Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 5 Study # 4
May 12, 2019
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The "grace-gifts" that God gives to men are given by Him as permanent gifts.
Introduction: In our considerations of Paul's argument regarding a creeping apostasy within the Gentiles, we have seen that Paul's intent is to firm up the faith of his gentile readers in the grace of God so that they do not forsake that faith.
Paul's claim is that the presence of three-in-one attitudes in some of the gentiles indicates a crumbling confidence in "grace": the first of the three is "boasting" against the Jews; the second of the three is "high-mindedness" within oneself regarding the root issue of Jewish failure; and the third of the three is "thinking that the wisdom that has brought the blessings of faith is from within oneself". That the three dove-tail into a single root is seen from the fact that all three deny the root issue of "Grace". Faith in grace destroys boastfulness (Romans 3:27); faith in grace destroys high-mindedness (1 Corinthians 4:7); and, faith in grace destroys "the wisdom that brings me blessing is from within myself" (1 Corinthians 1:21).
Now we find ourselves in the tail end of Paul's reasoning. His argument has "settled" upon God's activities as having their root in His "standard of election", which is the major illustration of the significance of "Grace" (Ephesians 1:4-6). It is because the "hateful" Jews are within the parameters of the particular "Grace" that God extended to the fathers in the form of a covenant that their "hatefulness" will not be permitted to unseat God's Larger Plan. In respect to that Grace, those who are currently "hateful" are "beloved" because they form the foundations for the development of the Larger Plan to bring "all Israel" to "salvation" after a time in which God's "salvific attentions" have been turned upon "the nations".
This, however, does not mean that those who are "beloved for the sake of the fathers" will not eat of the fruit of their hatefulness unless, of course, they, like Saul of Tarsus, come to "faith in Grace". But, coming to that "faith in Grace" does not mean simply "saying, I believe in Jesus"; it means "embracing", as a foundational reality, the "rejection" of the "three-in-one" because it is an embracing of "Grace" as it really is.
So, let us consider Paul's final effort to turn the tide of creeping apostasy: his declaration of the absolute refusal of God to "revoke" either His "grace-gifts" or His "calling".
- I. The Reasons For This "Issue".
- A. First are Paul's own "threatening words" in 11:21-22 as they are supported by Matthew 18:35.
- 1. There are real overtones in both of these texts/contexts of a significant danger of a divine "revoking" of previously extended "grace".
- 2. At issue, however, in both of the texts/contexts is not so much what a person does as why the person is motivated to do what he/she has done.
- 3. And, the why question is ultimately answered by the what of the doer's attitude that produces the what of the doer's actions.
- 4. Both Paul's and Jesus' point is that a genuinely fundamental embrace of "Grace" is the basic requirement of "the faith that justifies".
- B. Second is Paul's awareness of the issues involved in "revoking".
- 1. The word involved is the opening word of 11:29.
- a. The word is placed at the end of the verse in both the Authorized Version and the NASB, but it is actually placed first by Paul as a matter of "potent emphasis".
- b. The word is a composite of three elements.
- 1) It has the "alpha" prefix that "negates" (like our atheist or unsuccessful) what follows.
- 2) It has the preposition "meta" that points to "being in the midst of certain associations".
- 3) It has the primary word "cares" at its root.
- a) The sense of the word "cares" with the preposition prefixed is illustrated by the parable of the soils in Mark 4:15-20 where "being in the midst of multiple associations" puts a person in the difficult position of having to "winnow" out the lesser "cares" until only one remains.
- i. This is a difficult position to be in, but everyone, at some point, is in it.
- ii. In 1 Peter 5:7 Peter addresses this "issue of difficulty" and gives us a solution by giving us a "T"heology of God as having the same issue.
- iii. The word Peter used in his text regarding "God cares for you" is the word of our Romans text without the "negator" or the "preposition".
- b) At issue in Paul's choice of words is his identification of just what it is that God will not sacrifice in His plethora of "valued objects".
- c. This word is placed at the front of the sentence with its specific meaning of "winnowing out what is not worth keeping a tight grip upon" for one reason: to generate "faith".
- 2. The word's focus upon the issue of "faith" is critical.
- a. In the economy of God, "faith" is a critical necessity because of the consequences.
- 1) In the non-relational world, "faith" is of no real significance: rain falls upon the just and the unjust with no regard for what a person "believes" (rain is for crops for food; all of God's food-needing creatures get this provision as a matter of "grace", but not as a matter of "faith-in-grace").
- 2) But in the relational world, "faith" is the critical sub-structure for all actions taken.
- a) Relationships do not begin without "faith" and they do not continue if "faith fails".
- b) Thus, anything that threatens to destroy "faith" is a critical concern.
- c) Thus, the creeping development of "boastfulness", "high-mindedness", and "my wisdom has gotten me grace from God" are three forms of a dire threat.
- b. Thus, the Bible always promises benefits to "faith" and strongly cautions against the actual failure of faith, and Paul's first word is a form of strong encouragement to continue to believe.
- 3. The word's denial of a "revoking" by God means that once the action is taken by Him, there will be no turning back.
- a. This truth has a very strong presence in Hebrews 6:15-20 and 7:21 where both "promise" and "oath" are combined to make a case for "believing".
- b. This has strong implications for having some form of evaluation for "knowing" if He has taken the actions mentioned.
- c. Interestingly, the "evaluation" does not come in the form of a question of what is "believed", or in what is "done", but, rather, in the form of "existing attitudes".
- 1) This is the heart of Paul's paragraph here.
- 2) It is also the heart of Peter's exhortation to "make your calling and election sure" in 2 Peter 1:10.
- a) It is interesting to me that the issue of a person's sense of "security" as a believer is not pressed in terms of "beliefs" or "actions", but in terms of "attitudes".
- b) Both Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 13:5 and Peter's words in 2 Peter 1:10 have to do with the presence of "attitudes", not "works".
- d. But, the point is that once God has extended both "gifts" and "calling", there is no turning back on His part for any cause ("attitude" or "action") because He has underwritten the necessary foundation in both "election" and "intercession".