Continue in His Kindness

Do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. (Romans 11:18)

Arrogant toward the branches. Have not Christians for centuries been arrogant toward the “natural branches”, the Jews? The intense hostility toward Jews through centuries of persecution and extermination are nothing less than arrogance at its worst. And this has been done by Christians who believed that they themselves were more favored by God than were the Jews whom they disdained. This attitude is not something just in the past but is still very much alive and thriving yet today.

They were broken off for unbelief – in what? What is real belief or faith?

We must not be so glib as to think we know what faith and belief are just because we are not Jews who were broken off. It may be very likely that much of what is purported to be faith is actually, in God's eyes, conceit and unbelief and arrogance, not genuine faith. We may have been grafted in to God's tree at some point but that does not prevent anyone from being broken off again. If God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. This blows a major hole into the doctrine of once-saved-always-saved.

Behold then the kindness and severity of God. (Romans 11:22)

First of all, it is something we are instructed to behold, to focus and dwell on, to not ignore but to keep it in front of us to ponder and gain deeper understanding, to become more and more acquainted with it at a much deeper level than we are used to thinking about.

When God's kindness and severity are carefully observed it will begin to be seen that in reality they are one and the same thing. God does not change and does not feel differently in His love toward sinners than He does toward saints. This sounds like heresy to many people, believers and unbelievers alike, but it is true nonetheless. It is always the condition of the viewer, the perception and attitude and beliefs of the recipient that determines what they think they see when exposed to the presence of God's passionate love for them.

To those who refuse to believe in the reality of His unfailing, unconditional love they will only see severity in His countenance and will suffer more and more pain from the resistance that they cling to in their hearts and minds to the real truth about Him. But to those who believe the truth about His love, who confess with their mouth and submit to His Lordship and His rights over their life because they are His creation, they will find their hearts filling with real faith and responsive love. They will experience peace and joy that is beyond their ability to logically explain. They will live with an attitude of repentance and submission to the Sovereignty of God over their lives and increasingly enjoy the overwhelming power and joy and peace that comes from synchronization with the heart-beat of God Almighty.

Those who refuse to accept this truth about God's character are incorporating resistance into their heart that will create dangerous and eventually fatal reactions of heat when exposed to the presence of the One who loves them too intensely for their capacity or willingness to accept. To them the words of Paul in chapter 2 are so important to grasp. Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

The determination of whether we will be saved or lost is not up to God; He is not the one deciding that issue. His desire overwhelmingly is for everyone to be saved, to be completely healed and restored into the close intimacy with Him that His heart craves and bleeds for and that He gave His Son up to accomplish. It is not ever God's decision for anyone to be lost, He only respects their choice to cling to lies about Him that causes them to remain in a life-risking, soul-endangering condition. Right now He is protecting all of us from His glory so that we can stay alive during a time of probation until as many as possible will choose life instead of death, for that is the inevitable result from the embedded lies in our hearts when exposed to His unveiled glory. He offers all of us the means of salvation and offers to remove these dangerous lies at the heart level as well as in the mind so that we will be safe to receive greater exposure to His presence.

As every electrician knows all too well, power is not something to take lightly. For a person to ignore taking the right steps to be in right relationship to enormous amounts of electricity is a fatal choice whether made in ignorance or deliberately. What is very interesting in this analogy that is so close to the reality of God's power, is that the most dangerous and fatal choice a person can make when dealing with very high voltage lines is to allow oneself to remain connected in any way to earth ground. One has to completely disconnect or insulate themselves in every respect and be perfectly free from connection to anything that would ground them if they wish to survive connecting themselves with a high-tension power line. Otherwise, they had just better stay a good distance away from that source of power until they are prepared to separate from everything that would endanger their best good.

Behold the kindness of God to you, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you will be cut off.

I once watched a television airing that showed a man who inspects high power lines by sitting on them and moving along on them for inspection hundreds of feet up in the air over canyons and forests. He stated that he was afraid of heights and afraid of electricity and yet ended up with this job. They showed him sitting on the landing rail of a helicopter high in the air approaching the high-powered wires and reaching out with a metal rod to equalize the electrical difference between the helicopter and the wire. There was brilliant flashes of lightening arcing between the rod and the wire for a few seconds before he touched the wire and neutralized the craft with the cables. Then he placed a special rolling apparatus on the cable and climbed onto it to roll along great lengths of the cable to inspect it while the helicopter left him to his work.

