Deuteronomy 10:12-22 comments: The children of Israel's special relationship with God

 

Deuteronomy 10:12 ¶  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13  To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 14  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15  Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. 16  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17  For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18  He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19  Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21  He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. 22  Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

 

Cross-reference verse 12 to Micah;

 

Micah 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

 

What do we as Christians have that marks us in even a deeper way than these marvelous verses in the Old Testament under the Law?

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 

What can be greater than being completely devoted to God, a living sacrifice?

 

Verse 14 is an important verse on the sovereignty of God. Regularly we must be reminded of God’s ownership of the entire universe.

 

Genesis 14:19  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

 

Psalm 24:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

 

Psalm 50:10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills…12  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

 

1Corinthians 10:26  For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.

 

Verse 15 emphasizes the special relationship Israel is to have with God. Considering our faults, weaknesses, and sins against God one would have a hard time understanding why God would take delight in any group of people, particularly the Hebrews whose behavior has been chronicled in the pages of the Bible. But He does. No greater love can exist than that of a sovereign God who loves a pathetic creation that chooses to disobey and disrespect Him moment by moment. But they are a chosen people.

 

Deuteronomy 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

 

Verse 16 shows us that God wanted and wants more than a superficial obedience. He wants it from the heart. He gave us a similar phrase linking our internal lives with the sacrifices made in the Old Testament.

 

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 

Then, the Holy Spirit through Paul shows us the evidence of our having the Spirit of God inside of our own spiritual hearts.

 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

Verse 17 underscores who God is as sovereign of the universe in power and might.

 

1Chronicles 16:25  For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

 

1Chronicles 16:26  For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

 

Psalm 136:2  O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

Daniel 2:47  The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

 

Who is also Christ, the Saviour and the Word by which all things were created.

 

John 1:1 ¶  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2  The same was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

 

Revelation 19:11 ¶  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

You cannot bribe Him and He doesn’t care who you are in the world’s ranking system.

 

Verse 18 underscores God’s championing of the cause of the powerless in man’s world.

 

Psalm 68:5  A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

 

Psalm 103:6 ¶  The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

 

Psalm 146:9  The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

 

Calling to mind what we are told of true religion in the New Testament.

 

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

Verse 19 refers to the stranger and that the Israelites were strangers in the land of Egypt.

 

The word stranger is used to denote a foreigner, an alien to a people, who lives among that people.

Genesis 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Genesis 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Leviticus 24:22  Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

Verses 20-22 underscore the amazing and miraculous growth of the children of Israel and God’s providence for them. This is something they should bring to mind every day but in spite of it they will take God for granted and forget Him much as Christians seem to do today.

Romans 4:9-16 comments: Abraham, the father of all them that believe

 

Romans 4:9 ¶  Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10  How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. 13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

 

The possibility of redemption is not just for the Jews. The Jews are not the only receivers of God’s forgiveness. Circumcision was the Jew following in obedience to God’s command through Abraham. Faith was what God wanted and that was what would guarantee the Jew his earthly inheritance.

 

The Christian follows in obedience by being baptized. We follow Christ in baptism for righteousness sake and as a type of His death, burial, and resurrection.

 

Matthew 3:13 ¶  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

 

Romans 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

Colossians 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

 

The difference between the dispensations, the Testaments, is made clear in this. The Jew would be circumcised as a baby and, of course, women could not be circumcised but were still Jews. The Hebrew, Israelite, the Jew received a physical kingdom in a physical world and were commanded to obey God to draw all mean without distinction to them to learn of God.

 

The Christian must believe and then be baptized. It is unbelief, not not being baptized, that condemns them.

 

Mark 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

 

A baby cannot believe. A parent’s decision that their child will be raised as a Christian does not save them from an eternity of agony if the child themselves at an appropriate age doesn’t receive Christ as their Saviour. Infants and children are not in danger of that suffering whether they are children of non-believers today or in Moses’ time.

 

In any case, Abraham was justified by God by his faith not by his circumcision, although it was commanded. We are not justified by our baptism but by our faith in Christ’s resurrection.

 

God who gave us a sign, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, as our guide and teacher. Both Jew under the Law and Jew and Gentile under grace required faith and our salvation is predicated upon our faith in God and Christ.

 

Circumcision was performed after Abraham believed. He was justified before he responded in obedience but that was the token of his commitment and faith.

 

Genesis 17:10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

 

We are saved by God as a response to our faith and sealed by the Spirit which is given to us as a token, a deposit on our salvation from God.

 

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

 

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 

2Corinthians 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

 

Ephesians 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

 

Ephesians 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

 

We are baptized as type of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and in our faith Christ separates the sins of our flesh from the guilt of our soul so that the sins of our flesh can no longer condemn us even though we are called to good works. The result of our faith in His resurrection is that spiritual circumcision made not with human hands but by the operation of God.

