Message: Children of the Promise; Paul continues to share Christ with his people
Time: Romulus founded ancient Rome about 753 BC. By 600 BC it had become a wealthy, flourishing city with a monarch. Around 500 BC, the monarch was overthrown. A republic resulted and after war, Rome became the only great power in the Mediterranean, succeeding the empire of Alexander the Great. Before and after the birth of Christ, Rome's dominion continued to expand to about two thirds the size of the continental US. At the time Paul wrote, Rome had a population of about 1,000,000. Most were slaves. It was a vast empire, but had many religions present. It is unknown how the church started in Rome, but Gentiles and Jews both were involved. Paul was writing to address a problem, but he wanted to be there and perhaps, make Rome his base for his missionary journey's
What the Lord is Saying:
Outline
Here is another outline I found on biblepilot.com.
- 9:1-5 Anguish for Israel
- 9:1-3 Paul’s deep love and grief (Exodus 32:32)
- 9:4-5 Israel’s extraordinary heritage
- 9:6-29 God’s sovereign election and mercy
- 9:6-8 Children of the promise
- 9:9-13 Election illustrated by Israel and Edom
- 9:14-18 God’s purpose and mercy illustrated
- 9:14-16 Mercy on Moses (Exodus 33:19)
- 9:17-18 Hardened Pharaoh (Exodus 9:34 – 10:1)
- 9:19-24 The sovereign potter’s preparation
- 9:25-26 Inclusion of gentiles declared by Hosea
- 9:27-29 Exclusion of Israel declared by Isaiah
- 9:30-33 Pursuit of righteousness
- 9:30-31 Success by faith. Failure by works.
- 9:32-33 The stumbling stone
Thus far, in the first 5 verses, Paul has declared his great love for the people of Israel, his fellow kinsmen, the Jews. As I have seen, Paul is speaking to the church in Rome. He is speaking to gentiles there, but it seems this book is predominantly written to the Jewish Christians there. And though the Jewish Christian is new in Christ, thoughts and questions remain in their life. Throughout Romans, Paul poses and answers these questions that are probably coming from them. He desires to encourage them and help them to understand the questions that they are undoubtedly having. His love for them is great. And his sorrow for them is great as well. He desires them to live fulfilled lives in Christ. He desires them to embrace all of the gospel in their lives. He would rather separate himself from the love of Christ than to see his friends not embrace Christ.
What stands out to me is not just Paul's incredible compassion on people but his deep concern over those that don't express a belief in God. I'm continually amazed in my own life as to how I spend time with people, have conversations about various things in life, work, family, raising children, sports, and yet not bring up, that which I believe to be most important, and that is a new life in Christ.
This is why the message here in Romans is so important because Paul recognizes that the people he is writing to have friendships with those that are unconverted. And he wants to encourage them in their own understanding so that they can then share that with others.
And yet this is a message not just to Jews, but also to Gentiles. The truths are the same. People may be impacted by them differently, but they benefit everyone.
Re-teaching
Much of the message from Paul in Romans is to try to re-teach the Jewish Christian. They have been trained over the years in certain ideas regarding the Law, it's keeping, circumcision, understanding of sin, the Spirit of God, righteousness, and Paul shows them how they have been misinformed. I've always been struck by the principle of training. I often think of I Timothy 4:7-8 that says, "Discipline or train yourself for godliness." It just always reminds me of the importance of training in our lives and the need to train ourselves to be Godly. The reality is people's beliefs and convictions in life are deep. Everyone has been trained throughout life. The convictions that people hold are there because of years of training. We are constantly being trained in life. Habits are constantly being formed. Our perceptions of things are being defined. And we are becoming deeply engrossed in these ideas.
I see this in the life of my own family members. I watch my children daily get trained. And as their parent, it makes me nervous often to see a path they are going down. Yet, I'm confident in God and He can bring them down His path, as He did with me. But, still it is hard. I've had this conviction since mid-August to have a daily family devotional time in the evening. It started out occurring 4 or 5 times a week, then 3 times, then 2 times, then once and now, in the last week, not at all. It's such a struggle to develop a new habit because no one is accustomed to this in their lives and they already have their lives filled up with other stuff. Every time I initiate it, I feel like I'm disturbing them. Often, when we sit down and talk, the time is great. But, getting to that point is so difficult. Lately, I find myself even talking myself out of bringing it up. So, see, even in something so elementary to faith in this house, there is training that has occurred and it is hard to re-train.
Election
Paul wants so badly for people to understand. This new section, verses 6-29, I believe will begin to bring home the idea of election. Election is a difficult principle in Scripture. It clearly is taught, but it is still hard to unpack. Election is the act of God whereby in eternity past God chose those who will be saved. The definition is clear, but the accomplishment of this and the process of the accomplishment is hard to comprehend.
