Not all who say they are really are.

Romans 9: 1-13

Paul has spent the last 8 chapters talking about salvation, our need, God’s plan, it’s effectiveness, etc. Now he breaks off a little and begins to discuss Israel’s place in all of this. My goal is not to make a political statement but to see if there is anything about what Paul says concerning Israel that impacts our faith today. The answer is yes.
I want to break these first 13 verses into 2 sections and talk about 2 topics. In the first 5 verses I want to look at what Paul teaches us about evangelism. In the next 7 verses we will look at what Paul teaches us about what makes us part of the kingdom.

Vs1-5
In these first 5 verses we see the heart of a missionary, the heart of Jesus. When Paul starts talking about Israel and how they’ve rejected Jesus he is immediately gripped with grief and passion. We’re going to talk about these verses out of order. Look first at who it is Paul is talking about: 3b-5. Clearly he is talking about Jews, but his description of them goes far beyond national description. These are his people. They are his countrymen, his family, his brothers and sister, his cousins, his friends. Not only that, but Paul describes them as people whom God loves. They are the adoption, they have experienced God’s glory, God has made a covenant with them, the law and the forefathers and God’s promises belong to these people.
Paul is clearly enamored with Israel. He loves these people. This isn’t just patriotism, it is genuine love. What does Paul say this love for his people causes in him (2-3)? Sorrow and anguish. He is not just sad, he is in anguish for them because they have not embraced the Messiah. Paul is in pain over the fact that they are missing out on life in Jesus. So much that Paul says would be willing to be cursed if that would mean Israel embraced Jesus. Paul would forfeit his own salvation if that would bring his people to Jesus (obviously that is impossible, but that is the extent of Paul’s love).
This is the heart of Jesus! This is the picture of missions and evangelism: To be willing to experience harm so that good can come to others. But the key to all of this is in V1. Paul wants his readers to be aware of the sincerity he has about what he is saying. Rarely does Paul go out of the way to convince his readers that he telling the truth. A few times in his epistles he says, “This is a true saying.” But this is furthest Paul goes pleading with readers to believe him. The point is this: Paul wants to be clear that this is not just lip service. Paul is saying with 100% sincerity and absolute conviction that he would do anything to see his people have life.

Application: You are surrounded by your people. They may not be the covenant nation of Israel, they may not be tasked with Temple service, but they are people God wants to adopt into His family, they are loved, they are people to whom God wants to show His glory and share His presence, they are people Jesus died to make a covenant with. So, do we feel similar sorrow and anguish? Are we willing to suffer anything for them to experience life? How much of what we say about wanting others to know Jesus is insincere?

Vs 6-13
Paul is saying some things that are very unique to the Israel situation, yet there are some amazing parallels that we can apply to our situation. Paul has just said God’s promise was to bring salvation through Israel, yet Israel rejected the Messiah. Now he says, “But don’t think God’s plan failed, because not every one who claims to be of Israel is really of Israel.” Paul goes off on a tangent that can be kind of hard to understand because he’s using this really technical Jewish illustration of Abraham’s descendants and Isaac’s kids and blah blah blah. What Paul is saying is that you can’t claim to be Israel because you were born into it or simply because you say it. Not all of Abe’s kids are Israel, or all of Isaac’s kids. Only those children of the promise are Israel.
The point is there are some who are and some who aren’t and you can’t claim to be based on anything other than the promise. These same principles are true for us today as much as for Paul explaining this nearly 2000 years ago. There are so many more people who claim to be the church than really are. For so many it’s just a casual thing that holds no real significance, “Well, I think my parents are Methodists and I totally wear a cross necklace so no duh I’m a Christian.” And this leaves many people with the question, “If the church is supposed to be God’s spotless bride and God’s active body on earth, why do so many ‘Christians’ live in complete denial of Jesus?”
Paul’s words ring out that there are some who are and some who only claim to be. The only way to be is through embracing the promise of Jesus, “Come and die with me and I will show you life! Give me everything and I will show you how empty you were. Hold nothing back and I will show you what full life really is. Give up your life for me and I will help you really find it.”