Paul on Passion, Privileges and a Person (Romans 9:1-6)

Sometimes when we read a book we discover that it is full of more interesting features than we first anticipated, even although we already thought it would deal with important issues. We discover that this is the case with the Book of Romans. Already we have followed Paul as he explained a variety of important teachings about the great salvation Christians enjoy already, even although there is also a great amount to be experienced of it in the future. Now he turns to deal with a huge subject, which is the place that the people of Israel have in the purposes of God. Paul will take three chapters to explain this subject.

As we think about his explanation, we will need to remember a couple of details. First, the circumstances of the people of Israel at that time of writing were new, even although they had been ruled by foreign powers for centuries. Most Jews understandably looked for deliverance from those powers and for the recovery of the nation of Israel in their own land. Then Jesus came, and after his resurrection he sent out his apostles with a message of deliverance for the whole world and not just for Israel. The deliverance was no longer connected to the Promised Land either. This was the new element in the situation and it is this that Paul will first explain.

Second, we now read Paul's words aware that a nation called Israel has been established in the second half of the twentieth century and will soon have been in existence for seventy years. Although there is such a nation, we should remember that most Israelites don't belong to that nation. Indeed the current nation of Israel is composed of Jews and Arabs. Whether or not the current nation turns out to have biblical significance, we must keep in mind that Paul means the entire ethnic people of Israel when he refers to them in this set of chapters.

Paul’s passion

Paul here makes a bold claim about a central feature of his outlook. We can see immediately that he was a very emotional man, marked by great love for his fellow Israelites. Of course, it was not only Israelites that moved him emotionally. His writings reveal a man who often expressed himself through tears. In Philippians 3:18-19, he describes how he felt about Gentiles who opposed his message: ‘For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.’ He reminded the Ephesians elders that when he was in Ephesus he had not ceased ‘night or day to admonish every one with tears’ (Acts 20:31). In 2 Corinthians 2:4, he describes how he wrote a previous letter to the church in Corinth: ‘For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.’ So we can see that Paul shed tears for a variety of people. So what can we say about his tears for the Israelites?

First, Paul here links his concern for the Israelites with an awareness of the security of God’s people. The apostle completed the previous chapter in Romans with an exceptionally strong affirmation of the impossibility of any Christian not experiencing the fullness of salvation. Yet the security did not make him selfish regarding those not yet converted. Instead it led to deep concern over them.

Second, it was likely that he expected some people would be surprised by his heartfelt concern for Israelites. The surprise was because of the way he had been treated by the Jews when he took the gospel to them. In many places they had opposed him strongly and indeed had often persecuted him physically and in other ways. What was his response? He wept over them.

Third, the apostle sought to ensure that his readers realised that his sorrow for the Israelites was mainly spiritual. There was an ethnic aspect to it because he and they were Jews. Yet what moved him to tears was their rejection of the blessings connected to their spiritual privileges, which he lists in this passage, and which we will consider briefly later.

Fourth, Paul wanted his readers to know that his sorrow was serious, that he was prepared personally to be lost in hell if that would enable them to be saved. Paul knew that could not be the case, yet it was what he felt. His sorrow was certainly not merely skin-deep. He understood in a measure the reality of a lost eternity, yet such was his love for his people that he was willing to undergo hell if they could get to heaven. He was like Moses, who also had indicated that he was willing to be lost in order for his countrymen to be saved (Exod. 32:32). Do we love our countrymen to such an extent?

Fifth, although Paul had this concern about his people, he also knew that many of them had become Christians. So he understood that conversions were possible from among them. Yet this grasp of things did not make Paul clinical or indifferent to their fate. Could it be that he realised that tears were an essential feature of the path to spiritual success in the evangelism of his people?

Sixth, Paul’s outlook for the Israelites was shared by God. We can see this detailed by Paul when he connects his outlook with his union with Christ and with the Holy Spirit. We know that Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem and we can also look back to the period before the flood when we are told that God was grieved by the sins of humans before judgement came on them.

So we can say that Paul’s attitude of sorrow and anguish was Christlike, controlled by the Spirit, willing to be condemned by God instead of the Jews being condemned, constant in its presence, and deep in its expression.

Privileges

One reason for Paul’s response was his awareness of the great spiritual privileges that had been given to the Israelites during their history as God’s people. It is not clear if he mentions eight benefits, or whether he mentions seven before highlighting the most important role that Israel enjoyed in the purpose of God. In any case, we will be aware already of the seven blessings that he mentions. We can consider each one briefly, and while we do we should bear in mind that they are expressions of grace given to the Israelites. It is noticeable that Paul uses the present tense when he says that those privileges belong to Israel, which means that in some way they still had them even although the Israelites no longer were the sole beneficiaries of God.

