10    God Has Not Canceled His  Promises to Israel—part 3  His Setting Israel Aside  Is Purposeful: To Glorify God (11:25-36)

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” “And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (11:25–36)

God’s setting Israel aside not only is partial and passing but also purposeful. God temporarily set aside His chosen people in order to bring salvation to the Gentiles (11:11b), to make Israel jealous of them (v. 11c) so they would yearn to receive the blessings of the Messiah they had rejected, and thereby be used to bring blessing to the rest of the world (vv. 12–15). But God’s ultimate, overriding purpose is to glorify Himself.

The doxology at the end of the present passage climaxes the doctrinal section of the epistle and focuses on the supreme purpose of everything God does—to glorify Himself.

The supreme benefit of God’s redemptive plan, both for Jews and for Gentiles, is to bring them salvation and eternal life. But the supreme purpose of that plan is to glorify Himself. Even His purpose in judging the unrighteous is to glorify Himself. His preparation of heaven for the saved and of hell for the unsaved is to display His glory. The surpassing purpose of every created being and thing in the universe is to glorify God (cf. Ps. 19:1; Isa. 43:20; 1 Cor. 10:31). All other divine intentions are subservient to that supreme and ultimate goal. In the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

There are two aspects of God’s glory. The first is what might be called His intrinsic glory, the glory which is a part of His very being and nature. Glory is the very essence of God, the manifestation of who He is. It is that which He possesses in Himself and which cannot be given to Him or taken from Him. It is that radiant, essential glory which Moses longed to see. “I pray Thee,” he pleaded, “show me Thy glory!” (Ex. 33:18). “Reveal Yourself to me,” he was saying. It is that glory which one of the seraphim declared to another before the Lord in Isaiah’s heavenly vision: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3). It is that glory which Stephen proclaimed before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem: “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham” (Acts 7:2). It is that glory which was in Jesus, the glory of God’s full “grace and truth” (John 1:14), and which was displayed in the transfiguration (Matt. 17:2).

The second aspect of God’s glory is given to Him. It is the honor that men and angels render to the Lord who made them. That glory does not, of course, add the least bit to God’s intrinsic glory, which is complete and perfect. It is rather the recognition and affirmation of the glory God has in Himself and the holy living and proclamation that displays His glory through the believer to the world.

It is this glory of which the priestly choir sang when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. … Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name” (1 Chron. 16:23–24, 28–29).

Because man’s supreme purpose is to recognize and honor God for His glory and majesty, failure to glorify Him is the certain mark of spiritual rebellion and ungodliness. As Paul explains at the beginning of this epistle, there is no excuse for any person, living at any time or in any place, to fail or refuse to glorify God. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God” (Rom. 1:18–21).

God chose His people Israel “that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise, and for glory” (Jer. 13:11). The prophet therefore implores his fellow Israelites to “give glory to the Lord your God, before He brings darkness and before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains, and while you are hoping for light He makes it into deep darkness, and turns it into gloom” (v. 16).

For a full year, Nebuchadnezzar refused to heed God’s command to repent of his great pride and arrogance (Dan. 4:19–29). Then, one day as he was walking around the roof of his magnificent palace, reveling in his own power and glory, “while the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.’ … Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” (vv. 31, 33). When that time of humiliation was over, the penitent king testified, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever” (v. 34).

When the people of Tyre and Sidon flattered King Herod Agrippa, saying, “‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ … immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:22–23). By contrast, when Cornelius met Peter “and fell at his feet and worshiped him,” the apostle quickly “raised him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am just a man’” (Acts 10:25–26). Similarly, after the pagans of Lystra heard Paul speak and witnessed the healing of the cripple, “they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have become like men and have come down to us.’ And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. … But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you’” (Acts 14:11–12, 14–15).

Throughout redemptive history, God has called men and women to give praise, honor, worship, and glory only to Him and to ascribe to Him His worth as the only infinitely holy and majestic Creator, Savior, and Lord. The purpose of all things—angels, men, other creatures, life, death, heaven, hell, the land and seas and heavens, the entire universe—is to display the majesty of the holy, sovereign Creator who made them and to lead all creatures to glorify Him.

With a far greater obligation and privilege than other men, believers can and should glorify God, because they have witnessed the glory of His saving grace. We therefore should continually proclaim with Paul, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:21).

The most certain reason that God will ultimately redeem Israel is that His word of promise must be fulfilled to the praise of His glory. Just as He sovereignly ordained, “The people [Israel] whom I formed for Myself, will [one day] declare My praise” (Isa. 43:21).

In the present passage—which climaxes Paul’s focus on God’s gracious dealing with Israel ((chaps. 9–11)—we see God glorified in His sovereignty (vv. 25–26a), in His integrity (vv. 266–29), in His generosity (vv. 30–32), and in His incomprehensibility (vv. 33–36).

TO GLORIFY GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; (11:25–26a)

Paul had just warned Gentile believers about becoming proud and conceited because unbelieving Israel was cut off from blessing in order that it might be offered to Gentiles, explaining that “if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], neither will He spare you [the Gentile church]” (Rom. 11:20–21). If in His sovereign grace He is now granting salvation to believing Gentiles, “how much more” will He bring His covenant nation Israel back to Himself in belief and for blessing and cut off the apostate Gentile church (v. 24). God is not finished with His ancient chosen people, and even during this time when Jews as a nation are severed from God’s special blessing because of unbelief, anti-Semitism in any form is anathema to the Lord. Whoever harms God’s chosen people “touches the apple [pupil] of His eye” (Zech. 2:8).

Doubtless with great joy and expectation, Paul tells believing Jews and Gentiles alike that he does not want them to be uninformed of a marvelous mystery. At the end of the epistle Paul defines mystery as being a revelation “which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God” (Rom. 16:26; cf. Eph. 3:5–7).

Before Paul identifies and explains the particular mystery of which he is speaking here, he once again cautions Gentiles against pride, warning them to avoid construing the truths of that mystery as reasons for being wise in their own estimation.

The first component of this mystery is that a partial spiritual hardening has happened to Israel. Partial does not modify mystery but Israel. That is, those who are hardened—the great majority—are totally hardened, but not every Jew has been or will be hardened. As always through the ages of redemptive history, God sovereignly has preserved for Himself a believing remnant. That is the gracious truth Paul emphasizes in the first part of this chapter (11:1–10).

The second component of this mystery is that the hardening will remain only until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in. Until refers to time, fulness indicates completion, and together those terms denote impermanence. The hardening will last only for God’s divinely-determined duration. It began when Israel rejected Jesus as her Messiah and Savior, and it will end when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.

Has come in is from eiserchomai, a verb Jesus frequently used. He used it of entering the kingdom of heaven/God (Matt. 5:20; Mark 9:47; John 3:5; cf. Acts 14:22) and of entering eternal life (Mark 9:43, 45), both of which refer to receiving salvation. Israel’s unbelief will last only until the complete number of the Gentiles chosen by God have come to salvation. Paul’s special calling was “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16). In his letter to Titus, Paul refers to himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God” (1:1). The mystery ends when the gathering of the elect is complete.

That, of course, is also the calling of the church. Although many Jews have been saved through the church’s witness, the vast majority of converts have been, and will continue to be, Gentiles—until their number is complete. That will signal the beginning of events that lead to Israel’s redemption, when all Israel will be saved—a truth that must have filled Paul’s heart with great joy (cf. Rom. 9:1–3; 10:1).

All Israel must be taken to mean just that—the entire nation that survives God’s judgment during the Great Tribulation. The common amillennial view that all Israel refers only to a remnant redeemed during the church age does injustice to the text. Paul’s declaration about all Israel is set in clear contrast to what he has already said about the believing Jewish remnant which the Lord has always preserved for Himself. The fact, for instance, that only some of the branches (unbelieving Jews) were broken off (v. 17), plainly indicates that a remnant of believing Jews—those not broken off—will continually exist while the fulness of the Gentiles is being completed. These are Jews being redeemed who are not part of the spiritual hardening that has come upon Israel because of her rejection of her Messiah (v. 25).

