It would appear that Paul, as he is led by the Holy Spirit, makes a sharp turn here. Go and read Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore…” This beseeching can flow naturally from the end of Romans 8 into Romans 12. But Paul makes a clear and deliberate turn from the flow; for the next 3 chapters, he focuses on God and Israel, and he answers the question of ‘Is God done with Israel?’ The emphatic answer is ‘No, He is not!’ But Paul will help us to see that as we journey through chapters 9-11.

There is a heresy in many local churches and denominations that says that God has replaced Israel with the church. We are about to find out that this is not true and simply not possible. Come with me for the journey.

Verses 1-5: Paul wishes that he could be accursed – go to Hell – if this would bring Israel to salvation. If we go back to Exodus 32:32, we will find a similar spirit in Moses as he asked God to curse him and save Israel. We can see, and we are reminded that the very core of the Gospel is a Jewish one. Jesus is a Jew, the King of the Jews; Abraham was a Jew; the life of Jesus was lived in Jerusalem; the vast majority of the Bible writers are Jews; Jesus is coming back to live in Jerusalem and rule the world from Jerusalem. It would seem that if God were done with the Jews, there would be some issues in Jesus’ return and subsequent kingdom reign.

Verses 6-13: There are a lot of Jews, descendants of Abraham, that are not the chosen. Abraham, we can recall, had a son with Hagar (Ishmael), then he had a son with Sarah (Isaac). Then, after Sarah died, he married Keturah, and with her he had 6 other sons and daughters (Genesis 25). So, there are descendants of Abraham that are not the sons of the promise. Even in the sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, there are children of Esau that are not children of the promise. Only the children of Jacob are the children of the promise. So yes, there are many ‘Jewish’ people that are not children of the promise.

Some will say that Israel has been unfaithful to God and that, as such, their sins are so evil that God has rejected them. God dealt with this in the book of Hosea; Paul recalls this in Romans 9: 25-26. In this prophetic book, God tells the prophet to marry a ‘harlot,’ a prostitute. He knew what kind of woman he was marrying, as did God when He called Israel his own. After he has children with the harlot, she leaves Hosea and finds another man, picturing the way that Israel would follow after other gods. Then, in Hosea 3:1-3, God once again tells Hosea to go and get his wife back from the other man. In verse 2, he buys her back, and in verse 3, Hosea tells his harlot wife that ‘she will not play the harlot, not have another man.’

One day God will redeem Israel, and she will remain with God forever. Paul then points out in Romans 9:27-29 that the prophet Isaiah makes it clear that God will have a remnant in Israel. He will not allow them to be totally destroyed.

Paul reminds us in verse 30 that we Gentiles figured out that salvation is by faith, and many of the Jews are still trying to keep the law and earn God’s favor. The law is still a stumbling stone with the Jews, and it blinds them to Jesus.

I see countless interviews with devout Jews; they simply cannot see Jesus in the Old Testament, and they refuse to read the New Testament. Jesus is that ‘stumbling block’ in Romans 9:33; He tripped up the Jews when He faced them on Earth in Jerusalem. They could not see that He was and is God; they thought they could shut up Jesus by killing Him. But His resurrection caused such a boldness in His followers that the very first converts, the first huge revival, was right there in Israel on the Day of Pentecost.

The Jews shipped the Gospel all over the world from Jerusalem. So, no, God is not done with Israel. We will explore this more over the next couple of weeks.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

Over the past few weeks, we have explored Romans, we have looked at sin, we have looked at the Lord’s judgment, we have explored salvation, the security of the believer, and last week the struggle that we all have as we mature in Jesus and grow in the process of putting to death the flesh. There is no license to sin offered by God, but an understanding that our transformation is just beginning on this side of eternity and will only be complete when we get our new bodies.

Paul begins Romans 8 with ‘therefore’; this is based on the previous ground he (the Holy Spirit) has built beginning in Romans 5:1 where he states that we are ‘justified,’ declared righteous before God, because we have believed in Jesus. There is no condemnation before God, who is the Righteous Judge. If God has not condemned us, then no one else can either.

Notice, Paul does not say there is ‘less condemnation’; NO, NO, he clearly says there is NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Thus, in Jesus, when God sees me, He does not see Sean the one struggling with sin; no, He sees the Sean that is clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, and as such, there is no sin for which I am to be condemned. If you are in Christ, you have this as well.

Romans 8:2-4 – You and I are free from the law of sin and death in Jesus. The law clearly stated that those who sin must die. This law no longer applies to us because we are in Jesus. But wait a minute, Pastor Sean, we still die. Yes, on this side of humanity, but as a child of God, you never die. Once your body dies here, you and I are immediately alive on the other side in Heaven; as such, you and I will not experience death. We are no longer under that law. You see, the law of Moses was weak; it could identify sin, but it could not fix the issue at hand, death. Only Jesus could do that for us. Jesus fulfilled the law for us and fixed death for us; He died so that we never have to.

Romans 8: 5-8 – Stop trying to please God by legislation. Churches love to impose rules and add to what God has said. There are no verses telling men to have short hair, not one. There are verses in Titus that tell us that ‘church women’ should dress modestly. This is cultural as it applies. But in the ‘letter of the law,’ the word there for modest means to show the thigh. The idea of men and women worshipping together was new to the Gentile church. In the Temple, there was a woman’s court and a man’s court; they did not worship together.

So, women do not have to wear long skirts to the ankle to be holy. If you want to and you are doing it as an act of worship for you to God, then so be it. But there does not need to be a rule about it in the local church. There are verses that encourage women to have long hair, but truthfully, it is an encouragement, not a rule. Short-haired women can be godly as well.

I know of a missionary outpost where it is common for the women of that place to go topless. Often, the only women who could afford tops were prostitutes, and they did not want to be associated with that. I will not go on further, only to say that keeping the Law did not save you, and keeping man-made laws will not keep you saved.

Romans 8:9-11 – You and I have the Holy Spirit in us; talk to Him. Chat with Him like a friend; He is your eternal friend. We are now the friends of God in Jesus. Enjoy it.

And in verses 26-32, nothing can separate us from God. We have absolute security in Jesus forever. There is no condemnation for those of us in Jesus.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario