ROMANS 9: 1-5
"THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH UNBELIEF"
After a glorious study on the building blocks of our salvation in chapters 1-8, a new branch of the subject of eternal salvation is obviously introduced in the ninth chapter. If God is sovereign and in control of man's eternal salvation why are the Jews, God's chosen people, for the most part lost, having rejected Jesus as their Messiah? The question is complicated and difficult. [The people of God s promise are the people of God's choice.]
This problem was one of intense person concern to Paul. When Paul thought of his Jewish people and their alienation from God he felt an overwhelming grief. Paul experienced anguish for the Jew because in spite of every opportunity to be saved they rejected the Messiah (CIT).
Paul was a great soul winner. All soul winners have deep compassion for the lost. They have tremendous anguish of heart for the lost which causes them to exchange the life of the flesh for the opportunity to share the way of eternal salvation with mankind. Though Paul was sent to the Gentiles he never lost this longing to see the Jews saved.
I. A SOUL WINNER'S ANGUISH, 9:1-3.
II. A SOUL WINNER'S ANALYSIS, 9:4 & 5.
First, A Soul Winner's Anguish. While Paul was exulting in the thought of God's love and salvation, his joy did not relieve the burden that his own people, whom he loved deeply, were separated from the salvation that was his. A cloud passed over his rejoicing as he contemplated Israel's rejection of the Lord God. The Apostle begins the new section of chapters 9-11 with A SOLEMN OATH in Chapter 9 verse 1. "I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,"
The contemplation of God's salvation and its wondrous transforming purpose deeply moved Paul. So strongly is Paul stirred by God's self-sacrificing love that he takes a solemn oath substantiating his truthfulness. The only way for anyone to be completely truthful is to speak out of their relationship with Christ, with Whom falsehood is impossible. Paul's redeemed conscience was also concurring that his words were in the control of the Holy Spirit.
Here as in 2:15 Paul uses the conscience as an independent witness within, which examines and passes judgment on conduct. In a Christian this examination and judgment are specially accurate because his conscience is enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
With striking intensity Paul reveals his BURDEN HEART in verse 2. "That I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart."
Notice the tremendous burden for the lost the great soul winner carried in His heart. He was weighted down with sorrow and felt intense pain over their lost condition. Paul was not an indifferent spectator concerning the lostness of man particular his countrymen. The consideration of their hard-hearted unbelief filled his heart with anguish.
Paul could identify with this rebellious people. He knew where they were for he too at one time had been stiff-necked and obstinate to Christ and His Church. How Paul longed that they too would fall down before the light of Christ and have the scales of their eyes removed.
Paul hated sin, but he loved the sinner. No man will ever be a soul winner until he comes to truly love people. The more intense his love for people the more committed he will be in his efforts to lead-them to Christ. Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:12-13).
In verse 3 we encounter A SELF-SACRIFICING WISH. "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,"
The word accursed is anathema, meaning pitilessly condemn to utter destruction. [It means "dedicated to destruction" or delivered up to the judgment of God.] How deep was Paul's compassion for his countrymen? He stood ready to exchange his own eternal salvation and reward in Christ if only it would bring salvation to the lost. Indeed if their salvation could be purchased by his own eternal damnation, readily would he consent, if such a exchange were possible.
This is compassion in its ultimate form. Love knows no greater expression than self-sacrifice for another (Jn. 15:13). Being the Apostle to the Gentiles did not mean he had any less concern for the salvation of his "kinsmen according to the flesh" which is distinguished from his kinsmen according to the Spirit.
[In Exodus 32:32 Moses said, "Oh, Lord, even though Your people have turned from You, and have fallen into idolatry and immorality, if You don't forgive them, if You don't continue working with them, blot my name out of Your book of life as well."
It's as if Paul says in verse 3, "The same heart that beat within Moses is in me, for if possible, I would go to hell and suffer eternally if my kinsmen could be saved."
Where did Paul get such passion, such love for people who were out to do him in? It was cultivated in prayer, as seen in chapter 10:1, where he says, "Brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is they might be saved." Truly, when you pray for people, your heart changes toward them as you become concerned about them and involved with them. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 950.]
Felipe Garza was a 15-year old boy who gave his friend what she needed to live, HIS HEART. When Felipe learned that his girlfriend had to have a heart transplant, he told his mom, quite unexplainably, "When I die, I want to give my girlfriend my heart." Three weeks later he died suddenly of natural causes when a blood vessel ruptured in His brain. The doctors then gave the young Californian's heart to his ailing girlfriend, saving her life.
That boy's love illustrates Paul's wish for his Jewish countrymen. He too spoke of giving his life so that others could live. The difference was that Paul was thinking of eternal life.
Felipe and Paul both expressed a noble desire. But Felipe did not actually give his life for his girl friend Donna, and Paul couldn't endure hell for his countrymen. Yet their expressions of love remind us of what Jesus Christ did. He really did endure hell for us. He really did give His life so that we might live. Agape love is more than a sentimental feeling, it's putting another's welfare ahead of our own. Those who love Christ have a heart for the lost.
How concerned are you for those who don't know Christ? Are the eternally lost a priority in your life? Are you will to sacrifice your time? money? energy? comfort? and safety to see them come to faith in Jesus? When was the last time you shared a witness, a Scripture, a tract, an invitation to church? May we embraces Christ's passion for the eternal souls of men and women.
Oh Lord, we know we cannot die to gain the salvation of others like You did. But by Your Spirit give us a self-sacrificing love that cares for the eternal well-being of others more than for our own temporary comfort.