Before all Israel is saved, its unbelieving, ungodly members will be separated out by God’s inerrant hand of judgment. Ezekiel makes that truth vividly clear:

Those who hear the preaching of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:1–8; 14:1–5), of other converts (7:9), of the two witnesses (11:3—13), and of the angel (14:6), and thus safely pass under God’s rod of judgment will then comprise all Israel, which—in fulfillment of God’s sovereign and irrevocable promise—will be completely a nation of believers who are ready for the kingdom of the Messiah Jesus.

God’s control of history is irrefutable evidence of His sovereignty. And as surely as He cut off unbelieving Israel from His tree of salvation, just as surely will He graft believing Israel back in—a nation completely restored and completely saved.

It is helpful to note an additional truth that Paul does not mention at this point—namely, that, just as the fulness of the Gentiles will initiate the salvation of Israel, so the salvation of Israel will initiate the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ.

That three-stage plan of God was predicted in the Old Testament and proclaimed in the New. In about A.D. 50, a council of “the apostles and the elders came together” in Jerusalem to discuss whether or not Gentiles had to submit to the Mosaic law, including circumcision, in order to be saved (Acts 15:1–6). After considerable debate, including statements by Peter, Paul, and Barnabas,

After Israel is temporarily set aside, God will gather Gentile believers for Himself, then (“after these things”) He will restore and reclaim His ancient people Israel (figuratively, “the tabernacle of David”), and finally He will establish His glorious kingdom on earth.

TO GLORIFY GOD’S INTEGRITY

just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” “And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (11:2b-29)

Scripture is replete with affirmations of God’s utter truthfulness and trustworthiness. “God is not a man, that He should lie,” Balaam informed Balak, “nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). The writer of Hebrews gives the encouraging assurance, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). From Peter we have a similar affirmation: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). God’s promises are certain and they are punctual. They will be fulfilled in exactly the way and at exactly the time that the Lord has determined and declared. Others cannot thwart God’s promises, and He Himself will not break them. In every form and to every degree, His Word is immutable.

As he nears the conclusion of this momentous section on God’s dealing with Israel (chaps. 9–11), Paul emphasizes once again God’s sovereignty and integrity. In saving “all Israel,” the Lord will display Himself to the One who always keeps His promises and fulfills His covenants. Just as it is written, Paul says, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob” (emphasis added; cf. Isa. 59:20–21). Quoting again from Isaiah, he then says, “And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (cf. Isa. 27:9).

Salvation is the forgiveness and removal of sin, the eradication of that which separates fallen man from the holy God. The power of salvation is God’s grace, and the condition of salvation is man’s faith. But even that required faith is divinely provided. As Paul has already made clear, our calling to salvation, our justification, sanctification, and glorification all flow from God’s sovereign grace, the fruit of His divine foreknowledge and predestination (Rom. 8:29–30).

The ultimate salvation of Israel is also assured by divine certainty. In order for “all Israel [to] be saved,” all her sin must be forgiven and removed. And that is expressly what God promises to do: remove ungodliness from Jacob and take away their sins. The promise is unconditional. It will not depend on Israel’s deciding on its own to come back to the Lord but on the Lord’s sovereignly bringing Israel back to Himself.

Perhaps God’s most dramatic promise of final, unconditional dealing with His chosen people Israel is seen in the mysterious and unique covenant He made with Abraham that is described in Genesis 15. In answer to the patriarch’s question, “0 Lord God, how may I know that I shall possess [the land]?” God directed him to take “a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram” and to cut them in half (vv. 8–9). The parts of each animal were then laid out opposite each other, along with a turtledove and a pigeon. After causing Abraham to fall into a deep sleep, God alone passed between the pieces, thereby sealing several divine promises. Abraham would die peacefully in old age; after 400 years of oppression and enslavement, his descendants would be delivered from a foreign nation; and God’s promise of the land was reiterated (vv. 10–21). But unlike other covenants, not only its terms but its ratification were wholly God’s doing. Despite his being asleep, Abraham was aware of what God was doing and saying, but only as a silent onlooker. Abraham was not required so much as to acknowledge, much less agree to, this covenant. The promises were without condition. This covenant amounted to a divine and unalterable declaration, to which God bound Himself in the unique act described in this passage.

