If you ask the question, ‘Does God have the right to do whatever He wants?’, the answer must be ‘Yes!’ By definition, Almighty God is all-mighty. He does not have to ask permission from anybody nor is He accountable to a committee of angels or human beings. The authority-relationship of God to His creation is the same as that of a potter to clay (Isaiah 64:8). He has all authority over everything, and we have no authority over Him.
The Old Testament is the narrative of how God chose a group of people to be a special showcase to the world of His power and love. Although He had chosen them, very many turned away from Him, alienating themselves from their privileged position. On the other hand, God also loved the Gentiles who had not been 'chosen' under the old covenant. Although the Jews considered them to be aliens, God wanted to bring them into His family (John 10:16).
It might be difficult to understand how God can have a 'special' people and yet judge them severely.
It did not seem fair. Some Jesus-following Jews in the church in Rome did not fully understand how Gentiles could be included in God's family. Previously these non-Jewish people, with all kinds of pagan religious backgrounds, had no love for the one true God, and did not have any interest in obeying His law. Yet, although they had not pursued righteousness, God had pursued them. And all those who believed in Jesus were made righteous because of His sacrifice on their behalf (Romans 5:19).
Heart-felt prayer is more important than most of us realise. It comes from a deep desire and hunger that God will act in Sovereign power. Most of the Apostles' prayers in the Bible asked God to bring strength, wisdom and spiritual insight to believers - to whole churches, leaders or individuals. But here, Paul expressed His deep inner passion that the Jews might be saved through receiving and believing the gospel of Christ. It follows on from His willingness to be condemned for ever, if only the Jews could be saved (Romans 9:1-5).
Every pious Jew tried to be 'in the right' with God by keeping the rules (as written in the first five books of the Old Testament). But that was unsatisfactory for two reasons: firstly, they could never keep on doing everything right; and even when they did, the legacy of their sins weighed them down so that God still felt remote. Yet God has implanted a deep desire into all human beings to find Him (Job 23:3).
The Jewish believers in Rome would have known the Old Testament reference on which these verses are based (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Paul explained that Jesus Christ is the ultimate ‘Word of God’ and righteousness comes through believing and obeying Him. The first steps in obeying Jesus Christ are to believe that He is God's anointed Saviour (John 6:28-29) and then be willing to tell others.
Although it might seem shocking to us, some of the Jewish Christians in Rome did not think that the Gentile Christians were 'proper believers in God', because they had not become Jews. Paul emphasised that it did not matter what religious background people come from (Romans 3:22); all that matters is that people come to God through believing in Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
'Blind faith' has no value to followers of Jesus. Faith, if it is to be real, must be based on facts - otherwise it is a delusion. If people are to trust in the Lord Jesus, they must know who He is and why they need to trust Him. Knowing about Jesus (Acts 8:30-35) is a necessary prelude to trusting Him and knowing Him in experience. It is very logical, but also very spiritual.
Faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour is not a human invention (Galatians 1:11). It is not a worldly or mystical philosophy, or 'programmable' mental activity (1 Corinthians 1:17). Believing parents do not automatically transmit their faith to children and grandchildren. Faith is a personal response to knowing that God has spoken accurately about His love and the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Faith believes that the gospel is true, and personally relevant: it believes that each person is a sinner and that Jesus is the only Saviour and is willing to commit their life to Him.
