Grafted-in, Pt 8: All are on equal footing
Romans 11:32 32For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Galatians 3:22-23 22But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. 23Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
Genesis 12:1-3 1The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
These passages are difficult to understand primarily because they seem to propose the idea that God himself caused his people to disobey his commands. This cannot be true because it is self-contradictory. God cannot be in the presence of sin, wants his people to be free of sin, and wants them to grow in holiness and righteousness away from sin. What is going on here?
Bound over
God has not caused people to sin, but he does require that people who do sin face the consequences of that sin. There are two things going on here: One that all people are condemned by sin, and the other that God wants to show his mercy by retrieving them from that sin.
The Abrahamic Covenant
I have referenced the Abrahamic Covenant many times in these writings because it is so foundational to our faith in our Father. This covenant was unilateral and permanent, meaning the only person who had to do anything was God. God’s people only had to believe. But remember there was no Israel, no nation then…there was just Abraham and Sarah and their family. But God was setting into motion a plan that would eventually bring his people into community and relationship with him through the coming of his Son Jesus Christ. But there is a difference between planning and reality which in this case is the sinfulness of human beings. Clearly humanity’s sinful nature is an obstacle to a person’s attainment of a close personal relationship with his Maker.
The Law
Many centuries after Abraham’s time, after the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt, and after their 40-year time in the wilderness, God brought them to Mount Sinai where he gave them the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments and their subsequent interpretations. All of this is collectively known as the Law. Even though the Jews began to think the Law gave them righteousness in itself, that is, right standing with God, the Law really had only one purpose: To highlight sin and its destructiveness to relationship with God.
Priority
But the Abrahamic Covenant is permanent…since the Law came later, did it replace the Covenant? Is the Covenant no longer applicable? The Law was neither holy, that it might cause righteousness, nor evil, that it might cause sin. Its one purpose was to define sin. It seems that God’s plan had a long-term goal which was to send his Son to his people so that they might be freed from the consequences of their sin. But in the meantime, something had to be done about sin. Thus, delivery of the Law had to happen. But it also seems this addition is temporary because the Galatians verse says, “we were locked up…until”. If the Covenant is permanent, and the Law temporary, what is going on here?
God’s promise, the Covenant, was to all of Abraham’s descendants…all Jews and all Gentiles. The Law was added so that God’s people would be made aware of their own sin and the consequences of that sin. The Law is like a codicil added to a contract to explain its meaning. We know that sin is destructive; it destroys one’s relationship with God, but it also destroys one’s future as it leads a person into self-destructive decisions. The Law had then the additional purpose of protecting God’s people: It defined sin, but also it guided his people away from destructive behavior.
This is the meaning of ‘bound up’. We are bound by God’s commands until that day when Faith will be revealed; until that day when Jesus returns, conquers sin, defeats evil, destroys Satan and all his principalities and powers, and begins the cleansing of the planet in preparation for his Father.
Equal footing
In the meantime, the Jew had made Gentile anathema. They were to be avoided at all costs, that even being in the same room with a Gentile contaminated a Jew. But grafting-in has returned Jew and Gentile to equal footing. At the time of Abraham there was no Jew or Gentile; all such separations were future. Such separations abrogated God’s promise by attempting to say that since they didn’t have the Law, the Gentiles were beyond recovery or healing.
But now those separations are removed. We all have equal access to God through faith in his Son. What a cool thing for God to do.
What about me?
All of this has been kind of technical, but here is the bottom line: Access to God through acceptance of his Son as Savior has absolutely nothing to do with genetic or spiritual heritage. It is all up to you. Lots of people say they love God but are unsure about his Son. That sort of separation is not possible: They are one. Many verses testify to that.
Jesus has removed all barriers between God and his people. Have you reimposed any? Have you said, “I’m too sinful to go to church?” Do you think God doesn’t love you because you have a habitual sin pattern? All those kinds of things are lies from Satan. He wants you alienated from God. He wants you thinking you are beyond hope. This is not true,
God loves you no matter what. When the woman caught in the act of adultery was about to be stoned, Jesus stopped the stoning by saying, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” None did. He then asked the woman, “Who is it that condemns you?” “None,” she answered. “Neither do I,” said Jesus, “Go and sin no more.”