After three chapters wrestling with Israel, election, mercy, hardening, faith, unbelief, Jews, and Gentiles, Paul does not finish with a theological chart. He worships.
And there is a valuable lesson for Text B4 Tradition here: careful Bible study should produce more than correct conclusions. If we really see what Paul sees, it should produce humility and worship.
OH, THE DEPTH!
Romans 11:33–36
For three chapters Paul has wrestled with a painful question.
Most of his fellow Israelites had rejected Christ.
Had God's word failed?
Paul's answer was:
No.
He has taken us through:
God's promise.
Election.
Mercy.
Hardening.
Faith and unbelief.
The remnant.
The olive tree.
Jews and Gentiles.
And finally:
“God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”
What does Paul say after working through all of that?
He doesn't say:
“Now I have God completely figured out.”
He says:
“Oh, the depth!”
PAUL STOPS TO WORSHIP
Paul writes:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”
— Romans 11:33
That little word:
“Oh!”
tells us something.
Paul is no longer simply explaining.
He is overwhelmed by what he has been explaining.
God's plan is deeper than Paul can fully explore.
God's wisdom reaches beyond Paul's ability to comprehend.
God's knowledge is beyond measure.
Paul has studied deeply.
But deeper study has not made Paul arrogant.
It has made him:
humble.
“HOW UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS”
Paul continues:
“How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”
That does not mean we shouldn't study God's ways.
Paul has just spent eleven chapters doing exactly that.
It means we should recognize the difference between:
what God has revealed
and
everything God knows.
God has told us what we need to know.
But He has not told us everything He knows.
There is a difference.
STUDY DOES NOT ELIMINATE MYSTERY
Sometimes we approach the Bible as though careful study should eventually allow us to explain everything about God.
Paul doesn't.
And few people had studied Scripture more deeply than Paul.
He was trained in Israel's Scriptures.
He knew the Law.
He knew the prophets.
He had been personally commissioned by Christ.
Yet after explaining God's saving purpose, Paul says:
“How unsearchable are his judgments!”
Good Bible study should give us confidence about what the text actually says.
But it should also give us humility about what the text does not say.
That's an important distinction.
“WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD?”
Paul asks:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
— Romans 11:34
Paul is quoting Isaiah 40:13.
Think about the question.
Who advised God?
Who sat beside Him before creation and said:
“Here's how You ought to do this”?
Nobody.
God did not consult:
Paul.
Moses.
Abraham.
Or:
us.
God's plan does not have to pass our test before it can be right.
SOMETIMES WE TRY TO BECOME GOD'S COUNSELOR
We probably wouldn't say it that way.
But we can do it.
We read something in Scripture and think:
“God wouldn't do that.”
Or:
“Surely God must do it this way.”
Or:
“That doesn't fit my understanding of what God ought to do.”
There is nothing wrong with asking hard questions.
Paul has been asking them throughout Romans.
But eventually we must remember:
We are studying God's revelation.
We are not editing it.
God is not waiting for us to improve His plan.
“WHO HAS GIVEN A GIFT TO HIM?”
Paul continues:
“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
— Romans 11:35
Here Paul draws from Job 41:11.
The question is simple:
What has anyone ever given God that puts God in their debt?
Nothing.
That connects beautifully with Paul's entire argument in Romans.
We cannot place God under obligation.
Not through:
ancestry.
Not through:
Law.
Not through:
works.
Not through:
religious achievement.
Salvation is grace.
If God owed it to us, it wouldn't be grace.
GOD OWES US NOTHING
That may sound severe until we realize what follows from it.
If salvation depended upon God paying us what He owed us, we would be in serious trouble.
Paul already told us what our works have earned:
“The wages of sin is death.”
But God's gift is:
“Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That's the difference between:
wages
and
gift.
We don't stand before God demanding payment.
We stand before God needing:
mercy.
That is exactly where Romans 11:32 left us.
“FROM HIM”
Then Paul gives us one magnificent sentence:
“For from him and through him and to him are all things.”
— Romans 11:36
Three little expressions.
From Him.
Through Him.
To Him.
Everything begins with God.
Everything depends upon God.
Everything ultimately points back to God.
God is not a supporting character in our story.
We are part of:
His story.
FROM HIM
“From him...”
God is the source.
Creation began with Him.
The promise began with Him.
The plan of redemption began with Him.
Abraham did not invent it.
Israel did not invent it.
Paul did not invent it.
The church did not invent it.
Salvation originated with:
God.
THROUGH HIM
“Through him...”
God is not merely the beginning of the plan.
He carries His purpose through.
Think about what we have seen.
Human beings sinned.
Israel failed.
Kings rebelled.
People rejected the prophets.
Christ was crucified.
Israel stumbled.
Gentiles had lived in disobedience.
And yet God's saving purpose continued.
Even human rebellion could not defeat it.
Everything is:
“Through him.”
TO HIM
And finally:
“To him are all things.”
God is also the goal.
The story doesn't ultimately end with:
us.
Salvation is certainly for our good.
But God's plan is larger than our personal happiness.
Everything ultimately points toward:
His glory.
So Paul finishes:
“To him be glory forever. Amen.”
That is where theology should eventually take us.
Not merely to:
“I understand.”
But to:
“To Him be glory.”
LOOK WHERE ROMANS 9–11 ENDED
Think about where we started.
Paul was grieving over unbelieving Israel.
Then came some of the most debated words in the New Testament:
Jacob and Esau.
Mercy.
Pharaoh.
Hardening.
Potter and clay.
Vessels of wrath.
The remnant.
Broken branches.
All Israel will be saved.
Christians have argued about these passages for centuries.
How does Paul finish?
Not:
“Congratulations. Now you understand every detail.”
Instead:
“Oh, the depth!”
Perhaps that should tell us something about the attitude we bring to these chapters.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUMILITY AND UNCERTAINTY
Humility doesn't mean:
“We can't know anything.”
Paul has made many things very clear.
God's word has not failed.
Physical ancestry does not guarantee salvation.
Righteousness is by faith.
Israel stumbled through unbelief.
Gentiles stand by faith.
Gentiles must not boast.
Broken Jewish branches can be grafted in again if they cease their unbelief.
Jew and Gentile both need mercy.
Those things Paul has told us.
We can believe them confidently.
Humility means we don't pretend Paul told us more than he actually did.
READ FIRST. CONCLUDE LATER.
This may be one of the best passages in Romans for explaining what we mean by Text B4 Tradition.
We study carefully.
We examine context.
We compare Scripture with Scripture.
We ask what Paul meant.
We challenge our assumptions.
We draw conclusions where the evidence leads.
But then we remember:
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?”
Our theological system is not God's mind.
Our interpretation must always remain subject to:
His Word.
When Scripture corrects us, we change.
We don't change Scripture.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Ask the text:
Did Paul's deep study make him arrogant?
No.
It made him say:
“Oh, the depth!”
Can we understand what God has revealed?
Yes. Otherwise Paul would not have spent eleven chapters explaining it.
Has God revealed everything He knows?
No.
His judgments remain:
“Unsearchable.”
Does God owe salvation to anyone?
No.
“Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
Where does everything begin?
“From Him.”
How is God's purpose accomplished?
“Through Him.”
Where does everything finally point?
“To Him.”
And therefore:
“To him be glory forever. Amen.”
Paul has now finished the great theological argument of Romans 1–11.
And then comes one of the most important words in the letter:
“Therefore.”
Because of everything God has done—
How should we live?
That is where Romans 12 begins.
NEXT: PRESENT YOUR BODIES AS A LIVING SACRIFICE
Romans 12:1–2
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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