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               Paul in Romans 9 to 11 talks about the problem of Israel’s salvation.  The Israelites who were chosen by God did not believe in the Savior Jesus. This doesn’t mean that God has rejected them. God through the remnant will save them. Their unbelief was so that salvation would be spread out to the Gentiles.  This is the plan of God.  In today’s passage Paul tells us his final conclusion about the Israelite’s salvation as “this mystery”. (25) Today I would like to share 3 aspects about this wonderful mystery.

I.                What the mystery is  (Vs. 25-27)

First let’s look at what the mystery is.  Please look at verses 25 to 27.

Paul who has talked about God’s plan of the salvation of the Israelites says here, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery.” (25) When Paul uses the word “mystery” he refers to what has be hidden in the past, but now by God this secret has been specially revealed.  By God’s special revelation it is made visible. What this mystery is is written in the last part of verse 25 and the first part of verse 26.  “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved.”

“Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” (25) “Until the full number of the Gentiles has come in” in Greek means “the Gentiles full time”. The problem is when this time is.

In the Present Age Bible written by Rev. Reiji Oyama, he translates this passage as “Until the time that God planned to accomplish the salvation of the Gentiles.” (25) In other words, this is in the plan of salvation that God ordained that the Gentiles that were ordained to be saved are all saved. This means the time when the ordained number of Gentiles have come into the church. As a result of Israel experiencing “a hardening in part” (25), the Gospel was spread to the Gentiles. At the time when the numbers of Gentiles are full and the plan of salvation is fulfilled, then “all Israel will be saved.” (26)

We need to understand what “all” means.  Calvin and many other theologians think that “Israel” has a spiritual meaning and refers to all those who have received salvation, both Jews and Gentiles.  It is true that Paul has used the word “Israel” with this meaning in many places, for example in Galatians 6:16. However, here we can see that he is not using that meaning, but is referring to the Israelites.  That is because in chapters 9 to 11 Paul has talked about Israel’s salvation.  In these 2 chapters the word Israel is used 13 times and they all refer to the Israelites.  Therefore, we can see that here too “Israelites” refers to the Jews.

“So all Israel will be saved.” (26)  Some theologians think that this “all” (26) means the way that it is written that every individual Israelite will be saved. In other words, before Christ’s second coming when “the full number of Gentiles has come in” (25) the Israelites as a people, with no exceptions, will believe in Christ as their Savior.

However, my interpretation is that “all” does not mean that all Israelites, with no exceptions, will believe in Christ, but the Israelites representative of the whole nation will believe. In other words, at the end of the age, the Gospel will be preached throughout the world. When “the full number of Gentiles has come in” (25) the Israelites who were hardened up to this point as a whole will believe in Jesus. “So all Israel will be saved.” (26)  Probably this refers to the remnant. The remnant appeared in 11:5.  God, even today, has by grace chosen a remnant, but in the last days more Israelites will believe in Jesus and be saved.  “So all Israel will be saved.” (26)

How great this is! We are astounded by God’s wisdom and knowledge.  In verse 33 Paul says, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! We can do nothing but bow before God who has such a perfect, unthinkable plan.  We can do nothing but bow before God who has a wonderful mystery.  We must pray “Thy will be done on heaven and earth.” We must put all in the hands of God who has and leads with a perfect plan and wait expectantly for God to fulfill the plan. 

II.              The unchanging call of God (vs. 28-32)      

Secondly, I’d like to look at the fact that the Israelite’s salvation is based upon God’s unchanging promise. Please look at verses 28 to 32.

“They” (28), the Israelites, and “you” (30), the Gentiles, is written in a comparative style.  In other words, “they” (28), the Israelites, are now not obeying God and are against the Gospel, but by God’s promises, the blessings given to their fathers, they are loved by God.  God chose Abraham and said, “I will bless those who bless you…and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) That promise will never change. God’s gifts and calling will never change no matter what happens.

This is the conclusion that Paul makes about all that he has said about the Israelite’s salvation.  A promise that God once made, he does not change.  That is because God is completely faithful.  God’s promises will never change no matter what happens.

Isaiah 54:10

Even if the mountains change, and the hills move, and the sun and universe change, and everything in the world changes, there is one thing in our life that never changes, that never moves.  That is the Word of God. That is God’s salvation.  Just as a mother watches over her child so the child feels safe and happy, so does God always watch over us so how safe and happy we can be.  The Israelites at times turned their backs on God and sinned. They worshipped the Golden calf.  However, they were not cut off.  That is because of their election, they were loved by God ”on account of the patriarchs”. (28)

In fact, God used Israelite’s sin, disobedience, to unfold the works of salvation.  In verses 30 to 32, the word, “disobedient” appears 4 times.  Disobedience is sin against God.  It looks like it will ruin God’s plan of salvation.  However, God who controls everything even turns such works of Satan into his advantage, and uses it to open                   the road of salvation for all men.  For example, this is true with the salvation of the Gentiles.  The Gentiles were saved because of the disobedience of the Israelites.  The Gentiles have “received mercy as a result of their (the Israelite’s) disobedience.” (30) Our God is a God who turns the tables around. God uses such disobedience to open the doors to perform the works of salvation.  That is because we are chosen by God.  From the time that we confessed Jesus as our Savior who saved us from our sins, the Son of God, we were put into the promise of Abraham.  We received the rights as a child of God and inherited the blessings. We are loved by God through the promises of the Word of God.

Sometimes because of our sin we think and struggle with the feeling that God has rejected us.  We feel like we are at a dead end with no exits.  However, God will definitely never reject us.  We struggle with our sin, suffer from our sin, and so that we can repent God pours mercy upon us.  There are times when we are in the midst of a huge problem. We are blocked by it, and we fall into darkness.  But this is a blessing too.  When we have gone through that darkness or tunnel, we will receive the light from heaven, and we can receive the salvation that God has prepared for us.  We will be able to discover that we have been made into an obedient person. We must believe on the promise of God’s word that God’s gifts and calling do not change, and find hope and peace in that.

III.            Leave everything in the hands of God (vs. 33-36)

Lastly. let’s look at the hymn that Paul sang as he thought about God’s plan concerning the salvation of the Israelites.  Let’s look at verses 33 to 36.

From chapter 9 on Paul has talked about Israel’s salvation. God has prepared a remnant and through them God plans to save Israel. Israel has been hardened so that salvation will be spread to the Gentiles.  However, in the course of time when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in” (25), the Israelites will search after God and “so all Israel will be saved.” (26) When this wonderful mystery was made visible, Paul was greatly astonished by God’s wisdom and knowledge and could do nothing but praise the God. “Oh the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (33)

People like this who look up to God, their hearts are overflowing with praise and thankfulness.  However, people who don’t, who compare themselves with other people, who make decisions by their own thinking their hearts are full of complaining and discontentment, and judging others. The correct Christian life is always looking up to God, depending on God, and leaving everything in the hand of God.

Psalms 37:5

Many things happen in our life.  Things that we didn’t want to happen, occur too. There are things that happen that we don’t think could be a plus in our life.  However, when we look at things through God’s eyes, there is nothing that happens that is not necessary.  Everything is in the eternal plan.  When we look at things from God’s standpoint, everything has a wonderful meaning and purpose. “For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!” (36)  Let’s leave everything in God’s hand and live a Christian life walking in thankfulness and praise.

Romans 11 is about the problem of Israel’s salvation.  The Israelites originally were God’s chosen people.  They were a people that experienced many spiritual privileges that other Gentiles could not experience.  Even so, God has not rejected Israel. God has a plan to save the Israelites through the remnant. As a result salvation spread to the Gentiles. God’s plan was so great and awesome.  Today’s passage deals with how the Gentiles who are saved should be.

I.                To make envious  (vs. 11-16)

First let’s look at verses 11 to 16.  I talked about verses 11 and 12 last week too. Israel did not stumble “as to fall beyond recovery” (11), but so that “Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” (11) If Israel would have accepted the Gospel, Peter and Paul wouldn’t have thought of going to the Gentiles to evangelize.  Because the Israelites didn’t accept the Gospel, they went to the Gentiles.  If the Israelites all accepted the Gospel, then Christianity probably would have become only the religion for the Jews. Because the Israelites stumbled, the Gospel spread to the Gentiles.

However, it wasn’t just for the Gentiles.  “Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (11)   Thus salvation will come to some Jews.

There was pastor who took a position as a youth pastor in an American church.  There was a group of college students that wouldn’t listen to what he was saying.  They had grown up in the church and they took the attitude that they knew everything about the Bible there was to know.  However their Christian life was lacking in many aspects and they didn’t share their faith at all. The Pastor didn’t know what to do.  Finally he decided not to spend time with them because it was useless.  Instead he gathered together the students that had recently accepted Christ and began working among them.  Soon their lives changed into Christians who were excited about the Lord and they were enthusiastically sharing their faith. Then the students that had grown up in the church became “envious” (11) and began joining in with the new Christians. Within 2 years every one was changed and faithfully following the Lord.

Israel will become envious and some of them will be saved.

Now revival is occurring among our neighbors, in China and Korea. The Church is moving forward with great momentum. These revivals are taking place for us Japanese.  It is so that when we hear about the revivals in China and Korea that we Japanese will be roused and believe that revival will come to this country and earnestly follow Christ.

There are some people that think that comparing things is not good. This is true.  In fact, even though they heard about the revivals, they live within their own world and don’t open up their heart even a little so this is abnormal. A heart that is not moved by anything is not a mature heart, but a heart that has already gotten old. Young people are moved by everything, and without reservation their hearts are moved. In our Christian life our hearts need to be moved to obedience, and this is what pleases God. Salvation was spread to the Gentiles so that the Israelites would become envious.

