Romans 9 - Part 1

Romans 9:1–5 ESV

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

What changes in the tone between Ch 8 & Ch 9?

Notice how Paul now defends what he is going to say - it is the truth in Christ, and the Holy Spirit. He is in anguish, and hurting over the Jews rejection of Christ and the Gospel. It just goes to show how much passion Paul has towards them and the desire for their salvation! Paul pleads for his people to trust him. The Jews called Paul a false prophet and a liar. Why? He was now proclaiming God’s love and salvation for all men instead of just for the Jews. To the traditional Jew, Paul was a heretic. He was a man who was to be utterly distrusted. They hated and despised him and wanted to kill him and do away with his message. Despite the rejection and ill treatment from the Jews, Paul still loved his kinsmen, and he sensed a deep urgency for them to grasp the truth. Their salvation was of such concern that he swore his concern by three things: Christ, his conscience, and the Holy Spirit. Paul was forcibly saying, “I am not lying.

I WISHED I could take on the sin (accursed, or to be separated from God) of my fellow Jews so they could be saved! His concern was not that their sinful ways be approved, but that they come to know the truth; for without the truth, they will be lost and doomed. He could be willing to swap his salvation for their doom if it would lead to their salvation. Paul felt the deepest emotion, love, and concern for his people. Paul was speaking from an evangelistic fervor, not from a theological view. He was immersed in emotion, just as so many of God’s people sometimes become over loved ones who are lost. Many have been so immersed in emotion that they have offered to swap their salvation for a loved one. Sometimes the Spirit of God works in the hearts of God’s people to strain and suffer through intense prayer for the salvation of lost souls, and sometimes the strain and intensity of prayer is so deep that a believer could wish one extreme (his own salvation) for the other extreme (the salvation of loved ones).

Wow, how different would evangelism look today if we took the same interest and had the same desire as Paul to see our fellow Americans saved? Isn’t Paul’s concern the picture of the love of Christ? Willing to die so that his kinsmen (Jews) could live.

What set apart the nation of Israel?

Paul had just declared his great love for Israel; now he assures them of his respect. He did not deny their place in the plan and purposes of God. He knew they were a greatly privileged people, a people who had been highly favored by God. They were adopted into the family of God through His choice. They were chosen. The name itself, Israel, means a prince with God or one who rules with God. The name itself shows the manner of relationship God has with His chosen nation. Because they had been chosen, they also had been privileged. It is a privilege to follow Christ, to be a Christian, just as with the Jews being chosen. We are followers and disciples of Christ - and we must be careful not to take that lightly nor do something that brings shame to the Lord’s name.

Not all citizens of Israel believed God, and being adopted into God’s family has always been by genuine faith. In order to be a true child of God it has always been necessary for a person to believe in God, entrusting his whole being into God’s keeping. Believers, too, have the glorious privilege of being adopted by God through faith. The Jews had the privilege of the glory of God, that is, the Shekinah Glory. The Shekinah Glory was the brilliant light which descended into the midst of God’s people when God was visiting His people. It symbolized God’s glorious presence and was revealed in the form of a cloud.

Believers have seen “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Believers are the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

This means two significant things.

It is a terrible thing to possess the light and the glory of God and not to share it with those in darkness.

It is a terrible thing to be in darkness and to see light off in the distance and not follow after it. There is absolutely no excuse for seeing the glory of God and failing to follow it.

The Jews had the privilege of the covenants. A covenant is an agreement made between two parties; a contract drawn up between two or more people; a special relationship set up and established between persons. Note the plural is used: covenants. God made several covenants with Israel. There was …

• the covenant with Noah after the flood (Ge. 9:9f)

• the covenant with Abraham (Ge. 12:1f; 15:18; 17:4f)

• the covenant of law made at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:5; 24:8; 34:10; De. 29:1f)

• the covenant with David (2 S. 7:16)

• the covenant of grace (He. 8:8–13)

The point to note is the great love of God. He did not reach out for man only once and then leave man to his doom. God reached out to man time and again. God sought man at every opportunity, seeking to establish a relationship with him.

The Jews had the privilege of the law. They did not just have the ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but they had the whole law of God. By law is simply meant the will of God written down. Through the centuries God simply had Moses and His messengers write out His will so that man would always know exactly how to live.

One of the great tragedies of human life is for a person to know that something is right and not do it. Yet, this is the daily life of man. It may be a simple matter of consuming something that damages his body or the more serious matter of cursing God’s name. No matter what the transgression is, man stands guilty. He is inexcusable, for he has the law of God, and he has had God’s law for centuries. Man knows how to live in love and justice. No greater indictment could exist than the charge: “There is none righteous, no, not one”

The Jews had the privilege of true worship and of the true service of God. They had …

• the true temple

• the true ordinances of God

• the true priests, prophets, and messengers of God

• the true approach to God

• The Jews had been given every opportunity and privilege to approach God, and even more, to understand and grasp the person of God Himself. The Jews were greatly privileged. While other people stumbled and wandered about in the darkness of false worship, creating gods within their own imaginations, the Jews had access to God Himself, access to the only true and living God. They had the opportunity to establish a personal relationship with God.