If he had not known the dangers of electricity or had not respected the laws governing the workings of electrical power, then no matter how sincere or honest he was that electrical current would have fried him in an instant. He had to learn all the principles important to his safety and then carefully obey every one of them or he would have quickly become a piece of cooked meat. But when he did understand and comply with all the conditions he was able to accomplish things and live in the presence of enormous power without being hurt. The most important aspect of his safety was coming into perfect synchronization and harmony with the voltage that he wanted to live with. For him to live and thrive in the presence of such great power he had to disconnect from everything that was not in harmony with that power and commit himself totally in trust to the very thing that would otherwise destroy him.

This is a very close analogy to the problem God has in connecting with His people. God is the source of all power, but because of sin, which is desynchronization from His power, we are in a fatally dangerous relationship to Him at this point. God has removed most of His power from our presence for our protection for obvious reasons seen above. But His heart yearns to reconnect us with Him and he wants us to experience the exhilaration and joy of real life as it was meant to be lived. But for us to enter into eternal life we must become disconnected from everything that grounds us and endangers our safety.

God does not change the rules of the universe to protect us anymore than He changes the rules of electricity so we can touch high tension wires with impunity. He wants us to learn how to live in harmony with all the principles already in place in the universe so we can once again live in the life-giving presence of all power without danger of being hurt. But that requires not only instruction in how to live safely but requires that we be brought into proper alignment with those principles so that it will be safe for Him to release His glory and power into our lives without being grounded by lies in our hearts.

Given this context we can see that the kindness of God and the severity that we see in Him are really the passion of God and the inflexible principles of power that we must learn and respect. His passion is is pure, unfaltering love for every being He has created and His desire to be restored into full connection with them, especially at the heart level. But the apparent severity of God is the importance of remaining in proper relationship to this Source of dangerous power. That proper relationship requires the crucial ingredient of faith and the renouncement of unbelief in our hearts. The lies that we have about God are the root causes of unbelief that endanger our souls. The plan of salvation and the grace of God have been put in place to help us become free of these lies so that we can be safe to live in the presence of all Power. But it is completely in the realm of our personal choice as to whether we decide to be transformed by the renewing of our mind or we stay entrenched in unbelief and cling to our distorted, fearful views of a severe God who means to do us harm.

It is clear in these verses that arrogance, unbelief and conceit all participate to cause us to be disconnected from the only Source of life. It is also explicit here that if we do not continue in unbelief then it will be safe for God to reconnect us with our source of life. But there can be no compromise between the high-voltage power of God and any ground connection whatsoever to anything connected to any of Satan's lies about Him. We either choose to be all His or we endanger our very existence through violation of the principles that govern power.

The very same Power that can be so fatal to us is the same Power that shows us kindness, grace and causes us to thrive and become fully alive when we submit to His authority. This is the true meaning of the word “holy”. For holy simply means to be totally dedicated and committed to a single person or use. A dedicated telephone line for use only by a Fax machine is the illustration of what holy means. It is not to be used for any other use – it is holy unto the Fax machine. With that understanding it is easier to see why God insists that we be holy people. We must become totally committed to God and disconnected in our heart from all other sources from which we think we can get life. It is only those who are holy who will be able to survive the intense power inherent in the presence of God, only those who are totally committed unconditionally to glorifying Him and emulating His loveliness of character, only those who are filled with His Spirit and obsessed with His passion. Anything less than this is playing with electricity, and we all know what can happen when someone continues down that path.

Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)

I know that I have a great deal of lies still buried in my own heart that create great liabilities and resistance to the power of God. But I also believe in the faithfulness of God to continue to completion the work that He started in me. One of the most important parts of that work is learning to believe and trust in the kindness of God. I want to learn better how to live and continue in His kindness and thus be filled with more and more faith and love for Him. I want the lies about God to be exposed and eradicated by the truth about God in every area of my own heart. I want all resistance to melt away in the presence of His kindness and love for me and those around me. I want a much clearer picture of God in my heart so that I can behold more clearly His kindness and not view it as severity as I have for most of my life. Severity is what those in unbelief see when they look at God. (see Rev. 6:16, 17) So when I perceive Him as severe I know that it betrays the presence of yet more lies in my heart that need to be expelled by the real truth about Him

God, continue to deepen Your healing presence in my heart. Make me an experiment of Your healing grace that even the angels will be astonished at. You have a lot of work left to do, but I give You permission to do whatever You need to do to finish duplicating Yourself in my life. I look forward to enjoying the thrill of more power and refreshment as I come more fully into alignment with Your heart and into fellowship with Your children. Use me as an agent of healing and invitation to others who are hungry for healing as well and keep me from unduly damaging Your children as I am so prone to do. I need more grace, more healing, more truth and a clearer view of Your face so I can behold You in Your beauty and continue in Your kindness.