Even though Paul was called to be an evangelist to the Gentiles, he desired the salvation of his people, the Jews. Also he had confidence that the Israelites had not been rejected. “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (16)

This is saying that Israel is holy. “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy;”(16) “The part of the dough offered as first fruits” refers to Israel’s ancestor, Abraham.  Abraham was consecrated by God and belonged to God, the descendants, Israel were consecrated, and will surely be saved. “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” (16)  This is the same as the first part of the verse.  “The root” of Israel is Abraham who was consecrated.  Israel has not been rejected.  By God’s election Israel is loved by God.  Even if temporarily they lack faith and they reject Christ, in the end, they will return to Christ, and will show their original nature.  God’s gifts and calling never change.  This is really a miracle.  Like Paul said in verse 15, “what will their acceptance be but life from the dead.” It will be like someone being raised from the dead.  God has such a plan for the salvation of Israel.

II.              Don’t consider yourself to be superior  (vs. 17-21)

The second point is that the Gentiles who were saved this way should not consider themselves superior. Let’s look at verses 17 to 21.

Paul is explaining the reality that the Israelites stumbled and the Gentiles will be saved by the example of a grafted tree.  In other words, he says the Israelites who don’t believe are “broken off” (17)  so that the Gentiles, “a wild olive shoot” (17) are “grafted in” (17).  The Israelites that didn’t believe were broken off from the tree and where they were broken off, the Gentiles were grafted in, and as God’s people. They were saved. This is God’s method of salvation. In other words, by the disobedience of the Israelites, the Gentiles were saved.

Grafting is a method that is used to grow fruit.  In Japan there is a miracle apple, the “tamura” apple that Westerners love. This was made by grafting an apple into a Japanese pear. The outside looks like an apple, but it has the strong sweetness of a Japanese pear. If you search the whole word over the only place you will find this apple is in Nanaechou, Hokkaido.  It is an extremely rare apple.

God broke off the branch of the disobedient Israel, and in place of the branch, grafted in the branch of the wild Gentiles.  By doing that, the Gentiles became the descendants of Abraham, God’s people of salvation. This was decided by God’s wisdom  before the foundation of the world was laid.  How great a wisdom this is!  When we think about God’s wisdom, we should sing praises like verse 33.

God salvation reached to the Gentiles by the surprising method that we had never even thought about.

Because of this we need to learn from God’s knowledge.  If we, the Gentiles, have been grafted in, we must not consider ourselves to be superior to others.  As verse 17 and 18 say, the branch, the Gentiles, “do not support the root, but the root supports” the branch.

We must not overlook the fact that we are being supported.  We are what we are today because of the support of many people, not because of our own strength.  Even more so is that we have faith because of the many prayers and sacrifices of many people that stood behind our backs. It doesn’t seem like anything special that every week we can worship here, but this is also a miracle.  A lot of people’s support made this possible.  There is nothing that you can do by yourself.  God supports such people and by that support you have the life that you have now, you have the Christian life that you have now.  Therefore, everything is by the grace of God.  Even so, we immediately become proud and forget this fact and have the illusion that we have matured all by ourselves. We fall into pride that there is nothing that we can’t do by ourselves.  When we really realize that because everyone supported us, we have become what we are,  because God supported us we are what we are, then complaining and dissatisfaction should not come out of us.  With thankfulness and joy we can                             humbly move towards God.

Our salvation is the same. Our salvation came because we were grafted into the place where Israel was broken off of.  It is because of the support of Israel that we are saved so we can’t be proud. Verse 19 gives an example of words that come from such prideful thinking. “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”  In other words, it is the thinking that God broke the branches of the unbelieving Israel so that the Gentiles might be saved.  It is true that Israel’s rejection                           was so that the Gentiles might be saved.  However, that was not so that the Gentiles would be proud, but it was for no other reason except that they be thankful. We who deserved to be destroyed were by the one way mercy of God, and by the support of the prayers and sacrifices of many people were saved. We can only be thankful.  If we make such declarations as “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” (19), it is because we have lost sight of the position that we are in and have become prideful. This type of person must be prepared to be cut off like the Israelites.  God desires that we not consider ourselves as superior, but live being thankful to God. We need to live humbly realizing that it is by the support of many people that we are who we are.

III.            The kindness and sternness of God

The third point is to abide in God’s grace.  Let’s look at verses 22 to 24.

A person that considers himself superior before God and is prideful, whether he is an Israelite or a Gentile, he will be cut off. Israel who refused God’s grace and renounced the faith right after the time of Paul faced the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  They had no country and became scattered throughout the whole world.  In 1948 from throughout the world the Jews returned to their homeland in Palestine and formed the country of Israel. Until today they have continued to shed blood over and over again.  This is the “sternness of God.” (22)  The “sternness of God.” (22) comes upon those who don’t believe in God’s salvation and live by their own way of living.  However, those who “continue in his kindness” (22) are different. God’s kindness is upon them. To continue in the faith, to “continue in his kindness” (22) God’s kindness and grace will continue to be poured out upon you.

This can also be said about Israel who formerly by unbelief refused the Christian faith. If they don’t continue in unbelief, and by God’s mercy, return to God, God will forgive. They will be saved. Paul says this in verses 23 and 24.

“And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.  After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive trees!”

In this passage is the hope of Israel.  If they made a mistake one time that is not the end “for God is able to graft them in again.” (23)  However, there is one prerequisite for that. That is “if they don’t continue in unbelief,” (23) “If they don’t continue in unbelief…God is able to graft them in again.” (23) Another way of saying it is to repent and return to God. If they repent and return to God, and not by their own righteousness, but by the salvation which God prepared through Jesus Christ, even a branch that has been cut off, God will graft it in again. What a hope!

II Cor. 5:17

If any one who believes Christ, “he is a new person.” (II Cor. 5:17) This is “if they don’t continue in unbelief,” (23) Please believe in God’s Christ. Believe and continue in that grace. If so we too can be grafted in again.  We stumble many times, but we repent and return to God.  This is the only road to God. There is no power without Christ’s blood on the cross. is type of person must be prepared to be cut off like the Israelites.  God desires that we not cone the branches.

              Today let’s look at the salvation of Israel.  When you look at the Bible, you will see that God has specially chosen the Jews. Even so, when Jesus came to this world, not only didn’t the Jews accept Christ, but they put him on the cross and killed him. From then until now 2,000 years later, they haven’t accepted Christ. Does that mean that the Word of God that Israel is chosen by God is nullified? That is not so.  God will according to the promises of the Word of God save them.  Today let’s look at three aspects of how God is going to save the Jews.

I.                The remnant (vs. 1-6)

First look at the fact that there is a remnant.  Please look at verses 1 to 6.

Paul opposed the question, “Did God reject his people?” (1) strongly with “By no means!” (1) As proof, Paul tells the people to look at him.  “I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” (1)  If Paul who was an Israelite believed, then God had not rejected the Israelites.  Paul’s claims are persuasive.  It is true that a large percentage of the Jews rejected Jesus Christ, but on the other hand, there were a few Jews who accepted Christ and followed Him.  Paul is saying that he is one of those Jews.  Not only that, but he is not the only one.  If you look at the Bible, God did not use Israel as a whole, but chose righteous men from Israel to use to fulfill God’s work.  One example is Elijah. 

During the reign of King Ahab, Israel entered into its worst dark era.  Those who honored God were terribly persecuted. The country became separated from God, and worshipped the idols of Baal and Ashura.  Elijah who was worn out from preaching the Gospel called out before God, “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me” (3)

Elijah is lamenting that God’s chosen people have been killed and “I am the only one left.” (3)  God answers him, “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” (4) 

God has not rejected the promise He made with Israel.  In order to keep a remnant of chosen people, today too he has prepared and reserved “seven thousand” to be used as instruments to fulfill the will God Just as “’I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” (4, 5)  For example, Jesus’ 12 disciples were such a remnant.  There were all Jews.  Also the 500 brethren that witnessed Jesus’ resurrection were also all Jews.  These maybe only a handful, but God keeps them as a remnant and certainly has not rejected them.

That was not just in Paul’s age, but in the present age too.  In China which is right next to us the Chinese are being saved right and left, and when we see the unbelievable work that the Lord is doing there, we look at Japan where the condition is not like that and lament.   We wonder if maybe God has rejected the Japanese.  However, that is not so.  In reality, we have been saved. When we consider that although there maybe only a handful, a small number of people that are saved, we can know that God has not rejected the Japanese. In fact, God through this small remnant God fulfills his works.  We need to as this remnant, until the end preserve the faith.

According to Revelations at that time in minor Asia there were seven churches.  Within these churches there were some large churches, but there were some that were not.  Christ approves of not the large churches, but churches that before God follows the faith to the end.  One of these churches was the Church at Philadelphia.  They followed the Word of God and until the end they didn’t give up their faith. It doesn’t matter how many people there are. What is important is whether we are seeking after God or not and whether we are standing strongly until the end or not. No matter how few people there are, if they hold on tight to their faith until the end. God will use them to perform his works.  We to in the end times want to be the remnant and to be accepted before God as a saint.

II.              Do not be hardened  (vs. 7-10)

In verses 7 to 10 Paul tells us about the characteristic of the large majority of Israelites that didn’t believe in Christ and didn’t receive grace. That is that they were hardened.   Here it says, “The elect among them did, but the others were hardened.” (7)  The elect are those who were “a remnant chosen by grace.” (5) The characteristic of the others were that they “were hardened.” (7) If a heart is hardened, then no matter how much the person hears the Word of God, or sing praises, the person isn’t moved, and has no understanding.  Here it is written, ”God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” (8)

The characteristic of those who have not received grace is that they can not see the Word of God and they can not hear it either. David said, “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.  May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” (9,10)  This is a prayer for God to bring pain upon them, that they might die in vain.  In other words, it is a prayer of cursing.

The dreadful curse in our life is not understanding the Word of God.  When we don’t understand the word of God, we pursue emptiness. There are people who don’t believe in Christ, but they succeed in business, are healthy, and everything they do goes the way they want it to.  However, this is a curse.  Real blessings are in Jesus Christ.  We need to remember that to understand the Word of God, and before God to come in prayer is the greatest blessing there is.       

