Calvin (1/15/02)

10:1

Paul reasserts his continuing love for his countrymen firstly because his love for them is genuine. Having so harshly rebuked them for their misguided pursuits, it needed this softening that they might accept the Gospel proffered to them. Possibly, he also works to counter such suspicions as might be mounted against him by the Jews, and to convince the Gentiles that his words were not merely those of an apostate. Footnote: Having expressed his great grief for his countrymen, Paul now expresses his great love toward them, his desire for their salvation.

10:2

To confirm the truth of his desire, Paul points out that the failure of the Jews lay not in their intentions, but in their understanding. What they did, they did in an earnest love of God, yet they lacked the truth of His ways, and so earnestly pursued the wrong things. Thus it is with so many good intentions, which seek to do a good thing, but doing it in their own power, accomplish only bad. Good intentions are not a sufficient excuse. "True religion is alone that which is connected with the word of God." (attributed to Lactantius, but not as a direct quote.) Footnote: Zeal alone is a dangerous thing. It needs the guiding hand of knowledge. Only in knowledge can we distinguish true from false, and assure that in our zeal we pursue the right end. Only in knowledge can we determine the important from the trivial, and assure that in our zeal we concern ourselves with things that truly matter. Only in knowledge can we determine the proper means of pursuing such important and true ends, and so guide our zeal in wisdom, fidelity, and meekness. Only in knowledge can we ascertain whether the ends we seek are our own interests or God's interests, and so assure that our zeal is for the things of God. Seeing that those whose intentions were so good will yet perish in darkness, let us take care for ourselves, lest we willfully turn from the way God has prepared for us and revealed to us.

10:3

Here then is the result of their missing knowledge: they unwittingly subverted God's own righteousness in favor of their own. Man's righteousness and God's righteousness are 'wholly contrary, and cannot stand together.' His righteousness is a gift to us. Our righteousness is that of our own making, which we think to bring before Him. "The first step towards obtaining the righteousness of God is to renounce our own righteousness." Those hypocrites who seek to display their own righteousness will often clothe that self-justification in zeal, so as to improve its appearance, but in truth they have but thrown off the yoke of God in purest rebellion against Him.

 

 

 

Matthew Henry (1/15/02)

10:1

In this chapter, Paul lays out the difference between the righteousness of the law, and that of faith, thus displaying the preeminence of faith. So doing, he hopes to persuade the Jews to faith, and to show the folly of them that refuse, thereby showing God just in rejecting them. As much as Paul may have been preaching against the Jews, yet his prayers were for them, that they might yet convert and so be saved, for their salvation could come no other way. In this, he reflects God's own heart. (2Pe 3:9 - The Lord is patient with you, not wishing for any to perish, but that all might repent.) Our desire ought to be as his, that none of our own be lost. These were not mere hollow words from Paul, but the earnest reflection of his heart. So with us, 'we must even breathe out our souls into every prayer.' The greatest desire of our heart is but wishful thinking if it be not accompanied by earnest prayer.

10:2

As Paul, so ourselves. We ought to bear the best testimony that truth will allow even of our enemies. "This is blessing those that curse us." We are called to have the best opinion we can of all people, to assume the best regarding their actions unless proved wrong. Yet, "there is such a thing as blind misguided zeal." (Isa 66:5 - Your own brothers have sought to exclude you for My name's sake, in their hatred for you. They have thought to glorify Me by their actions, to bring me joy. But they will be shamed. Jn 16:2 - They will cast you out of their synagogues. The time will come when those who kill you think they are serving God.) Their failure was in lack of knowledge. They ought to have recognized Messiah at His coming. They ought to have understood that new things had come, but zeal for the law had blinded them.

