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Psalms 73:8-16 They scoff
and speak wickedly concerning
oppression; They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, And
their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore his people return here, And
waters of a full cup are
drained by them. And they say, "How does God know? And is there knowledge
in the Most High?" Behold, these are
the ungodly, Who are always at ease; They increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, And washed my hands in
innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, And chastened every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have been untrue
to the generation of Your children. When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me.
Father, in the name of Jesus we give you praise and thanks for all you do in
our lives. Without you in our lives we would be lost in this dark world. We ask
that you continue refining us and showing us what we need to repent of so that
we can remain steadfast in you grace. We give you all the glory and praise. Amen!
Romans 9:1-5 NKJV
For the first eight chapters of Romans, Paul’s Jewish
readers have heard how salvation is by grace alone, not by law or works. Having
been steeped in Judaism, these recipients of Paul’s letter were surely asking
themselves, “Where do we Jews fit in the plan of God since it appears our whole
way of life has been set aside?” and this is the purpose of the next three
chapter, to explain what their role is along with how we fit into God’s plan.
Many people raised in a religious denomination feel their
religious heritage give them a unique standing before God. But if anyone’s
heritage were unique in God’s sight, it was the Jews. Yet without Jesus Christ,
they were as lost as the most pagan Gentiles. Heritage counts for nothing when
it comes to God. In God’s eyes it is all about faith in Jesus Christ and what
He did at the Cross, believing in heritage and religion for salvation is a
recipe for death and destruction. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying
religion is bad, what I’m saying is the purpose of religion is to enlighten
people with knowledge and bring them to Jesus. Religion can be viewed just like
the Ten Commandments that God gave the Israelite’s. The Ten Commandments were
and are to be a schoolmaster to turn people from sin and toward God. If a
religion is preaching anything other than faith in Jesus through His death and
resurrection for salvation and only that, then it is a false religion.
We know by studying the Bible God has set the Jewish
people aside for now because they have rejected Him and His son Jesus. They
will be gathered up in the future and once again worship God and accept Jesus
in the end time events, which seems to be just around life’s corner. In the
mean time God has joined both Jews and Gentiles into one body, the church which
gave birth at the Cross and given life at Pentecost. There is not a Gospel for
the Jews and one for the Gentiles, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is one in the
same for both. This is stated in Colossians 3:11; Philippians 3:3-11 and in Ephesians 2:11-16 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in
the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made
in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. 13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has
broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, that is, the law of
commandments contained in
ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus
making peace, 16
and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity.
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my
conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit; Paul starts this chapter out giving a
statement of truth to his Jewish audience. Stating that he is in Christ and
Christ is in him. Making claim that he isn’t lying and that his spirit is
bearing witness by means of the Holy Spirit, in other words it is the Holy
Spirit speaking through him. Why does he start out this way? He wants to make sure
his audience knows
for certain that it was the Lord, and that such thought or Doctrine was not
coming out of his own mind, and probably
because there were hecklers in his audience accusing him of not knowing what he
was talking about, after all they were Jews. The majority of Paul’s travels
took him throughout many Gentile villages and maybe the hecklers were stating,
“Hey Paul you are talking to Jews not Gentiles, what you’re saying doesn’t
pertain to us, have you lost your mind?” They were probably in denial because
they were Jews, God’s chosen people, they had nothing to worry about because
they had the Mosaic Law and the Messianic Promise. This is so true and sad in
current times around the world, many stake their claim in their religion for
eternal life. Their faith is in the doctrine of their denomination and that is
what they live by, not God’s Word. Matthew
4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT
BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.' " For
eternal life each and every one must have their faith in the Cross of Christ
and the truth be found in the Bible, not in religious denomination manmade
doctrine.
2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in
my heart; What is
going on here? Why does Paul have great sorrow and constant grief in his heart?
Let me remind you who he is addressing. It is his Roman Jewish brothers, his
heritage. His heart grieves for them because he knows the truth, he knows
Jesus, he knows the Gospel, he knows they will all perish in Hell if they won’t
accept what he is saying and accept Jesus as their Saviour. Don’t forget Paul
was a student of the law and knew it better than anyone at the time of his
conversion on the road to Damascus. He knew there was no salvation in their
customs and laws, it had been revealed to him through Jesus Christ, it is by
faith only. Paul’s heart is heavy just like Jesus heart is heavy because people
won’t listen to the truth, they won’t deny their self righteous beliefs and
place their trust in Jesus. It is very difficult for people to give it all
because faith is something we can’t touch or read like doctrinal law. Few come
to see the truth and give it all, but many don’t. God’s word tells us this. Romans 9:27 NLT And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried
out, "Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the
seashore, only a remnant will be saved. This verse isn’t
just for Israel, it is for all mankind.