 

Colossians 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 ¶  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

 

 

Paul’s argument here in opposition to any controversy made by Judaizers is that Abraham was saved when he was uncircumcised. We are saved when we are unbaptized. This fact allows faith to be extended to all without circumcision being an issue.

 

Judaizers, as we saw in Acts, wanted new Christians to be circumcised and follow the Law given to Moses. Paul will argue his point further in the letter to the Galatians which you should read.

 

In verse 13 Paul opens up what Christ had already suggested as He said there were others in His kingdom not of the children of Israel. These would be those such as us who came not by the command of the Law but by faith in Christ to God.

 

Matthew 8:5 ¶  And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6  And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11  And I

say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13  And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

 

John 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 

Paul states that the promises to Abraham were not through the Law but through the righteousness of faith. What was the promise to Abraham about inheriting the world? Paul here is referring to;

 

Genesis 17:4 ¶  As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

 

We will see that Christ inherits the world through Abraham’s faith and belief in Galatians but that is a different reference for a different verse in Genesis, a different promise.

 

The Law convicts of sin. The Law is wrath and judgment. Faith by grace is forgiveness, salvation, and the assurance of our entry into eternal life, our eternal inheritance in Christ. This is not only for the believing Jew but for the Gentile who comes to Christ. Once again, then, it is emphasized that salvation is open to all men and women, not just the Chosen People. Such is a denial of the Jews’ self-righteousness exclusion of all but them to God’s favor and even a denial of Calvinism which in its strictest form makes salvation available only to those who were created for the purpose of being saved.

 

Paul has carried his argument to a place that defies the Judaizer’s claim that without circumcision we cannot be justified before God. For Abraham was justified before he was subjected to circumcision. It is faith that saves, God’s response to it, and no physical action of our own, neither circumcision for the Jew or baptism for the Christian, Jew or Gentile.

Romans 4:1-8 comments: faith is counted for righteousness

 

Romans 4:1 ¶  What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6  Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7  Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

 

Note from verse 2;

 

Philippians 3:9 ¶  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

 

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

Now, good works are evidence of faith but works do not justify us, only faith. Consider these verses;

 

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

Considering;

 

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 

James 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 

Look at all the verses on a topic to derive the doctrine. Neither Abraham nor we were saved by works but our works show our faith, reveal it. We’re not talking about works like giving away free loaves of bread or charity to the poor but by how we think and act before God and man as evidence of our faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

 

Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

 

But, like Abraham we are only saved by believing what God said. In the following verse to believe on means to believe what Christ said about Himself. The phrase after the colon defines or modifies the phrase before it.

 

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

In verses 6-8 Paul uses a Psalm to underscore his point.

 

Psalm 32:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David, Maschil.» Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

 

Notice by word substitution in these verses in Psalms and Romans how sins, iniquities, and transgressions are all linked as synonyms. Also note the comparable use of impute, charging someone with something.

Romans 3:19-31 comments: justified by Christ

 

Romans 3:19 ¶  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30  Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

 

Paul makes an incredible statement here that no one can be justified by the Law because the Law of God reveals that every person on earth is guilty before God. The Law makes our sin obvious and our failure to please God apparent. So, here is a great division, a great gulf if you will. The Law convicts all of us of sin while faith in Christ justifies us in God. We are convicted of sin and then we are forgiven by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Every person in the world, whether they have the Law or are accused by their own conscience for even one sin, is standing in the dock guilty and is only legally justified by faith in Christ. It is remarkable isn’t it?!

 

So, the Law plays its function in our justification by convicting us and declaring all mankind guilty before God. Remember how verse 23 is going to ring a bell in the Jew’s head as they will remember the words of Solomon.

 

2Chronicles 6:36  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

 

Ecclesiastes 7:20  For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

 

But, we are made righteous, declared to be so, in Christ by our faith in His righteousness and not our own. It is the sign of God’s ultimate mercy.

 

The Law is not made void by this. It is not erased from being in force. In fact, it is necessary to show us our status without Christ before God. The Law is our prosecutor, and, in a manner of speaking, Christ is our defense attorney. God is our judge.

 

25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

 

In the ancient world it was a well-known practice to try to propitiate a god through a sacrifice or a ritual. The idea was to appease the god’s anger and to try to obtain his or her favor and avoid their anger and the consequence of their wrath. Christ is the only propitiation for God’s righteous anger against the rebelliousness of mankind. By trusting in His righteousness and by faith in His blood we obtain remission or forgiveness of sins, based totally on God’s patience, restraint, and tolerance. It is Christ who justifies us, renders us legally unblameable for past sins against God before God our judge.

 

In English remission is the cancellation of a debt and remission is linked as a synonym with forgiveness in the Bible with both words several times translated from the same Greek word. Remission is important to understand God’s forgiveness for the debt we owed to God is cancelled by the remissions of sins because of His forgiveness. Remission goes along here with justifying the believer due to the legal aspects of both words.

