Peter Barnes | Romans 11:21-22
SERMON NOTES
THE KINDNESS AND SEVERITY OF GOD
(Romans 11:21-22)
Robert Haldane: ‘Men generally form in their imagination the character of God according to their own inclination. It is the duty of the Christian to take God’s character as it is given by Himself.’
1. God is under no obligation to spare the Gentile Church.
– 11:21; Jesus had warned the Jews in Luke 13:28
– Calvin: ‘We should never think of the rejection of the Jews without being struck with dread and terror.’
– God set apart Israel e.g. Ps.147:19-20, but still judged it.
2. God is both kind and severe.
– 11:22
– God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and He is light (1 John 1:5) and a consuming fire (Heb.12:29)
– both fear and love motivate Paul in evangelism (2 Cor.5:11, 14)
3. We need to persevere.
– 11:22; see also Col.1:21-23
– the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is not meant to make us complacent.