A Mercy Too Deep to Measure

A Sermon on preached from Romans 11:25–36 by Ps Simon Chilongoshi

Click here to listen to the sermon.

Before we turn to the Bible, I want to remind us of the evening service this afternoon from 17:00 to 18:00. It is a special one because we will not only fellowship with one another, but we will also receive feedback from the Nehemiah team. I remember last week, Brother Dennis asked us: are we willing to build the church? All of us said yes. And therefore, if our answer is yes, we need to go through the full process. There is a Nehemiah team, and we need all of us to be part of that team.

Today we are in Romans chapter 11. We will read from verse 25 to verse 36. It has already been read in our hearing, but let me say this. At this point, we are essentially concluding chapters one through eleven. We are concluding what we call the indicatives.

The book of Romans is divided into two major divisions. The first is the indicatives, where the Apostle Paul brings out the Word of God — he is expounding the doctrines to us. He is demonstrating to us the facts about God, about our Lord Jesus Christ, about who we are before God, and about our relationship with the triune God. That is what we have been doing in the first part.

Today we conclude the indicative section with chapter 11. Next week, God willing, we will look at the imperatives — the applications. In chapter 12, verse 1, it says: “Now I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present yourselves.” The imperatives follow from what we have received as the indicatives: given the will of God that has been revealed, how are we now supposed to live?

It is important to note that whatever we believe will affect the way we live. Whatever we believe about God, about Jesus Christ, about salvation, and about sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives will influence how we live, how we relate to one another, and how we relate to God. If you believe that God is like Father Christmas, you might think you can sit on his lap, pull his beard, and ask him to do whatever you want. But that is not what we have been finding in these eleven chapters.

The Apostle Paul is at this point clarifying what he began exploring from chapter nine through chapter eleven, verse 24. Paul considers and appreciates how God has planned and is working out the salvation of his people — and all he can do is burst into adoration. That is what he does. At the end of this chapter, from verse 33 to verse 36, is the doxology, the outburst of adoration, as he declares:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

That is the outburst of the Apostle Paul as he considers how God has saved both Jews and Gentiles. The salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, my friends, is the work of God — planned by him in eternity past.

The Three Headings of This Passage

Two passages confirm this, because there appears to be a contradiction as we follow the Apostle Paul from chapter nine. If you have been following along, you would be asking questions about what is happening as God seemingly set aside Israel. Pastor Phil expounded on this — he led us to understand that our God can be trusted, even in the face of apparent contradiction.

Romans 8:29–30 reads:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

In our Q&A last evening, someone asked: if God has already planned and elected, what are we doing when we preach the gospel? What is the role of our effort? Yes, God planned the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles — yet he has also provided the means by which you and I will be able to receive his salvation.

Ephesians 1:3–6 reads:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in his Beloved.

That is essentially what we have been exploring. Now come to verse 25 of chapter 11. As we seek to understand the mercy of God that has caused praise and worship to well up in the heart of Paul, we will work through three headings:

First: the mystery of the salvation of Israel.

Second: the irrevocable gift and calling of God.

Third — which leads to the doxology: mercy through disobedience.

I. The Mystery of the Salvation of Israel (vv. 25–27)

Paul is made to understand a previously hidden truth. This mystery is not to remain hidden from the people of God forever. God has revealed to Paul this hidden truth of a partial hardening that has come upon Israel. As the text reads:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

Paul is unlocking for us this mystery: the hardening of the heart of the children of Israel, which will last until the full number of Gentiles has been embraced in the Christian faith. In this way, Israel will also be saved.

This mystery answers the questions the Apostle Paul was wrestling with as he opened the Scriptures. In chapter 11, there are two major questions he asks.

The first question, from verse 1:

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Has God rejected Israel? Paul answers by pointing to himself — a Jew in the flesh, with full credentials as a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he continues:

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Elijah was discouraged. As the prophets were being massacred, he fled and prayed to God, appealing against Israel. But God’s response was remarkable: he had kept seven thousand for himself.

For those of you who have been following from chapter one, or who have read Romans from the beginning — as you come along and reach chapter eight, there is a slight shift. You see that God chose a people to himself, cared for them, called them his beloved, and set them apart from all others. Then, as you come to chapter ten and eleven, there appears to be a movement toward the Gentiles. The question we may be asking is: is God unfaithful to his promises? Has he rejected his people?

The bigger question is this: if God chose a people to himself, walked with them, saved them from slavery, and brought them into rest — how is it that today the people of Israel are not interested in the grace of God? How is it that the Jews have rejected the Messiah?

