~ LISTENING CENTER ~

Date: March 15, 2015 Title: Unveiling the Mystery (Pt. 1) Passage: Romans 9:1-11:36 Speaker: Bob Corbin Sermon Note Sheet (PDF) Download Audio

* In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul has been presenting a persuasive argument defending his theme "the just shall live by faith." * After revealing that all have transgressed the righteous law of God and are therefore not "just" as a result of their own righteousness, Paul explained that salvation has never then been according to the deeds of men but rather through the expression of faith in the redemptive work of God * Abraham, the father of Israel was accepted by God by faith not by his works. * Paul then reveals the blessings which fall upon those who come by faith - eternal salvation, adoption, intercession by the Holy Spirit, justification, glorification, and preservation! * Last week we began looking at the climax of this presentation - what does this mean to Israel - by considering the Plan, Prerogative & People of God. * In Ephesians 3:1-12 and Colossians 1:24-27, Paul describes briefly the crux of his ministry - he was to be the revealer of a mystery that God had planned from the beginning of the ages. * It is that "mystery" that he unveils in greater detail in his letter to the believers in Rome. Israel, because of their disobedience, would be set aside for a period of time (in which God would open up salvation to the Gentiles as a means of provocation to the Jews - to make them jealous - such that they would return to God by faith) and at the end of this period of time all Israel would be delivered.