How many of you have experienced this in your walk? You were sinners, rejected by believers because you were not saved while no one in your circle of friends and family who were believers, spoke to you about Christ, out of concern for you eternity. In fact at family gatherings Christ was never mentioned even though the family were church goers and lived seemingly outward moral lives.
You were considered unworthy of love because you were in sin without Christ. You admired the Christians you knew, because they had all the "right" answers and lived "morally" or so you thought they were very good people.
After becoming born again God lifted the scales from your eyes and you suddenly saw them differently. They were self righteous, they hated you worse after you became born again because you grew "too intense" about the Scriptures. You wanted to talk about Christ and base everything you said and did on the Word of God. Much of what they said was unscriptural and worldly, when you would correct them, they would become angry, having no desire to check anything against the Bible. Their sense of superiority caused almost a mild rage to surface whenever they were challenged, being corrected by the person they looked down upon was more than they could stand.
Often pretenders have lived decent lives most of their existence, they didn't steal or murder or act immorally, allowing pride to develop in their hearts that couldn't tolerate even mildly, the suggestion that they might be wrong about something. In other words, they never saw themselves as sinners and were never broken over their sinfulness because their outer lives that people could see, were pretty good. But inside their hearts were just as black as those who were living wickedly. The difference is that the pretender lived wickedly in their hearts and the other sinners were living wickedly openly.
Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."
Matthew 15:8 "'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME."
The pretenders have regressed in their walk and accept things now that they would not have accepted earlier in their lives. They have maligned your reputation based on what they saw before you was saved, and maintained that view of you, that no longer exists. They prefer to keep you in a one down position by negating that Christ has made a change in you. Often pretenders love their superficiality, they maintain a facade of sorts, but lack the love that Christ commanded us to have for one another.
They have excluded you from fellowship by mixing with each other and leaving you out. I think we have seen the difference between those who are pretenders living morally to impress someone and the true believer who lives morally because they have been changed into a new creation by Christ.
Those who love Christ have a love for the brethren that surpasses human love. When they see that someone has been changed into a new creation, they recognize the change and rejoice with them feeling a new connection to them, that is a spiritual heavenly bond.
1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death."
If you have experienced this, then you are in good company. Many born again blood bought believers who have been dramatically changed by Christ, are rejected more as a new believer, by church goers, than they were when they were unsaved. They feel safe with the unsaved, because those who are not born again don't expect anything out of them and they can appear superior to them.
A possible answer for this might be that pretenders are usually self righteous and arrogant. They PRIDE themselves on how good they are and look down their noses at the unsaved. However, when someone who is lost and becomes born again with a fire in their heart that surpasses the pretender, the pretender shuns, this "new you", it is convicting to them, jealousy emerges and forms of subtle revenge begin to rear its ugly head.
Everyone who has seen this happen knows what it looks like. Some may remember thinking that now that they have become born again, the believers will like them and they will be accepted into the body with great joy, often the reverse is true. Keep in mind that the world we live in now, if full of mostly pretenders. God says that most who claim to be believers have not trusted Christ and are living a lie. They are basing their Christianity on tradition and works that make them look good, there is little faith and much haughtiness.
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
I write about this subject to encourage those who have been hit, in blindsided fashion, early in their walk with Christ, with dismissal from pretenders. I also write this to challenge those who might be pretenders to take a good look at their own heart to see if they have ever become born again.
May the Lord encourage the down hearted who have been rejected for their faith and removed the scales of the eyes of those who have an elevated view of their own importance.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Praise is For God
Many years ago the Lord warned me about the self esteem teaching that became standard operating practice in all the public school systems. When our children came home with papers talking about loving themselves, I quickly sprang into lecture mode to show them that loving themselves was not the objective in life. Sadly, we see that we have lost the next generation, they have been infected with the pride monster, the public schools managed to ruin an entire generation of people who now become angry when they are correct or simply not worshiped.
Even more disturbing than the public schools fostering this form of self worship, the churches began to teach it too, in many different forms, from excessive praise to absence of clear correction.
When I would explain to church goers that self esteem was not of God, they argued bitterly with me on the subject and treated me with contempt for the assertion that man was not created to love himself, but rather to love God. Before I was proficient in the Scriptures, I knew this self esteem teaching was evil and worse, devastating to spiritual well being. Those who knew the Bible better than I did, didn't seem to know this was wrong.