Paul continues to explain that, from the standpoint of the gospel they [Israel] are enemies for your [the Gentile’s] sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. As he has already explained at some length (vv. 11–24), because of Israel’s transgression in rejecting her Messiah, she was set aside—becoming God’s enemies, as it were—in order that salvation could come to the Gentiles. That was her temporary situation from the standpoint of the gospel. But from the permanent, eternal standpoint of God’s sovereign choice, Israel is even now (they are) and forever will be beloved for the sake of the fathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When the Lord elected (by divine choice) the nation of Israel to be His own people, He bound Himself by His own promises to bring the Jews to salvation and to be forever His beloved and holy people. During this present age, Israel might be called the “beloved” enemies of God. Because of unbelief, they are, like all the unsaved, at enmity with God (Rom. 5:10; 8:7). But God’s eternal election guarantees that their enmity is not permanent, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Gifts translates charismata, which carries the fuller connotation of grace gifts, gifts flowing from the pure and wholly unmerited favor of God. Calling refers to God’s divine election of Israel to be His holy people. God will not change His plan for Israel’s spiritual regeneration.

Just as God’s sovereign grace and election cannot be earned, neither can they be rejected or thwarted. They are irrevocable and unalterable. Nothing, therefore, can prevent Israel’s being saved and restored—not even her own rebellion and unbelief, because, as Paul has just declared, her ungodliness will be sovereignly removed and her sins graciously taken away (vv. 26–27). What is true of elected believers is true of elected Israel: “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:24).

TO GLORIFY GOD’S GENEROSITY

For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all. (11:30–32)

Mercy is from eleeō, which carries the basic idea of having a compassion for those in need that leads to meeting their need. Because man’s greatest need is to have his sins removed and be given spiritual life, God’s mercy generously provides just that.

The psalmists declared, “Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness [mercy] to all who call upon Thee” (Ps. 86:5), and “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness [mercy] is everlasting” (Ps. 136:1). Solomon testified before the Lord: “Thou hast shown great lovingkindness [mercy] to Thy servant David my father, according as he walked before Thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward Thee; and Thou hast reserved for him this great lovingkindness [mercy], that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day” (1 Kings 3:6).

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, exulted over the prophesied ministry of his newborn son, saying, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76–79, emphasis added). In his first letter, Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3, emphasis added; cf. Eph. 2:4–5). Just as He bestows forgiveness, which is not deserved, at the same time He rescinds His punishment, which is deserved.

Paul’s explanation has gone full circle, as it were. Because of Israel’s unbelief, the nation was partially and temporarily set aside and the gospel of salvation was extended to the Gentiles. And if God extended His grace to pagan Gentiles even while they were in unbelief, how much more surely will He extend His grace again to His chosen people Israel while they are in unbelief? Specifically, he says, if you, as Gentiles, were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of Israel’s disobedience, how much more will Israel, because of the mercy shown to you Gentiles, also … now be shown mercy.

Whether for Gentile or for Jew, salvation is based on mercy, not merit. It is an expression of God’s sovereign and generous grace. About his own gracious salvation, Paul testified: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service; even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:12–14). In his second letter to Corinth the apostle calls the Lord “the Father of mercies” (2 Cor. 1:3).

Through the centuries, theologians have struggled with what is called theodicy, the explanation of God’s righteousness and omnipotence in the light of evil. No doubt almost every believer has at some time wondered about where evil came from and why God allowed it to enter His perfect world. Although God’s Word does not fully answer that question, Paul gives at least a partial explanation, declaring that God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.

Disobedience (“unbelief” KJV) is from apeitheia, which has the basic meaning of being unpersuadable. It denotes intentional and obstinate refusal to believe, acknowledge, or obey. In his letter to Ephesus, Paul twice refers to unrepentant sinners as “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2; 5:6).

Man’s sin, manifested in his willful disobedience, provides a means for God to demonstrate the magnitude and graciousness of His mercy. Were there no disobedience, there would be no need for and there could be no expression of God’s mercy. To reveal Himself as merciful, He permitted sin. He has shut up all—the whole world, Jew and Gentile—in disobedience and unbelief in order that He might show mercy to all who repent of their sin and turn to Him for gracious salvation.

By His nature, God is a Savior, as seen in Paul’s uses of the phrase “God and Savior” in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. He could not display that feature of His person without allowing for sin and hell.