(next in series)

Who Supports Who?

Do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. (Romans 11:18)

I find this text a bit curious and want to ponder it more to see what it might be trying to teach me. It reminds me a little of the verse that says, “be angry and sin not”. It is maybe one of those instructions that involve acknowledgment that we are going to have negative feelings but it is how we respond to them that is important more than the fact that we experience them.

When I look up the definition of the Greek word for arrogant here I find a description of an attitude of boasting or gloating over someone else's problems while believing myself to be better than they. It even goes as far as rejoicing against them which almost seems to be an oxymoron. But I think most people have a sense of what a boastful, arrogant person looks like and how others feel around them.

In light of this attitude which apparently is all to easy to indulge in, Paul has something to say as an antidote to neutralize the poison that this spirit contains that can infect our heart. The nature of the antidote gives interesting insight into the nature of the poison. He says to remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

First of all, it must be part of the problem that an arrogant person has forgotten something very important or they would not need to be reminded to remember it. It looks like that arrogance and the consciousness of what we need to remember might be mutually exclusive. If I begin to sense that maybe I am suffering from the delusions incurred by this problem of arrogance (and I suspect there is much more than I can see) then I need to take note of Paul's instruction and dwell on the shot of reality that he is offering to bring me closer to living in proper perspective. If I want to be cured of a boastful, arrogant heart then I need to get a right view of my relationships with others and with God.

So what is this antidote to heal me of the dangers of arrogance? Paul says that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. Now this may seem rather logical and a no-brainer when I first read it, but evidently there must be much more here than a simplistic, factual interpretation of these words. I suspect that if I have any spirit of arrogance (which includes fault-finding and negative thinking and criticism which is some of my greatest weaknesses) then a simple left-brain agreement with the facts that a root supports the branches and not vice-versa is not getting to the place inside me that it needs to be to have its intended effect. It is easily a situation where my reasoning mind can believe facts and logic while at the same time my deeper levels of the heart hold very different ideas and opinions that lay hidden far beneath the surface.

So in a way, even my attempt here to unpack this and understand more clearly its deeper meaning may have no effect in my life if the Spirit of God does not take this truth and carry it down into the deep recesses of my heart and memories where the real problems lie. But it may be helpful as a start to at least take the time to look carefully at this warning and allow it exposure time so that its impact can be more permanent. If I don't take to time to think and ponder these things and give the Spirit permission to apply them effectively to my heart, then I am almost guaranteed that they will not be able to have the needed effect on my life and I will have to learn them under more severe circumstances.

Evidently it must be part of my natural, twisted thinking at much deeper levels that somehow this formula is reversed. Otherwise Paul would not have to state the obvious in this case. It must be true that, contrary to logic, I somehow think that in some way or another I am supporting the root – what ever that means and implies. Of course it is always easier to see my problems in other peoples lives, and that may be helpful to the extent that I am willing to look back and discover the same problem in my own heart. So, looking at the analogy of the root-tree-branches that Paul is using here, what does it really mean in my own life that I somehow believe secretly that I support the root?

One thing that immediately comes to my mind is the conviction that keeps coming back to me each time I find myself critical of my church and the short-comings of its members and leaders. I discover to my chagrin that the Spirit convicts me that I am thinking I could do things better, that if given the chance I could make real improvements and be more effective and introduce better ideas that would encourage a more spiritual environment. When I become conscious that this is the nature of my feelings I am usually horrified and ask God to forgive and change me. But these thoughts and feelings are springing up from seeds far beneath the surface that have yet to be exposed and expunged and so they continue to foment these kinds of nonsense in my heart.

