Introduction

This is not the easiest chapter in the Bible as is shown by the fact that the church past and present has not reached a consensus on how to interpret it (particularly where Paul looks to the future of redemptive history). However, this chapter is very practical and presents us with some basic duties in light of God's blessing of the nations through Israel (cf. Gentiles like ourselves to Jews, Christians to non-Christians…). We are directed to the duties of humility, fear, and praise.

1A. The duty to be humble

It may seem odd to refer to humility as a duty. To some people you cannot try to be humble. To focus on your own humility is said to be a subtle variation of pride. In this line of thought, you cannot try to excel at being humble because humility is the opposite of trying to excel. It is the opposite, in this view, of being self-conscious about one’s humility. Instead, you must be meek and not think about how humble you are. There seems to be some truth in this way of thinking but I’m not sure what it is (perhaps: "don’t be proud of your humility").

However, Paul cites some characteristics that go with a lack of humility and tells us to avoid them. By putting off certain manifestations of pride, we put on a humble spirit. We have a command to desist from the opposite of a humble spirit (Rom.11:20, 25). In this chapter, Paul exhorts us to put off arrogance and conceit (or pride). Furthermore, he shows us how to do it. Let’s define the duty and then see how Paul paves the way to the doing of it.

1B. Defining the duty of a humble spirit

To begin definition, we can say that arrogance is glorying, exulting, or boasting in one's self to the injury of others. Part of the exhortation is "do not boast" (v. 18). This involves a way of treating others, a way of coming across, that expects the highest regard to ones self. It may be that we think our opinions are the only ones to be considered so we must have the last word. Things must go our way or those around us will have "heck to pay" in some way or another, say by self-assertive lecturing or by quarreling. The ideas and suggestions of others are thought inferior because they do not come from someone superior, namely, "umwah."

A way to detect pride and arrogance in yourself is to try to discern how others are made to feel. How do you make other people feel? This is a good question to ask in many contexts. It applies to common courtesy and hospitality, to making others feel at home in your home and in your presence. So you have to ask, "what can I do to help others feel welcome?" Pride hinders the spirit of hospitality. If we think about how others are affected by our conduct, it will help us detect a lack of humility in ourselves.

At Corinth, some were made to feel inferior. It is painful to be embarrassed. No one like’s that (you get hot under the collar, and wish to crawl under a rug). It is bad enough when we embarrass ourselves. But it is extremely biting to be made to feel ashamed, dumb, stupid, and of no account. And this is what arrogance, conceit, and pride convey to others around us. We should read our conduct in how it affects the feelings of others. Notice that I am emphasizing the feelings of others. Love for the neighbor means that you love the whole person; you consider their thoughts, their actions, and their feelings.

This is the duty: do not boast or glory in yourself and your status in life. Instead, you are to carry yourself in such a way that you do not insist on your own way or your own opinions to the emotional harm of those around you.

At Rome, the Gentiles tended toward pride in their status as the people of God over against the Jews who once had that status. This implies that they rejoiced not only in their own superiority but they rejoiced in the inferiority of the Jews. They became smug and self-righteous as they gloated with disdain toward the Jews over what came about in their fall (v. 19, "you will say then, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in'"; v. 18, "do not boast"; v. 25, you are not to be conceited). These characteristics manifest themselves in the attitude and speech that is brought to relationships. The attitude is conceit in the heart and the speech is self-adulation on the lips that denigrates others (directly raising self lowers others indirectly as directly lowing others as in destructive criticism raises oneself indirectly). Others are impacted, made to feel small, worthless, and unworthy to be in your presence. This is that bubble thing or radius that some exude and by which others feel uncomfortable to go within that radius.

These are matters of timing and discretion. If some of this occurs because of misunderstanding that is a minor problem but it is a serious breech of Christian virtue if I must characteristically have it "my way" and toot my own horn. In this light, I can only feel good about myself if I have my way because that goes with my need to feel important. This is a misguided attempt to gain personal dignity and a sense of self-worth.

2B. Paving the way to a humble spirit

Arrogance is countered by due recognition of our dependence on God. 1) Faith gives focus, v. 20. We might wonder why faith is cited here (you stand by faith; they are broken off in unbelief). It is because faith is a matter of dependence on God, of total dependence on Him and not on ourselves. The unbelief of Israel summarizes the fact that they did not seek God's righteousness by faith but sought to be righteous before God by something they did. So they put their trust in themselves. This is a rampant notion today, "trust yourself, you’re okay."

