Viewpoints on ROMANS 9

By Michael Griego on August 9, 2024 • ( 1 )

Many people today do not see a distinction between the nation of Israel and the Israel of God. ROMANS Chapter 9 appears to say otherwise. What do you think? ◊

As ROMANS Chapter 9 deals with God’s plan for God’s people, many assume that the Jews today are still particularly special in God’s eyes; that they are True Israel, or the Israel of God.

As noted in last week’s post, since the time of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Jews today are as special as any other people in the world. Essentially, according to the Bible, whether one is Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, or of any religious heritage, living in the US, Israel, Iran, Japan, France, India, or anywhere in the world, God’s children or His people, are any who call Jesus their Lord and Savior.

And that’s hard for many people today to swallow. Even Christians.

It’s in ROMANS
Why do many struggle with this? If one is Jewish and only reads the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, they would not understand or accept this. If any one, for whatever strange reason, only reads the Old Testament, the books for the Bible pre-Jesus, they too would not understand or accept this.

It’s all in the New Testament. Jesus changed everything. The Old Covenant was fulfilled and completed, replaced with the New Covenant.

And it’s the BOOK of ROMANS that lays out this New Way, this Christianity.

As we’ve noted in our study, chapter by chapter, Paul had a lot of explaining to do. Recall that in Chapters 1, 2 and 3 he lays down the case for Christ and presents a firm and compelling case for the entire world’s need for God – everyone, Jews and Gentiles. In Chapters 4 and 5, Paul presents the means of salvation through faith alone. In Chapters 6, 7, and 8 he examines the practicality of Christians living though struggling with new-found hope, freedom and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And now Paul shifts gears and shares his burden for his fellow brethren, the Jews. For afterall, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee himself:

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem]. I studied under Gamaliel [Pharisee teacher of Hebrew law] and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. (Acts 22:3)

In ROMANS Chapter 9, Paul expresses his troubling heart of his fellow Jews, who though they were God’s chosen people, they have now rejected Jesus. Early in the chapter he points out that God’s chosen people are now not about descendants and blood lineage.

For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. (Romans 9:6-7)

Again, it’s not lineage that makes one saved. It is the children of the promise:

In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. (Romans 9:8)

We’ll see in ROMANS Chapters 10 and 11 that non-innocent Israel’s unbelief in Jesus as the Christ opened the door of salvation for all the rest of the world. And we’ll see that Israel too can be reconciled once again with God through His mercy, as shown to all mankind.

Remember Simeon, the Old Man at Jesus’ Infant Dedication?
Here’s an interesting point to consider. In Luke 2, after the birth of Jesus, there is a curious episode about an old man named Simeon was is described as waiting for the consolation of Israel, or the promised Messiah (Luke 2:25). When he sets his eyes on Jesus at the time of the child’s dedication in the temple, Simeon identifies him as:

“a light of revelation for the nations [Gentiles], and the glory of your people Israel“ (Luke 2: 32).

In the context of this acknowledgment of Israel’s place in God’s redemptive purposes at this early stage in the life of Jesus, certain qualifications are also noted.¹ As Simeon indicates,

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34).

Think about this. Jesus’ coming to Israel by no means guarantees that each and every Israelite will receive the richness of redemptive blessing. Instead, “many” in Israel will fall as a consequence of His coming.

And the coming of the Messiah will by no means prove to be beneficial only to Israel.

As Paul notes in ROMANS 9, in accordance with the promise as it was first given to Abraham, through his offspring all the nations will be blessed. How they are blessed is revealed to us after Christ is crucified, resurrected and His Spirit and redemptive kingdom on earth is unleashed for all believers (Jews and Gentiles) initially in Jerusalem at Pentecost (see ACTS 2).

As we consider what has transpired since, the Church of Christ-followers has not replaced Israel, God’s original chosen people who were given the promise/gift, but rather, the Israel of God today stretches well beyond the confines of borders and nations represented through the Spirit of God in His people, the Church, who openly accept and receive the promise/gift.

Do you see a distinction between the nation of Israel and the Israel of God?
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It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. – Romans 9:6-7

¹The Israel of God – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, by O. Palmer Robertson, P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg, NJ, 2000, p. 117.