What these feelings betray is the basic idea, at the heart level, of what Paul is talking about here. When I feel that God could use me better than the people already in position in His church, then basically I am saying that I could support the trunk as a branch better than the root can. Now, while that sounds crazy and absurd (which it is) it is the very kind of notions that the selfish human heart produces, for the heart is not logical or governed by the formulas of reason that go on in the left brain.

Does that justify the penchant that we have for living life primarily from the left brain because the heart uses such “illogic” and cannot be trusted? No, that solution only produces more problems and does not deal with the real issue which is a need for healing at much deeper levels than just correct answers and formulas. Just because the notions exposed in my deceitful heart conflict with my logical explanations of truth does not mean that I should not live from my heart. It is simply part of the process of healing, of salvation, that God is taking me through. It is the phase of exposure that is necessary so that I can take the next step toward full healing.

And the next step is also found in this passage that I will explore next time.

(next in series)

Role of Jews Today

I am starting to see something that seems different than any viewpoint that I hear from any group about the status of the Jews. There are phrases here in Romans that are pointing me in the direction of something interesting that is not yet clear to me.

I cannot agree with the vast majority of Evangelicals that the Jewish nation as a political entity plays a significant role in end-time events. Besides seriously distorting many of the Old Testament prophecies for them to arrive at this conclusion, I also believe that the Bible is far more focused on symbols of spiritual realities than it is on political alignments that fascinate the imaginations of men. Yes it does use symbols to explain some of the major political powers through the ages, but mostly because those political empires also wielded massive spiritual influence and control over much of the world.

There is a great deal of confusion and disagreement over what end-time events will look like and who will be the prominent players. But most Christians seem more interested in external-oriented power focused on physical force and political struggles than on more hidden spiritual power alignments devoted to capturing and enslaving minds and souls internally by external force or intimidation. But this is the realm where God views things and where the bulk of prophecy is focused.

Of course this should be no surprise given the strong external orientation of religion itself today. If religious people are primarily concerned with appearances, outward performance and control and power over other people's lives, then they will also interpret prophecies to suit those desires. In this light, many Christians today believe that the political nation of Israel will somehow be restored to the physical land of Palestine and most of the end-time scenarios proposed today focus around physical battles for control of the earthly symbols of religion. This makes up the bulk of religious fervor over Israel today.

Because of this view, any references to the Jews in Paul's writings are assumed to support these scenarios and anything that contradicts that view is marginalized or rationalized away. But this is a dangerous precedent to follow. We must be very careful not to force the Word of God to fit our preconceived scenarios and cherished beliefs, unwilling to reexamine our assumptions in the light of important passages that disagree or spoil them.

Though I do not have this all clear in my mind yet, here are some of the texts that look to me like they have important things to say about this.

...Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. (Romans 9:4-8)

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (Romans 9:22-24)

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY." And just as Isaiah foretold, "UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH." (Romans 9:27-29 NAS95)

For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." (Romans 10:11-13)

I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? (Romans 11:1-2)

In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. (Romans 11:5-7)

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. (Romans 11:17-18)

And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:23-33)

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:1-5)

Here is what I am beginning to see from the highlighted portions.

Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons

Israel as a people and nation was certainly God's chosen means to reveal Himself to the world and to invite everyone into a close relationship with Himself. But Israel basically ruined that plan so thoroughly that it became unusable and so God had an alternative that surprised everyone while not invalidating the promises made to Israel as a nation.

they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants

it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants

These are some of the most pivotal texts to keep in mind while working through all the other passages. God never abandoned Israel or His promises to Israel; it was Israel that abandoned God and killed His only begotten Son. But God had a surprise up His sleeve.

not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles

There is still an Israel, but it is not composed solely of biological Jews, it is made up of anyone who enters into a relationship of faith with God. Israel takes on an expanded and revised definition.

IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED

While it is true that Israel was not rejected by God completely, it is also true that not all biological Israelites will be saved or else God would not say that only a remnant would be saved.

there is no distinction between Jew and Greek

If salvation was all about being a Jew then this statement would be absurd. In God's revised arrangement of identifying what a real Israelite is there is now no distinction between Jew and Greek.

WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED

God has not rejected His people

a remnant according to God's gracious choice

those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened

All of these statements simply reinforce what has been laid out thus far. Whoever chooses to enter into a saving faith relationship with God through submission to the Lordship of Christ in their heart are grated into the trunk called Israel along with the remaining original branches of biological Jews who followed God's leading.

grafted in among them and became partaker with them

a cultivated olive tree

This is where I find something very interesting. Instead of Christianity replacing Judaism as is usually assumed, it looks to me like Paul is saying that Christians are merely being grafted into the existing tree that was already in place and never went anywhere.

all Israel will be saved

If this text is taken in full context with surrounding passages, then it is much easier to see, from God's point of view (which is really the only one that is important) that yes, all Israel will be saved. Since God views everyone collectively who accepts the truth about Him and allows it to grow faith in their heart toward Him and makes Him Lord of their life as those who constitute real Israelites, then it is simple to see how all Israel will be saved. But God is not going to force Jews to be saved simply because He has to vindicate His promise. God never violates anyone's will.

they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable

Since the expanded definition of Israel is based on the original Israel, not separated apart from it, then all of God's relationships with the early patriarchs and their descendants are continuous and extend to all who become real Israelites through the means of faith just like father Abraham.

God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all

we, who are many, are one body in Christ

This is the surprise that God revealed after the death and resurrection of Jesus securing our redemption for all mankind. By reclassifying everyone as disobedient sinners (in place of Jews or non-Jews) and revealing His grace and mercy to everyone instead of depending on wayward national Israel to accomplish this goal, He is able to re-form Israel into the very body that He originally intended Israel to be. The body of Christ based on the truthful elements and linked with the people of Judaism who follow God, is now viewed by God as the real Israel.

The root and the trunk of the Olive tree were never removed. It seems to me like the root is Christ and has been all along. The trunk is the body of people called God's chosen which, beforehand was the Jews until they rejected God's calling for them. But even though they permanently lost that role as a nation, they still remained the trunk to which all branches are attached or removed. At least that's what Paul seems to be saying in this passage.

Does that mean all the symbols and ceremonies and sacrificial system must still be observed? No. Paul makes very clear in his writings that all the ceremonies that pointed forward to Christ were fulfilled and no longer need to hold obligation for anyone. But I think Christians have been too quick to throw out the baby with the bath water and have cut themselves off from much truth in Judaism that God never intended for us to be separated from. I believe that the current renewed interest seen in the Messianic movements within Christianity today are born of a legitimate hunger for reconnecting with the trunk that we should have never left in the first place due to our centuries of anti-semitism.

I believe God is leading many true-hearted believers to have a fresh interest in returning to a closer connection with the “trunk” of the true Olive tree through which the living, nourishing juices of life flow up from the root of Jesus Christ. When we come to see the real truth about God's original plan for Judaism and the proper transition that should have been made on a national scale for the Jews after the death and resurrection of Christ, then we will begin to experience and enjoy enlightenment of both our minds and hearts as we enter into a much deeper level of spiritual capacity and joy.

And even more, as Christians begin to honestly embrace the truths that still reside in Judaism that they have scorned and spurned for so many centuries in their own prejudice or ignorance, they will find that the resistance and hardness typically seen in the minds of Jews today will begin to soften as they see the real truth about God in the lives of genuine Christians who are full of God's passion and also honor His laws that the Jews have known about for many centuries. As Christians bring their doctrines and lives into closer harmony with the eternal principles still embedded within true Judaism while keeping the advanced insights and relationship with God that the apostles taught, we will see amazing events take place that are not now even imaginable. For Jews, as Paul points out, fit even better when grafted into the tree that is called their own. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:24)

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33)

(next in series)

