated,
to be satisfied as well as to be hungering,
to be superabounding as well as to be in
want.
13 For all am I strong in Him Who is invigorating me--Christ!
1Tim.1:12 Grateful am I to Him Who invigorates me, Christ Jesus,
our Lord,
for He deems me faithful, assigning me a
service,
Gal.2:20 With Christ have I been
crucified,
yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.
Now that which I am now living in flesh,
I am living in faith that is of the Son of
God,
Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
1Cor.15:8-10 Yet, last of all, even as if a
premature birth,
He was seen by me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles,
who am not competent to be called an apostle,
because I persecute the ecclesia of
God.
10 Yet, in
the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I--
yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me.
18. For I am
not daring to speak
any of what Christ does not effect
through me
for the obedience of the nations, in word and work,
While among the Jewish
believers at Antioch he had been preaching the evangel of Christ without
any inhibition or constraint. Now, however, he moves into another phase of
his ministry.
His aim now is to bring the
evangel he was commissioned for to those areas where Christ had not, as
yet, been preached. HE was now laying a foundation for others in the
body of Christ to build on.
1Cor.3:10,11 According to the grace of God which
is being granted to me,
as a wise foreman I lay a foundation,
yet another is building on it.
Yet let each one beware how he is
building on it.
11 For other foundation can no one lay beside
that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
Paul takes great care not to step outside the bounds
of what has been revealed to him for the nations to believe, not stripping
or adorning the evangel in any way. He delivers the truth and nothing but
the truth that was revealed to him for the nations.
Rom.16:25,26 Now to Him Who is able to
establish you
in accord with my evangel, and the
heralding of Christ Jesus
in accord with the revelation of a secret
hushed in times eonian,
26 yet manifested now and through prophetic
scriptures,
according to the injunction of the eonian
God
being made known to all nations for faith-obedience--
Because Christendom has not paid heed to this example,
it has sought for truth outside these limits, and has, therefore, a
distorted grasp of what has actually been revealed for the
nations. It is unable to correctly cut the word of truth. It
shamelessly pilfers from the promises to Israel; it ‘christianizes’ pagan
ideas and practices; it panders to emotion and trusts in experiences and
‘miracles’; and it persecutes those who have the truth.
2Cor.11:4 For if, indeed,
he who is coming is heralding another Jesus
whom we do not herald,
or you are obtaining a different spirit,
which you did not obtain,
or a different evangel, which you do not
receive, you are bearing with him ideally.
Gal.1:6-9 I am marveling that
thus, swiftly, you are transferred
from that which calls you in the grace of
Christ, to a different evangel,
7 which is not another, except
it be that some who are disturbing you
want also to distort the evangel of
Christ.
8 But if ever we also, or a messenger out
of heaven,
should be bringing an evangel to you beside
that which we bring to you,
let him be anathema!
9 As we have declared before and at present
I am saying again,
if anyone is bringing you an evangel beside
that which you accepted,
let him be anathema!
Paul did not deviate from the evangel he was given to
disseminate and we should follow his example. We should hold on to the
precious unadulterated truth of our evangel for our spiritual welfare
depends on what God actually says to us.
1Thes.2:2-4 but, though suffering before
and being outraged in Philippi,
according as you are aware,
we are bold in our God to speak the evangel of God to you with a
vast struggle.
3 For our entreaty is not out of
deception,
nor yet out of uncleanness, nor yet with
guile
4 but, according as we have been tested
by God to be entrusted with the evangel,
thus are we speaking, not as pleasing men, but
God, Who is testing our hearts.
1Thes.2:9 For you remember, brethren,
our toil and labor:
working night and day so as not to be burdensome
to any of you,
we herald to you the evangel of God.
Act.20:24 But of nothing have I a word,
nor yet am I making my soul precious to myself,
till I should be perfecting my career
and the dispensation which I got from the
Lord Jesus,
to certify the
evangel of the grace of God.
1Tim.4:9-11 Faithful is the saying and worthy
of all welcome
10 (for for this are we toiling and being
reproached),
that we rely on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
11 especially of believers.
These things be charging and
teaching.
But who in Christendom teaches ‘these things’? Its
adepts prefer a smorgasbord syncretism and a comfortable compromise to
appease and please potential followers. Even the adherents of other false
religions refrain from such adulteration of their own doctrines and practices.
Gal.1:10-12 For, at present, am I
persuading men or God?
Or am I seeking to please men?
If I still pleased men, I were not a
slave of Christ.
11 For I am making known to
you, brethren,
as to the evangel which is being brought
by me,
that it is not in accord with man.
12 For neither did I
accept it from a man, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus
Christ.
19. in the power of
signs and miracles, in the power
of God's spirit,
so that, from Jerusalem and around unto
Illyricum,
I have completed the evangel of the
Christ.
