Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 4 Study # 7
March 10, 2019
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: It is imperative for those caught up in a resurgence of "the legal mind" (where all humanity begins, and most live) to stop and "behold" where God's revelation of His reactions to that take us.
Introduction: There can be no doubt that Paul is seriously concerned about a "development" within his "Gospel to the Gentiles" ministry. That "development" is of an arrogance of heart and mind toward the Jews that allows the "Gentiles" to see themselves as "superior" to the Jews and become "boastful" against them. Paul's choice of the present tense of the verbs in both his prohibitive commands in 11:18 and 11:20 indicates a present and on-going "development" of what John calls "the pride of life" in 1 John 2:16.
This "development", if not nipped in the bud, will lead to a seriously disastrous consequence. Paul warns the Gentiles, who have "taken a place of standing" in the tree of the People of God "by faith", that if that "faith" ceases, so will their "standing". His argument is that those natural branches, that were violently broken off from the tree, suffered that consequence because of their "unbelief". Thus, if the unnatural branches were given a place because of "faith", but allow that "faith" to cease to be "faith", they too will be violently broken off from the tree.
It is Paul's contention that the Gentiles' arrogance of heart and mind toward the Jews is indicative of the dying/death of "faith". This is a theological difficulty (primarily addressed in the letter to the Galatians), made so by Paul's adamant declaration that God's "elect" and "foreknown" will not be broken off while also declaring that branches that have been grafted into the tree will be violently broken off of the tree if "faith" dies. This difficulty is compounded by the distortion that exists in both "Reformed" theology as well as "Arminian" theology to the effect that it is "behavior" that causes God's rejection of people. The "Reformed" believe in the delusion that "saving faith" inevitably produces "growth in character" over time, and the "Arminians" believe in the delusion that "saving faith" can die. The biblical position is that not all that is "faith" results in "salvation" and that all that "saving faith" does is underwrite an impossibility of apostasy, not of certain behaviors. Jesus' prayers for His own keep them from a "failure of faith", but, as is obvious from every perspective, they do not keep them from a host of grievous "behavior failures".
Admittedly, the issue is complex and requires some careful thinking, but it is a crucial issue because of the outcomes of what Paul calls "the kindness and severity" of God. Therefore, we will continue our studies in Paul's words so that we may "think carefully".
- I. Paul's Positive Imperative: Behold the Kindness and Severity of God.
- A. On the "kindness" side of things is God's permission of "branches" to experience what he calls "the fatness" of the tree.
- 1. This "fatness" is the extraordinary quality of benefit that "joy" brings to the table.
- 2. The "permission" is rooted in God's reaction to "faith": He promises, you believe, you receive.
- B. On the "severity" side of things is God's violent rejection of "branches" which do not "possess" what he calls "faith".
- 1. This "severity" is significant in both time and eternity: the loss of "joy" in the face of enormous pains of body, soul, and spirit.
- 2. The "possession" of "faith" is not presented as "static"; it is presented as something that can be destroyed because of a "lack of root" (Luke 8:13) [Note Paul's comment on "being rooted and grounded" and the need for being "established in the faith" in Colossians 2:7].
- II. What the "Behold the Kindness" Entails.
- A. The "Behold" signals a deliberate "focus".
- 1. The "focus" involves the "what?" and "why?" of God's reaction to men.
- a. The "What?" is the provision of the "fatness" of the root of the tree: the "joy" of being fed by the root of Life.
- b. The "Why?" is God's invariable reaction to men when they "believe" Him.
- 2. The summons to "focus" is extended because some of the "Gentiles" have not only lost focus, but have also lost the "joy" of Life and have replaced it with the "joy" of being "superior" to others.
- 3. This summons to "focus" is rooted in the fact that it is no longer "faith" that produces "joy"; thus indicating that the "faith" is losing, or has lost, its impact on God in that it has ceased to be the attitude which God requires.
- B. The "Attitude" which God requires.
- 1. This is revealed by Paul's previous use of "kindness" in this letter.
- a. In Romans 2:4, Paul declares that it is the "kindness" of God that leads a person to "repentance".
- 1) This means, first, that we must understand the essence of "repentance" as the Bible presents it.
- 2) Then, having understood that "repentance" is fully invested in "attitudes", we can see that the link in 11:22 of "kindness" and "faith" is actually defining what the "faith" that pleases God is.
- a) It is a clear-eyed grasp of the potency of "need" where "pride" is humbled [because the "need" never goes away (it simply shifts from issue to issue), "pride" is never legitimate].
- b) It is a clear-eyed grasp of the potency of "provision" where "humility" is rewarded with "grace" [God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble] unto the "joy" of "life in the presence of the pleasure of God".
- b. Then, in Romans 3:12, Paul doubles down on the reality of the "potency of the need" by revealing that men do not naturally, of themselves, possess kindness (translated "good") [Galatians 5:22 identifies it as an element in the "fruit of the Spirit"].
- 2. This is also revealed by Paul's current insistence that "boastfulness" and "highmindedness" be dealt with severely.
- a. Stop being boastful indicates the reality of the shifting of human attitudes.
- 1) Initially, "kindness" brings the "humility" of repentance to "faith".
- 2) Then, in a sad twist of deceit, this same "kindness" becomes the human argument for human "superiority" over those who refused humility.
- 3) Then, the "humility of faith" is seen as "dead".
- b. Stop being "highminded" indicates the reality of the shift as having already taken place.
- 1) Initially, this "highmindedness" is dealt a crushing blow by the reality of the total absence of "kindness" in man (the "Spirit of God" does not need to produce in man what is already there; the Galatians 5:22 text).
- 2) Then, the benefits of the fatness of the tree actually allow "highmindedness" to reassert itself in the form of "my participation in the fatness signals some form of something from me that pleases God" [God is not "pleased" by the "kindnesses" that flow out of participation in the fatness; He is pleased by the "faith" that allows those "kindnesses to flow from Him, through the believing, to them].
- c. These "Stops" do, however, also clearly indicate a divine willingness to refrain from the violence of the breaking off of the guilty branches for a season in order to see if the divine rebuke brings "faith" back into the picture [Note the parable in Luke 13:6-9].
- III. What the "Behold the Severity" Entails.
- A. First, and foremost, it entails an insistence that the boastful/highminded give some serious thought to his/her true condition (this is the essence of the insistence by Paul that one examine oneself to see if he/she is "in the faith" [2 Corinthians 13:5] and by Peter that one "make one's election sure" [2 Peter 1:10]).
- B. Then, it entails a realization that there is no "security" with God if the rebukes are rejected: He will break off the "faithless" branches.