Romans 11.13-Paul Addresses His Gentile Christian Readers And Expresses His Great Pride In His Ministry As An Apostle To The Gentiles
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday July 8, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:13-Paul Addresses His Gentile Christian Readers And Expresses His Pride In His Ministry As An Apostle To The Gentiles
Lesson # 364
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:11.
This evening we will study Romans 11:13 and in this passage, the apostle Paul addresses his Gentile Christian readers in Rome and expresses the fact that he takes great pride in his ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
Tomorrow evening in Romans 11:14, we will note that Paul takes great pride in this ministry on behalf of the Gentiles in the hopes that it would provoke his fellow Jews to jealousy so as to save some of them.
Romans 11:11, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”
Romans 11:12, “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!”
Romans 11:13-14, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. 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 forms a parenthesis that explains how Paul’s ministry indirectly impacted the nation of Israel.
In this parenthesis, Paul corrects any possible misunderstanding among his Gentile Christian readers regarding the implications for Israel when he is an apostle to the Gentiles.
He doesn’t want his readers to erroneously conclude that because his ministry is mainly directed towards the Gentiles that he himself is through with the Jews.
Paul teaches his Gentile Christian readers in verses 13-14 that even though I am indeed an apostle to the Gentiles and serve them by proclaiming the gospel to them, I perform this service in the hopes that this ministry to you might provoke my fellow Jewish countrymen to jealousy so as to save some of them.
All of this was to protect his Gentile Christian readers from racial prejudice towards the Jews.
He wants them to have the same attitude that he and God Himself has towards the Jews, a desire to see Jews saved.
Romans 11:13-14, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. 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.”
“I am speaking to you who are Gentiles” indicates that Paul is addressing directly and specifically his Gentile Christian readers in order to prevent any possible misunderstandings among them with regards to his ministry to the Gentiles in relation to Israel.
“Inasmuch” is composed of the preposition epi (e)piv) and the accusative neuter singular form of relative pronoun hosos (o%so$).
This prepositional phrase does not speak of Paul’s apostleship to the Gentiles on earth as temporary but rather it means that “to the extent or degree” that he is in the capacity of being an apostle to the Gentiles, he hopes to use this ministry to provoke his fellows Jews to jealousy so as to save some of them.
“Then” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction oun (ou@n) (oon), which denotes a possible inference that Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome might draw from the fact that he is an apostle to the Gentiles, i.e. he’s rejected his fellow unsaved Jews.
It is employed with the particle of affirmation men (me\n) (men), which is not translated and emphasizes a contrast with what Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome might conclude or infer regarding his ministry to the Gentiles.
With this expression men oun, Paul is saying “contrary to what all of you Gentiles might expect or be inclined to conclude” I am not turning my back on my fellow Jews by ministering to the Gentiles but rather I do so in order that I might provoke my Jewish countrymen to jealousy so as to save some of them.
Romans 11:13-14, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.”
“An apostle of Gentiles” is composed of the genitive neuter plural form of the noun ethnos (e&qno$) (eth-nos), “of Gentiles” and the nominative masculine singular form of the noun apostolos (a)povstolo$), “an apostle.”
The noun apostolos is used of Paul and refers to the office of an apostle, which was given by the Lord Jesus Christ to only thirteen men in that Paul replaced Judas Iscariot.
In our passage, the noun apostolos refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church.
The spiritual gift of apostleship was given to only twelve men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all twelve men have died and went home to be with the Lord (See Matthew 10:2-4).
The twelve men who were selected by the Lord Jesus Christ to the office of apostle were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, Simon the Canaanite, James, the son of Alphaeus, not the lesser, Thaddaeus, also called Jude, and Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul.
In Acts 1:26, Matthias was selected to be an apostle by lot to replace Judas Iscariot, however, this selection was not honored by God since he was not personally selected by the resurrected Christ as the other eleven men were, nor did he demonstrate any sign gifts.
One of the requirements for holding the “office” of apostle was the experience of seeing the resurrected Christ as Paul had when defending his ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:1-2.
Another requirement for holding the “office” of apostle was that of possessing the “sign gifts” such as healing, which Paul demonstrated he had many times during the course of his ministry (Acts 14:10; 16:18; 19:11; 20:10; 28:8) or “tongues,” which Paul also demonstrated he possessed (1 Corinthians 14:18).
The office and spiritual gift of apostleship was not appointed until after the resurrection and ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ (See Ephesians 4:1-16)
Distribution of spiritual gifts was authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His death, resurrection, ascension and session, however, the actual appointment of the spiritual gift of apostleship was made by God the Holy Spirit according 1 Corinthians 12:11.
The spiritual gift of apostleship functioned under two categories: (1) Writers of the New Testament (2) Establishment of local churches: (a) The clarification of mystery doctrine (b) The maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis (c) The training of pastors (d) Establishment of local church policy.
Paul was personally commissioned by the resurrected Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7).
Romans 11:13-14, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. 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.”
“I magnify” is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb doxazo (docavzw) (dox-ad-zo), which expresses the fact that Paul “takes great pride in” or “honors” or “reveres” his ministry to the Gentiles in that he works hard at it so that he might provoke to jealousy his fellow Jews so as to save some of them.
“My ministry” is composed of the genitive first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv), “my” and the articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun diakonia (diakoniva) (dee-ak-on-ee-ah), “ministry.”
The noun diakonia refers to Paul’s apostolic service to the Gentiles of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
Morris has an excellent comment regarding this word, he writes, “Originally it meant the service of a table waiter and later it came to mean lowly service in general. It is not without importance that this term came to be the typical term for Christian ministry. Christian ministers (even apostles) are not lords of the flock, but servants.” Leon Morris, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Epistle to the Romans, page 409; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1996.
So in Romans 11:13 Paul addresses specifically his Gentile Christian readers in Rome and expresses the fact that he takes great pride in his ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
Tomorrow evening, we will study Romans 11:14 and in this passage Paul expresses why he takes great pride in this ministry on behalf of the Gentiles, namely, he hopes that his ministry to the Gentiles might provoke his fellow Jews to jealousy so as to save some of them.