Over the next several weeks we are going to be traversing
some fairly difficult passages of Scripture—difficulty to read through,
interpret, preach, and apply. For this reason and because of the nature of what
will be discussed I thought it might be helpful to preach Romans 9-11 as its
own series within our greater Romans series. This is appropriate for several
reasons. First, after having discussed the nature of salvation (justification
in chapters 5-6, sanctification in 7-8, and glorification in chapter 8), Paul
decides to reveal to whom this salvation applies and how. Second, the majority
of what Paul discusses helps distinguish between various groups of people—Jews,
Gentiles, lost, saved, loved, hated, etc. For these reasons and many others, we
are going to prayerfully and carefully walk through these important chapters
together in a series entitled “The People of God.”
To this end, Paul helps his audience at the beginning of
chapter 9 by establishing a couple of foundations that will help guide his
discussion. In 9:1-13 these foundations are introduced alongside the great
predicament many found themselves in and continue to find themselves in today.
a) The People’s
Failure-9:1-5
Paul wants to preface the following comments by reminding
his audience of what kind of spirit guides his writing-“I am telling the truth
in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testified with me in the Holy Spirit”
(9:1). What Paul is about to divulge is not only important, it is difficult to
digest. Therefore, he wants to reiterate that what is being shared is not as
much a product of his own theological ruminations as much as it is revelation
directly given by God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit.
In other words, Paul is playing the part of the messenger
and making sure that this status is known. I’m sure some of you have had times
in which you had to share confusing and/or difficult messages and then were
prompted to say in your defense: “I’m just the messenger” or even “Don’t shoot
the messenger.” At the beginning of this more theologically precarious section
of his letter to the church in Rome Paul decides to reestablish his messenger
status.
This reminder helps get Paul off the hook and is especially
helpful as the first foundation he has been given to identify is quite
negative—the people’s failure (more specifically, HIS people’s failure). Though
the failure is not identified outright, evidence of its nature is made clear in
the sorrow that this failure has caused Paul-“I have great sorrow and unceasing
grief in my heart,…” (9:2). When an ancient Greek writer wants to evoke an
emotion in a more superlative/emphatic way, he strings similar phrases together
to accentuate the feeling emoted. When Paul says “I have great sorrow and
unceasing grief” he is trying to convey just how distraught he is in response
to the failure of his people. However, what did they fail to do? What has caused
this acute distress?
Again, though Paul does not come right out and say it, he
betrays the essence of his people’s failure when he reveals what he wishes he
could do in response—“For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated
from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh,…”(9:3). It is obvious by what the author says here that the great
failure of his people was their refusal to repent from their sin and old ways
of relating to God and accept, in faith, the true nature and ministry of Jesus
Christ—God’s greatest gift.
I imagine that many of you spent time over the last week
exchanging gifts with loved ones. Many of you were probably looking forward to
seeing your friend or family member open that perfect present that you had
spent a lot of time putting together or waiting in line to purchase. Maybe it
was exactly what that asked for or just what that person needed. Imagine how
you would feel if, after handing the wrapped present to that special someone,
they refused to accept it and turned the other way. A little bit offended and
saddened would only begin to describe your response.
The implications of refusing Jesus were far worse. These
Jews (whom Paul refers to as “kinsmen, according to the flesh”) were “accursed,
separated from Christ.” Truly, this is the sad state of anyone who fails to
repent and embrace Jesus Christ—they are accursed, separated from Christ. In
fact, to be separated from Christ is to be accursed—the former defines/explains
the latter.
What made the people’s refusal of Christ so egregious was
that that this denial of the Savior took place in spite of all the aid God had
given. Paul continues by listing the many blessings the Jews had enjoyed for
centuries--"who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoptions as sons, and
the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service
and the promises, who are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to
the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever, Amen" (9:4-5). It would
be one thing for a pagan idolater to deny Christ, but many of those who were
refusing Jesus were Israelites (blessed with a special nation), given to be
sons and daughters of God, participants in divine covenants handed down to
Abraham, Moses, David, etc., beneficiaries of the law that Moses brought down
from Sinai, worshippers in the temple of God, receivers of special promises
that were communicated by the prophets, and relatives of the forefathers of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In many ways, all of these things—the nation, the
covenants, the law, the temple, the promises, the family, pointed directly to
the coming Messiah and were fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. Christ
even came to the earth as a Jew Himself!
In other words, not only did God offer the greatest gift of
all to the Jews when He offered Jesus, He placed Jesus well within reach (right
in their hands!). All they had to do was enjoy it!
The failure of the Jewish people to embrace Jesus Christ, in
spite of all that God did to make Him accessible to them is a real tragedy.
However, this failure also set the foundation for how God would relate not only
to His people, but the world. Paul will unpack this more later as we journey
through chapters 9-11. However, let us now move on to discuss another important
foundation upon which Paul constructs his presentation of the people of God.
b) The Promised
Word-9:6-13
The second foundation Paul discusses is the promised Word.
Paul wants to make it very clear that while mankind in general and the Jews in
particular did not take advantage of the opportunity afforded them, the Word of
God has not failed—“But (in contrast to the failure of mankind), it is not as
though the word of God has failed” (9:6a).
