Romans 11:30

Romans 11:30

Romans 11:30-32 says, "For as you in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all."

Romans 11:30 starts off by saying, "you in times past have not believed God." That is the condition of every true believer. There is no one who has always believed. That is impossible. If you now believe, there was once a time in your life when you did not believe. We are born with a spiritual capacity, but without a spiritual connection. If you are a true believer, there was a time when you did not believe and then something happened, something changed, and you entered into a belief that you did not previously have. That is what Jesus was talking about when He said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." This can happen very young in life. The younger the better.

In Romans 11:30 Paul said that in times past you have not believed God, but that you have now received mercy. In these three verse Paul mentions the word "mercy" four times. When we become rightly related to God, it is because of His mercy. It is a good thing that God is merciful, because if He were not, we would have no hope. We can become born-again and we can become rightly related to God only because of His mercy through Christ. Mercy has to do with God not giving us what we deserve. If God gave us what we deserved, we would be punished and would have no hope. God would be just and right to do things that way, if He so chose: but God is merciful, so He offers a chance to avoid punishment and to enter into His mercy. Normally, the principle of retribution and of reaping what we sow would take effect; but when we enter into God’s mercy all of that is changed.

If you have received God’s mercy, then you are in a wonderful condition. You are one of the privileged ones who are the objects of God’s mercy. But God does not want His mercy to be experienced by only a few, and so Romans 11:31 says that "they also may obtain mercy", and Romans 11:32 says, "that He might have mercy upon all." The gospel is not exclusive, it is inclusive. It is the will of God that everyone should turn from their sins and be saved. Anyone that you know and anyone that you see could be saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus and calling on His name.

There is a great equality implied by the gospel. Everyone equally needs to be saved, and everyone who becomes saved is equally an object of God’s mercy. No one who believes the Bible should ever be prejudiced against another race or ethnic group. We are equally sinful and equally in need of salvation. Christians should have the least amount of prejudice than any other people on the earth. If God offers His mercy to all, then we should follow His example.

Romans 11:33-34 says, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counsellor?"

After mentioning the mercy of God for 4 times in three verses and pointing out that the mercy is offered to all, Paul expresses an amazement and an appreciation for the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God. He gives us two characteristics of the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is invaluable, it is priceless; and His wisdom is unfathomable, it is unsearchable. One of the requirements for obtaining wisdom from God is to value it. King Solomon was told that he could ask for anything and it would be given to him; and instead of asking for silver or gold, and instead of asking for power over his enemies, he simply asked God that he would be given wisdom, and then Solomon became the wisest man on the earth. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously."

The wisdom of God is unsearchable, and His ways past finding out. It is a wonderful and life-long pursuit to seek after the knowledge of God. It begins with a relationship with Jesus, and then it continues beyond this life and into eternity. Can a mere mortal ever understand the infinite, or can a human ever know all that there is to know about the great and eternal God? No matter how much we learn, we often find that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Is there anyone who completely knows the mind of the Lord? That is probably the reason that things usually do not work out the way that we think that they will or hope that they will. There are always surprises. But they are not surprises to God. It is just that His judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out.

Romans 11:34 says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counselor?" It is very common for a human to need a counselor or an advisor for certain situations. When a human faces a complicated or a critical decision, it may at times be a good idea to at least ask the opinion of someone who has more knowledge in that particular area. Paul asks the rhetorical question, and the obvious answer is that no one is a counselor to the Lord. Although in hearing the prayers of some people, you would almost conclude that some think they should tell the Lord what He ought to do in certain situations.

If you think that you need the counsel of someone else, there is no better counselor than the Lord Himself and He does not charge people for truth or for wisdom. What a contrast the Lord is to some humans who set themselves up as counselors. Could it be that a human would say to himself, “I have acquired wisdom and knowledge about life, and there are many people with problems and troubles who could benefit from my counsel and expertise. Therefore, I will charge them $100.00 an hour when they come to me for help.” Any human so low as to do such a thing has already disqualified himself from being the kind of counselor that you really need. Proverbs 19:21 says, "The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." God does not charge you for His counsel.

Romans 11:35 says, "Or who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?" God owns everything in the world, and in one sense you cannot even give to God, because He already owns everything. The point that Paul is making is that you cannot give something to God when it is already His; and therefore you cannot give to Him expecting that you will receive something in return. It is much more Biblical to give expecting nothing in return, or to give simply because you think it is the will of God for you to administer your possessions in that way, or to give because you have compassion on those who are in need, or to give because you want your material possessions to assist in the spread of the Gospel. Do not ever give, thinking that you are putting God in a position where He must give to you in return. The Bible says right here in Romans 11:35 that things do not work that way. God will put into your hands, partly through your own efforts, the things that He wants you to administer; but He will not give to you to pay you back for what you have given.

Romans 11:36 says, "For of him, and through him, and to him are all things." Everything that is, comes from God. He is the source. Some scientists try to answer the question, "From where did all things come?" Genesis 1:1 has the answer. It says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Romans 11:36 also has the answer. It says, "For of him, ...are all things." Anyone who comes up with a theory on the beginning of life or the beginning of the universe and leaves out God is wrong, dead wrong. Different theories, such as the Theory of Evolution, are called theories, because they cannot be proved. Because they are theories, they are eventually supplanted and replaced by newer theories of the origin of the universe. The only reason that these theories become popular is so that atheistic scientists can have an excuse to ease their conscience for not believing in God. At least they are honest enough to call their ideas theories, such as the Theory of Evolution. It is too bad that they sometimes teach their theories as though they are fact and as though they are laws of science. There is a big difference between a law of science that can be proved such as the Law of Gravity, and a theory that cannot be proved such as the Theory of Evolution.