This morning I heard a secular "family expert", explaining all the damage this self esteem teaching has done to children and that it has created a firestorm of narcissism out of control. Sadly, the church has not learned this yet, but the secular counselors are coming to the conclusion based on what they are seeing in our culture. Those who are infected with the disease of narcissism are incapable of loving anyone, they lack empathy, kindness and self reflection.
Disrespect for authority and elders has become commonplace, while disregard for them entirely has increased.
For years we have been hearing "good job" every time a child performed the slightest act of obedience. If a child was told to tie their shoe, the were praised. When a child brought in the groceries, they were excessively praised and even rewarded with a special treat for doing what should have been an act of duty gone unnoticed. A simple thank you should have sufficed, but the parent desiring to be seen as an encourager, lavished excessive praise, notice it is more for their own good feelings than it is for what the child needs.
The children have learned to expect praise even when they do not perform as they should. Teachers have given good marks simply because the child turned in their work it didn't matter if the assignment was done well, only that it was done at all.
All of this excessive praise has created an attitude of entitlement. Many people expect to be noticed and praised for the slightest good deed or job done well. When I see the videos on Youtube, following a good deed doer around, filming this good deed doer taking care of the needs of the homeless, I feel ill. If a good deed doer really is concerned about the homeless, they will do it without anyone's notice and no fan fare.
We can tell when someone is loving genuinely, they don't wait for a special occasion or outward sign in front of others for their acts of kindness. Those who love the Lord feel no need to be praised for their deeds, they are content to just be in obedience to the Lord.
When praise is constant, the child tunes out the parents, not valuing the praise even becoming contemptuous of it because even a child knows when something is fake. Soon the child begins to distrust other things the parent says.
Think about it.....how many times do you hear "good job" in reference to a child in your town when you are out and about? I hear it all the time, it is becoming almost nauseating. Children need to be taught to do good acts regularly without being noticed. When they open a door for an elderly person, it should be enough for the child to know that they did what was right and blessed someone else.
The temptation to praise a child constantly is a demon we must resist. We have all been so brainwashed into what we call "encouragement" that we forget what true encouragement looks like.
It is encouraging a child when we teach the right thing to do and explain that they are capable of doing what is right, they must choose to do the right thing over following their own personal desires.
It is encouragement to tell a child "you can do a better job than that, go and redo it."
As a culture we have misunderstood praise as encouragement. Praise does not help those who are learning. When we instruct a child to do something and they do it, then we can say; "you did that right, keep going."
Teaching our children to love and expect praise is indulging their inner selfishness. Praise is like a drug, the more we get the more we want, it should be used sparingly with honesty and integrity.
We might want to do a Bible study on praise, I notice that all the verses concerning praise have to do with our attitude toward God, praising Him.
John 12:41-43
"41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. 42 Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God."
Our culture has praised ad nauseam for many years now, not to help the child but to appear as a good parent in the eyes of the world. It was all about appearances for the parent rather than the well being of the child.
My hope is that believers will open their eyes to this deception before they ruin their children through the false teaching of self esteem.
The kindest thing we can do for our children is teach them confidence, that they can obey and follow Christ and the rewards from God that occur when they do this. They will live much more fulfilled lives when they are capable of learning if they are not arrogant.
Self esteem fosters arrogance and arrogance impedes learning, after all, if a child thinks they are already wonderful no matter what they do, they have no need to learn, they can just "follow their feelings." This thinking will cause them to be ignorant and foolish their entire lives.
Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;"
Proverbs 12:1 "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid."
Even more disturbing than the public schools fostering this form of self worship, the churches began to teach it too, in many different forms, from excessive praise to absence of clear correction.
When I would explain to church goers that self esteem was not of God, they argued bitterly with me on the subject and treated me with contempt for the assertion that man was not created to love himself, but rather to love God. Before I was proficient in the Scriptures, I knew this self esteem teaching was evil and worse, devastating to spiritual well being. Those who knew the Bible better than I did, didn't seem to know this was wrong.
This morning I heard a secular "family expert", explaining all the damage this self esteem teaching has done to children and that it has created a firestorm of narcissism out of control. Sadly, the church has not learned this yet, but the secular counselors are coming to the conclusion based on what they are seeing in our culture. Those who are infected with the disease of narcissism are incapable of loving anyone, they lack empathy, kindness and self reflection.
Disrespect for authority and elders has become commonplace, while disregard for them entirely has increased.