Jesus said about the last days in Matt. 24:38-39、”For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” ”For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” (Matt. 24:38)  The problem was not that the people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. The problem was that was the only they could see. That was everything to them. “They knew nothing about what would happen” (Matt. 24:39)  Then “the flood came and took them all away..” (Matt. 24:39)  This is what people with hardened hearts are like.  Those people who are really have God’s grace upon them have the assurance and live by, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)  To understand is grace. A repentant heart, and a gentle heart is a blessing. Jesus told us to use our hearts to hear. A person that can hear Christ’s Words, who can understand the will of God is a really blessed person, and is a remnant by God’s grace.

Real blessings depend on whether we understand or not.  Let’s not harden our hearts, but listen to the Words of Christ obediently.  That is the sign of the remnant.

III.            Our mistakes will be used (vs. 11-12)

The third point is that God used the mistakes of the Jews to fulfill His works of salvation.  Let’s look at verses 11 and 12.

A part of Israel had faith by the grace of God and was chosen as a remnant. A large part of Israel stumbled.  “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgressions, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (11) God used their mistakes as part of His plan to bring salvation to the Jews.

Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, but no matter what town he went to, first he would go to the Jewish temple and told the Gospel to the Jews.  However, the hearts of the Jews were hardened and they didn’t even try to listen to the Gospel that Paul was preaching. Then Paul went and preached to the Gentiles.  The Gentiles were different than the Jews.  They heard the Words of the Gospel and obediently accepted it. They bore fruit. The Gospel changed their lives, and became the power that spread the Gospel throughout the world.  That was a huge grace for the Gentiles.  The reason that Israel stumbled was not so that Israel would fall, but so that through their mistakes, the Gentiles would be saved.

We don’t like to fail or make mistakes.  We think of all failures as minuses.  God uses our mistakes to fulfill his works.  Of course, our sins or transgressions are not automatically forgiven, it is necessary to repent.  However, our faults and transgressions are not just over, but God will use our failures to fulfill his own works.  He changes the minuses to pluses.

Joseph who appears in the Old Testament was so.  Joseph was the second youngest of 12 brothers.  The brothers were extremely jealous of him because his father especially loved Joseph.  When this problem hit its height, they put Joseph in a pit and planned to kill him.  However, when they saw a caravan approaching they thought it would be better to sell him than kill him. Joseph was sold to foreign business men.  They made Joseph a slave and took him to Egypt.

Joseph understood that he was in a foreign county, but he didn’t know anyone there, he didn’t know the language, and even though he didn’t desire it he had to become a slave.  On top of that the wife at the home where he was working as a slave tried to get Joseph to sleep with her, but when he refused. She accused Joseph to her husband and Joseph was put in prison.

However, many years after this tragedy took place Joseph met his brothers again. As he remembered all that had happened he said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

Joseph was able to recognize the truth that God is in control of all that happens.  He believed that the things that others around him did all of their sins, God used them, turned them around, and made the evil things into good things.

Romans 8:28

To leave things in the hand of God is to depend on God in all situations. Joseph who always depended on God was able to say in the end, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)  When Joseph had bitterness in his heart, Joseph left it in the hands of God.  He continued to have faith and hope in God, and in the end he believed that all would work for the good.

We are the same.  There are times when we fail, or transgress and are depressed.  However, God will use even our failures to fulfill God’s works.  The important thing is to have Jesus Christ forgive us of our sins and then believe that God is going to change our life into something better, and that God is working in our lives.  God has a special plan for our lives, and all confusion and struggles God will change into good.  We need to believe this and leave all things in God’s hands.  If we can leaving it in God’s hands, when we reflect over all of life we will realize that God has used all the negative things in our lives for our good and will be thankful.  By leaving everything in God’s hands, we can walk a life of future and hope.

In the middle of chapter 10 Paul talked about salvation by faith.  In other words, faith is not just being zealous.  The important thing is the direction that the faith comes from.  The Israelites were certainly zealous towards God, but their direction was wrong.  Their zealousness didn’t flow from a knowledge based upon the Bible.  Their righteousness was not God’s, but they tried to stand in their own righteousness.   This was their problem. The right direction is Jesus Christ.  Christ was the end of the law so those who believe in Him are all made righteous.  “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (9) In today’s passage Paul is explaining to us how such a faith is born. Please look at verses 14 and 15.

In order to emphasize the point strongly, Paul uses a form of grammar where the word order is reversed.  Therefore in order to understand the verse, you need to look at the end of the verse first.  In other words, if someone is sent out, then the Word of God can be preached.   If someone preaches, then people can hear.  If people hear, then people can call on the name of the Lord.  If they call on the name of the Lord, they can believe.  Here it is telling us that three things are necessary for believing.

1.               Hearing the Word of God

2.               Someone to preach the Word of God.

3.               Someone to be sent out.

Today I would like to talk about these three things.   I.                Faith comes from hearing (vs. 14)

First of all in order to believe we must hear the Word of God. Verse 17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”   Faith is conceived by hearing the Word of God.  The key to non Christians having a faith in Christ is to use every possible opportunity and method to give them chances to hear the Word of God. In order to believe in Christ they must hear the Words about Christ, the Gospel. Faith is only conceived by hearing the Word of God.  Therefore, we need to make opportunities for non Christians to hear the Word of God. Sometimes Christians say that they are being a witness by their lives.  This is extremely important, but besides this it is necessary to share the Word of God.   “God　was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” (I Cor. 1:21)II.              Someone who preaches (vs. 14) The second point is that people are needed to preach.  In verse 14 it says, “how        can they hear without someone preaching to them?”  Someone is needed to preach in order for them to hear.Jesus said in Matt. 9:37 and 38, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  People are needed for the harvest.  People who will work are needed.  Jesus didn’t say that a tractor was necessary for the harvest.  He said that workers are needed.  People are needed who are bound by the love of Christ, that are willing to do anything for the gospel and who are full of love and zealousness for the preaching the Word of God.   God made the heavens and the earth. He is omniscient. He said, “I am who I am.” In other words, even if nothing else exists God exists because he is a self existing God.  This God, is looking for people to share the Gospel.  John the Baptist said, “I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children from Abraham.” (Matt. 3:9)  In another place Jesus said, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40) This God is looking for workers to preach the words of salvation. In every age God uses each one of us to preach the Gospel. III.            We must be sent out (verse 15)The third point is that that we must be sent out.  Verse 15 says, “How can anyone preach unless they are sent?”               To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not an easy thing to do. There is no one who wants to say, “You are a sinner!”  Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” (1:16) Why would Paul say this? Probably because he himself was ashamed.  Such feelings keep us from talking about the Gospel. It causes us to not to want to talk with others and to keep our faith within ourselves.  However, evangelizing is fun.  When a person you have evangelized to is saved, you feel like you are flying in the heavens.  Even so the thoughts of the flesh keep us from sharing the Gospel.

John 20:21-23

Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)  We are weak and are ashamed of the Gospel.  We don’t have knowledge and experience.  However, Jesus knows this, but even so he says, “I am sending you.” (John 20:21) He says that he will go with us, that he will give us the authority from heaven, that the Holy Spirit will teach us what we are to say, that the Holy Spirit will encourage us and give us strength so we are to “GO”.  He says that before the world was formed                   I chose you.  I have given you joy and glory on earth and heaven, but on the earth there are still a lot of people that don’t know the Gospel.  Therefore, I send you. Just “as the Father sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21) with the presence of God and power.  Will you go?  Will you go?  Will you go?

This is what God really desires.  Paul after this from the end of verse 15 quotes from the Old Testament. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Isaiah 52:7)   The feet of those who share the Gospel are beautiful.  That doesn’t mean that everyone has to become a pastor, or a teacher, or an evangelist.  If that was so, who would be left here to witness in society?  However, there is something that God desires from all of us.  That is when Jesus Christ says, “Will you go?” to answer, “Yes, I will.” What we do after we go is different for each individual person. The important thing is when we hear, “Will you go?” to answer, Yes, I will.” This is what God  desires of us.

Before when God appeared to Moses who had sheep on Mt. Sinai and asked Moses to go to Egypt and lead God’s people out of Egypt, Moses answered, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)  He thought that he couldn’t, that that was impossible for him.  Even though Moses objected God said that he was to go.  Next Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13)  Then God answered, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)  Moses had “I AM WHO I AM” with him and was sending him so he thought that was enough.  There was nothing more that he could ask for and so he followed the Word of God and set out for Egypt.

Before the Southern kingdom, Judah, was captured by Babylon, God asked Jeremiah to go. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) However, Jeremiah said that he couldn’t. He said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (Jeremiah 1:6)  He thought that he was too young, but God said to him, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” (Jeremiah 1:7,8) It didn’t matter whether Jeremiah was young or old.  What was important was that God was with him.

The year that Uzziah, the King of Southern kingdom died, probably about 740 B.C., God called Isaiah.  This was in a vision in the worshipful                         temple.  It was filled with the presence of God and there were seraphs above God who called out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) The temple “doorposts and threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” (Isaiah 6:4) Isaiah was moved by the holiness of God and cried out, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) Then one of the seraphs took a live coal from the altar and touched Isaiah‘s lips saying, “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7)   Then God’s words sounded, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8)  Since he had experienced God’s forgiveness, Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)

“Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) Isn’t this how we should respond to God’s calling. We maybe weak humanly speaking, we may have weak points, we may be young, we may not know what to say, we may be old and our body isn’t working, we may be full of sin and think that we are not fit do the Lord’s work, but God wants us to say, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) The Lord wants to send you.  By your small faith the Good News will be preached, and many people will hear and believe the Word of God.  That is how God wants to use you.  “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (15)  That is because “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (17)

             The will of God is that all people be saved. Paul has said this over and over again that what is needed is faith. Here is the heart of the Gospel, the salvation of man.  Today let’s look at three aspects of salvation by faith.

I.                Inspect the direction of zealousness (vs.1-3)

First let’s look at the point that you aren’t saved by just being zealous. Look at verses 1 to 3.  Paul always deeply desired that his fellow men, the Israelites be saved.  They were certainly zealous toward God, but unfortunately, their zealousness was not based upon correct knowledge.  To put it another way, their zealousness was not based upon a knowledge of God, but was zealousness of their own. 

In our life of faith, having zealousness is very important.  It is like the engine of a car. The car won’t move unless the engine is turned on.  In the same way, if there is no zealousness, there is no change in a person’s life.  The Bible tells us that zealousness is important.  For example, Romans 12:11, and Rev. 3:15.  God wants us to be either hot or cold.   God wants us to return to the basics of our faith.   When we first entered the faith we were so enthusiastic, but that enthusiasm gradually faded without us realizing it.  Heat heats other objects and influences them.  The heat becomes cold. Therefore, we need to continuously reset our faith by being enthusiastic and repenting.

The problem is the direction.  The Israelites were certainly enthusiastic, but the direction of their enthusiasm was wrong.   They were zealous towards God, but their zealousness was not based upon correct knowledge.  It wasn’t based upon the Word of God.  Therefore, even though they had zealousness, it was completely in the wrong place. They were completely outside of the will of God.

For example, Paul was like this.  Before he was saved he was very zealous.  The Bible tells us that he was so zealous that he arrested those who believed in Jesus and put them in the prison.  He thought that a person who was put on the tree was to be cursed and there was no way that such a person could be the Son of God.  He thought that those who believed in Christ were blaspheming God.  He went to Damascus to arrest the Christians.  In today’s world that would mean persecuting Christians not only in your country, but also going to a foreign country to persecute them.  What he was doing for God was actually being against God, and being an obstacle to the Kingdom of God.   This is zealousness that doesn’t bring life, but kills.  It is zealousness not for God, but a zealousness of your own.  Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing, but if that enthusiasm is not rooted in the Word of God, it can become like this.   We all have this tendency.  Therefore, Jesus said to Martha the words recorded in Luke 10:41-42.

Before we start running around being enthusiastic, we need to learn from Mary.  Mary didn’t run around being hospitable to Jesus.  Reversely, she sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to the Word of God.  After a while, Martha who was fretting and was anxious came to Jesus and asked him to tell Mary to help her.  Jesus answered Martha telling her, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed-or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41,42)    What “Mary has chosen” (Luke 10:42) which is better is to listen to the Word of God.  We need to first listen to the Word of God and then run.  We need to make prayer and the Word of God first, realize what the will of God is, open our ears to the Word of God and then we should eagerly serve the Lord.  While making worship and prayer meetings a priority, upon that foundation we should build our life of faith and build up our life.  This is what Mary chose.  This is what Jesus desires of us.  When the direction of our zealousness is right, then there is meaning.

II.              The salvation of Christ (vs. 3-7)

Next let’s look at the right direction which is Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at verses 3 to 7.　First in verse 3 the reason why they went the wrong direction is given.  God’s righteousness is an important theme of the Bible and runs consistently                     throughout the Old Testament.  That is how we mankind can be accepted by God, in other words, how we can be saved.  They didn’t know the salvation that God had prepared for them and tried to obtain salvation by　themselves.  They didn’t follow God’s way of salvation. However, the Bible says, “All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23) Man was born as a sinner. If he opens his mouth, he curses and speaks bitterly.  It is like a poisonous snake spitting out poison everywhere.  This is because man has sin within him.  This is what mankind is like.  Therefore, man can never meet the demands of God.  Even if we were to outwardly completely follow the law, God who can see our hearts and thoughts would never be ale to accept us.     

Therefore we should not depend upon our own righteousness, but follow God’s righteousness, Jesus Christ.　“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” (4) No matter how strong a will, no matter how high of morals, no matter how much steel like strength, none of these things can solve the power of sin, but Jesus through the cross, was able to do this.  This is the method that God prepared.  The methods of world were impossible, but God’s cross was the special method that God prepared.  By God having His only Son die on the cross, the price of each of our sins were paid on our behalf.  Therefore, we need to just believe that Jesus who died on the cross is our Savior and live depending upon him. God gave this only one way to be saved to the world

Acts.4:1

Jesus also said that through the cross Jesus was the only way to be saved.

John 14:6

However, mankind is stupid and thinks of other solutions.  Even though the road of the cross is the way to life, they try taking other roads.  For example, they compare themselves with other people. However, God does not grade on the curve.  Anyone who believes can go to heaven. Also if you do not repent and believe in Jesus Christ then you will go to hell.

Other people think that if they do good things they will be saved.

Romans 6:23

No matter how small a sin we sin, the result is death.  Doing just a little good won’t cover it. However, God by sending his Son to die on the cross, Christ took upon himself all of our sins. Therefore, we need to believe in Jesus who died in our place on the cross so that our sins would be forgiven.

III.            Depend on our Lord Jesus (vs. 8-13)

Therefore, the third point is to depend on our Lord Jesus.  Let’s look at verses8-13.

We need to only believe in the words of faith. If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved. In order to go to heaven, it is not necessary to strive to do many things, but to concentrate on Christ, and to believe from your heart the Gospel, and to confess with your lips. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (10) “It is with your heart that you believe” (10) means that you accept the Gospel, in other words, the salvation of Christ that God prepared in your heart. “With your mouth that you confess” means not to hide and clearly say what you believe.  Baptism is one way to do this.  In other words, this Gospel of Jesus’ cross is to be believed in with your whole heart.  This is not just by words.  It is not going around acting like a Christian. It is to respond with your whole self to the salvation that Jesus obtained by his life.  This is faith.  God gave Christ that through Him God gave us salvation and this the only way that we can be saved. There is no other way.  There is no difference between Jews and Greeks.  “The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.” (12)  Anyone who calls upon him will be saved. ”Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (13)  What are you looking at as you live?  What are you zealous for?  Jesus Christ is our savior that God prepared so that we could be led to heaven.  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1) Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, concentrate on Him, and climb the stairs to Heaven one step at a time.

              When we think about things, we have a tendency to think about them from our own perspective.  A prime example of this is when you have group pictures and you are trying to decide which ones are good and which ones aren’t, you tend to look at yourself and whether you look good in the picture or not.  Even if as a whole the picture is good, if you yourself do not look good, then it is not a good picture for yourself.  However, if we look at faith through theses eyes, we will get stuck.  If we go this way, we crash.  If we go that way, we crash. In the end, no matter how long we wait, nothing changes.  The important thing is so look at things from God’s eyes.

              When Paul thought about the salvation of his people the Israelites, he had heart ache, and sorrow.  Even though they were a people chosen by God, they refused to try to believe in Jesus as their Savior. However, that does not mean that God’s Word has failed or the Israel is left out of God’s salvation.  Salvation is not by man’s desire or effort, but by the mercy of God.  It is by the only way grace of God that a person is destined to be saved.  God has a plan and that is why now they don’t believe. God’s Word has definitely not failed.  As Paul prayed for the salvation of the Israelites, his eyes were opened to see God’s will.  That is that the Gentiles are saved and added to the people of God and along with remnant of the Israelites will be made into a new Israel.  The will of God is far above the thinking of man and is seen within the expanse of history.  Today I would like to talk about three aspects of how the will of God will take place.

I.                Those who weren’t the people of God will become the people of God (vs. 25,26)

First let’s look at God’s will for the salvation of the Gentiles.  Please look at verses 25 and 26.

Israel’s history is the history of God’s election.  God “bore with great patience” (22) and mercy the Jews whom it would not have been strange to have destroyed. However, that is not just the Jews.  The Gentiles are the same.  All men are born with sin.  Even though because of that sin it would not be strange for them to be destroyed, God in his great mercy by mercy saved some from among the Jews; some from among the Gentiles, in other words, some from among the world. This is written in the book of Hosea.

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not　my loved one.” (Hosea 1:10, 25)

Hosea was commanded by God to marry a woman who would betray               him.  He got married the way he was commanded, and a child was born, then the woman went to another man and both the man and she left their homes.  However, their present life wasn’t so easy. The woman who betrayed Hosea and left his home in due time came to the end of her rope, and fell into the condition of being a slave. It was at that time that word of God came to Hosea again. He was told by God to “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another.” (Hosea 3:1) Therefore he “bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lathek of barley.” (2)  He saved her from condition as a slave.  Once again he brought her back to his place and set her free.  This truly shows the relationship between Israel and God.   Israel who was loved by God as His people turned their back on God. They sinned by worshipping the gods of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt.  They committed spiritual adultery.  They were no longer called God’s people. They were a people forsaken by God. However, by the abundant mercy of God by his one way mercy he redeemed them.  Those who were not the people of God once again were called the people of God. Paul applied this to mean that not Israel, but that the Gentiles would be saved.  In other words, the Gentiles who were not called the people of God would be called the people of God.

Paul quotes from the prophet Hosea to show that God’s will has come true in this way.  For him it was a great pain and sadness that Israel did not accept Christ. He couldn’t understand why the Jews who were chosen by God couldn’t believe.  In the midst of this he understood the meaning.  That is that God’s will is not just that the Israelites be saved, but that that grace reach to the Gentiles too, and that the entire world be saved.  This would come about in a way that was way above his understanding.

In our daily lives there are times when we struggle and are troubled and can’t understand why things happen.  However, God’s will is much higher than our thinking and it appears in the vast expanse of history.

I heard his story from a wonderful pastor. When they were in the process of building a church building, they ran into a situation that they never dreamed would happen.  They had drawn up the plans for the building and had been making preparations to build, but when it came down to the final decision, it was a close vote, but it was rejected. As a pastor I can imagine that shock.  However, the conclusion was that on the contrary that was the best.  Once again they readjusted the plans, and as they looked over the proposals again,                                              parking and other problems that a solution had not been found for yet were amazingly solved.

Our lives are like a trip on a train to a new place.  The scenes that appear before our eyes cause continuous excitement within our hearts.  However, from God’s view point there are mountains and valleys, railroad crossings                       and tunnels, and fields for example where you can over the whole picture.  We can’t see up ahead so there are times that we go through the dark tunnels with anxiety.  Sometimes things go well and we may sing along the way going through beautiful hills and fields. The important thing is the fact that everything is in the Lord’s large hand, and under the Lord’s watch care.  The road of life sometimes is unthinkable, but let’s believe that behind these unthinkable events the Lord is there and look at things from the Lord’s view point.        

