Beginning in these two verses (and finishing in verse 8) Paul lays out an awesome truth. This truth is a solid foundation for our faith, a rock that will never move.
What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!
The Jews were under the belief that their salvation was tied to the covenant that God had made with Abraham. They believed that this covenant, passed down from generation to generation, was between the Jewish people and God, and they put a lot of faith in their incorrect interpretation of God's promise. When Paul explained the error of their thinking, in Chapter 2 vs 29 (a Jew is one inwardly), they were going to have many questions. This was their mistake:
Rather than question their interpretation of God's promise, they chose to question God's faithfulness to His promise!
God's faithfulness to the covenant He made with Abraham did not depend on the Jews faithfulness. The fact that many, many Jews were not faithful did not nullify God's faithfulness to His covenant. A correct interpretation of God's covenant and promises is what the Jews really needed.
Today, we can very easily take on the same perspective as the Jews. We may be going through a difficult situation, and begin to wonder if God's promise in Romans 8:28 is really true (And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.). If we are not careful, we will begin to lose sight of the correct interpretation of this promise, which can lead to our questioning of God's faithfulness.
This can play itself out in so many different ways, and God has made many amazing promises that we can cling to - yet an incorrect interpretation of them can lead to questioning, a lack of confidence, and eventually a distraught and complacent Christian. It's very important that we long for the correct interpretation of all that God has laid out in His word.
Thankfully, God has not based His perfect and complete plan on our willingness, ability, or faithfulness to go along with this plan. Had He done this, His plan would change by the second, and His holy purpose would never get accomplished.
Rather than base His plan on the actions of a sinful human race, God remains faithful to accomplishing His plan, and fulfilling His promises, in spite of this sinful human race!
Let God be true though every one were a liar
This line is so amazing and powerful. As one commentary put it:
"If all mankind were to agree that God had been unfaithful to His promises, it would only prove that all are liars and God is true."
It's awesome that the God we serve is completely unchangeable, so encouraging that H% is the fountain of Truth...no matter how much we mess up, no matter how much we try to make things fit our self serving purposes, God remains true to who He is.
We can cling to this promise that God made through Paul. God is without a doubt always true, always faithful, always God - no matter what happens on this earth. He will bring to completion everything that He has laid out, everything that He has promised in His Word - nothing will go unfinished.
as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."
This quote is from Psalm 51:4, when David was crying out to God after sinning with Bathsheba. We can see David's perspective here. He knew that he had wronged Bathsheba and Uriah, yet the ultimate issue was his sin against God. In his repentance he acknowledges that God's Word is just and God's judgement is blameless. Paul uses this in Romans to reinforce the fact that this is the character of God - just and blameless, in all that He does.
Paul continues to lay out how perfect and righteous God is in light of how imperfect and unrighteous we are in the next few verses. In light of these verses we just went through, and the next few, I would encourage all of us to just meditate with God. Allow this truth that God is completely faithful to all that He has promised without fail to sink in and strengthen our faith.
We should also take this opportunity to ask God to reveal the correct interpretation of His promises to us...that we might be confident in all that we believe.
We should also take this opportunity to ask God to reveal the correct interpretation of His promises to us...that we might be confident in all that we believe.
Please share any thoughts you might have on these verses.
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"It's very important that we long for the correct interpretation of all that God has laid out in His word"...AMEN!
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