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It would be very easy to go from Romans 8 to Romans 12. Paul often gives us doctrine first, then our duty, as you see in Ephesians 1-3 and 4-6. In Romans 1-8 Paul took us from the depths of man’s depravity to the heights of God’s sovereign grace and love in Christ Jesus our Lord. God has a sovereign purpose for His people, and nothing can stop it. He guarantees all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to that purpose. Believers overwhelmingly conquer everything this world can throw at us through Christ and nothing can rip us out of God’s redeeming love. We are safe and secure in Christ. That’s how Romans 8 ends. Romans 12 begins with “I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ROMANS 9-11?
But Paul doesn’t go to chapter 12. He is led by God’s Spirit to deal with a huge issue, the problem of Israel. What about Israel? Have God’s purposes for Israel failed? We might call it the Jewish problem. But Paul deals with the Jews totally differently than, say Karl Marx in his book A World Without Jews or other antisemites of the 19th century. We will not hear a shred of antisemitism from the great Apostle Paul in Romans 9-11.
Remember how Paul described the gospel in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” To the Jew first. The obvious question is, what about these Jews? What about the nation of Israel? God invested 2000 years since Abraham to the first century in this nation, gave them privileges no other nation had, and yet when their Messiah, Jesus Christ, finally arrives, they reject Him. John 1:11 tells the tragic news: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” Has God’s plan for Israel failed?
That’s the issue Paul is dealing with in Romans 9-11, and let me tell you, we are in for some amazing teaching in this portion of Scripture. James Boice describes these chapters as the “most profound and mind stretching material to be found anywhere in the Bible.” Regarding your eschatology, John MacArthur recently said, “Before you figure out your eschatology do a thorough study of Zechariah!” We could say the same thing about your understanding of sovereign election. Before you decide what you believe about election and predestination, do a thorough study of Romans 9-11. Let’s take a quick survey of these chapters:
In Romans 9 God says while it’s true that God has a unique relationship with the nation of Israel, we must remember that it was through promise, not just being physical offspring of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob that made Israelites true believers. Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac was the son of promise. And then, God chose Jacob, not Esau, even before they were born. God is sovereign in whom He chooses to be His people. It was a great tragedy that Israel rejected, even crucified their Messiah, but even in their prophets God had warned Israel they would stumble over Christ. We’ll see that God has mercy on whom He has mercy. He is sovereign in whom He saves. He’s the potter, we’re the clay.
In Romans 10 we’ll hear God’s simple plan of salvation, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” But Israel rejected God’s way by thinking they could earn heaven by their own righteousness. Like so many today, they thought they could work their way to heaven. Romans 9 emphasizes God’s sovereign election; Romans 10 emphasizes man’s responsibility.
Then in Romans 11 God assures us that Israel’s rejection was all part of His plan to move the gospel out to the Gentiles. But the time will come when the fullness of the Gentiles will come in and then God will finally save Israel as a nation and Christ will set up the throne of David in Jerusalem, ruling over Israel and the nations, just like God promised in Ezekiel and Zechariah and other places. Paul ends these three chapters with expressions of worship and adoration at God’s amazing, unsearchable ways in Romans 11:33-36. Though he began in chapter 9 with a grieving heart for his people, Paul ends with a praising heart as he cries out, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be the glory forever and ever.”
Let’s return to Romans 9:1-5 to see something of Paul’s heart for lost people, in this case, his Jewish kinsmen. He has a heart for people’s spiritual well-being that puts all of us to shame. It’s like Christ’s heart of love and compassion for Israel was transplanted into Paul. Paul tells us to be imitators of him as he followed Christ and we need to ask God to make us more like Paul in his heart for lost people. The closest human example is probably George Whitefield, that great evangelist who lived for one thing only, “to preach Christ.” Paul demonstrates five qualities we all need to be people whom God can use in carrying out the great commission. Let’s read the passage first:
Romans 9:1-5, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 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, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
A WISE APPROACH
Notice how Paul doesn’t lambaste the Jews for their rejection at this point? You may remember the ridiculous evangelistic method of the Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka, Kansas in the 1990s. They stood around with signs like “God hates ***” and “No **** in heaven” and “Thank God for AIDS.” Paul takes a completely opposite approach. He wants his fellow Jews to know how much he loves them, even though they hated him. The Jews repeatedly tried to kill him, chasing him from one city to the next. How does Paul handle this? He assures them that he loves them. It’s true that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Paul illustrates this. He’s going to teach it in chapter 12, return good for evil. And Proverbs 11:30 says “He who wins souls is wise.”