II.              The Remnant(vs.27-29)  

Next let’s look at verses 27-29.  Next Paul talks about the salvation of the Israelites.

Here Paul quotes from 2 passages in Isaiah to show that many Israelites will be deserted.  First is verse 27.  This is a quote from Isaiah 10:22 and 23.  He uses this verse to show that even though Israel maybe as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved.  Lot’s of Israelite will be destroyed for their sins.  The second is verse 29.  Here Paul is quoting Isaiah 1:9.  This is a prophecy about God’s work in saving a remnant from the coming Assyrian destruction.  The suffering of God’s people at the hands of the Assyrians and others would make them feel as if they would certainly be destroyed.  God assures them that this is not the case.  He will always preserve His remnant.  The theme of both of these passages is the remnant.  By this remnant they will be saved.  This is God’s plan. God’s election and commission does not change.  This is called “the theology of the remnant” by theologians.

This is written more clearly in chapter 11, but simply put, God’s promises are not carried out by the whole nation, but God works through the remnant. It is through the remnant that the history of salvation continues.  If we look at the Bible this theology of the remnant can be seen when God works.  For example, Israel sent 12 spies to search out Canaan.  10 of the spies reported negatively about the land, but Joshua and Caleb only said that they should go in and take the land.  God worked through the remnant, Joshua and Caleb.  Through the remnant God’s promise was fulfilled and his blessings poured out.  Israel’s salvation is the same.  God is planning to save Israel through the small remnant.

We can see one truth from this passage.  That is that there is always a remnant.  Until the end of the world, until Jesus’ second coming there are always a promised people that strictly follow the faith, that follow God.  No matter how huge a persecution or how hard a situation there is by God’s grace a remnant who is always preserved. In Noah’s age it was the same.  The present day people “had corrupted their ways”. (Genesis 6:12) However, God left Noah who walked with God as a righteous man as a remnant.

Therefore, we must not seek comfort in numbers, but we must continue to confirm whether God can see faith within us or not, if God can see vision within us or not.  It has nothing to do with numbers. No matter how small of numbers, if we hold on to our vision, God will through us work in history.

There is no reason to be discouraged if the number of people who attend weekly worship is small.  We must not give up because 3 or 4 people come to prayer meetings.  That is because God always leaves a remnant and through that remnant God works. When Elijah fought with 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah, Elijah lamented, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left.” (I Kings 18: 22)  When we see a small Christian meeting, we tend to lament that we are the only one.  In reality that is not so. God says, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel-all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (I Kings 19:18)  God always prepares a remnant. Even a church that can’t withstand fighting with troubles, there are companions who pray and keep the faith until the end.  Even if a lot of people waiver from the God, there are God’s people who remain to the end following God’s Word and not giving up the faith.  We are not by ourselves.  God keeps a remnant.  It is how the will of God takes place.  We must not take our eyes off of that.

III.            Trust in the Lord (vs. 30-33)

Therefore, let’s trust in the Lord.  Please look at verses 30 to 33. 

Here Paul is giving us the reason why the Gentiles were led to salvation and why even though the Jews are as numerous as the sand on the beaches only the remnant will be saved. That is determined by whether a person believes the promises of the Word of God and accepts them the way they are or if he tries to be saved by his own strength.  The Gentiles have become righteous by faith. They believe in Jesus Christ whom God has prepared.  On the other hand, the Jews were different.  To the end they depended on their own strength and by works tried to be righteous.  For them Jesus Christ was a “stumbling stone” (32), “a rock that makes them fall”. (33)  That was because they had a preconceived idea that a person that was hung on a tree was cursed.  Therefore they couldn’t believe in Christ who had hung on the cross.  However, salvation depends on whether you can accept what God has prepared for you or not.  That is because man is by sin spiritually powerless, and morally bankrupt.  By your own strength, we can’t meet the standard that God requires for righteousness.  Therefore, in order to be saved we must accept the method that God has prepared for salvation.  There is no other way.  It is only by accepting through faith this salvation that we can be saved.

The Israelites couldn’t understand this.  Therefore, they stumbled on Jesus Christ.  It was a “stumbling stone” (32) that God put in front of them.  This stone  today is in front of us especially since effort is strongly rooted in Japanese society and there is a principle of exerting yourself. However, when we try to be strong, reversely, we see our weaknesses. We see that we are really weak, and feel like we have been knocked down.  The point is what we do at such times. When we see with our eyes, and accept our condition, then we can see the salvation of the cross.  That is because Jesus taught that those who are weak will become strong.  Weakness is neither a fault nor shameful.  It is a new turning point, and starting point.  Therefore, we need to admit that before sin we are powerless, seek to be strong by the power of God, and accept the salvation that God has prepared.  This is the way of faith, and of a blessed life.

The important thing is to depend on God who has a perfect plan and leads us and leave everything in His hands.  If so we won’t be disappointed, and all things will work for our good.

In chapter 9 Paul begins to talk about God’s will for the salvation of Israel.  Just before this he talked about there was nothing that could pull us away from the love of God, but here all at once he talks about Israel’s salvation.  Probably, that is because through the salvation of Israel he wanted to talk about the salvation of the world. Even so, Paul was considerably troubled as to why even though the promised Messiah came, the Israelites didn’t believe. This can be seen in verse 2 where he says, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” Paul received a clear revelation from God about the salvation of the Israelites.  That is “the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (33) Israel will be saved.  Today through Israel’s salvation let’s look at three aspects of the salvation of “my people”. (3)

I.             Paul’s earnest desire (vs. 1-3

First of all let’s look at Paul’s earnest desire.  Let’s look at verses 1-3.

Paul who talked about Christians being more than conquerors starts chapter 9 with, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” (2) The “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” (2) can be seen in verse 3. Paul says, “I… wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.” Paul’s “great sorrow and unceasing anguish”(2) was that his own people, the Jews didn’t accept Jesus Christ and didn’t believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, his earnest desire was the salvation of his people, the Jews.

In the whole world, the group of people that don’t believe in the Gospel and don’t believe in Jesus Christ the most is God’s chosen people, the Jews.  Paul too at first couldn’t believe in Jesus.  Paul who followed the law strictly as a Pharisee of Pharisees couldn’t believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, Christ.  That was because in the law it was written that a person that was hung on a tree was cursed.  Therefore, a person that died on the cross couldn’t possibly be the Messiah, the Savior.  Jesus disgraced God, and could not be forgiven. He arrested the Christians and persecuted them.  However, when he was purposely on his way to Damascus to do this, he met the risen Lord Jesus. When Paul heard the voice “Saul. Saul. What are you persecuting me?” he realized that Jesus was Christ, the Messiah, the Savior.  Then he became the new Paul.  Up until now he had persecuted those who believed in Christ.   Now he became a person who preached Christ. No matter where he went, he preached, “Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior. Whoever believes in him will be saved.”     Since then he was hated by the Jews, and was persecuted terribly, but even so he wanted many people to be saved so he proclaimed Christ who was crucified.  However, the Jews thought that they were the chosen people of God, and they bragged that the law had been given to them so they thought they would be automatically saved by following the law ritually. Therefore, they didn’t believe in the Gospel that Paul was preaching.  Paul’s “great sorrow and unceasing anguish”(2) was that they didn’t believe. He was willing to be “cut off from Christ” and be cursed if by doing so they would be saved. That’s how much he desired for the Jews, his people, to be saved.

  When we think about Paul’s “great sorrow and unceasing anguish”, (2) I wonder about how much I have prayed for the salvation of the Japanese.  The Japanese are not as bad as the Jews, but even though they hear about the grace of Jesus, they are a people who have a difficult time believing.  Our neighbors, Korea is 25% Christian, but Japan is less than 1%. The evangelism of Japan no matter whether you push or pull, it doesn’t go well.  When you are in that situation, you begin to think that there is no use in doing anything and feel like giving up.

In the reality of Japanese evangelism where there is no response, there are times like you feel like giving up.  However, God proclaims that there will come a time when such hardened hearted Jews will all be saved. Now is the time of preparation for this. We need to continue praying with patience and endurance.

It’s too bad, but lots of people think that present day people have no interest in spiritual salvation.  People are interested in only making money, going to a famous college, and living in a huge house, but that is not so.  They have a hunger for            salvation.  I sometimes have a chance to talk to people who are thought of as having succeeded in society or who have become rich, but this type of people are interested in the Gospel, and listen with open ears.  They are not just interested in politics and economy.  They realized that those things are not a source of hope. Their hope is how their hungry hearts can be filled, how they can be saved.  Therefore, if we boldly preach Jesus, they will hear the Words of God and be saved.  That is because only our Savior Jesus Christ can fill our spiritual hunger.

It seems like the Japanese are not opening their hearts to the Gospel, but in reality they have fear, and anxieties. They have a spiritual hunger.  God wants us to earnestly pray for the salvation of the Japanese.

II.           God’s chosen people, Israel (vs. 4, 5)

The reason Paul so earnestly desired Israel’s salvation was not because they were the same Jewish people as Paul, but also because they were God’s chosen people.  Let’s look at verses 4 and 5.

Paul wasn’t a betrayer that betrayed Israel. For Paul the Jews were God’s special chosen people, a special people, and he had a strong assurance that finally they will surely be saved. However, we, Gentiles, are not the same.  According to Ephesians 2:12 we were far from Christ, outside the Israelite kingdom. The promise of the covenant was for another country. We had no hope in this world. We were without God.  However, by the grace of God, we repented of our sin and by a faith that believes in Jesus Christ, we became a child of God.  Those who had been that far from God, at the moment when they believed in God, God’s Spirit was given so that we can call “Abba, Father”. However, Israel is not the same.  Israel is God’s special chosen child.            They are a special people.  Here it gives us examples of what a special people they are.  That is “glory” (4) and “covenant” (4) and “the law”(4) and “worship”(4) is theirs.

First of all Israel had glory.  They could go to tabernacle and meet God. God’s shining glory was always there.  They could in God’s presence fellowship with Him like Moses met God face to face on the Mt. Sinai. Also they were given a covenant with God, the law. By following it they were promised that they would be really blessed.  Even though it is said that the earth is wide, there is no other people to whom such a promise has been given.  This was something really special.  Also more than anything, the Savior, Christ was promised to come from Israel.

Genesis 12:1-3

In other words, The base of Israel’s blessing was that they were God’s specially chosen people.  Now lots of Jewish people are against accepting the Lord. Even if they are against the Gospel, someday they will certainly believe.  Paul believed this strongly. 

This is the same for Christians who are saved and are chosen by God.   Ephesians 1:4

God “before the creation of the world”(Ephesians 1:4) chose us. We were chosen specially by God.  This means that we were not chosen because of our condition, or our qualifications, or desires, or our effort, or our many relationships, but by something greater than these. It is because we are chosen to be saved.  Therefore, we certainly will be saved no mater what.  Peter denied Jesus three times saying that he did not know him.  Paul arrested Christians and put them in prison.  Even so God forgave them and saved them.  This was because of God’s deep mercy they were chosen.  Whoever is chosen by God, no matter what will be saved.  This is what is meant by “the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (33) This was the assurance that Paul had.

III.         For the salvation of my people (3)

Therefore the third point is that we who are chosen by the grace of God should be thankful and earnestly desire that our people be saved. That is why Paul said, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.” (3)

Ezekiel 22:30

“The gap” (Ezekiel 22:30)refers to is the gap between man and God caused by sin. At that time the Southern Kingdom, Judah, was going against the will of God, and was extremely filthy with sin.  Towards them before God sent his judgment upon them, there was a possibility that God would not send his judgment upon them if there was someone that would intercede for them. Someone was to stand before God “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30).  However, there was no one found that could stand before God “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30) and pray.  Therefore, God allowed the Babylonian invasion and Jerusalem was destroyed.  God searched for someone to stand “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30) between God and man and intercede.

Paul was such a man that stood “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30).  He said, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.” (3) He is saying that if he could, he wanted to be exchanged for the Jewish people’s salvation.

Moses too was such a man that stood “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30). When Israel was in the desert and they made a golden calf and worshiped it and there received the judgment of God, Moses prayed, “But now, please forgive their sin-but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” (Exodus 32:32) God heard Moses prayer and forgave the Israelites.

  God hears the prayers of those who pray with all their might.  Are we praying like this?  The road to the salvation of our people is the working of God’s power. This type of prayer will not return void.  In the end, it will produce saved hearts.

We who are chosen and have entered into the grace of salvation, and so God desires that we become a person that stands “in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30) and seriously pray for the salvation of our people. We need to pray like Paul, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.” (3) We need to pray for the salvation of our people, the Japanese. Those prayers will not be in vain.  God will answer this intercessory prayer and will bring about the works of salvation. That time will surely come. “The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (33) For this day of salvation let’s become serious intercessors. This is the commission that has been given to those who are chosen to be saved through grace.

            In verses 38 and 39 Paul declares loudly victory stating, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

              Paul said in chapters 1 to 6 that by having a faith of believing in Jesus Christ a person is made righteous. In chapter 7 he says that those who are made righteous have a struggle with sin.  In other words, even though within yourself you want to do what is right, you do what you don’t want to do because of the sin that is within you. However, Christians have the Holy Spirit of God so the Holy Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, we don’t need to worry about our sin. No one, nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ. Today let’s look at three aspects of Christian victory.

I.            If God is for us (vs. 31, 32)

              Paul after saying everything that he has said up until now, asks the question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (31)  This is written in the form of a question, but in reality it is a strong question leading to the conclusion.  In other words, the conclusion is so strong that no one can disagree with it. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (31) No one can. Around us there are many different powers that go against us.  In verses 35 to 36 Paul says, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”   

              At that time when a person believed in Jesus they were persecuted. Sometimes they were sent away to the desert in hunger.  Sometimes they had to hide in the graveyard.  It was like being a “sheep to be slaughtered”. (36)  “Considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (26) is phrased like this to show how terrible the persecution was. When they believed in Christ, there were trials like fire.  The same is true today.

              Today we may not be persecuted like they were at that time, but in a different way it comes upon us. For example, just living we face many different troubles and sufferings in our daily life. In our lives we wonder why we have to suffer and have so many troubles. Also in our lives the consequences of sin is still left, and Satan uses it skillfully. With strong power he sometimes attacks us. That causes us to struggle.  There are many different things that still oppose us.

              However, no matter how strong these powers are, “If God is for us,” (31) then no one can be against us.  That is because God made the heaven and earth and is all powerful.  He controls all things. Surely God is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.  There is no one that can oppose Him.

              Isaiah 40:28-31

              “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth,,,and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28)  “If God is for us,” (31) then what do we need to fear?  If someone is against me, then that means he is against God too.  There is no one who can go against God and win.  Therefore, if we are with God, we have nothing to fear.

              When David was surrounded by many enemies, he confessed, “LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me ‘God will not deliver him.’  But, you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.  I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.  I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.” (Psalms 3; 1-6)

              Even though David was is such a situation he didn’t fear because he had assurance that the Lord was with him.  Even though the whole world is surrounding you as enemies, if God is with you, then you won’t have to yield and you can live boldly. It isn’t necessary to be concerned about other people or worry about people’s threats.

That is because God is with you and will sustain you.

              By God’s love we can know that “God is for us”. (31)  Please look at verse 32.

              God “for us all” (32) gave his own Son to die; so “will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (32) Of course.  God along with his son will “graciously give us all things?” (32) Therefore the important thing is to realize how much God has loved us up until now.

              God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up” (32) to die.  That is how much he loved us.  If that’s the case, we need the assurance that God is not only for us, but His love is the kind of love that no matter what happens He is always holding on to us and won’t let us go No matter what happens that God will always watch over us. Yes, God’s absolute love is the base of our victory.

II.              It is God who justifies (vs. 33,34)

The second point is that even though someone condemns you, “it is God who justifies” (33) you. Let’s look at verses 33 and 34.

This a great declaration.  God through the shedding of Christ’s blood saved us.  Therefore even if someone tries to condemn us, they can’t.  That is because God has justified us.  To be justified is a word used in law.  At a trial when a person is declared “not guilty”, it is used.  In Hebrews 9:27 we are told that we will all die once, but after death will be judged.  At the final judgment, we will be declared, “not guilty”. Before we believed in God, we said that God didn’t exist. We disregarded God. We caused God pain. We disappointed God. We hurt God just as a child does when he has no regard for his parents.   Even though we believed we still can’t accept others, have bitterness towards other, are jealous, are depressed, and live for ourselves.  We put ourselves first so without thinking about it we tell lies, fight, don’t do the will of God, and live disappointing God.  This is how we really are. Even so, God justifies us.

This is possible because Jesus died on the cross in our place and received the punishment of sin that we should have received. That is the reason that Jesus became man and came to this world.  For man to be justified by God, first of all he must make God’s standards.  That standard is the law.  However, man can not follow it.  Therefore, Jesus received the punishment in our place.  This Jesus enters our hearts, and declares us as justified.  This is God’s salvation.

Romans 10:4

However, mankind hates God’s grace. They have a tendency to try by all means                to be saved by their own strength.  By things like their own strength, their own training, their own spirituality, when things go the way they want them to, they are proud. There is no one that has no pride.  Considering that our hearts are filthy and from the top of our heads to the bottom of our toes our body is a solid lump of sin how can we be proud? There is no other way but by God’s grace Jesus Christ who came from heaven to earth and who justified us.  There is no other way, but to bow before Him, repent and believe in Christ.  By this faith God will freely justify us.

Therefore, no matter what method Satan uses and even if Satan tries to make Christians to feel guilty for past sin, it is not necessary to be agitated by that.  That is because “God has chosen” (33) us.  A person, who is chosen by God, is specially made as God’s so Satan shouldn’t make you feel guilty.  Even if Satan says to you, “What a terrible person you are!” “You couldn’t be saved; you do so many bad things. You’re worst than a nonChristian.”, you can assert that God has chosen you and made you righteous.  If you looked only at the contents of what Satan is saying, it is certainly true.  We are really terrible sinners, and ought not to be saved.  Even so, God through Jesus Christ made us righteous.  Based upon that the Bible says, “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (1) 

Also, no matter how much Satan charges Christians, we don’t even need to worry about it at all. “Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (34)  To intercede is to defend us in court.  In other words, Christ will make the defense that he died on the cross for our sins, and paid the price of sin in our place.  There is no more of a certain guarantee than this.  The reason for our salvation is not within ourselves, but in God.  If we understand this, even if we sin, there is no need to be afraid. We because of our sin, we need to become humbler, but Jesus who is seated at the right hand of God is defending us by saying, “Father, this person’s sin is forgiven” so we can be bold.  God, who is the judge, will surely accept the defense, and declare us righteous.

　　Therefore, what is important is to be thankful for God’s declaration of making us righteous, and always repent and live with God.  If we do that our assurance of salvation will become more certain of a thing in our hearts and our Christian life will be full of life.

III.            More than conquerors  (vs. 35-37)

The third point is that by Jesus Christ we can become more than conquerors. Let’s look at verses 35-37.

.Verses 31 to 39 is only 9 verses long, but it is really an abundant declaration of victory.  It would be good to memorize this passage.  If it is difficult to memorize the whole thing, just verse 37 would be good.  A person that can move forward holding on to this passage will have a reward guaranteed in heaven.  In reality at that time they were experiencing severe persecution and there were times when faith shrunk, but the Lord’s Holy Spirit was with them so no matter what happened, “in all these things” (37) they were “more than conquerors”. (37) For example, at that time as a result of their faith Christians wearing lamb skins were put in the coliseum which was filled with lions.　Even so they died singing praises to God.

In Japan too, there were a lot persecutions like that.  Among them was the famous one during the age of Hideyoshi Toyotomi who put out the order called the Bateren Expulsion Order. He feared the power of the Christians in Kyushu and persecuted them.  One example is “The 26 Martyrs of Japan”. Also with the 24 Christians that were arrested in Kyoto, along the way to Nagasaki 2 others voluntarily joined the group and 26 people in Feb. 1597 were martyred on Nishisaka Hill in Nagasaki.