Kindness and Severity

Behold then the kindness and severity of God. (Romans 11:22)
	A zeal for God not in accordance with knowledge. (10:2)
Christ is the focus point of the law for everyone who believes. (10:4)	Not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own. (10:3)
Submits and trusts in God's righteousness, His goodness and work of redemption.	Did not subject themselves to God's righteousness. (10:3)
Righteousness based on faith – not far away in heaven or in death but “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”, the word of faith. (10:6-8)	The man who practices righteousness based on law shall live by (get his life from) that righteousness. (10:5)
If you confess with your mouth – Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart – God filled His death with life, you will be saved. (10:9)	His mouth betrays that he has another master who compels him to try harder. His heart is full of pain and death while trusting conformity to the law.
With the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses (agrees with God), resulting in salvation. (10:10)	This man attempts to establish (produce) his own righteousness based on law. He believes in himself and confesses his own achievements.
Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. (10:11)	He who believes in trying harder and impressing God enough to be saved will be disappointed.
No distinction or discrimination. All who call on Him will be saved and enjoy the abounding riches of their Lord. (10:12, 13)	Believes in segregation and discrimination. God only favors those who keep the law. One must believe and work harder to obey. Faith and self-generated works with help from God.
They hear good news from one who is sent, believe in Jesus and call on Him. (10:14, 15)	They did not heed the good news about God. (10:16)
Faith comes by hearing by the word of Christ. (10:17)	They have heard and know about the good news but did not believe it. (10:18, 19)
A people without special identity as God' chosen ones, who were not openly seeking God found God manifesting Himself to them even though they had not asked for Him. (10:19, 20)	They became jealous of those who were not religious like them, were not even openly looking for God but believed anyway. (10:19, 20)
Accepted God's gracious invitation by responding in faith and trust in His provision for them.	Ignoring God's stretched out hands in their disobedience and obstinance. (10:21)
God has a remnant, a small number of people who individually respond to His call (choice). (11:5)	God has not rejected His chosen people – it is they who have rejected Him. (11:1, 2)
The chosen are so by grace. (11:6)	The chosen are believed to be so on the basis of their works. Works precludes grace. (11:6)
Those who responded to God's choosing through faith in His grace obtained salvation and had their hearts softened. (11:7)	God's chosen people (historically) is seeking salvation but has not obtained it but instead were hardened in their hearts. (11:7)
	God gave them a spirit of stupor, blind eyes and deaf ears. Their table (their group identity) became their prison and trap. Their identity as God's chosen ones became the very problem that caused them to stumble and their liability. (11:8-10)
The failure of the Jews to fulfill their role as God's representatives on earth to attract the world to God, He used that failure to create a new opportunity for the world to come to Him in a different way.	God did not trip them to make them fall. But He utilized their fall to create the opportunity for the rest of the world to become rich in His salvation. (11:11, 12)
They become jealous and realize that God is better and more gracious than they realized. They respond by individually joining others in accepting His grace and believing in salvation. Option one. (11:11-14)	They become jealous and harden their heart even more against God's grace – option two.
The transgression of the Jews against God's Son sent to them becomes riches for the world. Their failure to fulfill their invitation to be God's chosen representatives to the world result in riches for the rest of the people of the world (Gentiles). (11:11, 12)	The transgression and failure of the Jews as a nation caused them to lose the opportunity to represent God as a nation.
As individuals, Jews still have the same options as anyone has to see the truth about God and respond in faith, believing in His provision for salvation. When this happens, it results in even greater riches for everyone else. Their depth of understanding of God's ways empowers them to perceive spiritual things more easily than anyone else when linked with faith in God's salvation. (11:12, 15)	If Jews continue to cling to their identity based on law-keeping and depend on their lineage to the forefathers whom God brought into covenant relationship with Himself, looking to that as their source of salvation, they will be lost.
They found God in His manifestation of Himself to their heart. They obeyed by believing in His provision for them in the life and death of Jesus. They were grafted into the supporting “tree” of God's chosen body and became a partaker of rich root of the olive tree. (10:20 and 11:16, 17)	They stumbled, they transgressed, they failed and they rejected God's plan for them and were broken off as branches from the root of God. (11:12-16)
Holiness comes from connection with the original. The root supports the branch. (11:16-18)	Holiness is believed to come from keeping the law and being descendants of God's chosen people.
Stand by faith. Be afraid of conceit and unbelief. (11:20)	Becoming arrogant toward those who used to be God's chosen but failed to remain as such. Falling into the same conceit and unbelief that because they are now the chosen that they can do God's work. (11:18-21)
God's kindness will continue to you if you continue in His kindness. (11:22)	God's severity to those who rejected Him and fell in unbelief (in His kindness). If you too fail to believe in His kindness you too will be cut off. (11:22)
If Jews do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted back into the Olive tree of God. It is very easy and even more natural for them to do that. (11:23, 24)	Becoming wise in your own estimation (conceited and unbelieving in the kindness of God). (11:25)
Individually, Jews can be God's chosen ones just like anyone else can if they allow God's kindness to soften their hearts.	A partial hardening has happened to Israel. (11:25)
A Mystery – All Israel will be saved. (11:25-29, see 9:6-8)	All Jews will be saved because they are biological descendants of Abraham. (Remember, all the descendants of Ishmael and all the other later children of Abraham are his descendants also.)
From the standpoint of God's covenant relationship with the founder's of the Israelites, He still views them as beloved. He never changes His mind about His gifts and calling. (He never rejected them anyway, they rejected Him and His plan for them as a nation.) (11:28, 29)	From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews are the enemies of everyone else who is being saved. (11:28)
You who were once disobedient to God have been shown mercy because of their disobedience (changing the makeup of what now constitutes Israel). Because of the mercy shown to you (creating a new way to become a chosen person by God) they also may now be shown mercy.(11:30, 31)	If Jews or non-Jews are disobedient to God by not believing in His kindness and allowing Him to soften their hearts, they cannot be included as God's chosen ones.
God has created a new definition for being an Israelite – it is all those who believe in His kindness and accept His mercy. They respond by confessing Him as Lord of their lives, believe with their heart in the life-giving power of God to heal and restore them, and live in a life-receiving relationship with Jesus. (11:32-36)	God is somehow in the end going to force all Jews to be saved, whether they willingly believe in His kindness and mercy or not, thus overriding their freedom of will. He will do this because He is trapped in His covenant promises to their forefathers. This is the view of much of the evangelical Christian world today.

