Read or listen the Epistle to the Romans chapter 9 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

A doctrinal and personal problem

We can divide the entire book of Romans as follows, for example:

1. Chapters 1-4 The foundation of salvation

2. Chapters 5-8 Sanctification, i.e. living as a Christian

3. Chapters 9-11 The question of the fate of the Jews

4. Chapters 12-15 Practical instructions and advice

5. Chapter 16 Greetings

A central issue in chapters 9-11 is God's choice, which Paul already spoke about earlier, in 8:28-30. Another central doctrinal question is the discussion of salvation history. To Christians, this passage in Romans also speaks of the fact that we can learn from the fate of the Jews and avoid the mistake they made, that is, the rejection of Christ.

We notice that it was a painful issue for Paul personally that most Jews remained outside the church of Christ. The Jews rejected Jesus very strongly. While the Christians used the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, translated a couple of hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Jews made as many as three new Greek translations of the Old Testament. In these new translations, passages used by Christians had been changed so that they would no longer fit Jesus so clearly. A kind of "record" here can be considered the fact that in some medieval Jewish commentaries on the Old Testament, Isaiah 53 only has brackets and the mention, "There are some things missing here." Many Jewish scholars admit that the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament should have already been fulfilled.

Israel turned its back on Christ – Rom. 9:1-5

Although Paul had been accused of being anti-Jewish and hostile towards the Jews, he did love his own people. In verse 3, he says that he would have been even willing to be cursed – cast outside the kingdom of God – if it had helped Israel to be saved. After the golden calf had been made, Moses likewise appealed to God, "... so blot me out of your book." (Ex. 32:32) The reformer Martin Luther pointed out in this context that Christ truly became a curse not only for the salvation of Israel, but for the salvation of all mankind (cf. John 11:50).

God is Almighty – Rom. 9:6-29

When we talk about God's free will and free choice, we are talking about something that not many people have understood deeply. Also in this issue, the church father Augustine and the reformer Martin Luther are great teachers of the church. But it

is worth remembering that Luther's book on the subject, "The Bondage of the Will", can be either an extremely liberating or an extremely oppressive book.

We should notice that Paul takes up this question only after discussing the foundation of salvation. It is not good for us, either, to start studying this difficult matter too profoundly before the fundamentals of faith are sufficiently clear to us. Sometimes you just need to "raise your hat" to difficult things and hope that through his Holy Spirit, God will make them clearer to us later.

When talking about predestination, a lot of damage has been done by not distinguishing between what God knows and what he wills. Even though God knows that most people will perish, he still does not want it, but he desires all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). It is important to remember it and keep these two things strictly separate: what God wills and what he knows. A clear distinction must also be made between what God wants and what he allows to happen.

But if God wants everyone to be saved, why does he not save them by force or have mercy on everyone? We cannot give a complete answer to this because God has not revealed it to us. What we know is that in the Bible, God clearly declares that only those who believe in Jesus will be saved.

Perhaps one of the reasons why it is difficult to understand God's choosing is that God does not work as we would want him to. God does what he wants, not what I would want (cf. Isa 55:8-11: God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts). We humans would like a nice God who is easy to understand and easy to explain. But then who would be greater, God or us humans? The essence of original sin was precisely man's desire to be like God (Gen. 3:5).

Salvation history is the history of God's choices

Paul states that God's promises to Israel have not been nullified, but they only apply to those who believe. Also in Gal. 4:21-31, Paul interprets the Old Testament to mean that some Jews will indeed become "non-Jews".

To clarify his message, Paul uses the familiar parable of the potter in the Old Testament (Is. 29:16, Jer. 18:1-12). Together with it, it is also good to look at the account of creation: God created man from the dust of the earth (=clay Gen. 2:7). Just as a potter does not have to explain why one lump of clay is made into a beautiful vessel and another into a more common vessel, so God does not have to explain his own choices to "clay", i.e. man.

Salvation history is not the choices of people, but specifically the history of God's choices. Augustine has said, "It is mercy when God has mercy on someone, and it is the right decision when he hardens someone." So, opposite each other are not God's justice or injustice, but justice and mercy. In this passage, Paul specifically wants to emphasize that it is by grace that God has chosen the Gentiles.

The idea that God saved the remnant of Israel (verse 27) can be interpreted in two ways: 1. God saved only a remnant, most of the people were destroyed 2. It shows God's great goodness that he saved even a remnant.

If and when we learn to see that we are guilty and hopelessly in debt before God, we no longer ask God for justice, but we ask for mercy. We should read this passage as forgiven sinners, not as cold philosophers.

Israel tries to save itself – Rom. 9:30-10:13

Although Christ is the end of the law (verse 4), the Jews did not want to abandon their old way of salvation, the law. Thus, Christ became the end of the law only for those who believed in him, both Gentile and Jewish converts. For those who did not want to accept Christ, he became – according to the prophecies of the Old Testament (Is. 8:14, 28:16) – a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (33). Even the Jewish Old Testament commentators had interpreted the Old Testament passages concerning the cornerstone in a messianic way.

The Jews wanted – and want – to save themselves. Self-righteousness and being saved by works are indeed some of the biggest obstacles to salvation, even for Gentiles. Man would by nature want to earn his salvation or even a part of it. But according to Paul, it is an attempt to do something that has already been done once and for all (verses 6-7). Anyone seeking salvation through one’s own works "declares" that Christ did not conquer death and now does not sit at the right hand of the Father in glory.

Paul is pessimistic about the future of his own people, but he had one way left: prayer. Neither should we forget prayer.