What was held against Israel?

To have the opportunity to know God personally, but to turn one’s back and walk away. However, there is an even greater offense than this. How much greater is the offense when a person knows the true approach to God and does not share it.

Believers know the truth; they know the way to God. Therefore, they must share the glorious message of the only living and true God. Note two significant facts.

(1) Many know the truth; they know the true approach to God, yet they refuse to enter His presence. The tragic fact is this: God does not close the door to them; they shut the door upon themselves.

(2) The blood of the lost is upon the hands of the believer. Why? Because the way to God and the means to proclaim the message to the world has existed for some time. Yet, we have failed to go into the world and share the lifesaving news. There is no one to blame but us.

The Jews had the promises of God. God had shared with them all of His blessings and He had given them the hope for which a man’s soul craves. He had shared with them the plan and destiny for which He had created man. When man sinned and turned away from God, it was to the Jews that God gave

• the promise of the Savior.

• the promise of the world as an inheritance

• all the glorious promises stretching from Genesis to Revelation.

Three things are essential when dealing with the promises of God, three things which so many within Israel failed to do.

(1) We must not stagger at the promises of God.

(2) We must fear lest we come short of His promises.

(3) We must steadfastly look for the promise of the new heavens and earth.

The Jews had the privilege of the fathers and their heritage. Their ancestors had been the primary recipients of the promises between God and man. They had the tradition and the history.

It is a sad thing for a person to have a godly heritage (parents, friends, teachers, schooling, etc.) and go astray. The Jews had the privilege of the Messiah coming from their roots. This was the most glorious privilege of the Jews. It involved being the very people

• through whom God was to send His Son

• through whom God was to bless the world

Note that Paul declares both the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ. He came in the “flesh,” but He “is over all, God blessed forever.”

A person’s attitude and response toward Jesus Christ determine his eternal destiny.

Romans 9:6–13 ESV

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Who/What had failed?

God’s Word, His promise, has not failed. God made a glorious promise to Abraham, a promise that had two major points. If Abraham would follow God …

• then God would give him a seed, a son through whom a great nation would be born. He would become the father of a great host of people.

• then God would cause all nations to be blessed through his seed.

Scripture says that Abraham did exactly as God said. He believed God with all his heart and followed God not knowing where God would lead him.

All the promises in Scripture are based upon this single promise to Abraham; that is, if the promise made to Abraham is voided and done away with, then all the promises of God’s Word are invalid. God’s Word and His promises will have failed. In light of this there are two things that make some people think the Word of God has failed.

What is said about the faithfulness of Israel?

First, Israel rejected God’s Son, Jesus Christ, when God sent Him to earth. Ever since that day, very few Jews have turned and followed Christ. Where is the nation that God promised Abraham?

Second, the Gentiles are the ones who are following God through His Son Jesus Christ, not the Jews. Therefore, it looks like God has turned from Israel to the Gentiles.

These two facts cannot be denied. They are a fact of history. How then can God’s Word and promise to Abraham ever be fulfilled? Have God’s Word and promise failed? Is God’s Word now invalid?

Forcefully, Paul declares that God’s Word has not failed. God’s Word and the promises of it are effective and still valid. God is fulfilling His promise to Abraham: a nation is being born to Abraham, a nation which is the true Israel and the true children of God.

“The Word of God shall stand forever” (Is. 40:8).

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Mt. 5:18).

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Lu. 21:33).

How did Israel, and how do we receive the promise?

“Therefore it [the promise] is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (Ro. 4:16).

The true children of God are not members of a particular race or institution: “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” Many Jews believed they were children of God because they were …

• born in the nation of Israel as an Israelite

• reared in the Jewish religion

The Jewish people reverenced God and His law and were known as a God-fearing and religious people. Therefore, a Jew felt he was a child of God by being a citizen of Israel and a circumcised member of Judaism. Many Jews felt that God’s promise to Abraham meant that every citizen of the nation of Israel was a child of God as long as he was circumcised and half-way practiced the religion of Judaism.

The same thoughts have been thought by peoples of the world. Many believe they are Christians because they are citizens of a so-called Christian nation or Christian institution. They think they are acceptable to God because they profess belief in God and have been baptized, becoming a full fledged member of some church. Such, of course, is just not so. A person does not become a child of God by being …

• a citizen of a particular nation, no matter what nation it is nor how good and benevolent the nation is

• a member of a particular religion or institution, no matter how true and godly the religion or institution may be

Being a citizen of a great Christian nation and being a member of a great church does not make a person a child of God. It is not an earthly nation or a material church that makes a person acceptable to God.

