Episode Transcript
[00:00:17] What are we studying, my friends?
[00:00:21] Romans. Yeah, that's what we're doing. I'm glad you're with me. Glad you're with me. Listen, all I can say is I'm sorry.
[00:00:33] I'm sorry that we have to talk so much about circumcision.
[00:00:41] I don't think anyone imagined when I started a series about Romans that we would be talking about circumcision and that they would hear the word circumcision 250 times while we're learning, and we're only through chapter four, but boys and girls, because amazingly, circumcision is relevant to you. This is the mystery. It's not, because it speaks to a huge concept that Paul is working on here. And guess what? We're still talking about circumcision in romans four.
[00:01:24] You thought maybe we had gotten out of it, but no, it's in my notes probably 100 times. And even more graphic this week, we're introduced to, like, some more explicit terms. I'll share with you later. That's something to look forward to. But we know that now we're not literally talking about circumcision. Well, we are. We are. But we're expanding that, right. Circumcision in the idea of being representative of something. Jews, gentiles, conversion.
[00:02:00] Conversion.
[00:02:02] But it's tied above all, so deeply to Paul's.
[00:02:08] His presentation of how gentiles fit into the family of God. Such a message for him, such a mystery that's occurring in the midst of Rome, among other places where the ethnae were found. Okay? Because the family of God was exclusive to the circumcised.
[00:02:35] It was.
[00:02:37] And the family of God still is actually exclusive. You may not think of it that way, but it is. But you see, for Paul. But now we talked about those words. But now that family of God is accessible through a new and exciting path, which Paul has already made very clear to his roman audience. One way. Faith in the faith of Yeshua.
[00:03:04] Faith in the faith of Yeshua. But now we come into chapter four of the book, and Paul is going to take us further back. He's taking us way back. It starts with a man and his faith in Genesis twelve. You'll remember. What was his first name? What was his name when he left ur?
[00:03:30] Avram. In Hebrew, great father. But he became something else. No, he became who?
[00:03:40] Av. Raham, father of many. Okay. You know that these are the differences in his names. Avram, great father. Then a name change to become the father of many. And it is that concept, family, seed, generations, and the nations which Paul is logically going to move into chapter four, which we will tackle today. And, yes, circumcision, a lot of circumcision, meaning something so much more than that he gets today. We find terms like in foreskin, out of foreskin.
[00:04:21] Exciting, right?
[00:04:25] I'm uncomfortable.
[00:04:27] No, I'm not. I'm really not. I love it. Because you know what? When we're done with all this, when we're done with this, the family, everyone listening, watching, a family of circumcised and uncircumcised are going to understand Paul, Romans, the father, the Messiah, so much more powerfully, because Romans really is a book about the family of God. And this particular family is much more than one race. But I want to start right there because this family of God idea, this creates an interesting starting point for our discussion. Have you ever thought about that? Or you just say it and you don't even acknowledge it? Family of God, sons and daughters of the most high God.
[00:05:18] That's sort of strange.
[00:05:23] But you know what? That is a pan mediterranean idea. It's not just a jewish idea. Whether you were pagan or jewish, there is an idea that God or gods make family units with humans. That's actually a very prominent way of thinking. Families with God, okay. But God our father, that is so interesting. And we see, though, that through Abraham, God has indeed done that for the jewish people.
[00:06:00] That's where we stand when Paul meets Yeshua on the road. That has been done for the jewish people, Paul confirms this. I want you to note the language. We'll talk about it later in Romans nine. But we're going to see that Paul clearly understands that Israel has become part of the family of God. How did they do this?
[00:06:21] By adoption, actually. Okay. ISRAEL was adopted. That's what it says. They are israelites. In Romans nine, four 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. Hear that?
[00:06:44] Belong the patriarchs. The promise was made to Abraham, and that promise came to pass for all Israel. You can read it in Exodus, particularly exodus four. God takes a people to be himself, to be his own, takes Them to himself.
[00:06:59] The hebrews, israelites, jews have been adopted into the family of God. Abraham is the father. They are his seed. And the promises that were made to father Abraham and to his seed become the promises to Israel.
[00:07:17] Okay?
[00:07:19] This is the covenant. To them belong the patriarchs. But there's a point to note here.