The mention of faith is not to direct us back to ourselves with the thought that something we did made us different from what the Jews did (you believed and they did not believe so you made the difference). But the accent is on dependence on God. True faith looks away from itself. It is God's gift so no one can boast (Eph. 2:8-9). The principle of faith is brought up in this context to humble us by reminding us that we stand by God's gift not our contribution to our salvation. We cannot be saved without faith. And God saves us by giving it to us. It all depends on God's faithfulness.

2) The root supports you (v. 18). Just as Israel became the people of God by God's gracious choice likewise the Gentiles are now grafted into the tree of God's covenant love by His gracious choice. This is the antidote to arrogance: consider how utterly dependent you are on the workings of the Lord in the history of redemption that has brought the gospel to you (as those formerly outside the covenant community) and that brought you to the gospel (giving you the gift of faith). These thoughts must be weighed. They must be eaten, digested, and assimilated. You have what you would not seek and did not seek; God called you; He introduced Himself to you and made you His child and servant.

Consider how dependent you are on God and you are on the first step to a humble spirit. Just think of what happens when you see yourself this way. Then when you look at others you will see them through different eyes; you will desire God's blessing on them (rather than rejoicing in their downfalls that lift your pride). You will be more in tune to their needs and feelings. No matter how ornery they may be, you will be more sensitive to their needs and feelings when you have a humble spirit cultivated by a deepening sense of dependence on the Lord Jesus.

At bottom it is a thoughtful awareness of our dependence on the Lord and our dependence on others in the Lord’s providence that is a central help against pride and the promotion of a humble spirit.

2A. The duty of fear

It is interesting to relate humility with fear as mutual duties. Those who make profession of Christian faith are to carry themselves with godly fear (v. 20, do not be arrogant but be afraid).

Such fear is rooted in consideration of God's severity and kindness (vs. 20-22). To appreciate the point made here we need to work through an obvious difficulty. The difficulty is contained in the warning: "continue or be cut off" (v.22; cf. v. 21, "he will not spare you either"). Let’s take this in steps.

1) First, consider the "who?" question. It is somewhat helpful to see this as a warning to professing believers who may in fact perish in their sin. But we cannot exclude actual believers from those addressed, from those who may exhibit wrong attitudes in various relationships. How do we absorb this warning as believers? It may apply one way to those who merely profess faith but how does it apply to those who actually possess faith?

2) Second, consider the "salvation" question. It cannot mean that believers are directed to fear losing their salvation by not keeping themselves on the pathway of faith. It cannot mean this because then we would be directed back to ourselves and to dependence on ourselves in the maintaining of our faith and its fruit of eternal life. But faith that saves eternally is given to us in God’s call when He reveals Himself to us (Rom. 10:20; Jn. 6:44-45; Eph. 2:8-9). All the called will be glorified (Rom. 8:30). He works in you to will and do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13) and He will finish the work He has begun (Phil. 1:6).

But then we have difficulty making sense of the warning that under certain conditions "you will be cut off."

3) Third, consider the "truth" question. How do we make sense of this warning? The warning is "you must continue in His kindness or you will be cut off" or "if you do not continue in His kindness, then you will be cut off" ("if you fail, then you will be cut off").

The question is "can this be a real warning if the stated result is impossible?" Think of it as a conditional statement, an "if…then." The "if part" is the antecedent and the "then part" is the consequent. A conditional statement (the whole) can be true even if the antecedent (the if part) is false. The statement: "if Joe believes in Christ, he will be saved" is true even if it is false that Joe believes. Try this yard work scenario: if I plant the tulips then my yard work will be complete. Everything else is done. The only thing that remains for me to do is to plant the tulips. So it is true, if I plant them, my Hanover street yard work will be complete. Notice that this statement would still be true even if it were impossible for me to plant the tulips, say, because I were exiled to Alaska.

Now to our text, it is impossible for the believer to step off the pathway of faith. But it is still true that if a believer steps off the pathway of faith, he will be cut off. The result is impossible because the antecedent is impossible. But the statement as a whole is true.

4) Fourth, consider the "impact" question. How does this work out? It is important that a Christian say to himself, "if I do not continue on the pathway of faith, I will be cut off from the covenant love of God." This is like being on a bridge across a cavern and looking at the jagged rocks below, and saying "if I do not continue on this bridge, I will be cut to pieces on the rocks below."

Now the issue of fear comes into full light. What happens when you look at the rocks below and consider the extreme danger of departing from the bridge of safety? You will fear the danger and you will cling more firmly to the bridge.

Paul tells us to look at the rocks and the extreme danger that awaits those who do not stay on the bridge. Consider the severity and sternness of God (Rom.11:22) and continue in His kindness knowing full well what would happen to you if you were to stray from the pathway of faith. Look at the conditional in all its truth. Note fully what would happen to you if you were to discontinue your walk in God’s kindness: you would be cut off (Personal: "If I do not abide, I will be cut off under a firm hand of severity!"). The impact of this consideration is that it causes us to cling to Christ all the more, to cling to Him with fear and respect as the bridge of safety.

