“It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.”
~ Romans 15:27~

Rightly dividing the word of truth is a precise skill done by the workman that studies God’s Word. Cutting straight entails dividing that which is to be separated; however, it requires not chiseling hap hazardously. To use study to nick the word of truth where it isn’t needed is to form a cleavage in our minds of truth that isn’t authored by God, but by our choppy handling.

Cutting straight entails dividing that which is to be separated; however, it requires not chiseling hap hazardously.

Handling God’s Word with this meticulous accuracy is both simple and complex. Simple, due to the “sound words” and their “form” already given by God demanding only our identification of them. Complex, because of the infirmity, that when something doesn’t make sense to our mind we frequently wind up making the wrong sense of it. We have thoughts produced by one passage, but not checked by another: the result is a shoddy understanding.

Rightly dividing the word of truth not only forms a proper dispensational understanding, but it is the skill used with any and all of God’s words. All of God’s Word has some dispensational placement, but not all is dispensational in substance. Many right dividers only exercise this tool upon texts that are dispensational in context and ignore its use upon “all scripture”.

The deficiency of wielding God’s tool of study upon the entire word of truth results in shameful want, specially concerning certain texts.

Romans 15:27 is one such text where many cut where cutting isn’t needed to their own detriment. In Romans 9-11 Paul sets forth the Gentiles dispensational identity in view of Israel’s “fall”, “accursed from Christ”, and “blinded”; that is, “salvation is come unto the Gentiles” and “reconciled”, a status the nations hadn’t possessed since their infancy back in Genesis. In view of God’s unsearchable judgments the Gentiles have access to “salvation” and “justification” through Israel’s fall. Paul then gets to the end of his letter to the Romans and says this,

“It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.”

The Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things. It says what it means, and means what it says. Gentiles have been made partakers of the poor saints at Jerusalem’s spiritual things. It is common for many right dividers to conjure up some reason this doesn’t say what it says, thus dividing God’s Word where He doesn’t – how shameful!

When we understand “their spiritual things” we come to appreciate that God doesn’t need to provide super-spiritual things for the Gentiles. God’s “spiritual things” to Israel are sufficient for us as well. O course, God literally had to reconcile the world for us to partake in them at this time; however, we need not reject this fact nor presume ignorance for the sake of easing our confusion. Their spiritual things are very glorious and we are to be thankful partakers of them today. In truth, you can have no part with God today if you do not partake – so refuse you may, but to your own shame and belly. Do you know what these spiritual things are? Do you partake in them?

Look Up,

Josh Strelecki, Pastor-Teacher