The
completion of the proclamation of the evangel of Christ marks the central
crisis in Paul's ministries. The first was his severance from the rest at
Antioch. The last was at Rome, and was followed by the writing of his
prison epistles. This crisis lies between, after the completion of his
Antioch commission, and is marked by the expression of his desire to go to
Rome. In Acts his previous ministry is declared to be fulfilled (Ac.19:21).
In Corinthians he would henceforth know no one after the flesh. He had been
proclaiming Christ after the flesh—as Israel's Messiah—but he would now do
so no longer (2Cor.5:16). It is at this crisis also that the conciliation is
first revealed (2 Cor. 5:17-20).
His
second ministry was concerned with justification (Ac.13:39) . After this
crisis, his third ministry is characterized by conciliation, which is first
set forth in the fifth to the eighth chapters of this epistle in its
individual aspect, and in the eleventh chapter, in its national aspect. His
final ministry was carried on at Rome, which he plans to visit at this
crisis. It was carried on almost entirely by means of the Perfection
Epistles. Concordant Commentary
Because he has received this ministry from God, he
speaks only of what Christ was doing through him, in word, in work, in
signs and miracles, in the power of the God's spirit, so that the nations
can hear and believe the evangel and witness the power that accompanies it.
And from Jerusalem until then he had completed the preaching of the evangel
of the Christ.
2Cor.12:12 Indeed,
the signs
of an apostle are produced among you in all endurance,
besides in signs
and miracles and powerful deeds.
Act.14:27 Now coming along and gathering the ecclesia,
they informed them of whatever God does with
them,
and that He opens to the nations a door of faith.
Act.15:12 Now the entire multitude hushes,
and they heard Barnabas and Paul unfolding
whatever signs
and miracles God does among the
nations through them.
1Cor.12:4-6 Now there are apportionments of graces, yet the same spirit,
5 and there are apportionments of services, and the same Lord,
6 and there are apportionments of operations, yet the same God
Who is operating all in all.
1Cor.12:7-11 Now to each one
is being given the manifestation of the spirit, with
a view to expedience.
8 For to one, indeed, through the spirit,
is being given the word of wisdom,
yet to another the word of knowledge,
according to the same spirit,
9 yet to another faith, by the same
spirit,
yet to another the graces of healing, by
the one spirit,
10 yet to another operations of powerful
deeds,
yet to another prophecy, yet to another discrimination
of spirits,
yet to another species of languages, yet
to another translation of languages.
11 Now all these one and the same spirit is operating,
apportioning to each his own, according as He is
intending.
Illyricum: also called Dalmatia -
2Tim.4:10
a country to the north-west of Macedonia, on the eastern shores of
the Adriatic, now almost wholly comprehended in Dalmatia, a name formerly
given to the southern part of Illyricum (2Tim.4:10). It was traversed by
Paul in his third missionary journey (Rom.15:19). It was the farthest
district he had reached in preaching the gospel of Christ. This reference
to Illyricum is in harmony with Act.20:2, inasmuch as the apostle's journey
over the parts of Macedonia would bring him to the borders of Illyricum. (Easton Bible Dictionary)
20. Yet thus I am ambitious to
be bringing the evangel
where Christ is not named
lest I may be building on another's foundation,
Paul was eager to
evangelize in areas where Christ was not as yet known, in areas untouched by
other evangels. He did not want any confusion to arise by building on
someone else's foundation (which could be the basis for some other
evangel different from and, hence, irrelevant to the nations).
Rom.1:14-16 To both Greeks and barbarians,
to both wise and foolish, a debtor am I.
15 Thus this eagerness of mine to
bring the evangel to you also, who are in Rome.
16 For not ashamed am I of the evangel,
for it is God's power for salvation to
everyone who is believing--
to the Jew first, and to the Greek as well.
Rom.10:13-15 For everyone,
whoever should be invoking the
name of the Lord, shall be saved.
14 How, then, should they be invoking One in
Whom they do not believe?
Yet how should they be believing One of Whom
they do not hear?
Yet how should they be hearing apart from one
heralding?
15 Yet how should they be heralding if
ever they should not be commissioned?
2Cor.10:13-16 Now we shall not be boasting
immeasurably,
but according to the measure of our range--which measure God parts
to us--
to reach on as far as you also
14 (for it is not as though, not reaching
on to you, we are overstretching ourselves,
for we outstrip others even as far as you in the
evangel of Christ),
15 not boasting immeasurably in others' toils, yet having the
expectation,
your faith growing, to be magnified among you
superabundantly,
16 according to our range, so as to bring the evangel beyond you,
not to boast in another's range over that which is ready.
1Cor.3:10 According to the grace of God
which is being granted to me,
as a wise foreman I lay a foundation,
yet another is building on it.
Yet let each one beware how he is building on
it.
As is evident in his letter to the Galatian ecclesia,
Paul was witness to the confusion caused by Circumcision adherents
attempting to ‘fine-tune’ the belief of ecclesias (which he had established
through the Uncircumcision evangel) with adjustments and ‘more accurate’
doctrines extracted from their own evangel. These intruders had
clearly overstepped the arrangement Paul had agreed upon with the
Circumcision apostles.