[00:07:25] Part of that process with Abraham hinged on what the theme of the day so far, circumcision.
[00:07:37] It's a huge part of the story of AbrAHAm.
[00:07:42] We know that that covenant was part of the connection to God. It still is todaY. It's representative for how Jewish families bring their sons into the covenant of Abraham. Circumcision. So guess what? Even in Romans four, as Paul continues the discussion, if you're just hearing this message for the first time, this is the first of the Romans things that you've heard. You're gonna have to go back.
[00:08:11] What week are we on? Seven weeks, I think. Because this gets. If you don't understand the word interlocutor that I'm about to say, it becomes very, very confusing. Okay, so go back and listen. It's only seven weeks. You got time.
[00:08:28] Paul is still now in romans four, having a conversation with an interlocutor. Okay, I'm not going into what that is. Again. We know it. That is a point, because the interlocutor here in Romans four, he still has questions.
[00:08:49] He still is not exactly clear in the discussion, this argument, the question that has advanced now into a bit of a technical mode. It's a very, very good question to open our study in chapter four, because his gentile interlocutor, his imaginary conversation partner, has not gone away. And here's what he says in chapter four. This is the NASB version, but we read, what then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor, according to the flesh?
[00:09:27] You got it? You understand it? You know what it means?
[00:09:32] Well, it's fairly deep, actually. So let's take a few minutes to look at this question. This is his after romans three question. Although we talked about chapters and verses many times, this is where we're going. This is his next question. What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor, according to the flesh? Paul purposely puts that question in the mouth of his interlocutor because he knows that the audience in Rome, all of these gentiles who had come into the faith of Yeshua are now trying to figure out their identity. And Abraham is a huge part of the identity of Israel and the family of God. So he's asking these questions now. Please note, it's not a jew asking this question.
[00:10:21] How can we make that assumption so easily?
[00:10:24] Because a jew knows the answer to that question.
[00:10:29] What is the advantage of being connected to Abraham Katasarcha in the flesh? Paul already said it, right? I already gave. You have the covenants, the promises. Jews already know that. That's not a jewish question.
[00:10:43] This is his conversational partner. And here's basically what he's gonna say.
[00:10:50] Okay, Abraham, wait. I mean, wait a minute, Paul, what about Abraham, the patriarch? He was circumcised. It was the covenantal sign, the price of admission into the family of God. You're telling me that we can't, shouldn't, we can't do that? How can this be? The interlocutor asks, doesn't Abraham represent the very requirements to get into the family?
[00:11:16] Everything about him, the price of admission?
[00:11:21] And so here, the family of God question is such a big, looming undercurrent, because we must always remember that romans is not really about how God goes about saving the generic human being.
[00:11:42] It asks how families of people establish a kinship with God and one another. That's what Paul's setting out to show here. And the opener of chapter four makes sense in that context. I appreciate William Campbell's translation. I find it much clearer. He definitely has the right to translate. He is a roman scholar, widely respected, revered for his decades of work. Here's how he translates. Romans four one. What then?
[00:12:11] What then? Do we claim to have found Abraham to be our forefather according to the flesh?
[00:12:20] I suggest this paraphrase.
[00:12:23] Can we then lay claim to Abraham's circumcision as our own and thereby approach God as the father and part of the family? You see the question. You see what's being asked. How do we got to be connected to Abraham? Can we do that? And listen carefully. This is the argument that Paul will make to summarize what we've been studying up until now. Paul proceeds to confirm and yet again add another layer of proof to his argument by saying, no, you don't need to do that. You don't have to do that. And I'll show you by looking at Abraham himself. That's what Paul's getting ready to do. Okay, so four, two, put it up for us.
[00:13:14] Storm.
[00:13:16] For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Is this blessing then, pronounced only on the circumcised or also on the uncircumcised? We say faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.
[00:13:46] Summary. Paul is saying, adoption unto the family of God for you does not occur through flesh and law, through circumcision and conversion, adoption into the family of Abraham is through faith, because that is exactly what established Abraham into God's own family before he was circumcised. That feels like we're presenting a legal case to a jury here. But that's Paul's logic. And yet this is where it gets a little twisty. And you have to follow me, because Paul knows, very much, knows and wants to make clear that they absolutely must be adopted into the family of Abraham.