10:3

Offered the terms of salvation presented in the Gospel, they refused the offer. "In true faith, there is need of a great deal of submission." We must deny ourselves, lose our pride, and recognize how poor we truly are before Him. A twofold cause is shown for their unbelief. First, they did not understand the true justice of God, which demanded a satisfaction they could not possibly give. Had they understood, they would not have refused the Gospel offer. But they preferred the darkness. The second cause that is given is the conceit of pride. They thought to depend on their own merit; that they had no need of the merit found in Christ. (Php 3:9 - May I be found in Him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the Law, but only that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that is based on faith. Lk 18:10-14 - A Pharisee and a tax collector went to pray, and the Pharisee was praying that God would take note how good he was, not stealing, or committing adultery, or behaving like the tax collector. He produced a list of his good deeds to show how good he was. But the tax collector would not so much as look toward heaven, but only cried out to God for mercy, knowing his sinful estate. The tax collector went home justified before God, but not the Pharisee, for it is the one who will humble himself that God will exalt, but the one who exalts himself, God will humble.)

 

 

Adam Clarke (1/15/02)

10:1

The present rejected state of the Jews was solely due to their obstinacy. God yet stood by, waiting to be gracious to them, should they repent. (Ro 9:3 - I could wish myself separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen.)

10:2

"They sin more through ignorance than malice." They truly were jealous of the glory of the law because it was given by God. Yet, in their zeal, they missed the object of that law.

10:3

They did not know God's method for salvation so they set up their own. In so doing, they did not submit to God. Jesus Christ was the only sacrifice that could satisfy the law they so sought to live by, yet they did not understand this.

 

 

 

Barnes' Notes (1/16/02)

10:1

It seems Paul may be addressing those of his fellow countrymen who had converted as he once more expresses his concern for those who hadn't. His sincere wish, he expresses in prayer to God. Paul did not take some sort of pleasure in declaring the truth of Israel's impending destruction, yet he was compelled to speak the truth. At the same time, his prayer was that they would yet be saved. [Contrast this to Jonah.] Clearly, in this, he is focused on eternal matters, and not on such temporal calamities as might come. (Ro 11:26 - Israel will be saved. The Deliverer will come from Zion and remove Jacob's ungodliness. 1Ti 2:4 - He desires all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.) Paul begins on this gentle note because of the offensiveness of his previous discourse. Having declared as truth what was most offensive to the Jews, he needed to reassure them that his words did not come from a lack of love. He had become apostate in their eyes, abandoning their religion in the midst of an assignment against those very ones he now preached for. Seeing him thus, his countrymen needed assurance that he still cared for them, and could give them such credit as was their due. Seeing what must come to them, his prayer is for their salvation, as his words declare their present situation. So it should always be when the minister must declare the more terrible truths of the Bible. His was not a harsh and bombastic approach, but an offering of cool and convincing reason accompanied by an outpouring of earnest desire for their welfare.

10:2

Paul was well qualified to give evidence in favor of the Jews. (Ac 26:5 - They know and could testify that I was a Pharisee; the strictest sect of our religion. Php 3:5 - I was circumcised on the eighth day, born into the tribe of Benjamin, regarding the Law as only a Pharisee could, truly a Hebrew among Hebrews.) They had zeal. (Jn 2:17 - They recalled the words: "Zeal for Thy house will consume me." Ps 69:9 - Zeal for Thy house has consumed me, and have been reproached by them that would reproach You. Ac 21:20 - See how many among the Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the Law. Ac 22:3 - I am a Jew; raised in Jerusalem, taught by Gamaliel, strict in obeying the Law, and zealous for God, just as you are zealous.) Their passion for God, for His religion was sincere, yet that sincerity was not in itself piety. (Jn 16:2 - They will cast you from the synagogues, thinking that by killing you they serve God.) Zeal indeed, and most sincere, yet the killing of the apostles is not true religion. (Mt 23:15 - Woe scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel to great lengths in hope of making one proselyte, and when you find one, you make him twice as vile as yourselves. Ac 26:9 - I thought I should do much that was hostile to the name of Jesus.) Many think to be accepted by God based on their sincerity and zeal, but zeal is only acceptable when founded on God's truth, on His benevolence. All else is but self-righteousness. Note how Paul gives credit to such good as there was in them, even in the midst of declaring God's judgments against them. So, the minister should ever seek to nurture the good in their people, even if they must decry the bad. Their zeal was not founded on correct views of God. "Such zeal is enthusiasm, and often becomes persecuting. Knowledge without zeal becomes cold, abstract, calculating, formal; and may be possessed by devils as well as human beings. It is the union of the two…that constitutes true religion." Such was our Savior. Such were the apostles.