The true children of God are not of any particular parentage or heritage: “Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children.” As stated, many Jews felt they were children of God because they were children of Abraham, one of the great servants of God. They rested …

• in the godliness of Abraham, feeling that his godliness would cover them

• in the promises made to Abraham, thinking that the promises made to him would include them

Many Jews believed that they were children of God because of their godly heritage. They trusted in the fact that their parents and so many others in their roots (genealogies) worshipped the God of Judaism. They considered themselves to be children of godly forefathers; therefore, they professed to believe in God no matter what kind of lives they lived.

Some are trusting their godly heritage to save them. Too many are trusting godliness to rub off on them—to rub off from …

• their godly parents

• their godly brothers and sisters

• the godly minister

• their godly spouse

• their godly friends

What mistakes might we make if we do not take the full counsel of gospel?

Few think that God will really reject them. They think that in the final analysis God will accept them. They think that enough godliness will rub off on them from some godly heritage, person, or institution for God to accept them.

The children of God are the believers of God’s promise. There is the proof of Scripture, of God’s Word and promise to Abraham: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”. When God gave this promise to Abraham, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael had been born through a slave-girl, Hagar. For decades Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had been unable to bear a child. Sometime after her childbearing years had passed, Sarah insisted Abraham attempt to have a son for her through her personal slave, Hagar. It was from this physical union that Ishmael was born. However, it was only a few years later that God appeared to Abraham and told him that Sarah was to bear the child of promise, the very child whom God had promised to Abraham when He first called Abraham.

The point is twofold.

The children of the flesh are not the children of God’s promise. The birth of Ishmael was due to man’s effort. He was born because Sarah and Abraham were trying to secure the “promise” by their own works. Ishmael was entirely the product of natural, human, carnal, and fleshly plans. Abraham and Sarah were trying to bring about the promise of God by their own efforts and works. God had absolutely nothing to do with Ishmael’s birth.

Ishmael represents all who seek the promise of God—that is, to become children of God—by their own fleshly works and efforts.

The children of the promise are counted for the seed. Isaac was the child whom God had promised to Abraham. This means three things.

⇒ The promised child is the “seed” through whom the promise was to be fulfilled.

⇒ The promised child was born miraculously by the grace of God. Abraham and Sarah were about one hundred years old, well beyond child-bearing years, when Isaac was born (Ro. 4:19).

⇒ The child of promise was born through faith (He. 11:11).

A person becomes a child of God through faith in the promises of God. A child of the promise is a person who believes the promise of God, a person who …

• does not seek to secure the promise by his own efforts and works.

• follows through on his belief, waiting upon God to fulfill His promise.

What purpose do we see with the comparison of Esau and Jacob?

There is the proof of Scripture, of God’s Word and promise to Rebecca: “The elder shall serve the younger”

A striking and decisive proof of God’s election is seen in the choice of Jacob over Esau. Also, a striking proof that salvation is solely by the grace of God and not by the works and goodness of men is seen in the two sons. Note three facts.

The promise to Rebecca was given before Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob’s character, behavior, ability, works, and parents had nothing to do with God choosing him. God and God alone chose Jacob to be the child of promise. Jacob’s choice was not by his own personal efforts but by the grace of God.

The promise was by election, not because of “any good or evil” of the children. Unquestionably, when we accept Scripture for what it says, our minds stagger at this argument. But there is one great truth that must always be remembered: neither Jacob nor Esau deserved mercy. Neither one deserved being chosen by God for anything. No man deserves mercy or purpose from God. God does not have mercy on a man because a man deserves or merits mercy nor because a man wills or runs after God. God has mercy upon a man because He is a merciful God.

Election, being children of the promise, is not of works, but of God who calls men to salvation. The point is this. Paul is using the two children to get across the same point he stressed with Isaac: a true child of God is not a person who …

• belongs to a particular race or institution

• belongs to a particular family or heritage

• works to secure the promise through his own plans and efforts

God is merciful and He is love—absolutely so. Therefore, God has predestined a line of people to receive His promise of glory. Back in antiquity God chose Jacob, showing His mercy to Jacob. He chose Jacob to continue the line through whom He could send the Savior into the world and through whom He could fulfill all the promises of God to man. The fact that God chose Jacob for the line does not mean in any sense of the word that He condemned Esau for hell.

“Esau I hated.” This does not mean to hate in the sense of despising. It is merely a deliberate decision on the part of God for Jacob to be the child of promise instead of Esau. There is no personal feeling involved. Esau had done no wrong to merit God’s disapproval. Neither had Jacob done any good to merit God’s approval. It is merely the right of God to choose Jacob over Esau. It is critical to note that God was always choosing the younger son over the oldest son throughout the Old Testament. He did so for a specific purpose: God was illustrating that man was to receive His promises by grace. Man’s law and efforts gave the inheritance to the oldest son; therefore, God chose the younger son over the oldest. God overruled man’s law and efforts by giving the promise and inheritance to the younger son, for the younger son was not appointed by men to receive it nor did he deserve it. He received the promise and the inheritance only by the mercy and grace of God. Note this also: God’s choice of Jacob was not a question of personal salvation, but of God’s purpose being settled before they were born.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. Romans. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996. Print. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.