[00:14:40] There has to be an AbrahAmic connection so he cannot distance them from Abraham.
[00:14:49] So then he amps up his argument. Listen, Paul is no different than any other of his jewish contemporaries who would have looked at Abraham, Abraham and said, he's the father of Israel. He's the father of the jewish people. What was probably a little bit interesting and different about Paul is that he went on to, say, stake his life on the idea that Abraham was the father of many nations, which meant gentiles could come into this thing without conversion. That was not necessarily probably a popular idea.
[00:15:25] What is? And the one way, the one way that fatherhood happens for the nations, I've said it is not in conversion, as other jews may have proposed in Paul's day. Romans three says it. Ephesians two states it plainly. Ephesians two says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, have been brought near. What's the one way for gentiles to enter in Mashiach, it's easy. Messiah. That's what Paul says. That's what he says. The nations have been brought near. It says, to what?
[00:15:59] Going to heaven?
[00:16:02] The family of God.
[00:16:05] That's what you have been brought near to.
[00:16:09] Okay, awesome. Amazing, miraculous. This is the great mystery happening in Paul's time. Gentiles were invited into Abraham's family, apart from circumcision, illustrated by the fact that Abe himself was uncircumcised when he demonstrated this faith. However, the traditional interpretations now proceed into a sadly predictable direction, and we need to address it. And it's very, actually very simple to see this, even understand how you could arrive there. This is all based on what I'm about to tell you, is all based on the flawed premise we have covered multiple times, that Paul has now become anti Judaism, anti circumcision, anti law, anti everything that he once was. That's the premise, okay? That he's come to pit the truth of Christianity against the failures and lies of Judaism. Okay? We've talked about this many, many times. You know, that's a perspective. But here's a conclusion that the interpreters derive from this circumcision, which it's harder to get more jewish and law ish than circumcision. Right?
[00:17:27] But that, that idea in this traditional perspective, it's now completely irrelevant. It has absolutely. It's no longer good in God's eyes. Why? Because Abraham wasn't circumcised when he made this big decision.
[00:17:48] Thus.
[00:17:49] Thus, case closed. Paul has now successfully distinguished circumcision and uncircumcision in the traditional framing. He's just used the father of faith, Abraham, as his illustration to say, look, guys, guys, guys. Circumcision means nothing to God.
[00:18:18] That's where it ends up in this perspective, because Paul's.
[00:18:26] He's wiping the slate clean, right? God doesn't care about any of that. Just look at Abraham.
[00:18:33] But we can remember back when our interlocutor asked the question, what advantage has the jew? What advantage has circumcision? What was Paul's answer?
[00:18:44] Much in every way. So that just. It can't work.
[00:18:50] That can't work. That can't be what he's doing, right? So here I'm coming at you loud and clear. When you read these things. Circumcision is not the focus. Judaism isn't either. It's about two words, gentile inclusion. Say it with me. Gentile inclusion. Perfect.
[00:19:11] That's what Paul's talking about.
[00:19:15] And now we expand in what may sound like quite a forward way to say it, but Paul, you ready? Here's what Paul is saying.
[00:19:25] I had to think long and hard about how to phrase this.
[00:19:30] Foreskin is not a problem for you to be a part of the family.
[00:19:37] Is that memorable enough?
[00:19:44] This is a specific discussion about the value of circumcision for non jewish Christ followers. Abraham was accepted as a non jew through his trust. He was justified when he was literally acrobustia in foreskin. That's what it means.
[00:20:09] But the traditional interpretation often doesn't see that. Their conclusion is that Paul's inclusion message here is actually a message of exclusion, to say, they're out, you're in, they're out. The circumcised, that whole thing. They're out, you're in. Come on in.
[00:20:36] In foreskin. Come on in.
[00:20:41] This, my friends, in essence, is saying that now this is. I'm still, I'm still developing this traditional interpretation, but here's where it pretty much lands that here Paul is saying that now that Jesus has come, the proper way to God is uncircumcised.
[00:21:00] Okay. That. That's really what it's about? Because that's how Abraham did it. In other words, the gentile route to God is the standard and the rule. That old antiquated circumcision stuff, the jewish thing, it's defunct. Do you know what that's called?