This is the work of God. Pastor Phil demonstrated this from chapter 11 verse 11 onwards. The branch was broken from the trunk — that is, from the root, which is Jesus Christ. And when that branch was broken, it created a door for the Gentiles to enter in. That is what we are considering this morning, and it is what this mystery is unlocking.

God himself, in his own wisdom, has allowed the hardening of the heart of the Jews so that the Gentiles might come in. God did not reject his people. Ephesians tells us about what we were as Gentiles: while God was caring for the Jews and working with his people, all other nations were, in Paul’s words, “without hope and without God in the world.” That is what we were at one point.

If that was the truth — if God had a special people in Israel — what has happened? Why is Israel now aloof, uninterested in the Messiah? This takes us to the second question, from verse 11:

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

My friends, the salvation and inclusion of Gentiles in the commonwealth of God’s people is the work of God himself. The plan of God is pure and unchangeable. It remains the same from everlasting to everlasting. The salvation of both Jews and Gentiles is his plan — and it is not an afterthought. You might wonder: did God turn to the Gentiles only after failing to convince the Jews? By no means. It was planned from the beginning that both Jews and Gentiles would be saved.

How? As verse 26 puts it: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Both Jews and Gentiles stand on the same foundation. We are all saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone.

This is what Paul is saying to the Gentiles: do not be wise in your own sight, do not be ignorant of this mystery. The Lord has not abandoned his people Israel — rather, he has opened the door so that you and I might enter in and receive peace with God.

First Peter 2:10 says it plainly:

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Friends, have you seen the mercy of God? You and I, who had no place, who were not counted — we have now received mercy. How? Through the partial hardening of the Jews. The door is open for you and me.

Are you a Christian today? If you are, it is because of this work of God in showing mercy to a people who had no life, no hope, and no help in this world. But if you are not a Christian this morning, this should be an encouragement to you: the Lord has opened his doors through Christ Jesus. Even you can receive his Word this morning. For a long time, this message was for a special people alone. But now it is a privilege for all of us to receive what God himself planned in eternity past.

II. The Irrevocable Gift and Calling of God (vv. 28–29)

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

This is the truth. Despite their current rejection of the gospel, God has his elect. Today we may observe that Israel has forsaken the Lord, that Israel has rejected the Messiah. Even in their disobedience, the Lord has his remnant. Why? Because of his faithfulness to the promises he made to the patriarchs — that through Abraham, all the nations would be blessed.

God has his chosen people even among the Jewish people. For the sake of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God will never go back on his election or his promises. What he declared in eternity past will come to pass through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. All the promises of God find their yes and amen in Christ.

Therefore, though we see this hardening, this enmity that exists in the present situation, God himself remains faithful to his word. This recalls what the Apostle Paul says in chapter 9, beginning at verse 1:

I am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit — that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Why do you think the Apostle Paul is in such anguish, such pain, as he thinks of his brothers in the flesh? Because his heart’s desire is that Israel should be saved. In verse 4, he continues:

They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Paul is in anguish; his prayer is that these people — a special people before God — will come to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. Why? Because God cannot go back on his Word. To these people belong the promises. For the sake of the patriarchs, God made a vow. He made a covenant with Abraham. The worship and the promise of God belong to these people.

Paul is arguing on the basis of election. As Romans 9:14–15 says:

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

This is who God is. He is a merciful God, the merciful Father. The calling of God and the gifts of God to his people are irrevocable — they cannot change. His everlasting covenant will stand, and God will bring both Jews and Gentiles into his kingdom, to the praise and worship of his holy name. The Lord is showing mercy even today to you and me, and he will surely bring his people Israel into his fold.

III. Mercy Through Disobedience (vv. 30–32)

For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

There are not two ways to be reconciled to God. Both Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God by faith alone, through the work of Christ on the cross. All of us stand as sinners saved by grace. Yes, the Jews were a special people before God — but even for them, it is by faith. The Apostle Paul writes elsewhere that even Abraham believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Even in the Old Testament, God was at work in this way.

God uses human disobedience to ultimately pour out universal mercy. Both the Gentiles — historically disobedient — and the Jews — currently stumbling and rejecting the mercy of God — are shown grace, so that God alone may receive the glory in our salvation. No one, neither Jew nor Gentile, will be able to stand and say, “I merited this.”

The Jews cannot say, “It is because of the promise to our patriarch that we have been ushered in.” That may be true in one sense — and yet they too are sinners before God until they find mercy in Christ Jesus.

I appreciate how Paul puts it. Gentiles have nothing to boast of, because at one point they were disobedient to God, running from him. Yet God showed them mercy while they were still sinners. Christ died for their sins. Now, while the Gentiles were running from God, the Jews were receiving the comfort of God — and rejected the mercy of God. By now showing mercy to the Gentiles, what has God created? He says he has created jealousy among the Jews. As the Jews observe a people who were far from God now drawing near, people who were without mercy now receiving it, the Jews are moved by a holy jealousy, which will also bring them to God.