10:3

Their ignorance was not an excuse, because it was voluntary, and thus criminal. (Ro 10:18-21 - They must never have heard, yes? Oh, but they have! "Their voice has gone into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the earth." But, clearly, Israel did not know, right? Ah! But Moses says, "I will make you jealous by what is not even a nation yet. I will use an ignorant nation to anger you." And Isaiah is clear: "I was found by them that did not seek Me, I manifested Myself to them who did not ask for Me." Yet, in Israel's case, he writes, "All day long, I have reached out to a disobedient and obstinate people." Jn 5:39 - You search the Scriptures, seeking to have eternal life; and it is these very Scriptures that witness of Me.) They ought to have known. Ignorance is not an excuse, yet it may serve to lessen the severity of what must be said to them. (1Ti 1:13 - I was a blasphemer, a violent persecutor, yet I was shown mercy because my actions came of ignorant unbelief. Lk 23:34 - Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing. Ac 7:60 - Lord, do not hold this sin against them!) Involuntary ignorance may excuse guilt, but the ignorance produced by sin and laziness does not. It is not God's personal righteousness that they should have known, but His plan for justification by faith in His Son. (Ro 1:17 - In the Gospel, God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, for the righteous man will live by faith.) Once more, God's plan stands opposed to their efforts to attain to righteousness by works. Ever, their efforts were made in hopes of showing themselves worthy of eternal life by their actions. This must always be opposed, because it opposes God's own plan. They thought they had succeeded, yet Jesus was forever fighting to correct this notion in their minds. (Php 3:4 - I might have had confidence in my works, if any could. Ac 26:5 - I lived as a Pharisee, the strictest sect of our religion. Mt 5:20 - Unless your righteousness is greater yet than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you won't enter heaven. Mt 6:2-5 - When you give, don't advertise like a hypocrite. Such as do that have their full reward in the recognition of men. No, when you give, don't even tell yourself what you do. Give in secret, and your Father, who sees even the hidden things, will repay you. Se also Mt 23.) Even today, it is such self-righteousness that most blocks the progress of the Gospel. Because they were confident in themselves, they would not yield to any plan that required them to confess their own insufficiency. "No obstacle to salvation by grace is so great as the self-righteousness of the sinner."

 

 

 

Wycliffe (1/16/02)

10:1

Paul prayed for their salvation, that they would do what was necessary to save themselves, that being to come to Christ.

10:2

Their zeal lacked accompanying knowledge.

10:3

Here, Paul answers a concern that would arise in the Jewish mind. Why were the covenant people rejected? Because they did not subject themselves to God's planned righteousness, but rather established their own plan. Rather than humility, they stood on their prideful self-righteousness. They would not yield to God, be subject to their Lord. Having stumbled at Christ, they knew nothing of God's gift of righteousness.

 

 

 

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1/16/02)

10:1

Their zeal made Paul long all the more for their salvation. Only in that event could his heart be fully satisfied. (Mt 11:25-26 - I praise You, Lord, that You hid these things from the wise and revealed them to babes. For this was well-pleasing to You.) Having previously noted his anguish over their present state, and the impending consequences, he now expresses his great desire for their salvation. (Ro 9:1-3 - My conscience and the Holy Spirit both witness to the truth of my words when I speak of the depth of sorrow and grief I experience on behalf of Israel. I could wish (were it possible) that I myself were separated from Christ for their sake, if that would save my kinsmen.)

