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For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.” (Romans 11:32, NLT).
In Romans 9-11 the Apostle Paul addressed the theological question raised by the Roman Christians about the unbelief of so many Jews. Why had God promised salvation to Israel, His chosen people, and so few Jews were being saved?
“Then David inquired of the Lord: ‘Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?’ The Lord replied to David, ‘Go, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.’ So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, ‘Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.’ Therefore, he named that place the Lord Bursts Out. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.” (2 Samuel 5:19-21, HCSB).
Have you ever had an emotional outburst caused by stress or anger or even joy? In the stories of King David recounted in 2 Samuel 5 and 6, we see this sort of behavior displayed by God.
“All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him” (2 Samuel 14:14, NLT).
These words were spoken to King David by a woman with a reputation for great wisdom (vs. 2). With advice from this wise woman, King David was persuaded to reconcile with his son, Absalom.
“And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction. And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy, that he prepared beforehand for glory–on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:22-24, HCSB).
These verses do not mean that God desires to show His wrath on those who deserve it. Rather, they mean that God desires to show His mercy by saving those who deserve His wrath. And, God can best show His love by having mercy on those who deserve His wrath.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:26-28, NLT).
We often try to comfort someone who is suffering or grieving by quoting a phrase in vs. 28: “all things work together for good.” In the middle of tragic circumstances these words may provide little consolation to the one who is hurting. And the sentiment may even seem to trivialize one’s loss or grief (It’s almost like saying be happy because this bad thing happened to you.)
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you” (Romans 8:11, NLT).
The Apostle Paul describes Christians as people presently living in bodies that will die and be resurrected and then live forever.
“What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did.” (Romans 8:3, HCSB).
Some consider Romans 8 the greatest, most theologically eloquent chapter about Christian spirituality in the New Testament. Certainly, some verses from Romans 8 are the most often quoted, often taught, and often preached of any in the Bible. Here’s a few examples:
“For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!” Isaiah 64:4, NLT).
To the prophet Isaiah, the plans and purposes of God were formulated outside of His creation–in other words, without the help of human wisdom.
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.” (Romans 6:6, NLT).
When you are joined with Christ, your old source of power, sin, gets unplugged and you plug into a new source of power, the Holy Spirit.
“Consider the work of God. For who is able to straighten what He has bent!” (Ecclesiastes, 7:13, NASB).
If your carpentry skills leave much to be desired, like mine, then you have had the experience of not hitting a nail squarely on the head and it sets and bends. And then it is difficult, if not impossible, to straighten the nail out and hammer it in. Yet, I still spend a lot of time and effort trying to straighten out that nail so I can hammer it in.
Steve's Bible Meditations 