Back around 2000 or 2001 when we were attending First Baptist Church in Tijeras we saw this truth come full center. It was clear that this was a doctrine that had never really been discussed head on in that church. Our pastor at the time, Mark Waite, felt moved to discuss it, and as he did, their were many in the church that had a really hard time with it. Mark's delivery on all matters was one of authority and conviction and unashamedly convinced of the truths of scripture. Again, I don't think the doctrine was in question, but what that doctrine meant in regards to all of the other church disciplines that we knew to be important. For suddenly, the delivery of the gospel in the pulpit, the work of evangelists, the prayer of the saints, and eventually, the fellowship of those in Christ, really began to be threatened and questioned. It was a big subject and I'm not sure it was unpacked very well. I never believed that Mark was trying to change how we approached those different disciplines but in his dogmatic preaching of these concepts it clearly created a division. And when different ideas are presented, many times people really struggle to give those new ideas the time of day because once they hear a difference they stop listening. It eventually culminated in a church split with two clear sides. It was tragic. My wife and I struggled during this time and yet we believe God had called us to the church and this specific body of believers, so no matter what we thought of the situation, we did not sense God moving us. He moved others obviously and our rapidly growing church suddenly was not just cut in half but probably one-thirds left. There was intense pain that resulted from this. It was a little tragic to see the result of this. In some ways, I'm not sure if that church has ever really recovered.
While I have no problem accepting the doctrine of election, I continue to believe all the other disciplines in the Bible remain. I still pray. I still share the Good news with others. I still speak to others about truth. I guess what I think is election is real but my perspective is not God's. The fact that God chose His people doesn't change my service.
Word of God has not failed
Paul states in verse 6, "But it is not as though the word of God has failed." See, I think he says this because so many Jews were not Christians. This is true today. So, really, how is it that God chooses a people and then those people don't respond? That's the argument or the question, perhaps, in the background, that is being stated. God set the Jews out to be the carriers of salvation. Yet, this didn't happen. Jewish Christians should have occurred, it would seem, but instead the Gentiles embraced the message and Jews tend to be playing catch up or continue to resist the message. So, how could this be right is the pervading question.
Defining Descendants
Paul points out that God's word has not failed because what we think of the only descendants of Israel are not in fact the only descendants of Israel. Again, as is Paul's continued custom in this book, in his writing, it is to expose the teachings that he know has been passed down over the generations, over the centuries, and retrain God's children. But, these words, had to have created problems in people's thinking. To put forth that the Jews are not the only descendants of Israel must have created some questions. Paul kind of already mentioned something like this back in chapter 2.
In chapter 2, verses 25-29 Paul addresses circumcision and what it really means. It is an outward sign of an inward decision and what Paul mentions is important here is the inward decision, and not necessarily the outward sign. In verse 26, he states, "So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?" That's really a bold statement.
However, Paul is not saying here that all believers in Christ are descendants of Israel. I don't think that is what he is referring to, but I'm sure this is an interpretation people could have from this text. Instead, I think what he is saying is being physically born a Jew does not mean you are spiritually God's chosen.
He continues this thought in verse 7 in saying, "nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants." Galatians 3:29 states, "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise." Paul is focusing here not on physical descendants, but instead spiritual descendants. I remember Chapter 2, verse 13, when Paul communicated that the Jew does not somehow receive a free pass and will escape God's judgment just because they are born a Jew. He says in 2:13, "for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified." I don't think that most people who walk around in life really think they are saved by their good deeds, but I do think they believe that because of their affiliation with a church, a denomination, or what they have been born into, that they do think this gives them a free pass into the kingdom of God.
And yet, Paul is really taking the Jews here down a different sort of course. In the next phrase he states, "through Isaac your descendants will be named." This is a quote of Genesis 21:12, - But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. Here he is setting up that not all descendants of Abraham are part of the chosen line. Ishmael, born from Hagar and Abraham, is not part of the line. And not even all the descendants of Isaac.
Children of the Promise
In verse 8, Paul reiterates that, for each person, the focus is not on your affiliation, how you were born, the flesh that makes you a true descendant. I can see how this could be confusing. Paul mentioned in Romans 5:13-17 that being a descendant of Adam exposed all people to sin (and death) when Adam sinned. One sin resulted in sin to all. All men are condemned. But, not all are descendants here.
This idea of the promise is interwoven throughout scripture. I'm not sure I ever realized how much this word is used. The 1828 Webster definition of promise is, "In a general sense, a declaration, written or verbal made by one person to another, which binds the person who makes it, either in honor, conscience or law, to do or forbear a certain act specified."
In scripture, promise refers to blessing. It is simply listening to God and what He says and then having the confidence that He will do it. And it will be carried out. The onus is not on the faithfulness of man, though, but all of the onus is on God. Once the promise is made, we can have the assurance that it will be carried out.
Verse 9 states the promise, "“At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” The promise has been given. Now, will people listen? Sarah didn't listen and got Abraham to be intimate with Hagar in order to have a child. This is a quote of Genesis 18:10 that states, He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
This is really, right here, the crux of our faith. Will I believe God? There are volumes of sermons that have been preached, books that have been written, and it all comes down to one easy question, "Will I believe God?"
Promise: Salvation comes to us only through faith, and it is only for those who believe in Christ.
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