I have a fear of electricity. That means I respect it with great respect. I didn’t always shut off the power to work on connections as I usually do now. A few years ago I was working on the wiring of lights in an office. I stood on a ladder with my hands extended above the ceiling tiles to reach the wiring; there was a small scaffold behind me and a number of people were working at desks around me. I got a jolt that knocked me out. I fell backwards and woke up in a seated position on the scaffold. The secretaries ran over because they heard me yell and fall backward. I suppose I was disconnected from the electricity by the dead weight of my body. I am thankful that I was not injured. And from that time to the present, I remember the danger and I have great respect for electricity. By analogy, this illustrates how the Lord would have us remember the danger, remember the severity of the Lord.

This means that the gospel of the kingdom, of the new covenant, must be embraced by the obedience of faith. It means that you must endure in faith to the end in order to be saved. And the promise is that you will so endure because God is working in you to will and to do of His good pleasure, because He will glorify those He calls to faith. Within that big picture this text directs us to have godly fear, fear of God, fear as we view the reality of His severity and to say: "I must continue in faith, I must persevere, I must hang on come wind and high water."

But consider how warmly this is put: it is a matter of continuing in His kindness. So you must say to yourself: I must continue with fear in His kindness. What a job (in His kindness)! What a duty! How do you remain in His kindness? Is it by staying on His good side, by not being disobedient? That’s part of it. But it is by relishing His kindness and taking up the rich storehouse of covenant fellowship by meditation, prayer, and communion with the saints. You do so by considering the history of redemption and by facing squarely His severity and hardening of some and His saving and softening of others. So note the marvelous words, "but kindness to you" (v. 22).

The true Christian looks at the kindness and the severity of God with deep respect and high regard for the sovereignty of God. He sees God's outstretched hands. He sees the hardening of Esau, Pharaoh, and the Israelites. He knows that he has been blessed by grace alone without contributing a thing to the equation. So he humbles himself before God with godly fear and respect.

He is like a child who observes his father take the rod to those who deserve it and spank the dickens out of them. He sees this and considers it respectfully. He also observes his father spare the rod to others who deserve it. He cannot figure out why it is one way then another. His father shows just severity and wise kindness. Likewise, the Christian sees himself as one who deserves the rod, deserves severity, but has been shown kindness. It is unexpected, unsought, not asked for, but nonetheless given by grace and mercy. These thoughts help us cultivate godly fear.

3A. The duty of praise

Where does it all end? It all comes to doxology. These thoughts generate a humble fear before the sovereign Lord of the church. "O, Lord, I entrust myself to you. I am not worthy to be your son or daughter but here I stand by faith through grace. I see your just severity; I know your wise kindness. Now I am brought to my knees, to trembling knees, to worshipping knees, to love and adoration seasoned with gratitude and respect.

It is important to note that the doctrines of election, the covenant, and redemptive history lead to one place ultimately: to worship and praise (humble, fearful, awe filled worship).

We should note where all the concentration centers in the doxology (vs. 33-36). Every word points to and exalts God. There are three lines that converge here.

1) First, His attributes and actions are accented in their depth. What He does with sinners, what He has done with Israel, what He is doing with the nations, and what He will yet do as He fulfills His saving objectives in riches yet to come for Israel and the nations, is beyond our capacity to fully comprehend. Sovereign mercy and severity comes about by rich, unsearchable, and incomprehensible wisdom, knowledge, and judgments.

Man’s inability throws God’s greatness into bold relief. Who has known His mind fully? No one! Who has been God's counselor? No one! There must be a humble use of logic before God.

To whom is God a debtor? No one! This accents His sovereign freedom. He is the "I am" who maintains His existence from eternity to eternity without any necessary reference to anyone outside of Himself. He is independent and free in the bestowal of grace. It must be free grace for it arises totally from within Himself.

2) Second, everything is placed at His feet. All of creation, all of history, and all the history of every created fact from beginning to end has its origin, maintenance, and purpose in Him. He is originator, sustainer, and designer of all. He is Himself the great end of creation, of all things in all historical unfolding.

3) Third, the ultimate conclusion is reached: "To Him be the glory forever." The glory refers to all glory in an ultimate sense (all superior, all final, all pure, all perfect glory). "Be" tries to capture the fact that it is His; it belongs to Him; it will be manifest and acknowledged.

Fear God and give Him glory. This is the chief end of man. Humble yourself before Him in fear and worship giving Him praise, honor and glory now and forevermore!