Romans 9:1-5

Passage

I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience testifies for me in the Holy Spirit that my sorrow is great and unceasing is the intense anxiety of my heart.  For I myself was wishing to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh.  They are Israelites, and of whom is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.  Of whom are the patriarchs and in whom is Christ – the one according to the flesh – who upon all things is God worthy of being praised into the ages, amen.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Within these verses Paul gives us a true picture of the heart of one who is truly in Christ.  Paul is a broken man.  His heart cannot help but break for the lost in the world – even his own Hebrew people who rejected Christ and nailed Him to the cross.  He has great sorrow for them.  He has a deep anxiety for them.  But Paul knows that his sorrow and anxiety is all he can have.  He – like us – cannot force anyone into the truth.  We can merely present the truth and wait for God to act upon it and wait for the person to receive His truth.  You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

Do you love lost souls?  If so, how can you tell?  How does it show?  Are you broken by this fact?

Second Thought:

Paul also reminds us of all the things that the Hebrew people had within the scope of their relationship with God.  They had the promise of adoption into a divine family.  They had the many instances of seeing God’s glory.  They had the patriarchs through whom God displayed His promise.  They had the covenants.  They had God’s Law.  They had the worship in the tabernacle and the temple.  They had the promises of future redemption.  They had so much more given to them than the rest of the world!  Yet, through all of this, so many were unprepared for His coming.

Are there people in your midst who seem to have every reason to have a relationship with God and yet, they don’t?  Why do you think this is true?  Are there people in your midst who have every reason to not have a relationship with God and yet, they do?  Why is this true?

Third Thought:

As we look at this passage in preparation for the verses to come, it may seem strange that Paul moves to this section immediately after all the build-up of trust in God and the talk of salvation coming from God that we had in chapter 8.  We are going to begin a section of several chapters on the Hebrew people.  What is at stake here is the character of God.  After all, the people to whom Paul had devoted his ministry were familiar with the Jews. They knew of God’s promises to them.  They couldn’t help but wonder if God’s promises of salvation to the Jews had failed.  If God’s promises to the Jews had failed, then they couldn’t help but ask how we can trust in His promise to save the Gentiles through Christ.  That is the main overarching question of the next few chapters.  Paul will lead us through this question of how we can trust in God and how His promises will be kept even among the Hebrew people.

Do you ever question God’s character?  Do you ever wonder if God will be able to keep His promises?  What can be helpful to your faithfulness when you have these moments of wondering?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:6-9