April 7, Romans 9
It’s in a missionary whose heart for the lost compels him to take the gospel to people in a distant land. It’s in a woman so devoted to a ministry that she pours her heart into whatever she does. And sometimes on the printed page, an author’s words convey the passion in his heart.
Paul had a heart-broken passion about Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah. He said he could wish himself accursed and cut off from Christ for their sake! Perhaps to soothe his own broken heart as well as to enlighten ours, Paul explained how God knew and foretold Israel’s rejection of the Christ.
We know from Acts that Paul had little success and lots of hostility from Jews in the cities he visited across the empire. Some Jews did believe when Paul and his traveling companions would visit their synagogues and preach Jesus as Christ. But the uproar created by unbelieving Jews was often the catalyst that caused Paul to
leave town. The bitter resistance among his Jewish brothers and sisters drove him to a fruitful ministry God said he would have among Gentiles. Jewish persecution eventually drove him into Roman custody to protect him from the very people for whom he had such passion.
Paul cited the privileges and blessings Israel had enjoyed in their covenant relationship with God, culminating in Christ’s Jewish ancestry. How could they not recognize and receive him? He quoted Moses and the Hebrew prophets to show that God was not taken by surprise when Israel rejected Jesus as the Christ.
Beginning when the nation was only a family, Paul illustrated from their history that not all who descended from Israel actually belong to Israel. Not all of Abraham’s children after the flesh, but only the children of promise are really his offspring. Not even all of them are elect; God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born. Paul said God is sovereign in his decisions about his creation—no creature can question his Creator’s choice. As God the potter, he prepares some vessels for honor and others for dishonor, some for destruction to contrast with the vessels who are shown mercy, and some from among the Gentiles as he said through his prophets he would do. God foretold that not all Israel, but only a remnant would be saved, and that many would stumble and be offended by Messiah.
Here’s the essence: By God’s sovereign choice and according to his sure promise, his true people attain righteousness through faith in Christ, not through physical descent from Abraham or works of the law. The Jews’ problem with Paul’s gospel was the very core of the message. So while Paul was frustrated by the situation, he could not compromise. He understood the Jews’ position perfectly; he had opposed Jesus and the gospel himself before his conversion. Paul found peace about Israel’s rejection through trusting God’s faithfulness and foreknowledge. But his heart still ached for Israelites who stumbled in their unbelief.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—April 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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