God of the Nations

God of the Nations Rom 3:29-30

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Paul goes to great lengths (Rom 1:18-3:20) to show that the law had proved that finally there was no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, because neither could keep it. And that they had both fallen short of the glory of God in their sin. So now he goes on to show there is also no difference in the matter of salvation. (Jones)

One God of salvation 30 since God is one (Is 45:5 Is 44:8-18, Ex 20:1-2, Phil 2:9-10) There is only one true God, not many gods. There is only one God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is outside of God. (Piper) God is the God both of Jews and Gentiles; as the Creator, preserver, and Governor of them, he has a right to demand worship and service of them, (Gill) The fact that there is only one God means that that there is not one God for the Jews and another God for the Gentiles. There is only one God, and if there is only one God, everyone in the world must be under that one God, Gentiles as well as Jews. There is one God, and the human race is one in its relationship to Him. (Jones) There is only one true God, not many gods (1 Cori 8:4-7, 10:19-20) All things are from Him and through Him and to Him. To Him be glory forever." (Rom 11:36, Col 1:15-17) If that is what it means to be God, there cannot be two of them. If the very meaning of being God is that He is the ultimate source of all that is, there can be only one. Two beings cannot both be the ultimate source of all things. One would be the ultimate source of the other, and so only one would be God; or both would be equally ultimate and neither would be the source of all things, and so neither would be God (Piper).The Christian knows there is only one God because God has made himself known and made it clear thorough his mighty works of old and through the words of he prophets that he alone is the true and living God (To his people Deut 4:35, 39, Joel 2:27, Is 45:21, 46::9, to all people Is 45:22, Rom 1:18-20) The only one true God must be uncreated, eternal, all powerful and self-sufficient. This one God must be that which no greater can be conceived (Anselm). He must be eternal and uncreated because that which created him is greater than him and would be God. He has to be all powerful because he would be subject to one that is more powerful. He must be self-sufficient because he cannot need nothing (Acts 17:24-25). The oneness of God is not simply a statement that there is only one true God, but also a statement that this God has a unity and coherence to his identity. That is, he is what he is and not what we make of him. He is what he is and not

something else. He has identity in himself. He has fixed attributes. He does not change. He is not inconsistent or schizophrenic. He does not have contradictory personalities. All his characteristics cohere in one unified Being. He makes himself known as who he is. He is one. (Deut 6:4, John 10:30) (Piper) God is one God. There are no other gods. God will tolerate no other worship. All the other idols are wood and stone and so forth that cannot answer. (Ps 96:4-5, 115:4-8) If there's only one God then He must be the God of the Jew and the Gentile. (Mac Arthur)

One Group for Salvation 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, (Acts 17:26, Mal 2:10, Gen 3: 20 ) Here Paul includes all people for salvation: circumcised Jews who have the law and uncircumcised Gentiles who don’t have the Law. There are not two separate groups of people that need salvation, the Gentiles also, as much as of the Jews; for all have equally sinned and there is no reason, if God be disposed to show mercy at all, that he should prefer the one to the other; since they are all equally guilty, and sinful (Rom 3:9, 23) (Clarke). God is a universal and not a national (Jewish God) (Hodge). As he had put all mankind on a level, and brought them to the same condition, if there be any difference between them, it is from God, not from themselves, who would have all things alike: but if it be true that God designs to make all the nations of the earth partakers of his mercy, then salvation, and righteousness, which is necessary for salvation, must be extended to all.(Calvin) For if God belong to all, all are one, children of the same Father (Nisbet) Jehovah is the Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor of all, Jew and Gentile, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free. When they believe in Christ, he accepts them with equal readiness, adopts them into his family as his own children, and loves them with equal affection. He imprints on them his own blessed image (Edwards) Whoever you are or whatever you may or may not have done, this gospel is for you, because it is for everyone (Boyce). Since God is one and justifies all peoples in the same way - by faith alone in Christ alone - not different ways, therefore, He is not the God of the Jews only, but the God of the nations as well. (Piper) "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all." (Eph 4:4-6, 1 Cor 12:13, Gal 3:27-29).