[00:21:17] Yes, a bunch of people said it. Thank God we're doing good things here. Replacement theology, that's what that is.
[00:21:30] We have. You have been written out of the story and superseded by the uncircumcised.
[00:21:41] The jewish stuff doesn't matter. Jews out, christians in. But that is not at all, at all what Paul is suggesting. Ben. Again, to be clear, foreskin is not a problem for you to be a part of the family. Chapter four. Summary Rabbi Damian Eisner.
[00:21:58] Wow, that guy's deep. Abe himself is the example of this. But Paul never, ever, ever condemns Judaism, circumcision law, or a statement to imply that Jews have pursued the wrong path by bringing their children through the Torah's mandated laws regarding circumcision. It has nothing to do with that or in any way that Jews have lost their place in the family because of Jesus. Hear me say that.
[00:22:30] He doesn't say that. Rather, it is the Gentiles, his audience, his responsibility to whom he communicates. It's totally fine. This is the answer to his Gentile interlocutor's question.
[00:22:47] It's totally fine, man. That you're uncircumcised. That is not the thing. Please always remember when I say that, that I'm talking about conversion, becoming a jew. It's fine as long as you have faith in the faith of Jesus. That and that alone will get you into the family of Abraham. And that's where you got to be.
[00:23:09] That's where you got to be. To be a part of the promises.
[00:23:13] Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. This is 411. The purpose. Listen to this. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believed without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them. Okay, the purpose.
[00:23:36] The purpose. It's a different translation, but so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, what he is saying is this.
[00:23:49] He was uncircumcised when he came into relationship with God, while demonstrating such faith to be an example to you, who also have righteousness reckoned to you through faith in the same state as Abraham. And likewise, it goes on in verse twelve, Abraham, the ancestor of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised. Who is that? The jewish people. This is what we call distinction theology. Paul clearly has two ethnic groups in mind here, the nations and Israel. Okay?
[00:24:32] Ethnically different, but equally included as part of Abraham's family. It is important for you to note also that in these verses, nowhere does Paul exclude even non Christ following Jews from the family of God.
[00:24:49] He's not even going there. He will discuss that later in Romans nine through eleven. Because here's what Paul had. Paul had an amazing commitment to the idea that when God said to Abraham, you will be the father of many nations, that he actually meant it. That's what Paul believed. Paul had that faith, you shall be the father of many nations, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed. There is no place in Paul's gentile mission that is built upon Israel being a failure or the rejection of Israel. These two distinct groups can call Abraham father, but the nations will do it alongside Israel, not in place of.
[00:25:40] Now, I want to tell you, in Ephesians, which I mentioned already, in Ephesians two, we come across a very, very famous concept. The one new man. Right. The one new man, which apparently erases all distinction between anyone. It's just we have this amorphous one new man. I'm not being negative, but the idea of this is a difficulty.
[00:26:10] Well, it's not a difficulty. It's a biblical concept. But what is a difficulty is the way that. That is translated by translators bias. Okay. It says, he shall take from the two and make one new man. Which is very clearly what we've just talked about. But do you know what the translations put in the ESV, the NRSV, they write this, he has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances that he might create himself one new humanity in place of the two.
[00:26:44] That's a translator's insertion, ESV. By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace. How could you be expected to not think?
[00:27:02] You know, it's unfair, actually, to do these kinds of things. But Paul clearly doesn't have this in mind. In place of. No. We're coming together miraculously out of this incredible promise of God. There is no in place of. For Paul, as I said, the nations will come into the family and do it alongside the original family members. Not in place of them. Now listen, Israel is in the family by adoption, by promise. The natural descent, that greek Katasarcha in the flesh, through Abraham and the natural branch. Romans 911. Paul will spend a lot of time talking about how the natural branch needs to have faith and do these things. We're not there yet, but we'll get there. Okay, that still holds. But now the Gentiles, through Messiah, also by adoption.