For years we have been hearing "good job" every time a child performed the slightest act of obedience. If a child was told to tie their shoe, the were praised. When a child brought in the groceries, they were excessively praised and even rewarded with a special treat for doing what should have been an act of duty gone unnoticed. A simple thank you should have sufficed, but the parent desiring to be seen as an encourager, lavished excessive praise, notice it is more for their own good feelings than it is for what the child needs.
The children have learned to expect praise even when they do not perform as they should. Teachers have given good marks simply because the child turned in their work it didn't matter if the assignment was done well, only that it was done at all.
All of this excessive praise has created an attitude of entitlement. Many people expect to be noticed and praised for the slightest good deed or job done well. When I see the videos on Youtube, following a good deed doer around, filming this good deed doer taking care of the needs of the homeless, I feel ill. If a good deed doer really is concerned about the homeless, they will do it without anyone's notice and no fan fare.
We can tell when someone is loving genuinely, they don't wait for a special occasion or outward sign in front of others for their acts of kindness. Those who love the Lord feel no need to be praised for their deeds, they are content to just be in obedience to the Lord.
When praise is constant, the child tunes out the parents, not valuing the praise even becoming contemptuous of it because even a child knows when something is fake. Soon the child begins to distrust other things the parent says.
Think about it.....how many times do you hear "good job" in reference to a child in your town when you are out and about? I hear it all the time, it is becoming almost nauseating. Children need to be taught to do good acts regularly without being noticed. When they open a door for an elderly person, it should be enough for the child to know that they did what was right and blessed someone else.
The temptation to praise a child constantly is a demon we must resist. We have all been so brainwashed into what we call "encouragement" that we forget what true encouragement looks like.
It is encouraging a child when we teach the right thing to do and explain that they are capable of doing what is right, they must choose to do the right thing over following their own personal desires.
It is encouragement to tell a child "you can do a better job than that, go and redo it."
As a culture we have misunderstood praise as encouragement. Praise does not help those who are learning. When we instruct a child to do something and they do it, then we can say; "you did that right, keep going."
Teaching our children to love and expect praise is indulging their inner selfishness. Praise is like a drug, the more we get the more we want, it should be used sparingly with honesty and integrity.
We might want to do a Bible study on praise, I notice that all the verses concerning praise have to do with our attitude toward God, praising Him.
John 12:41-43
"41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory. 42 Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God."
Our culture has praised ad nauseam for many years now, not to help the child but to appear as a good parent in the eyes of the world. It was all about appearances for the parent rather than the well being of the child.
My hope is that believers will open their eyes to this deception before they ruin their children through the false teaching of self esteem.
The kindest thing we can do for our children is teach them confidence, that they can obey and follow Christ and the rewards from God that occur when they do this. They will live much more fulfilled lives when they are capable of learning if they are not arrogant.
Self esteem fosters arrogance and arrogance impedes learning, after all, if a child thinks they are already wonderful no matter what they do, they have no need to learn, they can just "follow their feelings." This thinking will cause them to be ignorant and foolish their entire lives.
Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;"
Proverbs 12:1 "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid."
Monday, March 30, 2015
Consistency is Difficult When We Have Pet Sins
When we were in the ice cream business I sold ice cream from behind the counter to many people, some were living in sin, some were liars, some were blasphemers, some were thieves in one degree or another, some were homosexual, in other words, they were mostly sinners who were not born again because that is our culture.
Very few people are born again in our culture, if we were only going to do business with believers then we wouldn't do business at all.
1 Corinthians 5:9-10
"9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world."
There are some who believe, to make a wedding cake for homosexuals would be endorsing it, and they must follow their conscience, however I must ask a question. Do those who refuse to make a wedding cake for a homosexual couple also refuse to make a cake for an adulterous second marriage?
Just sayin!
Very few people are born again in our culture, if we were only going to do business with believers then we wouldn't do business at all.
1 Corinthians 5:9-10
"9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world."
There are some who believe, to make a wedding cake for homosexuals would be endorsing it, and they must follow their conscience, however I must ask a question. Do those who refuse to make a wedding cake for a homosexual couple also refuse to make a cake for an adulterous second marriage?
Just sayin!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Don't Trust Translations Trust Christ
Don't trust any Bible version, trust Christ who is the author of the original texts. He has told me when things were not right and given me the correct understanding. It is Christ Who brings the truth, not pages with Words, He is called "The Word."
Let Go of Family and Go With God
Matthew 19:29-30
"29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."
