PODCAST
Also Chosen
August 27th, 2011
Romans 15:7-12
Imagine how surprised Paul must have been to receive the call to take the gospel to the Gentiles. All his life, he had been taught that the Jews were separate and distinct. They alone possessed the truth of God, chosen to receive the promise of a Messiah who would end their oppression. The Maker of heaven and earth fought for them. Against all odds, the Jews survived in foreign lands, clinging to God’s promises. Now the very people who had enslaved them were to be accepted. The promise was to be shared for the glory of God. Those not a people would become part of the family of God. It must have been hard to grasp.
Paul knew what it felt like to be shunned. New believers were rightly suspicious of Paul, the one who had tried to destroy them in the past. Imagine his joy when he was accepted into the fellowship! And we, too, must accept others who want to share in the life of Christ, regardless of their past or how unworthy they may seem to us. God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9, KJV).