We are in a time of great
apostasy that Paul warns us about in; 2 Timothy 4:2-4 Preach the
word! Be ready in season and
out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and
teaching. 3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according
to their own desires, because
they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they
will turn their ears away from
the truth, and be turned aside to fables. True believers have heavy hearts also for the lost, just
as Paul and Jesus. Do you think every time someone dies, and if they haven’t
accepted Jesus as their saviour, Jesus is shedding tears as they go down that
dark tunnel to Hell? I do!
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh; What this verse is simply stating is
that Paul wishes that he could take the place of his kinsman in Hell. He would
sacrifice his eternal life; separate (accursed) himself from Christ if it were
possible for his kinsman to be saved, because of the love he had for them. We
know this is a moot point and just and expression of love that he had for his
kinsman. Moses made a similar claim for the Israelites. Exodus 32:32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if
not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." We know there is only one that gave
His life so that we can have eternal life and that of course is the Son of God,
Jesus Christ. Paul knew his kinsman had to accept the Gospel just like everyone
else. Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say,
"Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who
thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
What
about this part of the verse? ”my brethren, my countrymen according to the
flesh” What is he talking about? I thought when Paul referred to his
brethren he was referring to fellow believers. In this case he isn’t, he is
referring to them as brethren at one time. Brethren of the law prior to his
conversion, but since he is a true believer, when he wrote this, he is meaning
his heritage of being a Jew.
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the
covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
Who
are Israelites; This
phrase pertains to the previous verse. It is stating who Paul’s countrymen are.
The rest of the verse tells us what the Israelites were given by God.
The adoption; Three months after the Israelites
left Egypt they camped at Siani and this is where God adopted them as His
people. Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice
and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all
people; for all the earth is
Mine.
The
glory; Refers to
God’s presence that would always be with the Israelites as long as they kept
His commands. Gods divine presence would still be with them had they not
allowed the sin nature to take over their thoughts and actions, but one day in
the future that glory will be restored at the second coming of Jesus. Exodus 16:10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole
congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness,
and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. Ex. 16:7; 24:16, 17; Lev.
9:6; Num. 14:10, 21; Deut. 5:24
The covenants; The first covenant with the
Israelites was with Abraham. It was by faith that Abraham believed whatever God
proclaimed and through this faith his salvation was made possible. This
covenant is referred to the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 15:6 And he
believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:18 On the same day the LORD made a
covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land,
from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— God made other covenants also with
Moses, David, and the Israel nation as a whole.
The giving of the law; The law is of course pertaining to
the Mosaic Laws. The Mosaic Law refers to
the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy, with Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers pertaining more to laws.
These five books are referred to as, The Pentateuch (Pen'tateuch). Pentateuch is the Greek name given to the five books
commonly called "the five books
of Moses". This title is derived from "pente", five,
and "teucos", meaning "vessel", "instrument,"
etc.; in Alexandrine Greek to mean "book",
hence, the fivefold book. In
the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, it was called "the law of Moses", Ezra
7:6, or "the book of
the law of Moses", Nehemiah 8:1,
or simply "the book of
Moses". 2 Chronicles 25:4;
2 Chronicles 35:12; Ezra 6:13; Nehemiah
13:1.
The service of God; This is referring to the privilege Israel
had in ministering face to face with the God of our universe through the
tabernacle at first and then through the temple. It also includes the
priesthood and offerings that were made, found in Exodus, Leviticus, and
Deuteronomy, basically the ministering of the laws.
The promise; Through their heritage the Messiah
would come. The Saviour of all mankind.
5 of whom are
the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
Of whom are
the fathers;
Refers to the patriarchs of the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. These
Old Testament leaders that had a close personal relationship with God.
According to
the flesh;
Paul is referring to the blood ancestry that Jesus came from. Even though Jesus
came in the form of human flesh, the Jews were the chosen people for this to
happen.
Christ came,
who is over all, the eternally blessed God; Christ is derived from the Greek word
“Christos”, which is translated from the Hebrew word Messiah, both meaning “The
Anointed”. Paul states it very plainly, as far as Jesus humanity it came out of
Israel, but He is God and rules over all of creation. He is part of the Trinity
that will never change. He is God. Hebrews
13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever.
Amen; This word as
a verb signifies to confirm, establish, verify, to trust, or give confidence;
as a noun, truth, firmness, trust, confidence; as an adjective, firm, stable.
Many times the word is used by listeners as a form of agreement of what has
been stated.
Paul has really built up his Jewish
kinsman with this opening of Chapter nine. He has done this before and then
pulled the rug out from under them in some way. Hmmmmm!
For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God
to salvation for everyone who believes,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a
steadfast spirit within me.
Unless you are Born Again,
you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Abialbon?
Answer: A member of “The Thirty,” the third
contingent of David’s elite group of guards. Abialbon ”the Arbathite” came from
a village named Arabah or Bertharabah in northern Judah. 2 Samuel 23:31 Abialbon the Arbathite………
This week’s Trivia: Who was Abiasaph?
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