SINCERE TRANSPARENT MOTIVES
Romans 9:1, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,
In three ways Paul insists on his sincerity with the Jews. He knew they considered him a traitor, a Gentile lover, an apostate from Judaism. He had set out for Damascus in Acts 9 as a Pharisee to kill Christians and returned a Christian trying to win Jews to Christ. This would be like a Jehovah’s Witness out spreading the false teaching of the Watchtower cult, becoming a true believer in Christ, and then coming back to the Kingdom Hall trying to win lost Jehovah’s Witnesses to Christ.
So, Paul insists he is speaking truth in the very presence of Christ, “I’m serious as a heart attack regarding my love and concern for my people, the Jews.” He says his conscience, motivated by the Spirit of God, is pure. We can learn from this. Paul was real. He wasn’t a professional religionist. He wasn’t self-serving. And through this his goal wasn’t to condemn the Jews but to help them even if they did hate him. We want people to know our goal isn’t to make a splash or draw more numbers. We want people to know we love Christ and God’s Word. We want to build up God’s people and win lost people to Christ.
AN INTENSE CONCERN FOR PEOPLE
Romans 9:2, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
Charles Spurgeon said, “What a tender and loving preacher Paul must have been.” Paul couldn’t express his love and concern any stronger. Not just sorrow and grief, but great sorrow, unceasing grief. This doesn’t mean he wasn’t full of the joy of the Lord but, as Warren Wiersbe said, “He looked to Christ and rejoiced; he looked at the lost and wept.” Jesus looked out over the crowd with sorrow in His heart; they were like sheep without a shepherd. He even wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), like the prophets of the Old Testament wept over rebellious and idolatrous Israel in their time. Paul didn’t despise Israel; he was grieved over their plight. Paul preached election and predestination, but this didn’t keep him from grieving over lost people. This is the heart of a soul winner. This is the heart of God.
Paul had this deep heart grief in spite of how the Jews treated him. They dogged his steps almost from the minute he came to Christ. In Damascus the Jews immediately plotted to do away with him. He escaped through an opening in the wall of the city (Acts 9). The Jews drove him out of Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13. They embittered the people against Paul in Iconium and incited the people to stone him in Lystra in Acts 14. Jews drove him out of Thessalonica and Berea in Acts 17. They dragged him into court in Corinth in Acts 18. They falsely accused him and tried to kill him in Jerusalem in Acts 21. In Acts 22:22 the Jews shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth. He should not be allowed to live.” In Acts 23 more than 40 Jews vowed to murder him. They hounded him up to Caesarea, where Paul finally appealed to Caesar. When he got to Rome, he preached the gospel to the Jews, and the book of Acts ends with the Jews rejecting the gospel and Paul turning to the Gentiles.
What is Paul’s response to all this? Paul is like a godly father or mother grieving over their family who have rejected Christ. But he never expressed personal annoyance, bitterness, or hatred toward his unbelieving kinsmen. Great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart! How easy is it to just cut people off than to continue to patiently love them and try to win them. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said that after explaining the gospel so plainly that anyone should be able to see it, and yet they don’t respond, “we feel like taking hold of them and shaking them; we feel like boxing their ears because of their dullness and their stupidity.” Then he adds, “The moment we get like that, we cannot help them.” Paul loved them enough to keep giving them the gospel and trust God to grow His church. That’s our calling. Be faithful to the Word, love people, minister to people, and trust God to build His church.
Ray Stedman tells about a church who fired their pastor. Someone asked, “Why?” “He kept telling us we were going to hell.” “What does the new pastor tell you?” “We’re going to hell.” “So, what’s the difference?” “The first one seemed glad. Our new pastor sounds like it breaks his heart.” A heart for lost people shows “great sorrow and unceasing grief.”
A SACRIFICIAL SPIRIT FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL
Romans 9:3, For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
This is shocking. What is Paul saying? His concern for his fellow Jews was so great that if it were possible, he’d even suffer in their place for their sin. Of course, doing this is impossible, but this was Paul’s way of expressing the depth of his love. Moses said something similar in Exodus 32:32. God had told Moses He was going to wipe out those rebellious Jews and start over with Moses. Moses fell on his face and pleaded with God, “Forgive them or blot me out of your book.”