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Heart-healing Jealousy

Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. (Romans 11:13-14)

Just exactly how could one go about making a Jew jealous? What beliefs would be lodged in the heart of a Jew that would trigger feelings of jealousy? And what benefit does Paul think would be reaped by attempting to make them jealous? Why would he want to make them jealous anyway?

The Greek word which is translated “jealousy” is defined this way: to stimulate alongside, i.e. excite to rivalry: – provoke to emulation (jealousy). For me that is a little confusing compared to what I usually assume is involved in jealousy. The excite to rivalry part is plain enough but the emulation is a little confusing. Maybe I am not familiar with this word because it is used so seldom. So I looked it up online in the dictionary and found that it has to do not only with trying to be like someone else but with strong tendencies toward a spirit of rivalry, competition and wanting to be even better than the one being competed with.

So now I can see how jealousy would fit in here, at least to some extent. But it still remains to explore why the Jews would be jealous in the first place. If the Jews really believed that they were the only chosen people of God and the only ones who could be saved, then why would it bother them at all if someone else should come along and claim that Gentiles were being saved? It might run counter to what the Jews claimed, but so what? If it was really true that only Jews could be saved it seems like it should make no difference what anyone else might say.

But it did make a great deal of difference, and that betrays that there was something much deeper than factual truth going on in their minds. For the only reason that would cause them to become so stirred up when other people claimed to be enjoying salvation and the favor of God that the Jews claimed was their exclusive domain, is if they secretly believed it might be true even if they denied it vehemently. Another reason would be if they put great importance on external identity and what others thought about their profession of being God's only chosen people. In that case, they were more interested in what others believed about their claims than they were in resting in the reality of truth. For if it was really true that no one else could be saved but good, upright Jews, then why bother about anyone else claiming otherwise? No amount of claiming would change what is already an established fact of reality.

But it is very clear that indeed the Jews did become very jealous and as a result created a great deal of persecution for those who disagreed with their view of theology. But what is interesting here is that Paul says that he wanted to provoke them to jealousy in order that at least some of them might be saved along with the Gentiles who were being saved. That means that jealousy was not everything needed to motivate a Jew to accept the truth about salvation, but it might possibly be one motivation that would impel some of them in that direction. That also means that there had to be other factors involved as well that would determine whether a jealous Jew might decide to take a more serious look at this new view of God or would turn into a raging persecutor attempting to justify and defend tradition much like Paul himself had once done quite effectively.

That brings up another very interesting thought. I believe that Paul here may be harking back to what may have been going on in his own heart in the months and years before his own conversion. What were his real feelings at the heart level when he observed the joy and confidence and peace that Christians had in the face of intimidation, threats and personal violence that he himself had perpetrated on them? Some of these Christians were even praying for his conversion and showing him selfless love in the face of all his violence against them. Outwardly it turned him into an even greater fury of rage that seemed to motivate him to even more violence and wrath in defense of the Jewish system of belief. But it is a fact that increasing violence and anger are usually a cover-up for a deepening conviction and an intense heart-based pain that is being suppressed on the inside.