In the procession was a 12 year old Louis Ibaraki. A man, Hanzaburo Terazawa          moved by the grossness of situation tried to help the youth by encouraging him to give up his faith, but Louis Ibaraki strongly objected and refused to. Then he asked, “Where is my cross” and then ran to his cross and sat down. On the cross he moved his body which was bound and his fingers, and said joyfully, “Paradise, Jesus, Mary”.

Also, St. Anthony who had turned 13 said smiling to encourage his crying parents who went out to meet him on Nishisaka Hill, “Don’t cry because I am going to heaven”. Then to the Father that was next to him. He said. “Father, Let’s sing.” While he was singing a hymn of thanksgiving, he was executed.

Also St. Paulo Sanki while facing death preached his last sermon on the cross before a crowd that surrounded him of over 4000 people. He also prayed that those who put him on him on the cross would be forgiven and that Japan would become Christian nation soon.

Even though they were about to die, they were able to be this bold because they were surrounded by the love of God.  God’s Holy Spirit was with them so they were “more than conquerors”. (37)     

In our life many different kinds of trials threaten us, troubles and persecution press upon us, and we are led into situations that we think we can’t endure.  However, the Holy Spirit gives us strength so that we are “more than conquerors” (37) over these problems.  More than that no matter what trials, troubles, suffering, persecutions come our way, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God and we can declare victory.

              Today I would like to share about three aspects of being “in Christ Jesus” (8:1)

I.                Confidence of salvation (vs. 1-4)

First let’s look at verses 1 to 4.

Paul after having said all that he said up until now declares, “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There are times when Christians are troubled by their sin.  There is a struggle within them because even though they  want to do good, they can’t and they do what they don’t want to do. They say something that they would have been better to not have said or they should have said something, but didn’t say it.  They are troubled by their weaknesses, and short comings.  There are times when they are depressed.  They appear “wretched”. (8:24)  “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (8:24)   Only Jesus Christ can.  God sent his only Son for our sins to earth as a fleshly man, and by his body punished him for all of our sins.  “Therefore” (1) refers to what Paul had said about there being “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, (1)

What a strong declaration this is!  Even if there are times that we are troubled by our sins, even if there are times that we are separated from Christ, even so Jesus will not leave us nor will he ever give up on us. If we are in Christ Jesus ”there is now no condemnation.” (1)  That is because “the law of the Spirit of life” (2) has set you “free from the law of sin and death”. (2)   The words “set free” refers to a one time event in our past.  In other words, we won’t be condemned a second time because Jesus died on the cross and set us free from sin.  Up until then we had to be judged.  Even if we tried to follow the law that God gave us, the law became the avenue through which sin entered generally and it stimulated sin.  This is what man is actually like.   The more you think that you want to follow the law, the more you realize your weaknesses to do so, and are led to death.   “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (24)  Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will let us free.  Because the flesh has no power, what the law cannot do, God did.  Christ was put on the cross so we only need to bow our heads before God, repent, and receive salvation.  If we do that God’s “Spirit of life” (2) will work and set us “free from the law of sin and death”. (2)  This is the Gospel.

This is just like a prisoner that is brought out to the court.  We are always anxious about our sin. When we are judged in court we wonder what the judgment will be.  “The wages of sin is death”. (5:23) Our judgment is death.  However, at the final judgment when the judgment is declared, God will declare “innocent”. This is amazing!  It is surprising!  When you think about all that you have done, it is natural that you will be judged so when you are declared “innocent” you begin to question your ears. You are innocent because “through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life” (2) has set us “free from the law of sin and death”, (2) 

“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did.” (3)   This was totally the work of God. It wasn’t by the power of ourselves.  We don’t have any power to follow God’s law.  It is only by God’s Spirit working in our hearts that we are able to do the things that we haven’t been able to do.  For example, we can’t in our own power fly high in the sky.  There is only one way to fly.  That is to get in an airplane.  In the same way, we can’t by our own strength meet the demands of the law of God, but by being “in Christ Jesus” (1) and allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, we will be able to follow it easily.

Acts 1:8

In our own power we are not able to do world evangelism, but when the Holy Spirit works and gives us strength, then we are able to become a strong witness.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Japan will be changed.

The Christian life is a life of receiving the Holy Spirit and relying on the Holy Spirit.  It is a life of confessing, “If the Holy Spirit gives the strength, there is nothing that I can’t do through Him”; and living that way.  Therefore, we need to be encouraged by the Word of God in passages like Zech. 4:6 and move forward.  It does no good to grind our teeth and work hard on it. First the Lord pours out His Spirit, then everything will be accomplished.

“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did.” (3)  This was because “through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life” (2) has set us “free from the law of sin and death”, (2) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (1) Even if we commit sin, or if we are separated from God, that never means that we are not a Christian.  It is by the complete grace of God.  God’s salvation is not erased, melted, or does not disappear by the condition we are in. It is based upon the promise of God’s Word which never changes.  Therefore, the assurance of salvation is not shaken by your emotions or feelings or what someone said or the conditions you are in, but is rooted in the promises of God’s Word.  Our faith maybe like a Jet coaster going up and down and not stable, but if we rely on the promises of God, no matter what happens we will not be shaken, and can continue to have an assurance of faith.

II.              In Christ Jesus (vs. 9-11)

Let’s look at verses 9 to 11.

In general there is an image that Christians have been baptized and have become a member of the church and are working hard for the church, but that is not necessarily so. Here it says, “You… are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (9)  “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (10) “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit , who lives in you.” (11)  In other words, a Christian is a Christian or not is determined by if he has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him or not.

I Cor. 12:13

This passage in Corinthians is talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is written about in several passages of the New Testament, but this is the only passage that has this type of contents. In other words, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is tied to the head of the body, Jesus Christ and by the baptism of the Holy Spirit you become a member of the body, the church. It is nothing more than that. There are some people who talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the “second blessing”, but that is a filling of the Holy Spirit, not the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is to become one with Christ. In the same way that Jesus was put on the cross and died, we die to ourselves, and in the same way that Jesus rose from dead, we rise to life in Christ.  This is a Christian. Jesus taught this same thing in the parable of the grapevine in John 15:5

A person is not a Christian by what he does on the outside.  Whether a Christian is a Christian or not is determined by whether the person has the Holy Spirit living within him in his heart or not. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (11) You are set free “from the law of sin and death”. (2)  Therefore, the most important thing is whether we are tied by the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ or not, if we are in Jesus Christ or not.  If we are in Jesus Christ, it is not necessary to be troubled by our sins. “Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life” (2) has set us “free from the law of sin and death.” (2)  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation.” (1)

III.            Walk following the Holy Spirit (vs. 5-8)

Therefore, the third point is to walk following the Holy Spirit.  Let’s look at verses 5 to 8.

Here two types of people are written about: “Those who live according to the sinful nature” (5) and “those who live in accordance with the Spirit”. (5) The word “sinful nature” refers to the sinful nature that we are all born with. 

John 3:6

In other words, a person who has only experienced a fleshly birth, is a “natural man”. On the other hand, a person of the Holy Spirit is a person that has by the Holy Spirit experienced a spiritual birth and has really been born again.  This isn’t just a religious conversion or taking part in religious activities.  Nor is it having an interest in theology and zealously studying books.  You don’t have to be a Christian to have an interest in theology or to take part in religious activities. Also there is no need to seek after religious phenomenon like miracles or healings or such supernatural                                       experiences.  A person who is following the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with such outside things, but what is important it whether by the Holy Spirit he is reborn, and is trying to live a Spirit controlled life or not.  However, we need to be careful because even if a person has an understanding that is spiritually wrong, or even if he does something that is wrong, we can’t decide whether that person is saved or not.  When we see someone that isn’t very spiritual we wonder if he is really saved or not. However, we should not decide whether a person is a Christian or not.  That is God’s territory and God will decide.  God’s promise in the Word of God is that if person doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, then that person is not Christ’s but if he has Christ’s Spirit, then he is Christ’s.  Even if he is not now, if he has the Holy Spirit, then he will become a splendid Christian. That is because here it says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (5) Therefore, if we decide by superficial actions whether a person is saved then we are deviating from the Word of God and we must not do that.             .

              This way of looking at mankind is different from the usual way.  Generally there is no concern over whether a person is following the flesh or the Holy Spirit. In general a person uses good works to try to make his position better, thinking that if he is good enough that he will be able to enter heaven. He tries by his own power and strength to purify his character and will and thus earn his way to heaven.  However, the Bible teaches that we either follow our flesh or follow the Holy Spirit.  This is the foundation.  If not it will be only a superficial reform.  You can try to make superficial reforms, but it won’t change death to life. No matter how much a man trains his will and thoughts, how many good works he does, as long as he is bound to his flesh, he will fall into the hands of the devil and he will arrive at death.  It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can be set free from the control of death and can have life and peace. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.  Following the Holy Spirit and being full of the thoughts of the Holy Spirit is life and peace.

              If that is the case, the most important thing in our Christian life is, through prayer and the Word of God, fellowship with God and live following the Holy Spirit of God. If through prayer and the Word of God we live in the life of God, God will change our personalities, and make us like God. He will grow the fruits of love, joy, peace , patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self control. The Christian life isn’t a life of desiring such fruit.  It is a life where such graces pursue you. That’s because you fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit’s life works in you.  Even though you are doing the same thing, the source is completely different.

Ephesians 1:19

May those who believe, believe and follow the Word of God.  To those who have started walking before the Holy God, may the all powerful God work and daily show his works fully and fully. These are the blessings of God that are richly poured upon those that believe in God and live following the Holy Spirit. Please stay within the grace of God, become a person that follows the Holy Spirit, and earnestly desire to “live in accordance with the Spirit.” (5) Base your life upon the promises of the Word of God that are never moved, and have assurance of salvation.

In verse 24 Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” In relationship with the law which Paul has been talking about from 7:1 Paul confesses that he is “a wretched man”. (24)  The problem is when Paul said these words.  There are three main interpretations of this passage.