Who of us has this kind of sacrificial spirit? It’s like a parent’s whose precious child is suffering from a deadly disease, “Oh, if only I could take the disease in your place.” We need a portion of this sacrificial spirit in our own lives. We find it hard to give up our own time for the sake of others. Paul said this of Timothy in Philippians 2:20-22, For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Isn’t that good?
Why don’t we have this kind heart for serving others and being concerned for lost people? We probably have too much love of the world and too little thought about the desperate condition of lost people. Do we really believe they are headed for a Christ-less eternity in the lake of fire? We need this evangelistic mindset when we interact with people. Let’s not be ashamed of the gospel. Pray for a heart for the lost and opportunities to talk to others about Christ.
UNDERSTAND THEIR NEED
Romans 9:4-5, 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, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Paul understood these Jews, their history, their privileges. They certainly had spiritual privileges.
Deuteronomy 14:1a, 2 “You are the sons of the LORD your God…. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
In Romans 9:4-5, Paul lays out a list of ten huge privileges Israel had in contrast to all the other nations on earth.
- They are Israelites. The Bible refers to these people 2,306 times as Israelites, beginning with Jacob in Genesis 32:28 where God called Jacob “Israel,” one who strives with God. They were a great nation formed by God to be the people through whom salvation would come to the world. In a different but comparable way, we are blessed to be Americans. God brought the Pilgrims and Puritans to these shores. They came with a reverence for God and a belief in the providence of God. Many of those early hearts honored God’s Word, and America benefited from their beliefs.
- They were adopted by God, calling Israel His son whom he redeemed out of Egypt.
- They saw God’s glory. God gave only Israel this visible sign of His presence in the wilderness and tabernacle.
- God gave them covenants going all the way back to Noah, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. God gave the new covenant of commitment to bring in the Messiah through them. This was promised through Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
- God gave them the law. To no other nation did God speak like He spoke on Mt. Sinai, giving them the ten great commands and all the other laws from the hand of Moses.
- God gave them the temple service. Only to Israel did God give instruction on how to worship and approach Him. And to deviate meant death, as Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu discovered with strange incense.
- God gave them the promises, especially aimed at the coming of the future Messiah and His great millennial kingdom established on earth. Was Christ born of the seed of a woman? Was He the seed of Abraham? The seed of Judah? Of David? Was He born in Bethlehem? Did the Spirit rest upon Him? Did He ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? Was he betrayed for 30 pieces of silver? Was He bruised and crushed for our iniquities? Did he cry out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” Did they pierce His hands and feet? All these and many more great promises were given to Israel. And what did they do? They rejected and crucified Him!
- God gave them the Fathers – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David. All had unique experiences with God. Jacob wrestled. Moses at the burning bush. God assured David his Son would rule over Israel. Israel’s rejection of their Messiah was tragic and sad, yet how perfectly it fulfilled God’s purpose and plan.
- God brought Jesus to earth through David’s line, “Christ according to the flesh.” Finally, through Mary, Jesus the Messiah arrived, incarnate, supreme overall. He was an Israelite, a Jew. Never forget, a Jew died for your sins.
- God blessed forever. Here you have the hypostatic union, truly God and truly man. Is there a period after “all” in your Bible? If so, get another version. This is one of the clearest verses on the deity of Christ. What an amazing honor for this nation Israel to be chosen by God out of all the nations on earth, to be the human stream through which the Savior would come. What a privilege. No wonder Paul’s heart was broken at the unbelief of the Jews. And yet, check out Romans 9:6, But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. God’s Word hasn’t failed, has it?
SO WHAT?
First, our hearts should be broken for our own nation, begun as that city on a hill, a light to the nations, schools and universities founded to equip students to read the Bible. Now, 250 years later we live in a neo-pagan, godless, God hating culture. We need to grieve and be ready with the gospel like Paul was. Pray that you’ll have a heart for the lost like Paul had. Be ready to share the gospel with people God arranges for you to meet, or at least invite them to church where they can hear God’s Word.
Second, this is a strong warning for people blessed with Bible-believing homes and churches. We are swimming in spiritual privileges. We have Bibles all around, we hear God’s Word every Sunday, we have tons of Christian media available, parents who pray for us, children who pray for their parents. Many know John 3:16. You can swim in spiritual privilege and not get wet spiritually. You can be around truth, like the Jews were, and never respond to the truth. Have you personally turned from going your own way and surrendered your heart, your life to Jesus Christ?