I believe that Paul was painfully aware of the motivating ability of jealousy to prod a person toward finally submitting to the love of God by his own personal experience. His conscience had been increasingly goading him and torturing him during the years he had been fiercely opposing Christianity. That is made very clear in the words of Jesus when he was confronted on the road to Damascus. Jesus said, “Why are you kicking against the goads?” Jesus was simply tapping into what was already going on in Paul's heart and exposing the pain and lies that were driving his insane obsession to violently stop the spread of Christianity. There was a gnawing suspicion growing inside his own heart that maybe his approach was not working, but he was trying to suppress this feeling by increasingly turning up the focus on the externals to mask the secret jealousy that he was feeling toward Christians.

In Saul's own heart (Paul's name before his conversion) he felt the intense craving and emptiness from his own need for the very peace and joy that he was observing in those he was attacking. He could not achieve those results from perfect performance of religion although he was better than everyone else in that arena. He had desperately tried every trick, formula and requirement that anyone could propose that would bring about peace with God and produce righteousness. He had jumped through all the hoops and had earned all the admiration that human knowledge and performance could produce outwardly in the realm of religion. He had kept all the rules and obeyed God to the best of human ability according to the religious system around him and yet his heart felt more empty than ever. Why didn't God reward his compliance and conformity with approbation and approval? Why didn't God keep His end of this bargain? Why did Saul seem so perfect on the outside and so excruciatingly empty on the inside? His jealousy of these despicable Christians was secretly unavoidable but embarrassing. He could never admit to anyone the secret cravings that his treasonist heart was producing inside of him. We was appalled that these feelings were even inside of him, much worse the growing intensity that they had. But he could not escape them even though he tried with all his might by focusing on his external activities of piety and resistance.

When Jesus came to see him on the road to Damascus, He was not introducing new things to Saul so much as He was simply affirming the culmination of the intense battle that had been raging between Saul's heart and his head. He had tried possibly harder than anyone had ever tried to achieve salvation through left-brain effort but could not shake off the contradictory emotions in his heart. His conscience and suppressed emotions and secret desires had been inflamed and repeatedly stirred up by the humility, peace and love that he saw in the lives of those he was daily crushing and violently abusing. Every day his heart tormented him more with his own guilt and all the religious performance in the world was having no effect at diminishing that pain. When Jesus showed up it was simply a matter of confirming to Saul what he already was painfully aware of but could not bring himself to admit. He needed peace and forgiveness and a heart-connection with a loving God far more than he needed the approval of men. But his left brain was so entrenched in logic and systematic theology that he was trapped in the prison of religion. He needed someone to unlock his heart and break the bars of left brain logic and conclusions so his heart could be released to begin to really live.

Jesus provided that opportunity by revealing Himself to Saul at the heart level and confirming the desperate feelings emanating from Saul's own heart. He simply affirmed that it was the suppressed messages swirling around in Saul's heart that clamored to be acknowledged that were more reliable for guiding him to connect with God than all the religious formulas, doctrines and intellectual truth that filled his left brain. This is why Saul knew instantly what Jesus was talking about when Jesus began speaking to him. It was resonating with what he had been hearing for years from his own heart but had desperately been trying to ignore and suppress and deny. Heart had been exposed by heart, and Saul stepped into the road of freedom, the freedom that comes by living from the heart instead of the head.

Because Paul was so intensely aware of the role of jealousy in his own conversion experience, he is here explaining that he tried to use it in hopes that others, like him, might also come to recognize the futility of their religious activities and belief systems to satisfy the emptiness of their hearts. If they could see more and more the peace and joy experienced by others, especially Gentiles who supposedly were impossible to save, then maybe they too, like Paul himself had done, might cross over from head-living to heart-living and through the motivation of jealousy enter into a vibrant, vital connection with the heart of the Father.

Does this have any application today? If anyone is aware at all of the desires of their own heart beneath all the denial and suppression, I believe they will recognize the pattern here. God is calling everyone into a heart-based spirituality that goes far deeper than any external-oriented, performance-based religion can ever touch. Words cannot describe effectively how this comes about, but the Spirit of God is waiting and eager to introduce each person to their own heart as well as the healing presence of the heart of God. I am trying to shift more and more into this mode of living and thinking to learn how to live from the heart Jesus gave me. I am not very proficient at it yet but I am in training. What would you like to do?

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