At first it can be hard to leave that which is familiar to us. There is a sense of protection and companionship with those who have been a big part of our lives for years. However, when we finally do walk away from the worldly drama and senseless conflict, non-believer against believer, we realize how peaceful our lives can be. We think at first that we will be lonely and to some degree we feel that, but the peace and love of the Lord far outways that, and it is replaced with peace and harmony.
To be in a prison for our faith is far preferable to the company of those who would work to undermine our faith, driven by the devil to destroy us. Loneliness is much more desirable than continual jabs and polks that are a regular part of a relationship with an ungodly person. I have met many on facebook who have learned to enjoy their aloneness with Christ, while enjoying the virtual relationships of facebook. God was merciful in putting us together in this time of leanness of fellowship.
God clearly says "come out from among them and be ye separate" for a reason. Two cannot walk together who are not agreed. Often those who are not born again, interpret situations far differently from believers. What is important to the believer is foolishness to the non-believer. What is important to the non-believer is nonsense to the believer. There cannot be peace with those who do not understand our world of faith in Christ, it makes them angry.
In these last days we experience much jealousy and superficial Christianity, that strives to undermine what God is doing in us. The organized church is full of non-believers who think they are Christians, but have never been born again. They love this world and the things in it, while pretending to love God, they defy Him.
Matthew 15:8
"'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME."
Next time we are tempted to feel lonely, remember what it was like when there was continual competition, meanness and strife with those who were not born again. Suddenly we will feel blessed once again, that God has freed us from all that turmoil. In order to avoid conflict with non-believers we have to remain silent, but we cannot do that because to remain silent is to endorse their view. There is no other option but to minimize contact with those who come against our God.
We can bring the gospel to the unsaved as God directs, but we are not to make unbelievers, who hate our God, or pretenders who claim Christianity but negate His Word, our constant companions, to do that would to try to mix oil and water.
We place many more problems on ourselves that are unnecessary by remaining with unsaved family and friends on a regular basis.
Let's pray to hear the voice of God and obey Him.
"29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."
At first it can be hard to leave that which is familiar to us. There is a sense of protection and companionship with those who have been a big part of our lives for years. However, when we finally do walk away from the worldly drama and senseless conflict, non-believer against believer, we realize how peaceful our lives can be. We think at first that we will be lonely and to some degree we feel that, but the peace and love of the Lord far outways that, and it is replaced with peace and harmony.
To be in a prison for our faith is far preferable to the company of those who would work to undermine our faith, driven by the devil to destroy us. Loneliness is much more desirable than continual jabs and polks that are a regular part of a relationship with an ungodly person. I have met many on facebook who have learned to enjoy their aloneness with Christ, while enjoying the virtual relationships of facebook. God was merciful in putting us together in this time of leanness of fellowship.
God clearly says "come out from among them and be ye separate" for a reason. Two cannot walk together who are not agreed. Often those who are not born again, interpret situations far differently from believers. What is important to the believer is foolishness to the non-believer. What is important to the non-believer is nonsense to the believer. There cannot be peace with those who do not understand our world of faith in Christ, it makes them angry.
In these last days we experience much jealousy and superficial Christianity, that strives to undermine what God is doing in us. The organized church is full of non-believers who think they are Christians, but have never been born again. They love this world and the things in it, while pretending to love God, they defy Him.
Matthew 15:8
"'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME."
Next time we are tempted to feel lonely, remember what it was like when there was continual competition, meanness and strife with those who were not born again. Suddenly we will feel blessed once again, that God has freed us from all that turmoil. In order to avoid conflict with non-believers we have to remain silent, but we cannot do that because to remain silent is to endorse their view. There is no other option but to minimize contact with those who come against our God.
We can bring the gospel to the unsaved as God directs, but we are not to make unbelievers, who hate our God, or pretenders who claim Christianity but negate His Word, our constant companions, to do that would to try to mix oil and water.
We place many more problems on ourselves that are unnecessary by remaining with unsaved family and friends on a regular basis.
Let's pray to hear the voice of God and obey Him.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Obey Man When He Obeys God
There are many men who indulge privately in pornography, it is adultery not to mention filthy. Any man who wants a wife to look with him at these things is evil and must be resisted.
I was once told a story of a new believer whose unbelieving husband wanted her to watch this filth with him. Very foolish believers told her that she should obey him simply because he was the head of the household and that the Bible said to obey your husband. Porn is devastating to the soul of a woman and to the marriage itself, she cannot take part in it.