The first privilege that Paul mentions is that of adoption, a description that includes the concepts of endearment and exaltation. It was customary for kings to show special favour to individuals and adopt them as their heirs and to give to them a share in the royal inheritance. Paul is not referring to the status of permanent adoption that belongs to Christians. Instead he is stressing that God took undeserving Israel into a special relationship with him and gave to them a special inheritance in the promised land. There are many Old Testament passages in which the Lord describes his deep affection for Israel and of his desires that they would use their inheritance aright.

The second privilege is ‘the glory’, which is likely a reference to the Shekinah glory by which God revealed himself in the tabernacle and the temple. This glory was a reminder of his permanent presence with Israel. Obviously God is omnipresent, but the Shekinah was a special kind of divine presence. It had its solemn aspects, as many who despised it discovered to their cost. Nevertheless it was a great privilege for Israel to have God dwelling among them.

The third privilege was that God made special arrangements with the Israelites, here called ‘the covenants’. Two in particular come to mind here, and that is the covenant made with them at Sinai and the covenant God made with David that in the future one of his descendants would be the Messiah. In those covenants, God made great promises to the Israelites about the benefits they could experience as his people as long as they were faithful to his requirements.

Those requirements are stated in the next privilege, the giving of the law. It was customary for an overlord to appear in great splendour, perhaps on a decorated chariot, surrounded by his army, when he informed his subjects about the laws he required them to obey. The Lord appeared in great splendour at Mount Sinai, so awesome that the mountain shook, and his troops were the angelic hosts. It truly was a magnificent occasion, one that had great significance for Israel. God had come down to them and revealed his glory as well as his requirements.

The response to the revelation of God at Sinai was worship, but not worship according to what the Israelites thought was suitable. Instead they were given what Paul calls ‘the worship’, and the definite article stresses that this expression of worship was unique. The detail that was unique was that in this form of worship Israel were told that their God was a God of mercy who desired to forgive their sins. All the sacrifices that the Israelites offered spoke of his holiness and his mercy, two attributes that we might think could never be in harmony, but they were in the worship of Israel.

Accompanying the other privileges were the promises of God. He shared with them his intentions for the future. Most of the promises were connected to the coming of the Messiah and the kingdom he would set up after his arrival. Even in their darkest moments in their history they could remind themselves that God had great things in store for them.

The last privilege of the seven is that the patriarchs belonged to the Israelites. It may be that Paul was stressing that the patriarchs did not belong to other descendants of Abraham and Isaac, but instead belonged to the descendants of Jacob only. Or it may be that here he was asking his readers to consider the small origins of the Israelites and how unlikely it seemed that they would be become a people. But they had because God was gracious to them and entered into a covenant with them regarding their descendants.

The obvious comment that can be made about the Israelites and their privileges is that they as a race received no spiritual benefit from having received them. Although God had been gracious to them they had despised their privileges.

The same can be said about many people in our part of the world. They do not have the same privileges as Israel, but they have received great spiritual gifts from God in having the gospel and its benefits. Sadly many in the past have gone through life behaving in a way that made it clear they did not value those benefits and therefore did not experience the blessing of God. Many today are have abandoned the gospel and exchanged it for forms of worldliness, imagining that in doing so they are discovering freedom. But they are making a mistake with eternal consequences.

Person

It is the case that every Jew would have accepted the list that Paul has just given of their privileges. Yet at the end of that list he mentions another detail and this claim is one that most Jews would not accept – indeed they would have denied it fiercely. Yet for Paul, and he was a Jew, this eighth privilege was the crowning benefit that Israel enjoyed. The privilege was the arrival of the Messiah, and while Paul does not say here that he has Jesus in mind, we know that is who he meant.

Paul mentions three wonderful details about Jesus. First, he says that Jesus is a real man, born through a tribe and family in Israel. Of course, there are details about the humanity of Jesus that Paul does not mention here, such as the virgin birth. But he does stress that Jesus possessed a genuine humanity, a reminder that he became one of us.

Second, Paul states that Jesus is the eternal and sovereign God. The words ‘over all’ indicate that Jesus possesses everything that makes God to be God. Jesus has all the attributes, abilities and aims of God. Paul wants us to remember this whenever we think about Jesus. He is true God and real man, and that forever. Before the incarnation he had not been a man. Since the incarnation he is also a man forever as well as continuing to be divine.

Third, Jesus is blessed fully and endlessly. Paul here is expressing worship, but it is worship that is aware of the permanent person and status of Jesus. Wherever he will be and whatever he will do, he will do so as the one who enjoys supreme blessedness without diminution. We worship Jesus both for who he is as well as for what he has done and will yet do.

As we close, there are four comments I would make. First, if we have Jesus, we should ask him to make us passionate in his cause and about the needs of sinners. Second, unless we get Jesus, other blessings from God become pointless. Third, if we do not get Jesus, all those blessings become punishable, and the punishment will be meted out by Jesus on the Day of Judgement. Fourth, we should speak about Jesus in such a way that listeners will sense that we think he is great beyond words.