Romans 9:1-5
1I am telling the truth in union with Christ—I am not lying,
for my conscience, confirms it in the Holy Spirit. 2I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, 3for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my
relatives according to the flesh.
4They are Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the
glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the
flesh, Christ descended, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
This is the first section we come to in Romans 9. Chapter 9 of Romans is a new set of thoughts from the Apostle Paul. Paul has been working his way through the letter so far dealing with first in chapters 1, all have sinned and in chapter 3, everyone is trapped in sin and death. In chapter 5 Paul deals with the fact that sin is original and comes strait from Adam. But Paul also gives hope at the same time in chapter 4 giving that righteousness comes by faith, chapters 6 and 7 discussing grace and the full effects of it, and finally in chapter 8 gives the solution for sin. But now in chapter 9 Paul wants to think about his fellow brothers, the Jews. And that is where today's section of Romans picks up. Paul has a deep sorrow over his fellow Jews because as he already has shown it is by faith in the grace of God through the death of Jesus that a person is saved. Paul in verses 4 and 5 lists all of the privileges that the Israleties had from God, yet now they do not matter because as Paul clearly has shown it is not by works or privileges that one gets saved but by faith in Jesus. Paul is broken and in anguish over his friends and family, the Jews, to the point he would even trade his salvation for the salvation of all the people of privilege. Wow
3 Important applications I find in these 5 simple verses.
#1- As Paul tells us and shows through the list of privileges for the Jews, it is not by privilege or position that a person is saved. Paul follows chapter 8 with this section and in chapter 8 Paul shows us that it is a relationship through faith in the grace of God that will lead a person to salvation. Salvation does not come by a list of privileges but by the death and faith in that death, of Jesus. So we need to ask ourselves, every day, what is my salvation founded in???
#2-In our union with Jesus, we need to be listening to the truth from the Holy Spirit. Paul is clear in the first verse that everything he is saying is not is own ideas or thoughts but because of his relationship with Jesus and hard-line connection with Him, the Holy Spirit is feeding him and giving him truth to share with others. We have this same power in our lives when we are in a relationship, by faith, with Jesus. So again another question we need to ask ourselves, every day, are we listening to the Holy Spirit and His truth or ourselves and our desires?
#3- We need to be like Paul, broken and in anguish over souls we know are going to hell. Paul is in tears and heart broken over his brothers missing the point and truth of Jesus. Paul is even broken to the point he would even possibly trade his salvation for their souls. We have the same mandate and we should feel the same weight about our friends, family, and loved ones that do not know Jesus and will spend eternity in anguish in hell. So the last question from this passage for us to ask, every day, is, do we feel broken and cry out over those we love and what can we do about our sorrow for the souls of others?
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