Are we as welcoming as God is?

Apr 04, 2025

TDW Stack | Newsletter | Apr 4 2025

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Things We May Forget

Romans 2:11
“There is no partiality with God.”

What a beautiful statement!

Except - in the context where it is found, the statement is meant as a reprimand or a warning.

Paul was speaking to Christians who were making a distinction between themselves and “those people over there”.

They had passed judgment on those who were guilty of certain sins, but they forgot they, themselves, had been guilty of those sins and might be guilty of some sin right then!

As we talked about last week, mankind has a learning problem. We tend to think we are exempt from the negatives in life because we see ourselves as a group set apart or because we are better than those who went before us.

So, we are very thankful to think that God is not partial between any of us within our specific group, but we don’t allow for God to be even handed with people outside of that group.

We expect that everyone who does not have a certain label will be dealt with harshly while we will be nurtured and pampered after a fashion.

Take a look at something I stumbled on in the Isaiah study we’re doing in the By the Book Bible Study right now. Think through this with me.

Isaiah 19:24-25
“In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’”

Blessed is Egypt My people.

[Blessed is] Assyria the work of My hands.

[Blessed is] Israel My inheritance.

Wait a minute!

What?

God claims Egypt as His people?

God says Assyria, the nation that will take the Northern Kingdom into captivity, is the work of His hands?

How does this fit with Israel being God’s chosen people?

God has always said that all men can have access to Him.

A thread that flows throughout the Bible is that God will always bring in anyone who chooses to follow Him. That’s the only prerequisite. Faith in God that leads one to obedient behaviors that reflect walking in God’s will rather than your own (Rom. 1:1-7; Eph. 2:3-10; Titus 2:11-15).

Israel forgot that.

We forget that.

We get so wrapped up in the abundance of blessings of being separate from the destruction of the world by being a part of God’s kingdom (His church), we forget that God loves ALL of those people who haven’t come to Him yet. He desires that ALL of them would come to Him, even though He knows they will not (1 Tim. 2:4).

We forget that while we are to abhor evil (Rom. 12:9) we are to see the soul as one worthy of fighting for through the tough fights (Jude 1:17-25; Mt. 9:11-13).

We forget that we are supposed to remember what we were while “forgetting” it as we reach toward what God has made us (Phil. 3:12-16; Rom. 6:1-7; James 1:1-27).

Examples of Outsiders God Welcomed In

Just as a quick reminder, consider these examples from scripture.

Melchizedek - the King of Salem who was also “a priest of the God Most High” (Genesis 14:18).
Jethro - Moses’ father-in-law who was the priest of Midian (Ex. 2:16; Ex. 18)
Rahab - a harlot in Jericho who had great faith in the God of Israel (Josh.2:1-21; 6:22-25; Mt. 1:5; Heb. 11:31)
Ruth - a Moabite woman who became part of the lineage of Christ (Ruth)
Cornelius - a devout Roman soldier in Caesarea (Acts 10-11:26; 15:6-11)

That’s enough to make the point.

I’d like to make this a conversation.

Help me to gather verses on both sides of this topic and see what we can learn from studying the thread.

What verses point to our special relationship with God?

What verses point to that special relationship not being exclusive?

Let’s talk about those verses, how they make us see our relationship with Him, and how that impacts our view of other people.