The Faith That God Left for Us

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The Faith That God Left for Us

Romans 11:1-12

Mari Ikeda

Starting today, we are going to read Romans 11 in three parts. The book of Romans, up to this chapter 11, is a theological explanation, and from chapter 12, it starts to give practical advice to the believers. So, this chapter 11 is the conclusion of the theological explanation. (In other words, the hard part is just around the corner.) Let’s read it through. First, from verse 1 to the first sentence of verse 2.

A. Even among those who reject God

1. Paul himself as proof (1-2a)

1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.

What Paul is saying here is simple. He is asking if the fact that the majority of Jews have not come to have faith in Jesus means that God has given up on them and abandoned them, and the answer is no. The proof is that he himself, a genuine Jew, believes in Jesus.

For those of us living today, the God of the Bible is the God of all people, but in Paul’s day, the Jewish people were still a special people. This was natural because Jesus himself was born a Jew, and all of his teachings were based on the Old Testament, which the Jews had protected and passed down. It is also true that the Jews were God’s chosen special people in the Old Testament times. But Jesus criticized the hypocrisy of the Jews of that time and taught the people that God does not discriminate against people based on their ethnicity or blood ties. This was not easy to accept for the Jews of that time, who had always thought of themselves as special.

Despite this, the first people to believe in Jesus were the lowly Jews who accompanied Him on His journey, and through them, faith in Jesus was spread across the nations. Even though many Jews rejected Jesus, we can say that God certainly entrusted His work to the Jews first. This is because only the Jews, who had kept the Old Testament, could understand that God, who had taught them about Himself through the Old Testament, had actually come to this world as a man named Jesus.

Let’s read the second half of the next two verses and then verse 6.

2. In the time of the Old Testament and now(2b-6)

Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

I think Paul’s pride as a former member of the Jewish elite shows in his opening words, “Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah?” I think he could immediately remember what it said just by saying “the passage about Elijah.” I think he was a bit of a jerk, but because he was such a jerk, he was able to teach us that God has not changed in the Old Testament times or now.

I mentioned earlier that the Jews were God’s special chosen people in the Old Testament time, but even in the Old Testament, as in this passage about Elijah, we are repeatedly told that many of God’s chosen people rejected Him, and only a few continued to believe in Him. Paul explains that the same thing is happening today, that even though many people are rejecting Jesus, God has indeed chosen a few by grace to remain.

I don’t think this means that Christians are the chosen few left in the world of non-Christians. Rather, I think it has to do with the reality that there are many Christians, in the church, who think they are following God, but are actually just using Him.

The history of Christianity that we learn about in our history classes probably has more bad things than good ones. But in every era, there have been people who have reformed the church. And behind those leaders, there must have been people who truly lived for the realization of Jesus’ love, even if their names are not recorded in history. These people are the “seven thousand whom God had left for Himself” as mentioned in the passage of Elijah.

Through these people God left for us, we have inherited our faith. And we are expected to pass it on in the same way.

Let’s move on to the second half. First, let’s look at verses 7-8.

B. For those who reject God

1. Reason for rejection: God’s will(7-8)

7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”

We will now return to the question of why people do not want to believe in God, which began in Romans 9. If you remember the story of Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, it may be easier to understand if you remember that one.

To tell my conclusion first, there are two reasons why people do not believe in God. The first is that it is God’s will. As in the passage we’ve just read, and also as we’ve seen repeatedly since chapter 9, God hardens some people’s hearts. What is said in verse 8, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear,” is originally from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy and Isaiah), but the Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, and John) also record that Jesus himself quoted this to teach the people. It means that only God Himself can open people’s hearts to Him. We don’t know why God keeps people’s hearts closed or doesn’t open them. But what we have learned from chapter 9 is that it is not because God has abandoned them or intends to destroy them, but because of His plan that we cannot understand.

Now, let’s move on to the other reason why people don’t believe in God, which was also mentioned in the first half of the previous chapter 10. This is the problem of people who think they can reach God by themselves and ignore the God who is right next to them. It is the problem of man’s sin of making himself into a god. Let’s move on to verses 9-10.

2. Reason for rejection: Human sin (9-10)

9 And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. 10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

These are the words of Psalm 69, a psalm in which David appeals to God for the destruction of his enemies who torment him. I don’t think Paul’s reason for quoting it here has something to do with he himself being tormented by the Jews who did not believe in Jesus. Just like the quote from Elijah earlier, Elijah’s words show the loneliness of a prophet who is not understood by others and the fear of having his life threatened by his enemies, which may have been the case with Paul himself. Paul was well aware of the reality that there are people who maliciously attack people in order to eliminate those who are not in their favor. And it was the same with David, a reality of human sin that has not changed since the Old Testament times.

To take it a step further, Psalm 69 is a psalm that can also be connected to Jesus on the cross. Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of all of us. Elijah’s enemies, David’s enemies, and Paul’s enemies were of course from different times and in different specific situations, but they were all essentially the same people who tormented them for the same reason. It is the sin of self-centeredness, of not fearing the true God, of using God as a convenient means to justify one’s own claims, and of trying to eliminate those who disagree with one. There is no human being who does not have this sin nature, and we in this age are also tormented by each other’s sins, which become malice and violence.

Therefore, the reasons why people do not want to believe in God can be both because of God’s will and because of human sin. Where to separate the two is very difficult, and I think it is something that only God can understand.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. The only thing that separates us from God is our sins, but Jesus has already come to build a bridge of forgiveness for our sins, and all we have to do is take the hand of Jesus who has come next to us. It is a possibility that is open to everyone.

Paul, too, here was not really hoping that the enemies who were tormenting him would be destroyed. We will see that in the verses we will read next time, but for now let’s just read the opening verses, 11-12.

3. A God who saves sinners (11-12)

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

The “envy” that came up last time has come up again. In other words, the reason why “they” are rejecting God now is so that they can eventually have faith through those who have been given faith by God first. And it is also said, how wonderful it would be if all those who had rejected God would come to seek Him. Paul, who was once a persecutor of Christians himself, could be sure that Jesus’ forgiveness of sins and love was extended to those who tormented him.

Faith is not something that we get on our own, but something that God gives us. From the Old Testament times to the present day, faith has been handed down from generation to generation because God has left faith to people in every age and in every society. Our sinful nature of trying to make ourselves God while rejecting the real God is hard to get rid of, but more than that, the grace of God that has mercy on sinners and saves them is poured out to us without ceasing.

(Let’s pray)
God, please give us the solid faith to seek you in our hearts. Teach us that there is nothing more everlasting and worthy than you. Draw us closer to your love so that we will not continue to chase after futile things. Lord, who gave his life for all of us, please let us walk with you all the way to the end of days. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Summary

For Discussion

1) Is the lack of faith due to God’s will? Is it because of man’s sin?
2) What are we capable of doing and what are we not capable of doing to pass on our faith?

For the children (For the parents)

When we learn about the bad aspects of Christianity and the Christian church (such as the Crusades and indulgences) in school history classes, we get the impression that religion is not a good thing. In fact, we have to be careful because we can use God’s name to hurt people in our own convenient way. Nevertheless, the reason why faith in God has been handed down for thousands of years, including the Old Testament era, is because the joy of living with Jesus has always been shared among many ordinary people whose names do not appear in the history books. I would like to encourage everyone to talk a lot about Jesus in their families. Please talk to your parents about how you specifically rejoice in living with Jesus.