1.               This was before he was born again, or his condition when he was an unbeliever.

2.               This was his condition after he was born again. In other words he is          referring to his condition as a Christian.

3.               This is his condition right after he was born again.  It is like those who have not received the “second grace”.

What is extremely interesting is when you look at Christian history during the first centuries the first interpretation was the common thinking.  In other words this was his condition before he was born again.  A famous theologian, Argentines, of the 400s at first followed this interpretation.  Later he gave up this interpretation and claimed that the correct interpretation had to be number two.  Later the reformists and Puritan leaders began to believe in the second interpretation.  This is the condition of those who are born again.  However, there were some people who thought that Christians who were born again could not be “wretched” (24) so some people appeared claiming the third interpretation. 

Which interpretation is correct? Today while gaining a correct understanding of this passage and while gaining an understanding of what man is, let’s walk a life of a real victorious Christian.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of this.

I.                Paul’s struggle (vs. 14-20)

First let’s look at Paul’s struggle.  Let’s look at verses 14 and 15.

In verse 7 Paul brought up the problem “Is the law sinful?”  Paul answers, “Certainly not!” Then he talks about the purpose of the giving of the law. That was that by the law we would realize that we are terrible sinners.  Sin brings death.  Sin uses the law and makes us into bigger terrible sinners.  This explanation is in verse 14. If you look at this verse well, you will see that he says “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” in the present tense. Up until now has been different.  He has been using the past tense. For example in verse 9 he says, “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.” Until the commandment came, he had no relationship with the law, but when the commands came, sin was born and he died.  However, here he is saying, “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” (14) in the present tense. This means that verse 14 does not refer to his condition before he was saved but refers to his condition after he was saved.  Paul who was saved and was facing his deep sin confessed, “What a wretched man I am!” (24) 

Even Paul who was saved and lived in faith was in such a struggle that he confessed, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (24) No matter how much of a burning a faith a person has there are times that he falls.  Elijah did too.  In I Kings 18 there is the story where the prophet Elijah fought and had victory over the 850 prophets of Baal on Mt. Caramel.  In this event he has the appearance of a roaring lion, a very powerful                                                prophet.  However in the next moment, Ahab’s wife, Jezebel appears and sends a message that she will kill Elijah. Then Elijah became fearful and fled. He sat down under a broom bush and prayed, “I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.” (I Kings 19:4) Just before that Elijah was on fire, but now that same Elijah is crying, “I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.” (I Kings 19:4)  No matter how great a man seems, even if he shows himself strong, in the end he is man.  We are all weak.

　No matter how brave and faithful a Christian is there are times that he experiences disturbances and discouragement.  This is how it is.  Just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean that since you have believed for many years that you won’t be depressed.  No matter how strong you are, there are times that you are discouraged and struggle looking like a weak person.

Paul was the same.  In verse 15 he confesses, “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” 

II Cor. 1:8

Paul is confessing that he was being persecuted very badly to the point beyond his “ability to endure.” (II Cor. 1:8)  We don’t know how much pressure that was for him.  However, it was more than “ability to endure.” (II Cor. 1:8)   Even Paul who spread the Gospel had weaknesses.  He didn’t do what he wanted to do, but what he hated to do. He sinned. Verses 18 and 19 say the same thing.  Paul’s struggle was that even though in his heart he desired “to do what is good” (19) he had a contradictory self or a weak self that did evil things. 

This is a truthful confession of Paul.  This confession means that the Apostle Paul had worries, problems, and struggles, and he had a problem that in his heart he wasn’t always following the will of God, and had a terrible struggle within his heart over it.  If that’s the case we Christians will have such a struggle. Everyone worries, suffers, and while floundering has a fight going on in their heart. That is what Christians who are human too are like.

II.              The cause of struggles (vs. 21-23)

Next let’s look at the cause of struggles. That is that Christians have two laws at work within them. Look at verses 21 to 23.

These two laws are the heart of the inner person and the law of flesh within the outer person.  If we use the words of 8:2 to express it, it would be “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death”. This “law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” are fighting in our heart and so struggles occur.  Therefore, those who don’t believe in Jesus don’t have such struggles and worries.  Those who don’t believe in Christ are completely controlled by “the law of sin and death”. Both the outer person and the inner person are controlled by the same law and so no struggle occurs. They only have to deal with their conscious. Therefore, those who don’t believe in Christ don’t worry about the fact that they didn’t pray.  However, when they believe in Jesus and welcome Jesus into their heart they receive “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2) so no matter whether they have a small or large faith, “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” (8:2) are fighting in their hearts and struggles occur.  However, there is no reason for worrying. The fact that there are struggles in itself means that there is life there.  The life is planted there so when you turn your back even a little on God, you become anxious, and fear occurs.  We become anxious because the seeds of life are planted within us.  Therefore, the fighting between the power of life and the power of sin begins in our hearts.  This fighting will continue until the power of life makes an overwhelming victory.

II Timothy 3:12

If we want to live in Jesus Christ from the moment that we make such a decision, the power of sin and death begins fighting within us.  Before we made a decision we didn’t have such a struggle so we wonder why we are so confused.  However, it is just because “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” (8:2) are fighting in our heart.

In Acts 17 when Paul was evangelizing in Thessalonica, the people there called the Christians, “men who have caused trouble all over the world.” (Acts 17:6) The Christians hadn’t done anything.  They only believed in Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior of the whole world.  However, in the Thessalonians eyes, these Christians were like people who had turned the world upside down.  Where people that really believe in Jesus Christ are, such a changing revolution appears. 

Matt. 10:34-36

This means that when we really try to follow the Word of God that peace will deteriorate within our families. That is because there are some people that are trying to live by the law of the world and some that are trying to live by the Word of God. They are in conflict with each other.  Wherever there are works of life, always the power of sin and death arises and acts up. For example, when Jesus appeared, a man who was possessed by a demon ran out shouting.  When Jesus, life itself, appeared, the powers of death couldn’t hide any longer.  Struggles occur in the church in the same way.  The law of life and the law of sin and death are fighting in our hearts so peace deteriorates. Therefore, the church always needs to pray that we can see things from God’s point of view, and walk in the will of God.

III.            In the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 24,25)

The solution to this, how we can have victory over the law of sin and death is only in Jesus Christ. Please look at verses 24 and 25.

When Paul said, “What a wretched man I am!” (24) he meant that within himself he had no power to have victory over the law of sin and death. Even if he wanted to do good, he had no power to do good.  Also within himself he was “a slave to the law of sin”. (25)  Even though he wanted to follow the Word of God, he couldn’t follow it.  This was the frustration that Paul faced.  This wasn’t just Paul, but something that can be said about all Christians.  We all have no power to win over sin.  We are all nothing but wretched men. 

Paul gives us here the answer to how we can be set free from “the law of sin and death” and how “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2) will work. That is not within him at all, but by the grace of God.  In verse 25 Paul said, “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  He knew it was only by the grace of God.  He was a terrible sinner. He had no power within himself to have victory over sin. God through Jesus Christ took upon himself that sin.  We need only to humble ourselves before God, repent, return to God, and hold onto God by grace.  If we do that through Jesus Christ God’s righteousness and strength will have complete victory over sin and death.  Paul knew this principle.  His lament was a blessing.  This is really a confession of a person who has deeply entered God’s grace.  A person that has no faith would not have such a lament.  A person without faith can not see his weaknesses or shamefulness. When God’s light of grace, the powerful light shines on a person, then for the first time he can see what a terrible sinner he is. Only those that through the Lord know their weak and short points can make such a confession.  Therefore, if you look at the letters that Paul wrote, you can see that the longer he walked with Christ, the more humble he became. In Corinthians which was written in the earlier part of his ministry, he wrote about himself as “the least of the apostles”. (I Cor. 15:9) In Ephesians which was written in the middle of his ministry, he wrote, “I am less than the least of all God’s people.” (Ephesians 3:8)  In his first letter to Timothy which was written near the end of his ministry, he wrote that Jesus came to save sinners and adds about “sinners- of whom I am the worst”. (I Tim. 1:15) He is seen as becoming the humblest of the humblest.  This was Paul’s understanding of the Gospel.  This is the same in the Spiritual world.

There are some people that think that they are a strong vessel.  They think that they are not doing anything especially bad and that they are observing worship on the Lord’s Day.  Even though they look at themselves and they haven’t changed at all, they think, “What a pity”, but they aren’t sad at all.  This is a disaster.  They need to call out,” What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (24) and repent.   “This body of death” (24) refers to the method used as a death penalty at that time.  They would tie a dead corpse to a living prisoner that had been sentenced to death. As the dead corpse decayed the germs would spread over to the living prisoner that had been sentenced to death and gradually he would die.  It usually took 2 to 3 months for him to die.   Our body is “this body of death”. (24)  “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (25)

Only Jesus can. Between verses 24 and 25 the mood changes.  It is like a crow that was crying is now a crow that is laughing. There is a huge gap.  This is because we should not spend a long time lamenting and in despair. When we look at our wretched condition, we feel compelled to yell out,” What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (24) However, we should not hold onto that forever.  We have to rise up from the despair through Jesus Christ. The key word is “Jesus Christ”. (25)  Not by our own strength, but by focusing on Jesus Christ, power will spring up, and we will be full with hope. Jesus who gives us salvation does not want us to continue in the condition of being ordained to death. He rose on the third day.  He destroyed the power of death completely and rose again.  Here is our hope.  He has all authority on heaven and earth.  He can completely destroy the power of Satan. Even if you have no hope within yourself, you can have victory through Christ.  This was the power of victory that Paul had.

Therefore, we should not continue forever in despair and discouragement.  Christians also get depressed.  No matter how great a Christian a person is, everyone experiences despair and discouragement. However, what makes the difference is in the midst of it what you are looking at. It is here, “Through Jesus Christ”, (25) that we have hope.  We are bothered by sin and death, and we become weak and depressed, but let’s remember that our Lord, Jesus Christ powerfully and completely destroyed the control of sin and death.  It is only by holding onto His grace, and by faith, that we can walk a victorious life. That is the road that we should take.