Commentary on "Redemption for Jew and Gentile"

DALE RATZLAFF

 

Day 4: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - Mysteries

 

Romans 9:17-24

In these verses Paul emphasizes the sovereignty of God. We may not understand, but as Paul says, who are we to question the wisdom and actions of God?

The lesson rightly applies God’s sovereign call of grace as follows: “Peter’s reasoning in Acts 10 for ministering to the Gentiles is essentially the same: If ministering to this group is divinely endorsed, how can we fight against God’s will?” (p. 119).

Here again, we must understand what was taking place. The Gentiles were accepted by Christ while they were still living like Gentiles. The Gentiles did not follow the laws of Moses. They did not have “clean and unclean” (see Gen. 9:1-4, Mt. 7:19; Acts 10, 11, Rom. 14:16, 20; 1 Cor. 10:25) Some Gentiles joined the “Jews” in worship on the Sabbath, however, consider the following regarding the Sabbath for the Gentile Christians:

1. There is no command to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament.
2. Jesus appeared to the disciples over a period of 40 days before the ascension yet there is no record that He ever met with the His apostles on the Sabbath. Every appearance, when a day is mentioned, happened on the first day of the week.
3. There is no instruction in the letters written to young Gentile churches on how to observe the Sabbath, yet there is instruction on a multitude of other aspects of Christian living, Why is this?
4. Sabbath breaking is never mentioned in any lists of New Testament sins and yet the lists are often comprehensive.
5. All the Sabbaths mentioned in Acts are in a Jewish setting. There is no Net Testament record that the Sabbath was kept in any Gentile Christian church.
6. When the Sabbath is mentioned in the epistles, it is either in a negative or unimportant context.

The question comes to us then, can we proclaim the Gospel of salvation to a person who is not following any of the ritual laws of the Old Testament, including the Sabbath, and tell them all they have to do is trust their life to Christ? That is THE ISSUE that must be settled! That was THE ISSUE in the Apostolic Church.

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

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