Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 98:389 (Jan 1941)
Article: The Place of Israel in the Scheme of Redemption: As Set Forth in Romans 9-11 Part 1
Author: Henry Clarence Thiessen

BSac 98:389 (Jan 41) p. 78

The Place of Israel in the Scheme of Redemption:
As Set Forth in Romans 9-11
Part 1

Henry Clarence Thiessen

We have already seen that the Church at Rome was predominantly Gentile. Paul directly addresses his readers as Gentiles (11:13ff); he includes the Roman Church among the Gentile Churches (1:5–7, 13–15; 15:14–21); and he seeks to establish friendly relations with the Jews in Rome when he reaches the city (Acts 28:17–22). Had there been a very strong Jewish element in the church, he would probably not have thought it possible to make such a contact, for the enmity of the orthodox Jews against their fellows who accepted Christianity would have been a barrier to such a fellowship.

But there was also a Jewish element in the Church. This may be gathered from the large part of the Epistle that is essentially Jewish. Such are the questions about the validity of the law, the nature of redemption, the method of becoming righteous, and the divine choice of Israel. The latter forms the basis of the chapters now before us. Possibly the discussion about the believer’s relation to the state, the question of meats, the observing of days, etc., was also especially aimed at the Jewish believers in the Church (chs. 13, 14). It may be, however, that Paul had the Gentiles in mind also in dealing with all these subjects; for as Gentile Christians they read the Jewish Old Testament and generally had the same questions in their minds as the Jewish Christians.

In our approach to chapters 9–11 we should go back to the fact that Paul had represented the Gospel as “to the Jew

BSac 98:389 (Jan 41) p. 79

first” (1:16). At some point in his treatise he must develop this thought. If the Gospel is to the Jew first, then how explain the almost universal rejection of the Gospel by the Jew? Is it not clear that though they once occupied the place of special privilege, they occupy it no more? More than that, seeing that they have rejected their own Messiah, is not their rejection final? But if that is the case, what is to become of the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament? These are the problems that Paul undertakes to solve in these chapters. It should be observed, therefore, that Paul is not writing a defense of himself and his ministry to the Gentiles; the rather is he dealing with these quest...