It is sin to counsel any believer to obey the authority over them when the authority is directing them to disobey God.
HUMAN AUTHORITIES DO NOT TRUMP GOD!
A godly woman might be able to win her ungodly husband by obeying God in all her ways. When she obeys the evil desires of her husband over God's will, then her husband is her god and her example is ruinous.
We win our husbands by our chaste life and our obedience to God. The husband sees our desire to live for God no matter what and is blessed by that.
We are never to obey someone who asks us to do evil. When a husband asks the wife not to spend any more money, she can obey that. When a husband asks her to clean the house today, she can obey that, however, if an ungodly husband asks her to kill the neighbor because he doesn't like him, the wife must say she cannot do that because it would disobey God. When an ungodly husband asks a wife to indulge in porn or become a prostitute for money, she has to say no to him.
Killing the neighbor, watching porn and becoming a prostitute are the extremes of the principle to obey God over man. When there are lesser sins that husbands do, such as watching movies with filthy language or the Lord's name in vain. A woman has an obligation before God to decline to see these things.
It becomes very hard to respect and honor a man who doesn't love and honor a wife enough to protect her from the things that will damage her emotionally and spiritually.
The teaching that a woman should obey a wicked husband to do evil, is itself wicked. When we obey a man over God, we are making that man a god to us, his desires become more important than God's Ways.
Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."
When the apostles ran into the authorities that told them they could not preach the gospel, they disobeyed the authority to obey God.
We must be sure that if we disobey the authority over us it is a clear violation of God's will to obey the authority.
If we are seeking God on this, He will honor our desire to obey His principles. When we get before the Lord, we will not be asked "did you obey your husband and watch that porn?" NO!!! We will be judged according to our reward, whether or not we obeyed God.
Let no man destroy your innocence through his foolish actions. Let no man damage your spirit and your soul by allowing filth in your home.
I was once told a story of a new believer whose unbelieving husband wanted her to watch this filth with him. Very foolish believers told her that she should obey him simply because he was the head of the household and that the Bible said to obey your husband. Porn is devastating to the soul of a woman and to the marriage itself, she cannot take part in it.
It is sin to counsel any believer to obey the authority over them when the authority is directing them to disobey God.
HUMAN AUTHORITIES DO NOT TRUMP GOD!
A godly woman might be able to win her ungodly husband by obeying God in all her ways. When she obeys the evil desires of her husband over God's will, then her husband is her god and her example is ruinous.
We win our husbands by our chaste life and our obedience to God. The husband sees our desire to live for God no matter what and is blessed by that.
We are never to obey someone who asks us to do evil. When a husband asks the wife not to spend any more money, she can obey that. When a husband asks her to clean the house today, she can obey that, however, if an ungodly husband asks her to kill the neighbor because he doesn't like him, the wife must say she cannot do that because it would disobey God. When an ungodly husband asks a wife to indulge in porn or become a prostitute for money, she has to say no to him.
Killing the neighbor, watching porn and becoming a prostitute are the extremes of the principle to obey God over man. When there are lesser sins that husbands do, such as watching movies with filthy language or the Lord's name in vain. A woman has an obligation before God to decline to see these things.
It becomes very hard to respect and honor a man who doesn't love and honor a wife enough to protect her from the things that will damage her emotionally and spiritually.
The teaching that a woman should obey a wicked husband to do evil, is itself wicked. When we obey a man over God, we are making that man a god to us, his desires become more important than God's Ways.
Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."
When the apostles ran into the authorities that told them they could not preach the gospel, they disobeyed the authority to obey God.
We must be sure that if we disobey the authority over us it is a clear violation of God's will to obey the authority.
If we are seeking God on this, He will honor our desire to obey His principles. When we get before the Lord, we will not be asked "did you obey your husband and watch that porn?" NO!!! We will be judged according to our reward, whether or not we obeyed God.
Let no man destroy your innocence through his foolish actions. Let no man damage your spirit and your soul by allowing filth in your home.
God Has Not Abandoned Israel
Romans 11:1-36
"11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”
Gentiles Grafted In
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[b] mean!
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[c] of the olive tree,
18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
The Mystery of Israel's Salvation
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now[e] receive mercy.
32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
"11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”
Gentiles Grafted In
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[b] mean!
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[c] of the olive tree,
18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
The Mystery of Israel's Salvation
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now[e] receive mercy.
32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
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