Romans 9.1-Paul Appeals To Christ And The Holy Spirit As Witnesses To The Sincerity Of His Love For Unregenerate Israel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 12, 2009
Romans: Romans 9:1-Paul Appeals To Christ And The Holy Spirit As Witnesses To The Sincerity Of His Love For Unregenerate Israel
Lesson # 291
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 9:1.
This evening we will study Romans 9:1 and in this passage the apostle Paul appeals to Christ and the Holy Spirit as witnesses as to the veracity of his statements in Romans 9:2-3, which expresses his sorrow and grief regarding unregenerate Israel and love toward that nation.
Let’s read the first paragraph in the chapter and then concentrate on verse 1 for the rest of the evening.
Romans 9:1-5, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
The common practice of the Greek language was that each clause be connected with the preceding by some connective word and the term for the lack of such a connective is “asyndeton.”
“Asyndeton” is a vivid stylistic feature that occurs often for emphasis, solemnity, or rhetorical value (staccato effect), or when there is an abrupt change in topic.
Thus, it is found, for example, with commands and exhortations, put forth in rapid succession, sentences in a series, sentences unrelated to each other/topic.
“Asyndeton” is employed here by Paul in Romans 9:1 where he does not use a conjunction to connect it with Romans 8:39 in order to emphasize with his readers that he intended his words to be read with solemn emphasis.
It also denotes that a new subject is being introduced.
However, this new subject is still connected to Paul’s statements in Romans 1-8.
Paul’s use of the figure of “asyndeton” does mean that Romans 9-11 is a parenthesis or excursus but rather these chapters are a continuation of Paul’s argument for justification by faith and are necessary part of his argument for justification by faith.
In Romans 1-8, Paul presents the great spiritual truths or doctrines of the Christian faith and then in Romans 9-11, he demonstrates how these doctrines or spiritual truths apply to God’s dealings with Israel in the past, present and future.
Paul’s use of “asyndeton” is also for rhetorical effect to draw his readers into his argument that appears in Romans 9-11.
Also, this figure expresses his great emotion and love for the nation of Israel.
Notice the great contrast between Paul’s celebratory statements in Romans 8:31-39 with his anguish and sorrow expressed in Romans 9:1-5.
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.”
Paul attracts his reader’s attention by not only using the figure of “asyndeton” but also by forcefully proclaiming his sincerity by expressing it positively “I am speaking the truth” and negatively “I am not lying.”
His positive assertion is confirmed by the prepositional phrase “in Christ,” which refers to the code of Christ who is truth and which code is truth.
His negative assertion is confirmed by his conscience by means of the Holy Spirit (“in the Holy Spirit”) meaning that his conscience is governed by the holy standards of the Spirit.
These two prepositional phrases are an implicit appeal to both Christ and the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses as to the veracity of his statements in verses 2 and 3.
Paul does this in other places where he not only appeals to Christ and the Spirit as witnesses but also the Father as well.
2 Corinthians 11:31, “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.”
The apostle is expressing in solemn, emphatic terms his sincere concern for the nation of Israel since he had a reputation among the Judaizers of being a great enemy of the nation of Israel by teaching both Jew and Gentile that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone and by not by works of the Law.
He is also speaking in such a solemn and emotional manner since he wants his readers to know for certain that the nation of Israel is near and dear to his heart.
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.”
“I am telling” is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb lego (levgw) (leg-o), which means, “to speak” and refers to the content of what Paul communicates in Romans 9:2-3.
“The truth” is accusative feminine singular form of the noun aletheia (a)lhvqeia) (al-ay-thi-a), which means “truth” in a subjective sense referring to sincerity and integrity of character that is in harmony with divine truth.
The word is used in the emphatic position in the sentence emphasizing this sincerity and integrity of character of Paul that is in harmony with divine truth as manifested in the person of Christ and communicated through the Holy Spirit.
“In Christ” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative masculine singular form of the proper name Christos (xristov$), “Christ.”
Since Paul’s emphasis with the prepositional phrase en Christo is an implicit appeal to Christ as a witness to the veracity of his statements in verses 2 and 3, the preposition en functions as a marker of “rule” and Christos as a “dative of rule.”
A “dative of rule” takes place when a dative substantive specifies the rule or conduct a person follows or the standard of conduct to which he or she conforms.
This indicates that Paul’s statements in verses 2 are “in conformity with” or “in accordance with” the standard of his union with Christ and of Christ Himself, namely truth.
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
With this prepositional phrase he is saying that I am speaking the truth “in accordance with” or “in conformity to” the standard of Christ who is the absolute truth of God incarnate and which standard is truth.
It means that Paul is speaking according to a code of conduct that is based upon Christ Himself, the truth of God incarnate.
This implies that he is writing while consciously aware of his position in Christ and that he is in the presence of Christ and is thus in fellowship with Christ.
It also implies that he is accountable to Christ and that he is writing with the authority delegated to him by Christ and that his statements in verses 2 and 3 were as true as if Christ Himself were making them.
