Remaining

It is as if some of the branches from an olive tree have been broken off, and the branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to that first tree. If you are not a Jew, you are the same as that wild branch, and you now share the strength and life of the first tree. But don’t act as if you are better than those branches that were broken off. You have no reason to be proud of yourself, because you don’t give life to the root. The root gives life to you. You might say, “Branches were broken off so that I could be joined to their tree.” That is true. But those branches were broken off because they did not believe. And you continue to be part of the tree only because you believe. Don’t be proud, but be afraid. If God did not let the natural branches of that tree stay, he will not let you stay if you stop believing. So you see that God is kind, but he can also be very strict. He punishes those who stop following him. But he is kind to you, if you continue trusting in his kindness. If you don’t continue depending on him, you will be cut off from the tree. Romans 11:17-22 (ERV)

We have the makings of an age old problem right here in these verses. Paul is reminding the church in Rome that, as Gentiles, they have all the same rights to salvation as the Jews. So far so good. Then the Apostle Paul, veteran of many missionary trips and epistles, seems to suggest that both the Jews and the Gentiles can be denied salvation if they don’t keep believing. Correction, he doesn’t ‘seem to suggest’, he says it outright and unambiguously.

Although the chosen and promised people were close to God’s heart as a nation, some individuals within the tribes were disobedient, and therefore cut off from the root. So, some Jews will be lost eternally, and therefore some who once were saved can indeed be lost too.

The first 8 chapters of Romans are often, and almost exclusively, used to show that when you are saved, you are saved forever….no matter what. Likewise chapters 12 to the end of the book. But when you read chapters 9,10 and 11, you get Paul’s argument to counter that belief. It is true that God’s love is unchanging towards us, and nothing can diminish it, but Paul compares the Jews who stepped out of His will to the Gentiles who stop believing. In each case, not all do, but some will.

When it comes to the free gift of salvation and choice, the old saying is true. Keep short accounts. Stay close, obey, and confess our failings often. Pray that God removes the heart of stone, and replaces it with a heart of flesh as recorded in Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” My only careful warning is that your prayer will be answered, and what a difference it will make to your Christian life. In fact you may never slip back from the salvation Jesus the Christ earned on your behalf.

Heavenly Minded?

So anyone who thinks they are standing strong should be careful that they don’t fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

My mum had a saying that went, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”, and in a way that sums up these verses. I also suggest that Alexander Pope hit the nail on the head when he said, “A little learning (knowledge) is a dangerous thing”. Every gathering has an expert on any given subject, and most of the time they give themselves higher plausibility than they are worth. In the army, they are known as “Barrack room lawyers”, and they will profess to know everything and pass judgement on just about anything and anyone.

Respect is something that is earned, and does not happen overnight. You do not give it to yourself. Respect is conferred ON you by others. The folks who know everything, tend to be seen as a bit of fun, but they are not usually respected. The kind of person who resists passing easy judgement on a subject or person too quickly, is one who has been taught well, and has learned a lot over a long period of time.

In the verses above, both Paul and Solomon are wise and respected by their peers. Paul spent years learning at the feet of one of the wisest and most clever in his day, Gamaliel and spent about three years in his own wilderness. The wisdom of Solomon was conferred directly by God himself. Both can be trusted in the things they say and teach, which is more than can be said about some of today’s teachers that you will find on the internet under the guise of Bible interpreters of note. As my dad said more than once to me, “pen and paper will accept anything”. Today, we would translate that as, “don’t believe everything you read and see on the internet”. Dad was wise beyond his earthly years!

The time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching. But people will find more and more teachers who please them. They will find teachers who say what they want to hear. People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories. 2 Timothy 4:3,4