When the Bible says that through Him are all things, it is referring to the fact that God is the sustainer of all things, as well as the creator. Not only did God put all things in motion, He also is actively involved in all that goes on. He is the sustainer of the world. Without Him, all things would fall apart. Whatever you have that is good, God has given it to you. Every beat of your heart, the movement of every blood cell through your body, and the proper working of every organ involved is the result of the active participation of the ever-present and all-powerful God. Even the very atoms are held together by the power of God. Because we are children of the twentieth century, we know what power is unleashed by the splitting of the atom. Think of the awesome power of the Almighty, who holds all the atoms of the universe together!

"For of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things." When the Bible says that "to Him are all things", it means that the march of history is heading towards one final and ultimate climax which is at the foot of the throne of God. Everyone is heading towards Christ. Some go willingly, while others are drawn dragging and kicking their feet. But the Bible says that "every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Starting with Romans Chapter 12 we enter a new section of the book of Romans. Previous to Romans Chapter 12, the largest part of the book of Romans was dedicated to teaching us doctrine, sound doctrine, especially regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ, justification by faith, and salvation by grace. In Romans Chapters 1-3 we were told in much detail about the great sinfulness of man: "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." In Romans Chapter 4 we were reminded that even in the Old Testament individuals such as Abraham and David were justified by faith and not by works. Especially in Romans Chapter 8 we were given the wonderful spiritual consequences to becoming a child of God by faith in Jesus. We will be led by the Spirit of God. We will even be helped by the Spirit when we pray. We are promised that "all things will work together for good to those that love God." God will continue to work in each of our lives to the point that we are destined one day to be conformed to the image of His Son.

In Romans Chapter 10 we were told in simple yet profound terms how to be saved: "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." In Romans Chapters 9, 10, and 11 we were given much detail about the condition of the nation of Israel. As individuals the Jews are saved just like Gentiles: by turning from their sins and turning to Jesus for forgiveness. As a nation Israel sits in darkness and spiritual blindness for the present age, but the day will come when the entire nation of Israel will be saved because God has not utterly forsaken them because "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."

Now that we have learned such wonderful doctrines from Romans Chapters 1-11, Paul tells us, starting in Romans Chapter 12, the practical effect and the results that should take place from knowing the truth of the teachings of Romans. That is why he says, "I beseech you therefore..." He tells us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, and he tells us how to do it. He says to present our bodies a living sacrifice "by the mercies of God." When Paul told us in Romans Chapters 1-3 of the great sinfulness of humans, we understood our need to be saved by the mercy of God. But we also need the mercy of God in order to live for Him, and in order to do the things that we ought to do. Not only are you saved by the mercy of God, but you can only hope to live for Him day in and day out because of His mercy also. If you stay rightly related to God day after day and week after week, it will only be because of the mercy of God. It will never be because of how good you are. When everything is said and done, the Christian who learns to stay rightly related to God will not be the one who had the most good works, but the one who learned to rely on the mercy of God, and the one who quickly went to the Lord for forgiveness whenever necessary. It is your sins that will separate you from God, and it is His mercy that will keep you close to Him. That is the same teaching that is found in First John 1:9 that says to believers, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Notice that the word "mercies" is plural. We can count on God’s mercy. No one should ever think, God cannot be merciful to me, because I already received His mercy once, and then I failed Him again. David said in the Psalms, "God’s mercies are new every morning." That is one of the great things about the Christian life. Every day you can start anew with a clean slate. It does not matter what happened yesterday as long as you keep confessing your sins. You can present your body a living sacrifice by the mercies of God, through the mercies of God, and because of the mercies of God.

When God saves us, He does not call us to a part time or a partial commitment. We are all called to dedicate everything that we are, and everything that we have, and everything that we do to Jesus. Jesus said to the disciples that the servant is not greater than His Lord. Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins: He died for us. Normally He does not ask us to die for Him, but He does ask us to be a living sacrifice. It is the only way to be acceptable. If you want to please God and if you want to be acceptable to God as one of His children, then what is required of you is a total and complete commitment. You are asked to give yourself as a living sacrifice.

Many of the ancient religions of the world had animal sacrifices included as a part of the religious ceremonies. There are religions today and there are cults that have taught people that they can be more pleasing to God if they literally give their lives through some act of violence, or through some other means to die for God. But we should not determine when we die, only God should determine that. God does not want us to die for him. He wants us to live for Him. He wants us to be a living sacrifice. The word "sacrifice" can also mean the forfeiture of something that is highly valued. That is what it means here. What God wants you to forfeit is your self-will, your ego, the motivation that most humans have that drives them to please themselves and to seek their own aggrandizement and their own glory. In other words, we are called to follow the example of Jesus, who looked to the Father and said, "Not my will, but thine be done." If you learn to look to God on a daily basis and say the same thing as Jesus, and deny yourself, then you will learn to be a living sacrifice.

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