One Gate of Salvation 30 who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (Acts 4:12. Matt 7:13, John 14:6, Is 43:11, 45:5-7, 18, 21-22) The objects of justification are "the circumcision", the circumcised Jews, and "the uncircumcision", the uncircumcised Gentiles; the circumcision of the one does not put them forward, and the uncircumcision of the other does not hinder, nor neither of them effect the grace of justification: the justifier of them is one and the same, who is God; and the matter of their justification is the same, which is the righteousness of Christ; and the manner of it, or the means of their comfortable apprehension of it, is the same; for those phrases, "by faith", and "through faith", mean one and the same thing; (Philemon 3:9) (Gill) But there is a difference between the “by” and “through” faith. The first term, “by”, points to the source. Here the term is used of the Jews to show that the source of salvation is never by works of the law like circumcision, but by faith. The second term, “through”, points to the means or method. The Gentiles did not have the law and thus did not follow the law, so they were uncircumcised. They had no danger of thinking that they could justify themselves “by” their works. So, “through” is used here to speak of the means of their salvation. It is through faith. (Jones) God is equally the God of the Gentiles and the Jews. He deals with both classes on precisely the same principles: he pursues, with regard to both, the same plan, and offers salvation to both on exactly the same terms (Hodge) God is one –one God. He has this one way of salvation, and it is for all. (Jones) This one God has one way of saving people; namely, justification by faith in Jesus Christ. The oneness of God is connected to the oneness of the way he makes people right with himself The oneness of God means that there is one way to salvation, not the way of works, but the way of faith. And because it is a way of faith it cuts across all ethnic and political and language and cultural barriers. "Circumcision" stands for any religious or ethnic trait that you might think would commend you to God. And "uncircumcision" stands for any trait, or missing trait, that you think might keep you from God. The gospel of Jesus Christ comes and says, "Justification (getting right with God) is by faith, not works. Therefore, having certain ethnic or religious advantages prove to be of no advantage. And not having certain ethnic or religious advantages proves to be of no disadvantage. God's oneness means that there is one way of salvation for all. (Piper). There is no other way to be saved than by faith in Jesus Christ, no other way. Be you a religious Jew or a heathen Bushman, there is one God,(1 Tim 2:5), and there is only “one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” when you see the mass of religions all over the world and you see the complexities of all of those religions, and then you look at Christianity — one God, one Mediator, One way to Him and that's so direct and so clear and how it glorifies God, utterly consistent, one way through faith. (MacArthur). All these religions boil down to two different ways of salvation. Let's imagine that there are two chairs in the middle of an empty room. One chair is labeled "Do" and the other chair is labeled "Done." Those two chairs represent the two kinds of religion in the world. Every religion is either a "Do" religion or a "Done" religion. The "Do" religions are based on the notion that in order to please God you have to do something: Pray, join a church, give money, be good, keep a list of dos and don'ts, go to Mass, offer a sacrifice, make a pilgrimage, wear certain clothing, go to the temple twice a year, follow the Ten Commandments, and so on. Although these religions may seem to be very different on the outside, they all teach that salvation is "earned" by the things you do. In various degrees, and in various ways, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Shintoism are all "Do" religions. So is Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness. In fact, every religion in the world is a "Do" religion, except one. Christianity is a "Done" religion. (Ray Pritchard)

Bruce Goettsche suggests: The person who understands and receives this message of a DONE salvation,

· No longer has to look over their shoulder wondering if something is going to happen to disqualify them for salvation.

· No longer has to be afraid that they have done too many bad things to receive God’s grace

· Can have absolute confidence as they face death

· No longer have to wonder if they have “done enough”

· Can leave the past in the past and concentrate on living the new life that Christ provides

· Can extend the message of salvation to anyone, confident that they can be reborn

On the contrary, those who follow a “DO” religion,

· Are never sure they have met the standard

· Can have no confidence at death that they will go to Heaven

· Are always concerned they will make a fatal mistake that will cause them to lose salvation

· Will sometimes feel hopeless because of the mistakes of their past, feeling that they can never do enough to erase the bad things they have done.

He Is the God of the Nations-as a result Piper suggests 4 things:

1. That God is the God of the nations means that God created all the nations. (Acts 17:26)

2. That God is the God of the nations means that he will redeem a people for himself out of every nation. (Rev 5:9)

3. That God is the God of the nations means he is ready to justify anyone, anywhere, from any nation through faith alone in Jesus Christ. There is one way of salvation for all the nations. God is God of the nations because he has made a way for them all - the same way and it is a way of grace.

4. That God is the God of the nations means that God aims to be known by all the nations. (Ps 96:1-4) (Piper)