On Jews, Israel & the Church (Pt. 2): George Stoeckhardt’s Romans Commentary

Old Missouri Theologian George Stoeckhardt’s Commentary on Romans is a wealth of doctrine for our present, starved age of antinomian Lutheranism. One such application ripe for the correction of Christian thinking is a series of hilights regarding the Judaean people, Israel —both the nation and the typological concept found in Scripture —, and the Church Herself. Herein below you will find such a selection of hilights from Stoeckhardt’s Romerbrief demonstrating the Old Missouri teachings on these topics and more. This is the second part in a series regarding such.

For more on the topic of true Israel (i.e the Church Invisible) and the modern peoples called Jewish today read

• On Jews, Israel & the Church (Pt 1): George Stoeckhardt’s Romans Commentary
• “What makes our mission to the Jews so difficult?” Der Lutheraner Vol. 66, No. 24
• What Does it Mean to Stop Being a Jew? Pt 1

As elsewhere, the below excerpts are formatted with the exact verse in reference at the header, with the verses themselves underlined as original. Editorial emphasis is added with bolded letters. A short concluding comment follows.

X.3
The apostle for his own person desires, wishes and requests salvation for Israel. Nothing else would he rather have than that Israel should direct their zeal, which they revealed it an evil way and in an evil thing, in the establishment of work-righteousness, to a good thing, the righteousness of God, and so attain salvation. But the Jews by their ubelief hinder not only the fulfillment of his wish, the hearing of his prayer, but finally his intercession itself.

Christians also pray for the non-Christians, for their offenders and persecuters, pray that God should convert them. Nevertheless, in the measure the latter take offense at the Stumblingstone and harden themselves against God’s Word and the right knowledge, they withdraw their intercession until it cease altogether. “There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” I John 5,16. That is the sin, the condition or state of obduracy.

X.4
The apostle is right in accusing the Jews with punishable stupidity, for what he has just stated is indisputably the purpose of the sending of Christ. And that the Jews ignore. If they would only open their eyes and not wilfully close them to the clear light of the New Testament, to the publicly attested truth and fact concerning Christ’s fulfilling all righteousness, they would not again seek out the law and establish their own righteousness of God.

X.5
Many are of the opinion that the righteousness of the law was the way of salvation ordained by God in Old Testament times, the basis for the attainment of salvation, and that the righteousness of faith is the way of salvation first since the time of Christ, in New Testament times. With that Paul’s entire doctrine is overthrown. According to Pauline and Scriptural doctrine there is only one way to salvation for all men, at all times: that is faith and righteousness of faith. In Rom. 4 Paul pointed out in detail that Abraham was justified and received the inheritance not by the works of the law but by faith alone. And the same is true of David during the time after the giving of the law. At no time was it God’s intention to justify and save men through the law. Paul explicitly denies that the law was given for the purpose of saving men. Gal. 3, 21. Men who wished to be justified and saved before God by the works of the law follow their own thoughts.

Certainly, the law of Moses is the law of God. The Mosaic law reveals God’s eternal, unchangeable will. Everything that He has commanded in the law is His earnest demand of all men. And God has attached to the fulfillment of the law: life, salvation; to the transgression of the same: Curse, wrath, death, damnation. But all that to the purpose that man may know that he has not kept His commandments, that he confesses his sins and knows that he has merited curse and wrath, and that he then, despairing of the righteousness of the law, turns to the righteousness of faith.

X.16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. God had sent His messengers, who proclaimed salvation. But so many refused to accept and obey the Gospel, God’s message of salvation. Disobedence to the Gospel is nothing else than unbelief, as then faith is essentially obedience to the Gospel. Thus formally and solemnly, after having previously pointed to it, the apostle substantiates Israel’s unbelief, and as severe guilt. If the Jews lose salvation, the fault is their’s alone and not God’s. God has done and prepared all that is necessary for faith and salvation. He has given the Gospel and sent preachers. However, they did not and did not want to receive the Gospel of their salvation, which was preached to them at God’s commission.

The apostle confirms his judgment over Israel by the judgment which the prophet Isaiah long before pronounced over his people. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? Is. 53, 1. This report is the prophetic preaching, just such preaching as is contained in Isaiah 53, the preaching of the humiliation and exaltation of the Servant of God. In the expression “our report” the apostle joins himself to all the preachers of all times, who like himself testified of Christ, therefore, also to the apostles and preachers of the New Testament. But who has believed our preaching? No one, as good as no one, very few. It is a painful complaint which the prophet makes in the name of all the Gospel preachers. At the same time, this complaint is a severe accusation. From the days of Isaiah on unbelief, that they did not believe the preaching concerning Christ, is the mark of Israel.

X.17
Having spoken of the connection between faith, preaching, sending, the apostle adds these words in order to put the unbelief, the disobedience of the Jews into the most glaring light. By their unbelief they oppose that connection, the order of salvation established by God, and frustrate what God has done and prepared to bring man salvation.

