Paul begins in Romans 9 by assuring us that he is speaking the truth, so let’s hear it. It pains him greatly to say this because these are, “those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!, and yet, Paul has great anguish of heart, wishing that he , could be cut off from Christ, (who is the blessing of God towards them), but he cannot be separated from the love which, in reaching out to Israel, reached Paul on the road to Damascus. He would rather be cursed on their behalf. He is saying that even though they, like him, are descendants of Abraham, they live under the curse of the law which is sin and death, (cf Romans 8 verses 1 – 4, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”)
Wherever we look at this, Israel needed their Messiah. He came in the person of Jesus. He is God’s love, rescue plan and His own fulfillment of covenant towards the nation and the people whom He loved. These wonderful verses speak of a move of God towards Israel, not, “aposato“. Quoting these verses is an affirmation of the care of the God of Israel to fulfill His covenant promises, the bones which cannot be broken, even when the recipients of the promises, the law, the covenants and the patriarchs have dropped their end and are in danger of becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Just to round that off, Paul says in Romans 9 verse 6 that in this, “It is not as though the Word of God has failed” (Luke 1 verse 37, “No word from God will ever fail”.) But we now have, what is a very awkward phrase in Romans 9 verse 6, “Not all who are descended from Israel, are Israel”. This division of Israel is also a division for many in the church. Face value is useful here. because explanation in what Paul says is plentiful. Don’t jump to the immediate conclusion that by believing that it is possible for, “not all Israel to be saved”, some how makes God a liar. Yes, this is something of a pejorative spoken against those who believe the possibily and yet Paul specifically deal with these issues right here.
1 “I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying”
2 “I have great anguish for my people”
3 “Yes they received it all”
4 “The Messiah, Jesus, is from and belongs to them”
5 “God’s Word has not failed here, but the truth of which I speak is that not all descended from Israel are Israel”.
All of this collective of understanding is part of the, “Therefore”, in Romans 11 verse 1, “I ask therefore, has God rejected, aposato, Israel, by no means”. But are we prepared to accept God’s way. We will have to return to this later when we look at, “only a remnant will be saved” and, “Thus all Israel will be saved”.