A Basis for Acceptance

We noted briefly in yesterday’s study that God accepts human beings by His grace and on the basis of Christ’s redemptive work. In today’s passage, Paul expands on this idea, showing how Christ made it possible for God to accept people on both sides of what may have been one of the most formidable cultural barriers ever erected—the division between Jews and Gentiles.

Paul begins by noting that “Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers.” Elsewhere, Paul makes clear Jesus acted as a servant when He became incarnate in order to make atonement for His people (Phil. 2:5–8). Here in Romans, he writes that Jesus became a servant to “the circumcision,” meaning the Jews, which is simply a way of saying “He came to His own” (John 1:11), the people to whom God had given great advantages (Rom. 9:4–5), including the unfolding revelation of His redemptive plan. Unfortunately, the Jews overlooked or misunderstood God’s revelation concerning the Messiah. They were expecting a conquering King; they got a Suffering Servant (Isa. 52–53). But the manner of Jesus’ coming was in conformity to all the truth revealed by God. He had made clear that there is no forgiveness apart from the shedding of blood, but the blood of animals was not sufficient—there must be a perfect sacrifice. Jesus came to be that sacrifice, and His coming fulfilled all the promises of redemption given to the Jewish patriarchs, including the promise to Abraham that “ ‘in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ ” (Gen. 12:3b). Thus, Jesus came not as a servant of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Through Him, God extended His mercy to people of every nation, tribe, and tongue, so that Gentiles, too, might glorify Him. In support of this truth, Paul cites passages from Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and Isaiah that speak of the salvation of the Gentiles.

Verse 13 is a benediction, the first of four (see 15:33, 16:20, and 16:24, though some manuscripts omit the latter). Here Paul prays that the God who is both the source and the object of Christian hope may fill the Romans with the fruit of joy and the peace that comes from trusting in God’s sovereignty. He wants to see them “abounding” in hope as the Spirit works in them.