First we learned of a Soul Winner's Anguish. The second point is The Jewish Advantage or-
II. A SOUL WINNER'S ANALYSIS (9:4 & 5).
In verses 4 & 5 Paul lists several (seven-nine) advantages of the Jews as God's chosen nation that makes their rejection of the Messiah all the more tragic. After Paul's anguish for the Jewish people seen in verses 1–3, we come to an analysis of the Jewish problem in verse 4. "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,"
They were "Israelites." They were called by the covenant name of the chosen people, signifying a special relation to God (Gen. 32:28; Eph. 2:12). The name indicates they were a member of a Theocracy. [Israel means "the God ruled ones."] The distinctiveness of Israel is analyzed so that a fuller understanding of their advantages could be appreciated. [Israel in its apostate condition repudiated this honor of being the people of God.]
They had "the adoption as sons." The children of Israel are called collectively the son of God (Ex. 4:22-23, Deut. 14:1; 32:6) and individually called His sons (Hos. 11:1, Jer. 31:9). Oh but that they would, "Consider the rock from which ‘they' were hewn" (Isa. 51:1).
What other people had seen "the glory" or "the splendor of God's divine presence." God revealed Himself to Israel in the visible manifestation above the most Holy place. There the divine splendor in radiant light came down upon the Tabernacle in the Wilderness when God visited His people. This experiential reality of God's presence or nearness to His people became called the Shekinah glory of God. James (2:1) used this term for Jesus. The Jews had known of the visible glory of God and yet rejected it when they beheld Him on earth (Jn. 1: 14).
["Glory" refers to the Hebrew word chabod, which means weight, substance, heaviness. The chabod was the cloud over the Jews as they traveled through the wilderness by day. The chabod was also the pillar of fire that went before them by night. It was the glory that filled the tabernacle as well as the glory that filled the temple [Ex. 16:10; 24:17; 40:34; 1 Kings 8:11]. It was the visible, tangible presence of God, the substance people still crave in their hearts. The chabod is what every man is looking for when he searches for something weighty, something substantial, something real. [Courson, S. 950]
They also had "The Covenants." The Covenants are the various solemn agreements God made with Israel such as the Abrahamic (Gen. 15:18), promising to make Abraham a great nation and giving him possession of the land from the Nile to the Euphrates, and the Davidic, promising to Israel an eternal King coming from David (2 Sam. 7:11-16).
Again and again God took the initiative and approached the people of Israel and upon the acceptance of certain conditions entered into a special relationship with them. The Nation was to be used as a channel to bring salvation to the human race. They hindered instead of accelerating this commission.
They also had "the giving of The Law." The Mosaic legislation provided the revelation of the will of God that exceeded anything known to the Gentiles (Rom. 2:17). If the Jews rejected the will of God they rejected it in knowledge not in ignorance. The Covenants and the Law gave the Jews principles that they might do well, excel, and succeed in life.
They had the Temple Service Worship. The prescriptions for divine worship particularly outlined in Leviticus foreshadowed the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Having worshiped God by the means of substitutionary blood sacrifice of an innocent spotless lamb should have prepared them to accept the actual substitutionary vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ. There's nothing more satisfying than worshiping and serving God. Israel was blessed with such a calling.
They had "The Promises." In Romans 4:13-25 Paul had discussed God's promise to Abraham and his seed which is basic to the receiving of God's righteousness through faith. More specifically these promises relate to the promises of the coming of the Christ, His Kingdom and His salvation or deliverance (Isa. 40:3, Acts 13:23, 22-34). [See Lev. 26 & Deut. 28]. These promises involved their task and destiny. The task of walking by faith in God's declared will and the destiny of His eternal home.
Israel was also blessed with great men of faith and example as verse 5 states. "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen."
They had "the fathers." The reference is to their illustrious forefathers, whether nearer or more remote. The patriarch of their nation including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, etc. The greatness of its ancestry ennobled Israel because of their great legacy of faith and triumph. These Israelites rejected everything to which the fathers had been called (Heb. 11:32).
Then comes the culmination, the blessing of blessing. "From whom is the Christ" or The Messiah, the anointed of God ancestry is traced from Israel. This advantage is the highest honor of all the privileges of the privileged. [By His term according to the flesh Paul limits the topic of Jesus lineage to His human ancestry, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Mt. 1:1).] Jesus Christ was born to a Jewish mother, grew up in a Jewish home, went to a Jewish school, sat in a Jewish synagogue, ministered to the Jewish people, and said, "I have come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24). What an unspeakable gift was given to the Jews!
All the above had been in preparation for Jesus the Messiah's coming and yet when He came they rejected Him. A great grief of life is for a parent to provide his child with every chance for success. You give him your name, adopt him, teach him, give him rules to guide him in the right, provide and discipline him and then find that the child through his disobedience or rebelliousness or self-indulgence has failed to grasp what he has been prepared for. The tragedy of the waste of love's labors and the defeat of love's dreams.
The tragedy of Israel was that God had prepared her for the day of the coming of His Son - and they frustrated all that pains taking preparation. It was not that God's law had been broken; it was that God's love has been spurned. It is not the anger but the broken heart of God which lies within Paul's words.
"Who is over all." A clear statement of the deity of Christ following the remark about His humanity. Christ is "God, over all," and should be "blessed."
CONCLUSION
Yet with all these advantages of God's special blessings throughout their history, the Jews did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. As a people they rejected Him. (See John 1:11) And Paul's heart was heavy with grief because of his own peoples hardness at disdaining God's deliverance through faith in Jesus Christ.
What about you? Do you grieve over the lostness of man? Those that have compassion for the lost grieve over their lost condition.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to save Jew and gentile alike. Do not make the mistake of the Jew's of Paul's day by depending on family lineage of religious tradition to give you right standing before God. The fact that you have advantages of godly parents, have attended church all your life, or been baptized means nothing without placing your faith in Jesus as Savior from your sin and following Him as Lord of your life.
