Romans 9:1-9 Concern for friends, Confidence in Christ

Doug Moo observes that Paul’s tone moves from one of celebrating the joy of being in Christ to that of lamentation as he considers the condition of his kinfolk.

Romans 9:1-4 (HCSB) I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit—  that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

In our passage today, Paul reveals his deep-seated love for his kinsmen of the flesh. This should show us that it is acceptable for us to likewise care especially for our kin folk. He stresses how his conscience is clear, he speaks as one united with Christ – speaking truth, and goes on to say he is not lying. He wants his fellow Jews to know that his desire for them is to be truly united to YHWH is sincere. But we also should learn from Paul that we can do nothing to overturn God’s redemptive plan. Here he describes how could almost wish to sacrifice himself for the sake of the Jews. I believe he recognized how outrageous his desire was, for he had written previously about the sovereign nature of God in the redemption of sinners. He further knows he cannot serve as a suitable sacrifice for them because of his own sin. It’s almost like Paul is trying to convince himself that the Israelites are worth saving – he lists several things that set them apart from the rest of humanity. The promises belong to them!

Recall what the apostle said about this in chapter 3 when he asked, What advantage do the Jews have? Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the spoken words of God. Yet this advantage did not help them in the matter of utmost importance, as Paul noted in that chapter – where his point was that man cannot judge God as being unfair because He saves some but not others. Think about that in our culture. Those who think man chooses to have God save him rely on the human notion of fairness to rebut the biblical doctrine of election. Paul denies this argument as it directly bears on the Jewish people of his day. 

Listen to this message here.