Romans - Part 08 - Israel and God's Plan

S - Scripture

Romans 9:6-8

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.

Romans 10:9-13

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 11:25-32

25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this will be my covenant with them **when I take away their sins.**28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs, 29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable. 30 As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.

O - Observation

• God (and His Word) does not fail
• Spiritual inheritance over physical lineage
• No distinction between Jew and Gentile in salvation
• What is the mystery Paul mentions?
• Mercy is repeated several times. Who is it directed towards?

A - Application

• Have yo ever thought "so-and-so is a believer because they come from a Christian family". This is easy to think and even think about for yourself. Does my family's legacy of being Christians automatically make me a Christian? While this can greatly help bring you to the Lord, it doesn't automatically make you His.
• Paul is making us look at the history of Israel and reminding us that just because someone belongs to Israel doesn't mean they inherently belong to God. In Romans 9, read a few more verses and it tells us that God's election is based on His calling and not anything we do or are born into.
• Small note on election and the elect. There are several varying views on what election means. I do not plan to address all of these here, but I want to leave you with this. The elect are those who belong to God and if you belong to God then your life will be transformed to look more like Him and no the world. In short, this means that a true believer (an elect) will start to change internally to be more Christ-like after believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. There is much more to say on this but for now that is enough (at least for me).
• Paul talks about a mystery but what is it? Mystery can mean several things but most of the time it means something that was kept secret but is now being made known. This mystery is three-fold. 1) Israel is in a partial hardening, 2) this hardening will continue until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and 3) when all Israel is to be saved.
  • Go back to Romans 11:11 to get a better understanding of Israel's hardening. Essentially, Israel's partial hardening is part of God's will and plan for His mercy to expand out from Israel towards the Gentiles. It is also a cautionary tale for us today. Paul says for us to not be conceited because Israel was God's people set apart from the world (sanctified) and yet they rejected God and God's mercy was extended out from them.
  • "Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." There are several different interpretations for what this means, but I want to focus on one in particular. This could mean the completion of the mission to reach all people with the gospel. I like this interpretation because it works without a timeline and really only God would know when this time has been reached and until then we are to love others by sharing the gospel with them without any concern of when to stop doing so.
  • What does it mean "all of Israel will be saved"? All of Israel could mean the nation of Israel (either all of Abraham's descendants through Isaac or the elect within ethnic Israel) or symbolic of all God's elect (Jew and Gentile). In either case, the elect will be under a new covenant mediated by the Suffering Servant (Jesus).
• A person’s heritage or upbringing does not automatically make them a child of God, as true belief relies on divine calling rather than family legacy. Paul explains that God’s plan expanded beyond Israel to extend mercy to all people, calling believers to share the gospel faithfully until His grand design is complete.

P - Prayer

Lord, Thank you for extending Your mercy to me. I pray that I continue to grow closer to you, be more bold in sharing the gospel with others, and remember that my family's legacy nor my own actions contribute to my salvation, rather it is through You alone. I pray this in your name, Jesus, Amen.