Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Rom 9:1 and following. Indeed, what we have seen so far reminds us of the story of the prodigal son: his sin had abounded, but grace has overabundant. For dressed in the robe of righteousness, he has not become a servant in his father’s house, but he now enjoys with him a full relationship of sons (Luke 15:11-32). In the sequel, it will be the elder brother, in other words the Jewish people, his natural privileges and also his jealousy. Like the father of the parable, the apostle would like Israel to understand what sovereign grace is. It is not linked to hereditary benefits. For not all of Abraham’s descendants were children of the promise. Esau for example, this layman, although Jacob’s twin brother, could not inherit the blessing.
And God spoke this terrible word about him: “I hated Esau.” Can we doubt that His love first exhausted all his resources? Just think of the tears of the Lord Jesus over guilty Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44), a pain to which the apostle gives a poignant echo (Rom 9:2-3).
In their bold unbelief men allow themselves to judge God to their own measure: Since in the end He will only do what He has willed (some say) what can He make us responsible for (Rom 9:19)? No matter how much everyone does if he is predestined, he will be saved sooner or later; if, on the other hand, he is not elected, all his efforts will not change his final fate. And from this false starting point flow other questions like these: Isn’t it unfair to have chosen one over the other? (Knowing in advance the fate of the lost, why did you create them?) How can a good God dedicate His creature to misfortune?… We learn that God has not prepared any vessel for dishonor (or wrath, Rom 9:21). On the contrary, he endured them (and still endures them) “with great patience” (Rom 9:22). But it is sinners who tirelessly prepare themselves for eternal perdition. One thing is certain, can we answer all the reasoners: God has called you, you who have His Word in your hands. He wanted to make you also a vessel of mercy. Only your refusal can prevent him from fulfilling his purpose of love (1 Tim 2:1-7).
We have come to a turning point in our epistle: the apostle, so far, has led us from the dark depths of human corruption to the luminous heights of divine grace. Romans 8 vividly depicted to us the Christian position and the results of the glorious work that God has done in love and grace. It ended with the enumeration of the blessings that today constitute the part of the believer in Christ: For God has not spared his only begotten Son, in order to give us all things with Him.
Faith contemplates with joy the wonderful ways of God, as revealed to him by the Spirit. God not only wants His children to rest in the full salvation that has been acquired to them in His Beloved, but He also wants to make His thoughts known to them. What an adorable grace!
As Moses had, after the erection of the golden calf, asked God to erase his name from his book, the apostle had desired “to be anathema separated from Christ” for his brethren. This great sadness and continual pain overwhelmed him so much that he had expressed an unachievable desire, the fulfillment of which would have served his people nothing, just as in the case of Moses. But this desire testified to the ardent affection he had for his parents according to the flesh. It was the divine love, the selfless love of Christ that operated in him, as in the past in Moses, and that made these two men capable of accomplishing everything, even the impossible, to serve the objects of that love.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- A Good Conscience
Acts 24:16 That is why I strive to have a blameless conscience constantly before God and before men. Rom 9:1 Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart to proclaim the Gospel of God;2 Cob 1:12 For what makes our glory is this witness of our conscience, that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially towards you, with holiness and purity before God, not with carnal wisdom, but with the grace of God. 1 Tim 1:5,19 The purpose of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. 19 by keeping faith and a good conscience. Some have lost this consciousness, and they have been shipwrecked in relation to faith. 1 Pet 3:16 and having a good conscience, that even where they slander you as if you were evildoers, those who decry your good conduct in Christ may be covered with confusion.
- The Duty to Tell the Truth
Pr 12:19 The truthful lip is strengthened forever, but the false tongue remains only for a moment. Zep 3:13 The remnants of Israel will not commit iniquity, They will not tell lies, and there will not be in their mouths a deceptive tongue; But they will graze, they will rest, and no one will disturb them. Za 8:16 This is what you must do: tell the truth each to his neighbor; judge in your doors according to the truth and for peace; Ml 2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found on his lips; He walked with me in peace and righteousness, and he turned many men away from evil. 2 Co 12:6 If I wanted to glorify myself, I would not be foolish, for I would say the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one would have an opinion about me that is superior to what he sees in me or what he hears of me. Eph 4:25 Therefore, renounce lies, and let each of you speak according to the truth to your neighbor; for we are members of one another. Eph 6:14 Stand firm, therefore: have the truth to your loins as a belt; put on the armor of justice;
- Passion of souls
Jn 4:35 Aren’t you saying that there are still four months until the harvest? Behold, I tell you, look up, and look at the fields that are already whitening for the harvest. Rom 9:3 For I myself would like to be anathema and separated from Christ for my brethren, my parents according to the flesh; Rom 10:1 Brethren, the wish of my heart and my prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. Rom 11:14 that, if it is possible, to arouse the jealousy of those of my race, and to save some of them. 1 Co 9:22 I have been weak with the weak, in order to gain the weak. I did everything to myself, in order to save some of them anyway.
- People of God, called ‘the chosen people’
Dt 7:6 For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God; Jehovah, your God, has chosen you, that you may be a people who belonged to him among all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Ps 4:4 Know that the Lord has chosen a pious man for himself; Jehovah hears, when I cry out to Him. 1 Co 1:26 Consider, brethren, that among you who have been called there are neither many wise according to the flesh, nor many powerful, nor many nobles. Eph 1:4 In him God elected us before the foundation of the world, that we may be holy and irreprehensible before him; James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has Not God chosen the poor in the eyes of the world, that they may be rich in faith, and heirs to the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? 1 P 2:10 you who were once not a people, and who now are the people of God, you who had not obtained mercy, and who now have obtained mercy.
From all the above, we note that itis this same love that impels the apostle to list all the good he can say of his compatriots. For hatred seizes every opportunity to belittle its object and to underestimate the good that characterizes it. Love does the opposite. First of all, the apostle’s “brothers” were Israelites, that is, the descendants of that man who had struggled with God and men and who had prevailed. They possessed (but not in the current Christian sense), adoption; Jehovah had pharaoh say, “My son, my firstborn, is Israel,” and “Let my son go!” Then they possessed glory (Ex 29:43), and covenants, and the gift of the law (where was there a people like him who, among all the tribes of the earth, had been recognized by God and to whom God had given such good and just commandments?), and divine service and promises and fathers! But with what force were these words to reach the hearts and consciences of those who cast such discredit on the apostle? In reality, if there was one man who loved God’s earthly people, it was him. For he was the last one who could be accused of underestimating Israel’s privileges; rather, it was up to him to address such a reproach to his parents according to the flesh, unbelievers who did not recognize the highest of all their privileges, knowing that Christ Jesus, “God manifested in the flesh” was “of Israel”? Who among them suffered, as much as Paul, from the rejection of Israel? That is why he was qualified better than anyone else to declare to Israel that God had not rejected his people, even though they were then in the suffering they are still going through today under God’s judgment. And finally, glorious crowning at all: from Israel according to the flesh, was “born” Christ (the Messiah). Let us repeat: it is not birthrights that assure anyone salvation by grace. Children of Christian parents, this is addressed to you in the most solemn way. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to seek God’s grace.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “the Jews have rejected justice which is by faith, the Gospel proclaimed to all.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.