10:2

His own experiences would serve to witness to their zeal. But it was zeal untaught, good intentions accompanied by spiritual blindness. (Ac 22:3 - I am a Jew…zealous for God even as you are today. Ac 26:9-11 - I thought I should do things hostile to the name of Jesus, and so I did in Jerusalem. I locked up the saints, and voted for their death. I sought to cause them to blaspheme in the synagogues. In my rage against them, I even pursued them to foreign cities. Gal 1:13-14 - You know of my former life, how I persecuted God's church beyond measure, and sought its destruction. In the ways of Judaism, I surpassed most of my contemporaries, so extreme was my zealousness for the traditions of my ancestors. 1Ti 1:13 - I used to be a blasphemer, a vicious persecutor, yet I was shown mercy because my actions were done in ignorant unbelief.) So, Paul notes their ignorance not as an excuse, but as a basis for hope that they might yet be saved, too. "Self-righteousness was the fatal rock on which Israel was split."

10:3

They failed to understand the righteousness which God had provided for justification. (Ro 1:17 - In the Gospel, God's righteousness is revealed: The righteous shall live by faith.) They did not submit to God's plan, rejecting the Christ sent to them.

 

 

 

New Thoughts (1/17/02-1/18/02)

Quite a ways back in this study, we saw the distinctions between the degrees of knowledge, that there was the knowledge which we perceive, knowledge we gain from experience, and the full, clear and exact discernment that is strong enough to change us. It is this last knowledge that Paul says the Jews lacked. It is that form of knowledge which zeal requires for guidance. Zeal blinded them to the knowledge they so desperately needed, Mr. Henry tells us. Many a man today is in the same situation. I was in that same situation before God brought a change in my heart. I used to consider my actions good. Why did I need a Savior? I was a 'good guy.' I was careful to behave myself, (so I said to myself). I took care to treat others well. The blinders had to be removed, true knowledge had to come. It needed the Holy Spirit speaking direct to my soul for me to see the true situation. What I had convinced myself I did, I did not do so very well in the first place. And had I done ever so much better than I had, yet God was pointing out that even those good acts were done in rebellion. They were done outside of His will, they were done by one who had a total disregard for His sovereignty, and so, in spite of whatever claims could be made, they were in fact acts of evil, deserving of punishment.

Mere perception won't perceive this fact. It looks good, it just isn't. Experience will not teach us this fact. There's no experience to base this truth upon. It takes clear and exact knowledge, a knowledge whose discernment will bring change. And such a discernment cannot come without an outside agent. We need help to gain such knowledge, and only the Holy Spirit has the means and the desire to help us. Even the best of those around us today, even the kindest and most helpful of our coworkers remains in the same situation we once knew. They may be kind, they may do 'good deeds,' but their deeds are tainted by a rejection of the God who made them, a rejection of the evidence He has given them for His existence, a rejection of the means He has provided for them, that they may truly do good deeds.

But there is far more in view here than the pagan condition. It is God's chosen people we are speaking of, not the unreached masses. God is speaking to His own. They had a hunger. They longed and thirsted for righteousness, but that alone wasn't enough. The greatest hunger for God still needs understanding to guide it. Look at the church in our time. So many are hungry to 'see His face.' Oh, how we long to experience His presence. But, how many of these same hungry citizens of His are willing to understand Him, are willing to show themselves diligent to learn His ways? We don't want that anymore. We want the direct feed, the thrill of His presence. We've become infants again, demanding to be fed by spoon, because we don't want to go to the effort to bring the food to our own mouths. Oh, we're hungry enough. We've just grown lazy in our hunger. We'll pursue Him, but on our terms. We reject theology as though it were a foreign religion, yet it is but the study of the God we say we love. Oh, but learning is such dry work, and we're so thirsty! We have returned to the ways we behaved before we knew Him! We continue to reject His ways. He tells us to study and show ourselves approved. We declare ourselves approved and demand that He show Himself! He tells us to seek out the ancient ways, but we're too busy looking for Him to move in some new way. He tells us to test the spirits to see if they speak for Him, but we're too busy saying "amen" to bother. Oh, that we may repent and return to the ways of the Lord!