X.18
But I say, Have they not heard? The apostle himself raises this objection. It did not remain unintelligible to them, did it? Having rebuked the unbelief, disobedience of the Jews, the apostle presupposes that the Jews have heard the message of Christ, the voices of God’s messengers. One can only expect faith of those who have heard the message. One can only reproach those with disobedience who have heard the Gospel. But has the apostle supposed too much? Have all the Jews really heard the Gospel? Have the Jews abroad, scattered throughout the heathen lands, remained without report and kowledge of Christ?

X.19
The apostle has removed all excuse for the unbelief of the Jews. Also the excuse that they had not heard the Gospel. The messengers of salvation followed after them unto the ends of the earth. But I say, Did not Israel know? Israel did not take to heart the time of her visitation. That was the severe guilt of the people. Luke 19, 42.44. Israel was lacking in the saving knowiedge of the Gospel. Paul does not simply write:”Israel did not know,” Rather: “But I say, It is not so that Israel did not know, is it?” It is unthinkable, unbelievable that Israel, the chosen people, to whom God from ages past had intrusted His word and promises, should ignore and leave unnoticed the message of the promises fulfillment, or despise and reject it. The apostle
is astonished and surprized and indignant over the undeniable, clear fact that Israel did not understand and believe the Gospel.

It is very surprizing that Israel did not understand and believe the Gospel. Yet one should not take offense at this. For the prophets already before proclaimed the unbelief of Israel, First Moses saith. The first who spoke of this was Moses, already Moses, with whom the Scriptures begin. I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I
will anger you. Deut. 32,21.

The Israelites had aroused God’s jealousy and displeasure by their idols and vanities, by praying to vain idols instead of to the living God. And so God through a foolish people, through a people which is not a people, not God’s people, in that He would turn His grace to them and accept them as His people, will make the Israelites jealous and angry. This foolish people, of which Moses speaks, which is not a people, is the ungodly heathen world. So here the conversion, pardoning of the heathen is prophesied. Stated not for its own sake, it appears as only the cause on account of which the jealousy, displeasure and wrath of Israel are inflamed. In this connection Moses prophesied of Israel’s future apostasy that finally brings down God’s wrath, which burns into the lowest part of hell. The Israelites are “a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.” Deut, 32,20. They forsook God and served idols. Their corrupt nature and disposition reached their climax when they begrudged the heathen God’s grace, when they took offense at God’s grace, which is freely offered to sinful, godless men. Thus Moses spoke of Israel’s unbelief, which he characterized as opposition to the Lord’s grace. Man does not want to know anything of the Gospel, because its sweet, comforting content is offensive to him, A clear example of this unbelief of the Jews is found in Acts 13, 42ff.

X.21
Here too the heathen are only mentioned for the sake of contrast, for the sake of the Jews. But to Israel he saith. Thus Paul calls attention to the contrast. This then pertains to the Jews: All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Is. 65, 2.

God continually, the whole day, spread out His hands towards Israel, in order to draw them unto Himself and embrace them. But Israel was an obstinate people. They did not wait to be told and opposed. Thus also Isaiah prophesies of Jewish unbelief. He regards it as obstinate, stiff-necked rejection of the lasting efforts of God’s love, as open opposition and protest against God’s gracious will. The Lord’s lament over Jerusalem, for example, shows the fulfillment of this prophecy. “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matt, 23,37. Yet also at the time of the apostle God spread out His arms to Israel, in that He attempted to soften their hard hearts through the heart-winning preaching of the Gospel and bore the vessels of wrath with great patience. The Jews, however, despised the riches of divine goodness, patience and longsuffering and frankly and freely declared: We are unwilling; we do not want to be saved.

That is true of the unbelievers of all times. What an abyss of malice unbelief is! To lost and damned men comes the eternal mercy, the open, loving arms of Him who bows to the sinners. And man forcibly withdraws himself from the loving arms of God and says to Him: “No, I do not want you.” Both Isaiah and Paul shamed the Jews by the example of the heathen and then bared Jewish unbelief in its entire shame and atrocity.

In fine brevem

A few points will aptly summarize. (1) As seen in Stoeckhardt’s comment on Romans IX.2 in part 1 of this series, (see link above) “a Christian always keeps his desires within the realm of possibility and the limits set by God” – this is reaffirmed in his masterful application of the verse I John 5,16 to Romans X.3. The ultimate point being, to hem and haw over the fact that the Jews have been cursed by God in their hardhearted, obdurate state and wish them be saved in spite of that fact is, in fact, sin. (2) Willingness and unwillingness are spoke of in frank terms that may be grating to Young Lutheran ears which are all too commonly tickled by the theological fact that God, indeed, works faith in us and by the Spiritus Sanctus we are sanctified; and yet, though it is God’s work to call His elect, we all each of us possess a negative duty as Christians to not be so unwilling as to refuse the free gift of unearned grace given us. (3) The apostasy of God’s once-chosen people is a fact well foreknown and shown throughout Scripture.