Romans: Theology for Everybody (6-11)ናሙና

God chose Abraham to bring forth the nation of Israel who would then bring forth Jesus Christ as the fulfilment that all the nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). While Jesus, His disciples, and most of the first believers were all Jewish, very quickly the majority of Christians were Gentiles and not Jewish. Despite having the Word of God as recipients of the covenants and the promises (Romans 9:4-5), the Jewish people in large part chose works over grace (Romans 9:32) and refused God’s gift righteousness (Romans 10:3). This leads to the question which Paul seeks to answer – namely what happens to the Jewish people who have rejected Jesus Christ as God and Messiah? Is God done with them? Is there any hope for them? 

Paul’s answer is yes and no. Yes, God has a plan for some of Israel (Romans 11:1-6). No, God will not save all of Israel (Romans 11:7-10). To make this point, he uses the story of Elijah where God had a remnant of 7,000 faithful believers in the godless days of King Ahab (1 Kings 19:9-18), among other sections of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 29:4; Psalm 69:22; Isaiah 29:10). 

The big idea is that Abraham has three kinds of descendants: 

 1) Abraham has physical descendants by birth who are biologically related to him through his son Isaac. This would include all Jewish people, or Israel. This would also include Paul, who is writing Romans, before he became a Christian. In this section, Paul refers to this group as “the rest”.  

 2) Abraham has spiritual descendants by new birth who are supernaturally related to him by faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ. This would include most of the people who received his letter to Rome as this was a Gentile city filled with people who had become Christians. In this section, Paul refers to this group as the “elect”. 

3) Abraham has physical and spiritual descendants who are connected to him both physically by birth and supernaturally through faith in Jesus Christ. This would include Paul at the time of writing Romans, and, in our day, Jewish Christians. In this section, Paul refers to this group as “Israel”.

Throughout history, it has always been the case that not every biological descendant of Abraham would share his faith in Jesus Christ. Instead, there has always been a “remnant” of people who did. Examples would include Noah’s family in the days of the flood (Genesis 6:5-7:23), Joseph and his family (Genesis 45:7), and a group of faithful believers in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 9:6-15; Nehemiah 1:2-3). Jesus says the same thing talking about the sheep (believers) and the goats (unbelievers) from Israel (Matthew 25:32-34).

Reflection:

1. What comfort do you find in knowing that God does not reject His people? Take some time in prayer thanking Him for this promise. 

2. The nation of Israel is a bit like a big family where some family members love the Lord and others do not. What is the spiritual makeup of your immediate and extended family like? 

3. Who in your family has God really encouraged you by saving? Who in your family can we be praying for that still needs to meet Jesus?