For as you previously did not believe in God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief,
Truth to Learn
We can obtain mercy from God when we believe Him.
Behind the Words
The grammatical construction that ties this verse with the following one is the use of the Greek word kai in both these verses. This word is most often translated as “and” or “also.” But in the case of these two verses, the use of kai in both verses represents a construction called “correlative conjunction.” That means that the ideas in the two verses are tied together. This is sometimes translated as “both … and …” Paul is going to show us that our ability to believe is a direct result of the Jews’ lack of belief.
The word translated “did not believe” is apeitheō, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and the verb peithō, meaning “to persuade.” So, literally, this word means “not to persuade.” When used in the passive voice, as it is in this verse, it means “not willing to be persuaded, not willing to believe, or unbelieving.” This really gives a different meaning to this verse. It could be translated as:
For as you were once unbelieving in God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unwillingness to believe.
“Mercy” is translated from eleeō, meaning “to have compassion” or “to show mercy.” This word is also expressed in the passive voice, so it means “to be shown compassion or mercy.”
Meaning Explained
In this verse and the next, Paul is going to show that the Jews who are now alienated from God will one day be restored. And, in a similar manner, we Gentiles were once alienated from God and are now under God’s blessing through the gospel message.
Let’s look at what the correlation is between these two verses. Paul says “For as you previously did not believe in God.” This refers to a time when the truths about God were delivered to and held by the Jews, and we Gentiles did not have the truth. And, since we didn’t have the truth, we didn’t believe in it. In the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas expressed it in these words,
(God) who in past generations allowed all nations to go their own ways, (Acts 14:16)
In other words, there was a time when we Gentiles did not believe in the one true God, therefore we walked in our own ways instead of God’s ways. The second half of the current verse goes on to say, “yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief,” that is, we who previously did not believe in God now can believe in God and walk in His ways. And our belief is a direct result of the unbelief of the Jews who rejected the Messiah when He first came.
In the next verse we will see the conclusion of how Paul is correlating these two verses.
Application
God has shown His mercy to us because the Jewish people did not believe the Messiah when He came. Now that He has come and paid for your sins with His blood, do you believe in Him? If so, does your lifestyle demonstrate it to others?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved