Thoughts on Romans - Day 30

                                          Romans 11:11-21
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!
¹³ I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
¹⁷ If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, ¹⁸ do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.



      I highlighted the word unbelief because I've always been intrigued by this word. It draws me to that passage in Hebrews 3 where the Israelites ,despite applying the blood on the doorposts, being baptized into Moses through the Red Sea, being delivered from the land of sin, had God appear to them multiple times and symbolically ate and drank from Christ , still failed to make it to the Promised land. Why? Because of unbelief. This is so relevant to us especially in the Bible Belt where kids say the prayer at an early age, grow up in Church, see the workings of the Holy Spirit all around them yet never attain either the life of fullness that God has for them or Heaven in the end. Why? Unbelief. What exactly is this?

       The word in Greek is apistia which appears 12 times in the NT. It is defined as unfaithfulness or uncertainty or lack of confidence in Christ's power or God's promises. It appears where the people in Jesus' home town knew Him growing up so didn't believe He was anything special. Jesus could do nothing there because of unbelief. It appears when Jesus and 3 disciples were coming down the mount of Transfiguration and the demon possessed boy could not receive deliverance because of both unbelief on the dad's side and the disciples' side. I think the opposite of it as seen in Romans 4, which we already went through, gives us the best insight.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

         This passage says "against all hope". In other words, he saw that he was up against something non-humanly possible to handle so he believed that God would do the impossible because He promised. He didn't weaken, he didn't waver but was fully persuaded and gave glory to God for what He hadn't accomplished yet because in his mind it was a "done deal". The opposite is true of the Israelites. They were promised Canaan so much so that it was called "The Promised Land". However when they saw it was insurmountable in their own strength because of "giants in the land" and impenetrable walled cities, and a river at flood levels to cross, etc. they did weaken, they did waver, they weren't fully persuaded and unlike Joshua and Caleb who were giving God glory for the upcoming victory, they cursed Moses and wanted to kill him. Thus their bodies lay strewn across the wilderness. They never entered the promised land.

       Practically speaking, what happens today in the Bible Belt must be the same thing. It must be unbelief. The church has become our culture. We have incorporated Christ into our lifestyle of the American dream and living as if this planet is all there is. Therefore Christ isn't our all. We don't live for Him, for His glory, standing on His promises but rather our prayers are for selling our house, getting a new job, health, and travelling mercies and unspoken requests. Well, there is the problem - what is the solution? Everyone is good at pointing out the problem, maybe Paul will give us a solution in the upcoming chapters.

        Lord, help me to be fully persuaded that You are my life and You want to do great things through me. Help me not to get sucked into the life down here but live for You and eternity walking in the footsteps of faith. Amen