In His sovereign omnipotence, God has allowed man intellectually, morally, and spiritually to fall into a state of sin to the extent that, on his own, he is unable to be convinced of God’s truth, specifically the truth that he is lost and condemned and that he is powerless in himself to change his condition. God allowed man to fall into sin in order that his only hope would be divine mercy.

It must be noted that this saving mercy is shown to all. The perfect, satisfactory work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection has met the demands of the justice and holiness of God, and thereby has removed every barrier to forgiveness for all, and any person who seeks forgiveness and salvation will receive it. As John Brown observed, God’s revelation of mercy in the gospels refers to men as sinners, not as elect sinners.

Christ died for the world and is reconciling the world to Himself because He loves the world.

As Paul explained earlier in this epistle, the Lord gave His law “that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God” (Rom. 3:19). Sin came to all mankind through the Fall, and knowledge of and accountability for sin came “to all the world” through the Law. “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,” he continues, “being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace [expressed in His mercy] through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (vv. 21–24).

TO GLORIFY GOD’S INCOMPREHENSIBILITY

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (11:33–36)

Paul bursts out with a marvelous doxology, in which he rejoices that God’s temporarily setting Israel aside glorifies His incomprehensibility. The full wonder of God’s gracious omnipotence is wholly beyond human understanding. It staggers even the most mature Christian mind, including the mind of the apostle himself.

Having completed his argument and affirmed God’s sovereignty, integrity, and generosity, Paul has nothing more to add but a paean of praise for the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge. Further description and explanation are completely beyond the realm of human expression and comprehension. Like a mountain climber who has reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the apostle can only stand awestruck at God’s beauty and majesty. Unable to further explain an infinite and holy God to finite and sinful men, he can only acknowledge that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His ways are unfathomable!

Unfathomable translates anexichniastos, which literally refers to footprints that are untrackable, such as those of an animal that a hunter is unable to follow. It is the exact idea expressed by the psalmist in declaring of God: “Thy way was in the sea, and Thy paths in the mighty waters, and Thy footprints may not be known” (Ps. 77:19). Only God’s own “Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).

Scripture is God’s divine revelation of Himself and of His will, and He has not given it to mock and confuse men but to enlighten them and bring them to Himself. The Lord has made certain that any person who genuinely seeks Him can know enough of His truth to be saved. Although “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14), God nevertheless gives the gracious assurance that “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

Believers who faithfully study God’s Word can learn and have a certain understanding of His truth—all that is necessary “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” in order for us to “be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Our gracious God gives us more than all the truth we need to know Him, trust Him, and serve Him. But no matter how diligently we may have studied His Word, we must confess with David that “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it” (Ps. 139:6).

As his praise ascends in this doxology, Paul presents three rhetorical questions which serve to exalt God, the answer to each of which is obvious and the same. The first two questions, quoted from the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), are: For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? (cf. Isa. 40:13). The very asking shows both questions to have but one answer: No one. Men can ponder the mind of the Lord, but only the Lord Himself can know it. Among men, “in abundance of counselors there is victory,” or safety (Prov. 11:14), but God’s only counselor is Himself.

It is not the countless unrevealed things about God of which Paul is speaking, but the depths of the things which we do know through His self-revelation. Yet even these partially knowable truths conceal elements that are far beyond our comprehension (cf. Deut. 29:29).

Paul’s third question is also taken from the Old Testament. Quoting Job, he asks, Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? (cf. Job 41:11). Because no one was before God and none can give to God what has not first been received from Him, the answer here must also be: No one. God is sovereign, self-sufficient, and free from any obligation except those He places on Himself. He owes the Jew nothing and the Gentile nothing.

We stand in awe before our gracious Lord and rejoice that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. With the twenty-four elders, who “will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne,” we proclaim, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created” (Rev. 4:10–11; cf. 1 Cor. 15:24–28).

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

That is the inspired apostle’s culminating comment on the first eleven chapters of this magnificent epistle. After traversing all the great realities of salvation, Paul ends with an ascription of glory to his Lord. This simple doxology draws a clear line between the doctrinal section and the final five chapters on Christian duty.