Romans 11.22b-Unsaved Jews Experienced God's Uncompromising Justice And Saved Gentiles Experienced His Kindness
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 30, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:22b-Unsaved Jews Experienced God’s Uncompromising Justice And Saved Gentiles Experience His Kindness
Lesson # 376
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:11.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans 11:22.
Last evening we noted that Paul issues a command to his Gentile Christian readers in Rome to consider God’s kindness and uncompromising justice.
Paul issues the command in Romans 11:22 to his Gentile Christian readers in Rome to consider God’s kindness and uncompromising justice in order that they might not become arrogant towards the Jews by thinking that they merit their salvation and the Jews do not.
Saved Gentiles like saved Jews stand by their faith in Christ and not on their own merits and unsaved Jews are rejected by God because of their lack of faith in Christ.
Therefore, Paul is teaching his readers that there is no reason whatsoever for you saved Gentiles to become arrogant towards either your fellow Jewish Christians or even the unsaved Jews since you experience God’s kindness because of your faith in Christ and not because you have more merit than the Jews.
This evening we will note his use of a correlative clause to teach that unsaved Jews experienced God’s uncompromising justice in contrast to saved Gentiles who experienced God’s kindness.
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, “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.”
Romans 11:14, “If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.”
Romans 11:15, “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
Romans 11:16, “If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.”
Romans 11:17, “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.”
Romans 11:18, “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 11:19, “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’”
Romans 11:20, “Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear.”
Romans 11:21, “For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”
Romans 11:22, “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.”
This clause presents a contrast between those who Jews reject Jesus Christ as Savior and as a result will experience forever God’s uncompromising justice in the eternal lake of fire with those Gentiles who place their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and as a result will experience forever God’s kindness.
“To those who fell” is composed of the preposition epi (e)piv) (ep-ee), “to” and the articular masculine plural aorist active participle form of the verb pipto (pivptw) (pip-to), “those who fell.”
The verb pipto appeared in Romans 11:11 where it was used in a figurative sense of the nation of Israel and means “to fall down in complete ruin.”
In Romans 11:22, the word pipto is used of those Jews who have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior by not exercising faith in Him and means “to fall down in complete ruin.”
The word refers to unsaved Jews experiencing God’s uncompromising justice, which manifests God’s righteous indignation resulting in experiencing eternal condemnation as a result of failing to exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
The preposition epi is employed with the accusative substantive participle form of the verb pipto and marks those Jews who have fallen into complete ruin as a result of rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior as those individuals in which God’s uncompromising justice is forever directed towards.
It marks out unsaved Jews as the objects God’s uncompromising justice.
Romans 11:22, “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.”
“Severity” is the noun apotomia (a)potomiva) (ap-ot-om-ee-ah), which once again refers to the function of the Father’s holiness and means “uncompromising justice” in the sense that the Father does not compromise in executing judgment upon those Jews who reject His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“To you” is composed of the preposition epi (e)piv) (ep-ee), which is followed by the accusative second person singular personal pronoun su (suv).
The personal pronoun su stands in contrast to those Jews who will experience God’s uncompromising justice in the eternal lake of fire as a result of rejecting Christ and thus refers to those Gentiles who have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
This is indicated by Paul’s statement in the third class condition that appears in Romans 11:22 which teaches that Gentiles will continue to experience God’s kindness if they continue to have faith in Christ, otherwise He will reject the Gentiles if they reject His Son like He rejected the Jews who rejected His Son.
It is also indicated in that in Romans 11:21, Paul teaches that God by no means spared Jews for rejecting His Son and will by no means spare Gentiles if they do the same.
The preposition epi is used with the accusative form of the personal pronoun su and marks those Gentiles who exercised faith in Christ as those whom God’s kindness will be forever directed towards or in other words, it marks out saved Gentiles as the objects God’s kindness.
“God’s kindness” is composed of the nominative feminine singular form of the noun chrestotes (xrhstovth$) (kray-sto-tace), “kindness” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$), “God’s.”
The noun chrestotes means “kindness” however this time it refers to saved Gentiles experiencing God’s kindness in the sense of receiving unmerited spiritual blessings and experiencing being delivered from eternal condemnation, the sin nature, personal sins, Satan and his cosmic system because of their faith in Christ.
So we can see from this correlative clause that the apostle Paul contrasts unsaved Jews with saved Gentiles and teaches that those Jews who rejected Christ experience God’s uncompromising justice whereas those Gentiles who had faith in Christ experience His kindness.
Unsaved Jews experience God’s uncompromising justice because they rejected Jesus Christ as Savior whereas saved Gentiles experience God’s kindness because of their faith in Christ.
This correlative clause sets up Paul has to say in the third class condition where He warns his Gentile Christians readers that Gentiles will continue to experience God’s kindness if they continue to respond to God’s kindness.
They can only continue to experience God’s kindness as expressed in the gospel by exercising faith in Christ but if they don’t, God will reject them just as He rejected those Jews who rejected Christ.