"Faith" can mean two things:

1. Our faith with which we believe (Rom. 10:9)

2. The faith in which we believe (Rom. 10:8)

One of the shortest and best definitions of faith I know is by the Papuan auxiliary bishop Ray Rasowe: "Christian faith is believing that God keeps his promises." Our faith exists entirely on God's promises. We cannot demand entry to heaven, we can only appeal to God's promise that those who believe in Christ will go to heaven.

Romans 10:13 has been called the most straightforward doctrine of salvation in the Bible. The idea is not Paul's own, but a quote from Joel 2:32. Peter quoted the same passage in his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:21). "But everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Who calls for help? Anyone in need of help, but he must

1. know he needs help (compare sleeping in a burning house)

2. believe that help is available and

3. dare to ask for help.

Whose name do we call for help? The name of Jesus. Every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). If that confession happens only at the last judgement, it will lead to perdition. On the other hand, if the confession happens already in this life, it will be of blessing.

Israel heard, but did not believe – Rom. 10:14-21

At the beginning of the passage, Paul states that no one can believe without knowledge about Jesus. But knowledge alone is not enough – the message must also be believed. So was the problem of the Jews that the gospel had not been preached to them? No, not at all, as they were the first to hear it. But they had not believed it, and that was their problem. Man's original sin could be characterized as disobedience or unbelief. The fall into sin started precisely from the fact that God's words were not believed, not obeyed. God did not leave the Jews ignorant of the gospel. But neither did God compel them to believe, but gave them the right to turn their backs on the gospel. And it was this choice that the Jews made.

Many European countries are in the same situation as the Jews spoken of in this letter. The church has been there for centuries, and the gospel has been proclaimed, but nevertheless, most of them live apart from God. Often, Christians from Asia and Africa are astonished when they see what the "Christian" Europe is really like, and the Western way of life gives the Muslims a reason to despise Christianity. So what position does the Christian faith have in Western Europe? The talk about "post-Christian Europe" is a painfully truthful assessment. But we must not give up. Revivals can certainly also come to Europe, not just Asia or Africa.

God has not forsaken Israel – Rom. 11:1-15

From the above description, someone could easily conclude that Israel, who "stumbled" (9:33) over Christ, would have been rejected by God. Paul strongly dismisses such an idea. Although Israel stumbled, it still does not mean that it would remain just "lying on the ground". Israel will rise again.

Paul justifies his point as follows:

1. He himself is a Jew (verse 1). The other leaders of the early church were also Jews. Thus God had spared a remnant just like in Elijah's time, when not many (7000, verse 4) were faithful to Yahweh, and most of the people worshipped Baal. In this context, we should remember Jesus' words about the narrow road and the broad road: the majority take the broad road to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Christians are not promised the part of the majority, but of the minority.

2. When Gentiles become Christians, the Jews become jealous of what they lost (verse 11). It is worth remembering that Christians serve the God of Israel and the Messiah of Israel.

3. However, the ultimate reason for Israel's partial hardening is a mystery of God, which we cannot know (verses 33-34, cf. also Deut. 29:28).

Paul had to state repeatedly that the hardening of the Jews led to the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46, 18:6, 28:28). If the Jews had accepted Jesus, the proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles would have proceeded in a different way.

Paul preached also to the Jews, as we see in Acts (see also verse 14), even though he saw that the period of the Gentile mission, which began because of the hardening of the Jews, will end only in the latter days (verse 15). Although the majority rejected Christ, for some Jews, the word was planted on good soil. This is also the case today.

There is no reason for pride – Rom. 11:16-24

Israel is still set apart for God, i.e. holy (verse 16). God does not regret his calling, nor does he revoke it. This is also seen in the Lutheran priesthood. A priest is set apart for the work of God's kingdom. Even if he left the profession of priest and became, e.g. a trader, he would still be a priest, unless he also resigned from the priestly office. Therefore, the same requirements and rights also apply to those priests who earn their living from something else than priestly work. So the Jews are still God's (problem) children.

Paul’s talk about the sanctity of the bread of the firstfruits connects with the practice of offerings in the Old Testament (Numbers 15:17-21): the firstfruits of the harvest had to be offered to God as an offering (of thanksgiving). By pointing to the relationship between the bread of the firstfruits and the dough, and the root and the branch of the olive tree, Paul wants to remind Gentile Christians that the gospel originates from Israel. Therefore, there is no reason to exalt oneself above the Jews.

Christianity should never be self-centred, but Christ-centred (verse 19). We must always remember that we cannot earn salvation, but we can lose it (verse 22). Christ is not only the foundation of salvation, but the whole of salvation. Without God's help, we cannot manage for a moment. Faith without God is self-righteousness, religiosity, but not genuine faith (20).

In the latter days Israel will be saved – Rom. 11:25-36

Lastly, Paul reveals a secret to his readers: in the end times, there will be revival in Israel too. In verse 26, "all Israel will be saved" does not mean that every Jew will be saved, but that there will be revival in Israel as a nation, i.e. that a large portion of Israel will be saved. A similar use of the words “whole” or “all” is found elsewhere in the New and Old Testaments and in Jewish texts of that time. The Jews have no special way to enter heaven.

Revival will come to Israel when missionary work among other nations has been completed. Also in the Book of Revelation, there is the idea that, set by God, there is a certain number of people who will be saved. Rev. 6:11, 7:4, 14:1).

Paul ends the chapter concerning Israel with a praise of God. Even though Israel had rejected its Saviour, Paul could not feel bitterness, but gratitude towards God. God is above us; we cannot call him to account.

In verse 25, the idea of living your life based your own wisdom is also current today. Christianity becomes all too easily just a collection of doctrines compiled by people. Christianity is, however, basically about God's revelation and how we relate to it (cf. Deut. 29:28). There are only two options. Either we believe the revelation and live by it, or we reject it and live by our own wisdom.