Unlimited: Life from the Dead
May 25, 2023 521
For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15).
Just as Christ died, so too, the Jews were “dead in their sins.” In the same way, their acceptance of Christ is like his resurrection. Although it seems as if there is no hope, it is “life from the dead” for them. This is the phrase he used in Rom. 4:17, which refers to the operation of righteousness through faith.
Translators have added verbs and a prepositional phrase into this verse to force it to conform to their own theological prejudices. A literal translation from the Greek is:
for if the casting away of them a reconciliation of the world, what the reception — if not life out of the dead?
Although it seems as if there is no hope, it is “life from the dead” for them.
As you can see, a key addition that translators make is that there is no future tense in the Greek of this verse at all. There is no future acceptance of the Jewish people beyond the reconciliation that Christ brought into the world through the Cross. Furthermore, there is no future salvation event of the Jews that overshadows the reconciliation of the Cross.
In fact, Jesus himself, as he looked forward to his second coming, never expected to find all of national Israel concerted and believing in him. Instead, he said,
when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8.)
Spiritual Application
Has Jesus brought “life out of the dead” in your life? How will you personally respond to Jesus’ question in Luke 18:8?
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