Like many in our world today, many of those reading this
letter may have been tempted to place blame for their failure onto someone or
something else. Maybe the promises were not explicit enough. Perhaps the law
could have been worded better. Maybe something was lacking in the details
surrounding the temple worship or in the covenants. Paul says “nah ah ah. Stop
right there. The Word of God is not blameworthy for your failure.” How could it
be given its nature?
Isaiah 40:8: “Grass dries up, and flowers wither, but the word of our God will last forever…”
Matthew 5:17-18: “I did not come to abolish the Law
but to fulfill it. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not
the smallest letter, not the
least stroke of a pen, will by
any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
When it comes to the
Word of God, these and other passages clearly reveal that it is consistently
compelling, persevering, and completely qualified to inspire, foreshadow, and
accomplish everything required by the will of God. The Word cannot fail in so
much as God—its author—cannot fail.
What has led to the dilemma concerning the people of God?
Paul answers this as he explains how the people of the promised Word are
identified—“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are
they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but ‘through Isaac
your descendants will be named’” (9:6b-7). Paul introduces a huge correction to
the first-century Jewish thinking. He reveals here, probably to the surprise of
many in his original audience, that not every Israelite is a true descendant.
In fact, just as the Jews conceded that not all descendants of Abraham were
legitimate (i.e. those born of the line of Ishmael), so too were they to
concede that not all who called themselves Israelites were, in fact, true
Israelites—that is in a spiritual sense.
In other words, the predicament concerning the people of God
is brought about because not all who consider themselves part of the people of
God are, in fact, among the people of God in the fullest sense.
Paul makes this abundantly clear in verse 8 when he says the
following: “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of
God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” Not only is
merely claiming to be among the people of God not a guarantee of real
relationship with Him, neither is being genetically Jewish an indicator that
someone is a member of God’s family! Instead, Paul says, one must be a
“children of the promise” (9:8).
The unfailing Word of God has already made this
explicit—“For this is the word of promise, ‘At this time I will come and Sarah
shall have a son…” (9:9). According to God’s perfect plan, it would be from
Abraham and Sarah that God would build a nation and bring for this Son Jesus.
Not just any combination nor just any offspring would do for this most holy
purpose.
Paul continues, “And not only this, but there was Rebekah
also, when she had conceived twins by the one man, our father Isaac; for though
the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that
God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but
because of Him who calls,…” (9:10-11). Here again a special calling for a
specific son through whom would come the Messiah is in view. The circumstances
surrounding the birth of Jacob and Esau prove that God’s unfailing Word stands
in spite of what may/may not occur. Even before these twins were born and had
time to prove themselves one way or the other, God had a plan—a plan
irrespective of works. This plan was determined by God’s will and expressed in
His sovereign Word.
Details of God’s explicit promise to Jacob and his descendants
are provided in verses 12-13—“It was said to her (Rebekah), ‘The older will
serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I love but Esau I hated.’” Such
comments reveal that not only does God’s Word trump man’s actions, it also
overwhelms birth order and the traditions associated therewith.
However, what does it mean when God says “Jacob I love, Esau
I hated”? How might we square this rather provocative text with verses like
“For God so loved the World” and “God is love?” Perhaps another passage might
help shine light on what this verse means.
Luke 14:26-“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate
his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes,
and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”
In this context, Jesus is referring to a disciple’s choice.
A disciple’s devotion to Christ must be so acute that other relationships and
loyalties pale in comparison. This is similar to how what Paul references in
Romans 9. God’s choice of Jacob over Esau is described in more drastic terms in
order to highlight the Lord’s plan and purpose for the former over the latter.
A paraphrase of these last verses might read “Jacob have I chosen for a special
task, Esau I have not chosen for the same.”
That said, what is quite clear from verses 6-13 is the
perseverance of God’s Word. It has expressed the will of God and it has
established promises to the appropriate people. It never has nor ever will fail
to communicate and call forth God’s grand purposes (especially as it pertains
to Jesus Christ and the salvation that He alone provides).
So What?
The failure lies, unfortunately, with the people God had
appointed. All who thought they were “in” weren’t because they failed to accept
and embrace the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ. In so doing, these proved that
they were not children of the promised and unfailing Word of God. These two
foundations—the people’s failure and the promised Word—must be firmly
established in order to fully understand and appreciate what Paul has to say
throughout the remainder of chapters 9-11.
However, what might we glean from what we’ve read today?
Truly, the failure of God’s intended people is not unlike the failure of many
people today who have, in spite of all that God has made available to them,
refused to accept, embrace, and follow after Jesus Christ. Are you refusing the
greatest gift of all?
Maybe you have fooled yourself into believing that you’re
“in” already—you grew up in church, come every now and then to a service, are a
better person than most, or know where to find John 3:16 in your Bible. Friend,
if genetics and titles didn’t automatically guarantee that a Jew in the Old
Testament was part of the family of God do you really think that going through
the motions and superficial lip service will go far in assuring your
relationship with Christ?
Let us not be guilty of the same failure we read about in
this passage today. Let’s not fail to embrace the unfailing Word of God this
year and the Jesus that it reveals.
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