Therefore, all of this makes it impossible for him to lie and thus ensures the fact that what he says in verses 2 and 3 is truthful.
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.”
“My conscience” is composed of the dative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv), “my” and the articular genitive feminine singular form noun suneidesis (suneivdhsi$) (soon-i-day-sis), “conscience.”
Warren Wiersbe writes, “Conscience is that inner faculty that indicates to us whether our actions are right or wrong, according to the standards within our hearts…Conscience is not the law; conscience bears witness to the law. Conscience is not the standard; conscience bears witness to the standard. In different parts of the world there are different standards. Let me illustrate this. When the British took over India as part of their empire, they found some practices that simply had to be abolished. One of these practices was to burn the widow of a deceased man on the funeral pyre. The British issued a law abolishing this practice. One of the religious leaders among the Indian people came to a British leader and said, ‘Our conscience tells us that the widow must be burned.’ And he responded, ‘And our conscience tells us that if you do it, we’ll hang you!’ That gives the difference, doesn’t it? Conscience can guide us aright if we have the right standard.” (Real Peace, pages 92-93).
John A. Witmer writes, “Conscience is an important part of human nature, but it is not an absolutely trustworthy indicator of what is right. One’s conscience can be ‘good’ (Acts 23:1; 1 Timothy 1:5, 19) and ‘clear’ (Acts 24:16; 1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; Hebrews 13:18), but it can also be ‘guilty’ (Hebrews 10:22), ‘corrupted’ (Titus 1:15), ‘weak’ (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12) and ‘seared’ (1 Timothy 4:2). All people need to trust the Lord Jesus Christ so that the ‘blood of Christ’ might ‘cleanse [their] consciences’ (Hebrews 9:14).” (Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament Edition, page 446).
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.”
“Testifies with me” is composed of the genitive feminine singular present active participle form of the verb summartureo (summarturevw) (soom-mar-too-reh-o) and the dative first person singular form of the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv), “with me.”
In Romans 9:1, the verb summartureo indicates that Paul’s conscience “confirms” as true that he had great sorrow in his heart for unregenerate Israel and wishes that he was accursed for the sake of her.
In other words, it means that Paul has a clear conscience with regards to his attitude towards his nation and fellow countrymen.
To have a “clear conscience” does not mean that we have never sinned or do not commit acts of sin but rather it means that the underlying direction and motive of life is to obey and please God, so that acts of sin are habitually recognized as such and confessed to God the Father (1 John 1:9).
A “clear conscience” consists in being able to say that there is no one (God or man) whom I have knowingly offended and not tried to make it right (either by asking forgiveness or restoration or both).
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.”
“In the Holy Spirit” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (pneuma), “the Spirit” and the dative neuter singular form of the adjective hagios (a^gio$), “Holy.”
The adjective hagios is used to describe the third member of the Trinity, the Spirit and denotes the state of being holy, thus it refers to the holiness of the Spirit.
God’s holiness refers to “the aggregate (i.e. sum total) of perfect features and traits that form the divine nature of God.”
Thus, God’s holiness is related to all of His divine attributes or in other words, it is simply the harmony of all His perfections or attributes.
The holiness of God is the aggregate of perfect divine attributes that form the nature of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The adjective hagios denotes the Spirit as being inherently holy, thus it refers to the holiness of the Spirit, which refers to the absolute perfection of the Spirit’s character.
As was the case in the prepositional phrase en Christo, “in accordance with the code of Christ” here the preposition en is a marker of “rule” or “standard” and the noun pneuma, “Spirit” is a “dative of rule,” which specifies the rule of code a person follows or the standard of conduct to which he or she conforms.
Thus, it indicates that Paul’s conscience, which contains his norms and standards, is “in accordance with” or “in conformity with” the code of the Holy Spirit, which like Christ is truth.
Thus Paul is saying that his attitude toward unregenerate Israel is based upon the holy standards of the Spirit (Compare John 15:26-27; 16:13; 1 John 5:6).
John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Corrected translation of Romans 9:1: “I am speaking the truth in accordance with the code of Christ. I am by no means lying, while my conscience does confirm to me in accordance with the code of the Holy Spirit.”
The code of Christ and the code of the Spirit is truth since this is one of their divine attributes that help to compose their divine essence.
Thus, Paul is saying in Romans 9:1 that his attitude towards unregenerate Israel, which he expresses in Romans 9:2-3 is based upon Christ’s and the Holy Spirit’s code of truth.
His positive assertion “I am speaking the truth” is confirmed by the prepositional phrase “in Christ,” which refers to the code of Christ who is truth and which code is truth.
His negative assertion “I am not lying” is confirmed by his conscience in accordance with the code of the Holy Spirit, which is also truth.
This is all to emphasize to his readers that he is speaking the truth when he says that he has great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart because of his unregenerate Jewish countrymen and that he wishes he was separated from Christ for their sake.
He does this because he is refuting the Judaizers who stridently contended that he was an enemy of the nation of Israel because he taught that the Jew is not justified through the works of the Law but through faith alone in Christ alone.