Friends, while we may think that salvation is our own choice, it is God at work. This partial hardening is so that the Gentiles will come in — and later, the Jews will see how God is gracious and will also seek the Lord.

Even this morning, there are people in this congregation who have turned to Jesus because of the testimony of someone who had long been rejecting the mercies of God. They shook their fist at heaven. They were rebellious. And at one point, the Lord, in his mercy, broke them down. From arrogance before God to submission before Christ and Christ alone. And those who thought they were already Christians, looking on at the mercy of God shown to that person, came to a true and deeper realization of grace. Is it not glorious how God moves in mysterious ways to touch the hearts of many?

At one point, you were disobedient. You had nothing to do with God. Yet God, through his mercy and grace, brought you to your knees.

My question to you this morning: is your testimony today influencing those around you, bringing a holy jealousy upon those who are still in their sins? Are they seeing how God has worked in your life — how he has changed your heart, your mind, your interests? Are the people around you seeing the mercies of God and finding that they have only one thing left to do but say in their hearts: “If God can save this brother, if God can save this sister, I too surrender to him”?

Is that your testimony this morning? Or is it that when people look at you and relate to you, they are questioning the mercies of God — saying to themselves, “If this person is going to enter heaven, even I will enter without believing in Christ”?

Before God, friends, both Jews and Gentiles remain disobedient and sinners. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

The Doxology (vv. 33–36)

This brings us to our last point: the doxology. As I said at the beginning, when the Apostle Paul considers how God planned salvation in eternity past, how God had mercy upon his children — chosen from nothing, the children of Israel — and at some point also brought in you and me, the Gentiles, he bursts into praise and adoration. This thought of how God is at work surpasses him entirely.

Friends, your own testimony alone should at some point cause you to simply sit down and praise the Lord. When you think of the kind of person you were before God changed you, the doxology we are reading should be on your lips as well.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

We cannot fully understand — yet this is the way of God. Paul continues:

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?

Friends, if we were given just five minutes to be the counselors of God, you know exactly what we would do. We would say, “Not that one, Lord. No, no — not that one. He doesn’t deserve it.” That is what we would do. The worst of sinners is precisely who God pursues. The worst of all sinners is who Christ sat down and shared a meal with. And everyone else questioned it. If this is the Son of God, they thought, he would not allow this woman to pour perfume on his feet — they knew who she was. But he answered: “He who has been forgiven much, loves much.”

Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Friends, this is where the Apostle Paul chooses to end. But just in case anyone here still has questions, consider what happened in the discourse between Job and God.

In Job 40:1–2, the Lord said to Job:

Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.

And Job, for all his wisdom and argument, heard this and responded (Job 40:4–5):

Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.

Not only that, but in chapter 42, verses 1 to 6:

Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

That is what Job realized at the end of the day. He despised himself because he had tried to understand the mind of God, to fit the will of God within the neat categories of his own thinking. But at the end, he said: “I will say no more.”

I am sure Paul had read this account. And instead of going on to question the mind of God, what does he do? He bursts into praise and adoration.

Oh, this should be our posture, friends. This should be our response to the work of salvation. The things we may not understand about life, the things that are so complicated to us at this point — take them to God. Praise him. He is the only wise God who has planned his purposes from everlasting.

Conclusion

Even you today are in his mind. Turn to him. Our God is merciful, friends. He has demonstrated his mercy by extending it toward sinners throughout the life of mankind.

As we go about sharing the gospel, let us not look at people and investigate their lives, trying to judge what they have done. No. Even those you consider the worst sinners — God will save them. For those of you who are here this morning thinking, “God will not accept me because of the things I have done” — friend, the window is open.

There is a partial hardening of the heart of the Jews so that the Gentiles might be ushered in. You are one of them. Let us go to the Gentiles and the Jews alike and tell them: Jesus loves them.

To the praise and glory of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer

Precious God and Father in heaven, the merciful Father, the God of love, the God who has all of us in his mind, the Lord who forgives sin, the Lord who did not spare his only begotten Son but offered him for the redemption of both Jews and Gentiles — you alone, O Lord, are worthy of our praise and adoration. You alone are the God who is to be worshipped by all. Not only did you create us, but you are reconciling sinners to yourself. May you help those who are still strangers to this truth, that they will seek you while you may be found. Father in heaven, may this truth be our fuel as we go out to share the gospel of Christ — that we will share it without favoritism, without partiality, because you are a merciful God to whom all are called to come. May you receive glory and honor and praise and adoration from the lips of sinners such as we are. This we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.