Look again at the words of Mr. Barnes: "Such zeal is enthusiasm, and often becomes persecuting. Knowledge without zeal becomes cold, abstract, calculating, formal; and may be possessed by devils as well as human beings. It is the union of the two…that constitutes true religion." Zeal without knowledge is mere enthusiasm. It is like the child that wants nothing more than to be a fireman, but hasn't but the vaguest notion as to what being a fireman is all about. Would we allow such a one to help in the event of a fire? It is the very definition of 'sophomore,' one who has a little understanding, but thinks he knows so much more. We find the behavior of such a man foolish and annoying, yet we think God will be pleased when we do the same! I can only be thankful that we have not yet moved on to persecuting, although it's never far from us. "Oh, look at these poor brothers of ours. They simply don't understand what we've learned." Persecution begins with a lessening of the other's stature in our eyes. From the hateful word to the murderous intent is but a step. Why do you think Jesus warned against the word?

Zeal is only acceptable when it is founded on God's truth. The Jews had zeal, but not the foundation. Where do we stand today? Have we worked to make our foundation strong? Are we, like the Bereans, searching the Scriptures to test the things we are told? We have a passion, but is it a passion for His truth, or our own? Zeal without knowledge is nothing but self-righteousness. It may be well disguised, but its true nature is unchanged. The greatest hunger for God, if it not guided by God's truth, is but a cult in the making. It remains a self declared road to righteousness in defiance of the God it seeks. It remains another form of pride. It remains man's righteousness seeking to stand in the place of God's.

"Self-righteousness was the fatal rock on which Israel was split." So the JFB commentary puts it. Self-righteousness is equally fatal to all that pursue it. It is not just for Israel that it was so dangerous. The danger is just as real for us today. If we are not wise and careful to pursue righteousness only by the means God has provided, if we are not wise and careful to pursue God only by the means He has provided, we too will be split upon the rocks. Oh, that we may not make a shipwreck of our faith!

Where then will we find safety? How will we remain secure in Him? Only in subjection to His ways, to His words, to His directions. Look at that word, subjection. From the definition of that word, we see that when we are in subjection, we are placed in orderly fashion under the one we are subject to. What a wonderful thing, to be placed in orderly fashion! We like our houses in order. We like to see our children behaving in an orderly fashion in their schools, and in other public places. Nothing is more annoying to us than to come across an unruly crowd of children at the museum or the movie theatre. We are created in His image. Why should it surprise us that He feels the same way? He offers to train us, that we may be orderly under His direction. He calls us to subject ourselves to Him, to submit to His rightful rule.

Mr. Henry tells us: "In true faith, there is need of a great deal of submission." And in this, he speaks a great truth. Faith requires submission to its object. We say we have faith in God. If this is so, we must, we simply must submit to His ways. If we trust Him, we must trust His directions for us. If we would trust His directions, we must know His directions. And, if we would know His directions, we must read and understand them. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Clearly, to hear is to know, to know, in this case, is to have read and understood.

In another study I have been doing recently on Ps 131, the point was made that humility is the only cure for pride. In self-righteousness, we have nothing more than pride in another disguise. Pride remains, it seems, the root of our troubles, as ever. Our weapon against pride is humility. In a recent conversation, I heard yet again that advice that suggested we should never pray for patience, since we know the pain it will bring. This time, humility was added to the list. How can we be so foolish! God shows us our great need for patience and humility. He shows us the incredible blessings in store for the one who will attain to these characteristics. He shows us the things that can come about in our character only as patience and humility are developed, but again we prefer to go our own way.

Lord, I've many times during this study offered up the prayer of patience. Eyes wide open, I've asked You to do such things as You must to break this pride in me. I pray it once more, oh God, that You would do as You must to put an end to the pride that is in my heart. I pray that You would do what You must to build in me a storehouse of patience, for I know I am a most impatient man. I pray that You would build in me a heart of compassion, for I know I can be most unsympathetic with the troubles of others. I pray that most dangerous of prayers, oh God, that You would reveal my heart to me, that You would create in me a clean heart. Cut out the disease that hardens me, oh God, and knit into me a flesh that is truly alive in You. In all these things, oh my Lord, I know the process may hurt, must hurt. I recognize that now, and I only add to my request to You that You would help me to recognize it still as You answer.