Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Limited Love?
Does God, either as the Father or the Son, limit His love to only some people? Only Israel or only Believers?
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
SPEAKER_01:Let's just take a nice moment here and go over to Romans chapter 11. Because Romans 11, and most many people say, well, Romans 9, 10, 11, I mean, you that's a lection. No, this is God's dispensational dealings with humanity, with Israel, focus, now a Gentile focus in the church. And he explains all this at this at the end.
SPEAKER_02:So Romans 11, let's go to verse 20. We'll just start in verse 28.
SPEAKER_01:Well, let's start in 25, otherwise we don't have enough context. 25. Paul says, I don't want you to be, uh, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation. And here it is, here's the mystery. A partial hardening has happened to Israel. That happened based on the cross and their crucifixion of him, right? A partial hardening has happened to the nation until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So this partial hardening is only temporary, right? Once the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, verse 26 says, all Israel will be saved.
SPEAKER_02:And then he quotes from is this Jeremiah? Pull out my glasses.
SPEAKER_01:The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. God's going to take Israel's sins away as a nation and restore them, right? He then says, verse 28, from the standpoint of the gospel, they, that's Israel, they are enemies for your sake. That's for Gentiles. But from the standpoint of God's choice, Israel's beloved for the sake of the fathers. It's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right? Who God made the covenants with. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. I mean, is God ever going to go back on his promises to Israel that he made in the covenant? No, absolutely not. God's own character is at stake in this. He says, For just as you were once disobedient to God, you Gentiles, but now you've been shown mercy because of their, that's Israel's disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that's Israel, that because of the mercy shown to you, they may also now be shown mercy in the future, right? For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that he may show mercy to all. Who's all? Well, all Jews, all Gentiles. See in the Old Testament, Gentiles disobedient. Now, but now being shown mercy. But Israel now disobedient, but in the future, God show mercy. Why? So God be merciful to all. So you see, Romans 9, 10, 11, and this is really just these last verses are really just summarizing everything he said in chapters 9 and 10 and 11. But they're showing God's how he dealt with Israel and how he's dealt with Gentiles. And that's everybody, because a Jew is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with Jacob being the key. Okay. And a Gentile is a non-Jew. It's that simple. Okay. So this deals with everybody. Let's go to another verse that they use. That's John 15, 13. John 15, 13. This is in the upper room discourse, right? The upper room discourse. This is the discourse, I would say, is the first discourse given to the church. Whereas his last discourse to Israel is the all of it discourse, Matthew 24 and 25. So his last words to Israel are Matthew 24 and 25. His first words to the church are John 13 through 17. In the midst of that, in John 15, he says to his disciples, This is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. That, by the way, becomes the cornerstone for the church. How will they know us if we don't love one another, right? Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. And the Calvinist says, Well, see, he only lays down his life for his friends, those of the elect. He doesn't lay down his life for the whole world or for all people without distinction. I say, Well, what about the next verse? It says, You're my friends if you do what I command you. So is salvation by following his commandments? Is that what we're supposed to believe? No, they were already his friends. Now, did he lay his life down for those who believed in him? Well, yeah, of course he did. Does that mean that he didn't lay his life down for other people who didn't believe in him? No. Um, there's a principle of first subset of second, okay? And this is a common way that we all speak.
SPEAKER_02:I may say to my wife, I love you. Does that mean I don't love anybody else? No. Now maybe I don't love anybody else the way that I love her.
SPEAKER_01:And that's okay. Husbands are to love their wife in a specific way. But is it okay for God to love those who believe in him in a certain way? And then to love others? Yeah, okay, we'll talk more about this principle this week and next week about his his love. Because the Calvinists, as we're going to see, says that he only loves the elect. He does not love, in fact, he hates the non-elect. Okay. So this is one of their attendant beliefs.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spoke and Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.