[00:28:10] Now consider Paul's genius. Okay, I want you to consider Paul's genius in using Abraham here. He said all that he set up through one, through three, and then he moves to Abraham as such a connecting point. Abraham's story, one who we know lived in an idolatrous land. There's much jewish literature that says that Abraham was once an idol worshipper and his father, and they turned away. And Abraham, what did he do? He accepted the call of God through faith, believing in the faithfulness of God while in foreskin. Okay, and now, what more perfect example could Paul use for the audience in Romans then? People who needed to turn away from idolatry, they found themselves in the very same situation. The ethn abandon idolatry, turn to one God, the God of Israel, believe in Yeshua's faith and work, that they too can lay claim to the promises that he would be the father of many nations, Abraham. And guess what? Paul says you are those nations.
[00:29:24] Okay, absolutely. Point made. But let me say, there are distinctions. There should be distinctions. It's the incredible plan of God happening from Genesis twelve all the way to Rome. Jews and Gentiles, circumcised, uncircumcised. I know, I know. But together in the family. Together.
[00:29:45] But what is absent from Romans four, despite this family of Abraham emphasis, is the focus on this being this one amorphous person that looks like an evangelical Christian.
[00:29:59] The one new man is not a southern Baptist.
[00:30:07] It's a deep theological concept that Paul is developing here so beautifully. So it's the family of God. And listen, none of this is about hierarchy, division, favoritism. It's exactly the opposite. This is the family, the inclusive family of God. So we return to the interlocutor's question. Do we claim connection to Abraham and the flesh? Paul, can we? No. And you don't need to.
[00:30:35] Today's chapter four ties directly back to the conclusion from Paul's previous chapter in chapter three. I touched on it last week. Let me just hit this real quick. You'll remember, I'm sure you'll remember every word from last week's teaching is God. The God of the Jews only. You remember this is God the God of the Jews only. He says in 329, is he not the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow through this faith? By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. Paul is using the shema to talk about one God, the God of Israel, who must be the people to the Jews and the Gentiles. He now uses the example of Abraham. And where is the abrahamic account found? It's in the law, right? The Torah. We're upholding the law by proving God's faithfulness. If gentiles are required to become Jews, then God has become unreliable, because that would mean God truly is only the God of the.
[00:31:50] And he's not.
[00:31:53] He's the God of all. Thus, Paul is demonstrating by this idea of Jew and Gentile the seed of Abraham. It's always been the story. It confirms the righteousness and faithfulness of God to all of his creation. Abraham is our father, the father of both descendants, first by his blood, and also those through adoption, through incorporation into Abraham's descendant, Messiah Yeshua. He brought everybody in who wasn't in if they wanted to be in. Now, Abraham and Jesus are essential for Paul because they are individuals who have made possible divine benefits that an entire people gets to share in, understand that Jesus and Abraham, they have benefits for whole peoples in their example. So here is the conclusion for today.
[00:32:58] It's a long conclusion, though. Don't get excited.
[00:33:04] And in some sense, actually, the story that Paul has been telling, because what you're about to see Paul do, once we finish this thing in four, when he moves into five through eight, you're going to see a lot more talk now about Yeshua, about Jesus, about the law and Gentiles. But still, we're going to see a focus that begins to put a lot more attention on Yeshua. So he's absolutely kind of completed, in a sense, his argument here in one through four about circumcision and all that stuff. But we know that that's a big story so far.
[00:33:45] In Romans 321, Paul asserts that God's saving righteousness has been revealed through the faithfulness of Messiah, apart from Torah, and that it is revealed for all people. Okay, I'm borrowing from a scholar named Joshua Gyp. Gyp. It is from a book called the so called jew. It's a fantastic book. It's a collection of articles from scholars on Romans.
[00:34:13] But that's what he said in chapter three to which his interlocutor responds in chapter four. What then shall we say? Have we found Abraham to be our forefather according to the flesh?
[00:34:26] Because it really seems Paul right that God's promise to Abraham that he would be a father of Jews and Gentiles, that it has to be connected to circumcision. The interlocutor still has these questions. How can Paul see non Jews connected to Abraham's family without them becoming jewish? But listen, Paul has made the strong case, demonstrated it today. It's about faith. Abraham and Yeshua, they model that faith. But I want you to watch. It's a long section from chapter four, starts in verse 16. I want you to watch Paul's mastery of writing and language and communication and what he ties together here, which will take us in to chapter five and a focus on Yeshua. Just listen. For this reason, the promise depends on faith in order that it may rest on grace so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherence of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he, Abraham believed that he would become the father of many nations. According to what was said, so shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead. For he was about 100 years old and the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promises of God. But he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. Therefore, it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now listen, it's a lot of words, but there's an emphasis there on death.