 

Modern definitions of remission include, “the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty,” or, “a temporary recovery from a disease or the pain associated with it,” and, “forgiveness of sins.”

  

In the era the King James Bible was translated there was a thesaurus called Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae. This was compiled by Thomas Cooper in 1584. In it, remit, meant, “to acquit one of his debt; to forgive…”, and, “to pardon and remit the punishment one has deserved.” 

 

In 1587 Thomas Thomas’ Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae had, “to remit, or forgive, to pardon.” Remission in those early dictionaries and thesaurus in Early Modern English is listed as synonymous with forgiveness or pardon.[1] 

 

What does the Bible say? Clearly, in the verse in Romans we know that Christ’s shed blood is required for the forgiveness of our sins. 

 

Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 

 

Colossians 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

 

John the Baptist preached the baptism of repentance to the Jews for the remission of sins to prepare them for the Messiah. 

 

Mark 1:4  John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

 

And when Peter faced the proselyte Jews after the Resurrection he told them that they must receive this baptism of repentance to receive the Holy Ghost. 

 

Acts 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

 

But, what about the Christian? Does remission mean forgiveness and was this a special authority given to the Apostles only or was it for all Christians?  

The use of the word remission has to do with a debt that is cancelled. Many would say that remission and forgiveness are distinct and that if sins are remitted they not completely removed. But it is clear that remission and forgiveness are synonyms.  Remission is used by the Holy Spirit’s guidance after Christ’s resurrection so the bond of forgiveness and remission is completed. So, it is incorrect to say that remission only applies to the yearly setting aside of sin and does not apply to the believer as the word is used very clearly here in Romans and elsewhere where it is a reference to what results as a consequence of forgiveness.

 

This teaches us another very important point about forgiveness. Forgiveness, remission, involves the cancellation of a debt and the forgoing of a punishment that is rightly due but in and of itself does not imply restoration. Not punishing mankind to eternal misery is not quite the same thing as giving him fellowship with His Creator for eternity. That is the gift of God as we will see. He does not forbear our punishment by non-existence. That isn’t the alternative. The alternative to eternal suffering is eternal fellowship with Him, eternal life.

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[1] Ian Lancashire, editor, Lexicons of Early Modern English, University of Toronto,   https://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/quick (accessed 1.21.2021)

Romans 3:1-17 comments: There is none righteous, no, not one

 

Romans 3:1 ¶  What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2  Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. 3  For what if some did not  believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. 5  But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) 6  God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? 7  For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? 8  And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. 9  What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15  Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16  Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17  And the way of peace have they not known: 18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

The Jews are a very important people in the history of God’s ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself. It was to them that the Law was given through Moses and God’s standard of righteousness was revealed and God’s plans. Everything from the Law, to Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and even the events of Revelation at the end of human history are foretold in the Old Testament as we have seen over and over again in the study you and I have completed in the Bible. The Law and the Prophets contain all of God’s ministry and His plans in pretty clear form if not laid out as straightly as in the New Testament. But, you and I have seen this in all of our studies.

 

As examples, the Law is given in the writings of Moses, Christ’s suffering and resurrection and even the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is told in Psalms and Isaiah, and Isaiah and Daniel are among those who speak of the end times with resurrection being the subject of verses in Job, Isaiah, and Daniel. The oracles of God were given to the Jews and 95% of the Bible is written directly to them. Bits of doctrine are also scattered throughout the minor prophets.

 

Paul goes on to point out that just because some did not believe God and many did not follow or obey Him that does not make God’s words of none effect or irrelevant. This indicates that God does not require robots but willing hearts.

 

We must remember that the wrongdoing of God’s men and women, the faithlessness of His chosen people, and even the failure of each and every one of us to follow Him do not mean that He is weak or flawed. Just because many Christians are hypocrites doesn’t mean that Christ is not Lord.

 

Isaiah 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

 

All, both Jew and Gentile, have sinned. The Jew who had the Law and the Gentile who was a law unto themselves by unconsciously following a conscience influenced by God’s standards both are sinners. And it gets worse. Consider those who hold the truth in unrighteousness, who reject what they should know to be true.

 

Psalm 14:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.    2  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

 

Verse 13 cross-references to Psalm 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

 

The rejectors, atheists and the like, as well as the self-righteous hypocrites have tongues filled with the venom of poisonous serpents, as Paul says.

 

He alludes to other Old Testament references to underscore his point, as in verse 14 and onward.

 

Psalm10:7  His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

 

Proverbs  1:16  For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

 

Proverbs 6:18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

 

Isaiah 59:7  Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

 

Psalm 36:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.» The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

 

All through the Old Testament, particularly in Psalms, we get not only a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ but of Satan and the Beast of Revelation. Consider these in type as you read these verses in the Old Testament.