Romans 9:19-33

 Romans 9:19-33

How to avoid two-tiered Christianity? That was a very real challenge for the early church. Having grown out of the soil and seed of Judaism, the early church faced the very real danger of becoming a faith with a lower class and an upper class, gentile and Jewish believers, respectively. Ultimately such a view would undermine and destroy salvation by faith in Christ. We will do well to recall and be warned by the arrogance that could be found among some Jewish people. One prayer offered by Jewish men said, “I thank you, God, I was not born a woman, a gentile, or a dog.” One myth that circulated among the Jews of the ancient world was that an angel would be stationed at the gates of hell that would pull all Jews condemned to hell out of the procession of the damned. Stop and consider the arrogance of such a thought. Salvation in this view is not based on faith, or even works, but on family heritage. This myth literally challenges the wisdom, righteousness, and authority of God. Another myth said at the gate of hell there was an angel who would reverse the circumcision of all Jews who were to be damned. Thus making them non-Jews so that no Jew would be in hell.

Worse than works salvation is the salvation based on race. In contrast to the salvific work of family, Paul proposed that Israel, the Jewish nation and its national heritage, was not “the ends” but “the means” or a tool to bring the Messiah into the world. With Paul, it is always and only about Christ. This, by the way, is a view that we ought to adopt. Israel was so arrogant and self-conceited that they would never accept the Messiah God did send until or unless the Gentiles were made recipients of God‘s grace by faith. It is God’s agenda to save all people; to reach the Gentiles, he would use the family of Abraham. In their special role, they would become arrogant and then hardhearted. So in order to reach the Jews, God would use rejecting them, till in humility caused by stumbling over Jesus, some would return to him. Two points need to be remembered. First is the poison of arrogance, which is not a malady of Jews only. Second, the story is not about Jew or Gentile; it’s about Christ.

“Lord, help my life to be only and always about Jesus. AMEN”

Romans 9:1-18

 Romans 9:1-18

Paul ends chapter 8, telling us nothing can separate us, as believers, from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Now he will talk about the reality of separation of non-believers from God, and he will use the Jewish people as an example. He begins by expressing his great sadness, even horror, over the fact that many Jewish people were or would be lost. In verse three he says he would willingly be accursed if it would mean the salvation of the Jews. That word accursed means “condemned and marked for destruction”. Paul says, “To hell with me” for their benefit. That sadly is nearly the opposite mindset of many churches and Christians today. More often than not, churches can be counted on to have planned and made their decisions based on what benefits themselves and not the lost they are called to reach. I once had a church lady tell me, in reference to a young couple struggling with drugs and alcohol, “We don’t want people like that in our church.”. In other words, “Let them go to hell.”. Any Christian or church that orders their life around their own interest and benefit rather than those they are called to reach doesn’t really know Christ or the Gospel.

Paul, heartbroken, talks about the rejection by God of Israel, His chosen people. This is one of the most challenging passages in the Bible. It appears that God would, on a whim, make a person unholy and then condemn them for their unholiness. But there is more to it than that. Paul is summarizing long stories and passages, and we need to know the whole story to get the point. The story of Pharaoh will serve nicely. The Scriptures tell us God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but there is more to it than just that. During the plagues on Egypt recorded in Exodus, we see an important change in Pharaoh. We see this phrase repeated, “he (Pharaoh) hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15, 32). But in Exodus 9:12 we see that “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”. That change is important. If we insist on rejecting God and hardening our hearts against Him, eventually God will assist us in that. If we want to engage in heartlessness towards the lost, God will give us the desires of our heart. But He will also hold us accountable for our sin. The greatest sin is not some act of selfishness or sensuality. The greatest sin is rejecting God’s call to Himself through repentance. In other words, a gross act of immorality is less dangerous than the secret and gross act of resisting the Holy Spirit‘s conviction for seemingly minor acts of sin.

“Lord, keep my heart tender toward You and my will sensitive to Your conviction. AMEN”