[00:36:16] There is a death. A deadness of body brings life to the dead. Barrenness of Sarah's womb, that was the situation. That was the real deal.
[00:36:29] But their faith created God used their faith created life from death. Abraham had faith. His faith was credited in that there was life from the dead in the child of promise Isaac and thus the promise of God that the ultimately that would be how he became the father of many nations. Paul continues this now listen. It was reckoned to him.
[00:36:57] Now the words it was reckoned to him were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. Please note the connection.
[00:37:15] It's not easy to see, but he's still talking about death. Yeshua. Death. Yeshua was handed over to death. Guess what? Yeshua died.
[00:37:31] He died.
[00:37:34] But he was raised again how God did it. But Yeshua had the faith to believe that God would faithfully resurrect him from the dead. He had a similar kind of faith, an apparent death. The faith of Abraham and the faith of Yeshua. The story of faith in God and his promises, which Paul is illustrating. They have amazing power for all of us. Abraham, Jesus. It's the story of faith. And you gotta grab onto it, guys, and that's. That's it. It's not circumcision.
[00:38:21] Abraham and Jesus are essential for Paul precisely as individuals who have made possible divine benefits inherited by whole peoples. Abraham is our father, the father of Jews and Gentiles because of his heroic trust in the God who brings life from death.
[00:38:44] And that was the means whereby God initiated that promise through bringing life from the dead to Yeshua, who brought everyone who wanted to be in to the family of God. There is such an Abraham Yeshua parallel. You can understand why Paul would need to take this time to make this point.
[00:39:07] Wow. Now, isn't that much more powerful, and I would say accurate reading of Romans, rather than suggesting that Paul's sole purpose here is to devalue circumcision, to undo Judaism. He's got an incredible message here that he wants people to see, or that he's promoting the idea that gentiles have superseded Jews, because all you got to do is have a little faith and, you know, don't worry about any of the rest of that stuff, and that's all bad. Don't. That's not what's being said.
[00:39:41] We're all part of the story through faith. And yet God maintains his reputation, his promises, and the righteousness to all the circumcised and the uncircumcised alike. To the jew first, and also the Greek. This is distinction theology that whether in or out of foreskin, you can approach the God of Israel by faith. And you Gentiles can be part of Abraham's family.
[00:40:11] That's it.
[00:40:13] That's Romans four.
[00:40:16] It's a lot to take in, I know. So I'm going to get out of Romans. To conclude with this Bible verse. It's from Ephesians. I've mentioned it several times.
[00:40:27] It's credited to Paul by many as having written Ephesians. And it says so beautifully what Paul has said to us in Romans four. Consider everything I've proposed today, and listen to this.
[00:40:42] This is Ephesians 211.
[00:40:46] So then remember that at one time, you Gentiles by birth, called the uncircumcision by those who are called the circumcision, made in the flesh by human hands. Remember that you, you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world, man. Doesn't that sound like what I've told you he's saying in Romans, complete with the address to the Gentiles, the uncircumcised, and their distance from the promise and the covenants and the family of God. But then he goes on to say, but now in Messiah Yeshua, you who were once far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace in his flesh. He has made us both into one and has broken down the dividing wall. That is the hostility between us, Romans four. That's what he's saying, and he supports it elsewhere.
[00:41:48] It's Paul's mission, it's his message, it's his life, and he's going to do whatever it takes to get that message out. It's logically connected. Our father Abraham today. Listen, we made clear Paul saw and taught all of this stuff over the first 2nd section of Romans. I really hope you're going to see it. Israel and the nations in God's plan. We're moving, as I said, to a related but different focus next week. Over the next few chapters, the law has to come back into focus. Here we have to address once again the idea of Adam, an original sin.
[00:42:31] I hope I can tempt you to come back.
[00:42:37] Shabbat Shalom let's stand, my friends. Please visit our website, shalommaken.org, to learn more about us. Join our live services, access other teachings, sign up for our newsletter, join our private network that will connect you with our greater community from around the world, or contribute to the work of Shalom, Macon, thank you for watching and we look forward to connecting with.
