The God of Hope

A. The Resurrection of the Dead

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (ESV Rom. 8:23–25)

B. The Restoration of Israel

I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written… (CSB Rom. 11:25–26)

 “When Paul in his turn speaks of End-time redemption, he too recalls this ancient lineage going back to Noah: the gentiles’ plērōma means ‘all seventy nations.’ So too Paul’s evocation of the plērōma of Israel, pas Israēl: his phrasing recalls the patriarchal narratives, the lineage of Abraham passing through Isaac to Jacob and thence to Jacob’s twelve sons, the ‘fathers’ of Israel’s tribes. ‘All Israel’ conjures the full restoration of these twelve tribes, another traditionally eschatological event.” (Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle [New Haven: YUP, 2017], 161)

C. The Promises Given to the Patriarchs

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. (ESV Rom. 15:8–9)

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. (ESV Rom. 4:13)

D. Mercy to the Gentiles

… so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name.” [Ps. 18:49] 10 Again it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people!” [Deut. 32:43] 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples praise him!” [Ps. 117:1] 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will appear, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; the Gentiles will hope in him.” [Isa. 11:1] (CSB Rom. 15:9–12)

A. The Priestly Service

I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. God’s purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (CSB Rom. 15:16)

B. Paul’s Jewish Universalism

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles… 20 My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but, as it is written, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” [Isa. 52:15] (CSB Rom. 15:18–21)

It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” [Isa. 49:6] (ESV Acts 13:46–47)

C. Sharing in Israel’s Blessings

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. (ESV Rom. 15:25–27)

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. (ESV Rom. 11:17–18)

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (ESV Eph. 2:11–12)

 “That Paul was thinking of Israel as a discrete people marked out by its own ‘way of life’ also seems likely… Josephus, writing within a few decades of Paul, for example, could use the term to describe what happened when the Jewish high priest Hyrcanus annexed Idumea to Judea in the second century BC. Hyrcanus, he says, ‘altered their way of life [πολιτεία] and made them adopt the customs and laws of the Jews’ (Josephus, Ant. 15.254).” (Frank Thielman, Ephesians, BECNT [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010], 155–56)