Gal.2:7-9 … perceiving
that I have been entrusted with the
evangel of the Uncircumcision,
8 according as Peter of
the Circumcision
(for He Who operates in Peter for the
apostleship of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the
nations),
9 and, knowing the grace
which is being given to me,
James and Cephas and John, who are
supposed to be pillars,
give to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship,
that we, indeed, are to be for
the nations, yet they for the Circumcision-
Paul had received the
evangel directly from Jesus Christ, it being entrusted to his
care. It is not open to change by any others even if they claim to be
believers.
Gal.3:1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who bewitches you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was graphically
crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you:
Did you get the spirit by works of law or by
hearing of faith?
3 So foolish are you? Undertaking in
spirit, are you now being completed in flesh?
Gal.1:6-9 I am marveling that
thus, swiftly,
you are transferred from that which calls you in
the grace of Christ,
to a different evangel,
7 which is not another,
except it be
that some who are disturbing you want also to
distort the evangel of Christ.
8 But if ever we also, or a messenger out
of heaven,
should be bringing an evangel to you beside
that which we bring to you,
let him be anathema!
9 As we have declared before and at
present I am saying again,
if anyone is bringing you an evangel beside
that which you accepted,
let him be anathema!
21. but,
according as it is written,
"They who were not informed
concerning Him shall see,
And they who have not heard shall
understand."
The people of Israel have had the one and only true
God revealed to them through the patriarchs and the law and the prophets
and the psalms and the Tabernacle system. He is Yahweh, exclusively the
Elohim (God) of Israel. And though the nations have their pantheon of
gods, none have the temerity to use the name Yahweh.
Act.15:21 For Moses,
from ancient generations, city by city, has
those who are heralding him,
being read on every sabbath in the
synagogues.
Ex.3:15 And Elohim said further to Moses:
Thus shall you say to the sons of
Israel, Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers,
the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of
Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob,
has sent me to you.
This is My name for the eon,
and this the remembrance of Me for generation
after generation.
Ps.83:18 So that men may realize that
You, You, Whose Name is
Yahweh, Yours alone, Are the
Supreme over all the earth.
Ex.5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron entered
and said to Pharaoh:
Thus says Yahweh the Elohim of Israel,
Dismiss My people that they may
celebrate to Me in the wilderness.
And, the people of Israel had been witness to the
power of God in the many and wonderful miracles that they had the privilege
to experience in their eventful history.
The nations, on the other
hand, have no such revelations and no such traditions and experiences. It
is these heretofore-unprivileged people that God is now addressing and Paul
is commissioned to bring His message to their attention.
Eph.2:12 that you were, in that
era, apart from Christ,
being alienated from the citizenship of
Israel,
and guests of the promise covenants,
having no expectation,
and without God in the world.
Isa.52:15 So shall He startle many
nations,
over Him shall kings shut their mouths,
for they to whom it had not been related
concerning Him, see,
and what they had not heard, they consider.
Isa.65:1 I am inquired of by those who
had not asked for Me.
I am found by those who did not seek Me.
I say, `Behold Me!' to a nation not calling
My name.
Act.26:16-21 for I was seen by you for
this,
to fix upon you before for a deputy and a
witness
both of what you have perceived and that in
which I will be seen by you,
17 extricating you from the people
and from the nations, to whom I am
commissioning you,
18 to open their eyes,
to turn them about from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God, for them
to get a pardon of sins
and an allotment among those who have been
hallowed by faith that is in Me
Act.13:46,47 Being bold, both Paul and Barnabas,
say,
"To you first was it necessary that the
word of God be spoken.
Yet, since, in fact, you are thrusting it away,
and are judging yourselves not worthy of eonian
life,
lo! we are turning to the nations.
47 For thus the Lord has directed
us:
I have appointed Thee for `a light of the
nations;
for Thee to be for salvation as far as the
limits of the earth.'"
Act.18:5,6 Now, as both Silas and Timothy came
down from Macedonia,
Paul was pressed in the word, certifying to
the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
6 Now at their resisting and blaspheming,
shaking out his garments,
he said to them, "Your blood be on your
head! Clear am I!
From now on I shall go to the nations."
Act.28:28 Let it be known to you, then,
that to the nations was dispatched this
salvation of God, and they will hear.
Rom.1:14-17 To both Greeks and barbarians,
to both wise and foolish, a debtor am I.
15 Thus this eagerness of mine
to bring the evangel to you also, who are in
Rome.
16 For not ashamed am I of the evangel,
for it is God's power for salvation to everyone
who is believing--
to the Jew first, and to the Greek as well.
17 For in it God's righteousness is being revealed, out of faith for
faith,
according as it is written: "Now the just
one by faith shall be living."
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