unity

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” – Romans 16:20

In this current blog series (see posts one,  two, and three), I’ve tried to unpack Paul’s take on spiritual warfare as expressed in a single verse in Romans.

The above verse is a succinct expression of a larger theme in Romans: the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ. According to Paul, by distorting the gospel, the devil intended to provoke discord in the church.

Satan wants to limit the number of people trusting in Jesus because those who do become members of God’s family. They become part of Israel. But this isn’t political or ethnic; it’s spiritual. Regardless of one’s heritage or background, anyone can become a child of God through faith in Christ.

To account for the ingathering of the Gentiles, Paul broadens the scope of what makes up Israel. To the Jews, Israel was God’s nation; all the surrounding countries were under the dominion of gods and demons. But the gospel proclaims that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the way is open for anyone, anywhere, to join the family of God.

Satan doesn’t take this lying down; he fights the spread of the gospel throughout the world and hinders it however he can. The enemy also attempts to stifle the development of the gospel within the church. He promotes disharmony and ill will when Christians talk about the relationship of Jewish and Gentile believers. If the Lord welcomes Gentiles into His family, are they equal to those who were already there? Do Jewish and Gentile believers share the same status, or does one group enjoy superiority over others? By themselves, the questions aren’t wrong, but if they’re mishandled, they breed discontent and conflict.

The book of Romans argues for universal access to God through Christ and equal status before God in Christ. Paul wants the Roman Christians to understand these major implications of the gospel and then live them out by how they treat each other.

The devil’s assaults on the church are real, but, as Romans 16:20 promised, God will give His people victory. 

So spiritual warfare in Romans concerns the matter of Jews and Gentiles as members of God’s household.

Redeeming wayward Israel and restoring the nations to fellowship with God are the aims of the gospel. Through the sending of His Son, the Father worked to create one people under His care. This isn’t something Paul dreamed up; it was God’s plan from the beginning. The Old Testament foretells it. To illustrate the point, let’s consider two prophets: Hosea and Zechariah.

Hosea was one of the earliest prophets, conducting his ministry in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 700s BC. Sometimes, God calls prophets to do alarming things to grab people’s attention. To stress how unfaithful Israel had been to God, the Lord instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute and start a family with her. He obeyed, but, as Israel was disloyal to God, Hosea’s wife also drifted from him.

Speaking the word of the Lord, Hosea warns Israel about the judgment they will face for their spiritual adultery. But he also offers a note of hope.

“I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” – Hosea 2:23

Israel was so corrupted by idolatry and injustice that God allowed the Assyrians to invade in 722 BC. To keep them from rebelling against their new masters, the Israelites were forced out of their land and relocated elsewhere.

The situation for Israel seemed hopeless, but God, through Hosea’s prophecy, promised restoration.

Centuries later, the apostle Peter applied this verse to the salvation of the Gentiles.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:9-10

Verse 9 is a reference to Exodus 19:5-6, and verse 10 quotes Hosea 2:23. In their original context, these verses refer to Israel, but Peter is addressing Gentile Christians.

Peter didn’t misunderstand the Scriptures; he was universalizing them. Both groups need salvation. Israel was faithless and the Gentiles were ignorant of the true God. Neither one was in a good position.

But God intervened to rescue them. Not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone and through it, God creates His family. Through the church, Hosea’s prophecy finds fulfillment.

Toward the end of the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah conducted his ministry during the time of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The Jews had endured exile in Babylon for 70 years and during that time, the Persians conquered the Babylonians. The Persians gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem to reconstruct the temple and rebuild the walls of the city. But many of the Jews were half-hearted in their efforts, preferring to concentrate on their own affairs rather than the house of God.

So the Lord raised up prophets to urge the people to finish the task. Haggai and Zechariah were two of the main prophets during this period.

In the case of Zechariah, his prophecies covered a wide range of issues, including the salvation of the Gentiles that had harassed and mistreated the Jews.

“Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become My people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent Me to you.” – Zechariah 2:11

Israel is God’s people; the Gentiles weren’t. At least that’s what the Jews thought. And they had good reason to believe so. Yet Zechariah speaks of a future in which the nations of the world will become part of the people of God. Not plural; singular. A people. God has but one family.

This promise is realized in Christ. Paul contends for this truth in Romans, and the apostle John sees it in a vision in Revelation.

“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’” – Revelation 5:9-10

John witnesses heaven praising the Lamb of God for His saving work on the cross. By His sacrifice, people from all over the world take part in the role God established for Israel in Exodus 19:6.

We can see why Satan wars against the gospel and those who believe it. He strives to block as many souls as he can from coming to Jesus. And in the case of those who have, he tries to confuse their loyalty to Christ and corrupt their love for one another.

Salvation is a relational reality. Through Jesus Christ, Jews and Gentiles are being brought into the family of God. The invitation is for all; the Lord is forming “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). 

The devil balks at this prospect. Romans 16:20 reminds us of the relational reality of spiritual warfare. All believers, whether Jewish or Gentile, are called to bless one another and defend one another in the battles we face in this world.

The best way we can combat the enemy and honor the Lord Jesus is to walk in love. Let’s get going!