Romans - Week 20

A Promise to Israel

READ

Romans 9:6-7

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! 7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.

Some think that God no longer must fulfill His promises to Israel, but this is not what the apostle Paul said. He also points out that just being born in the line of a particular family does not make one a child of God. Only those who believe in Jesus the Messiah are children of God. As through whom the line of Christ would come, Paul cites Genesis 21:12 to show it would be through Isaac. Even though Abraham had other children, the first of whom was Ishmael; God made clear the line would come through Isaac.

REFLECT

Although this refers to the Old Testament, the more you know about the Old Testament, the more you will appreciate the New Testament.

RESPOND

Talk with your disciple and tell each other about your family’s spiritual background. Then remind each other that your salvation depends, not on your ancestry, but on your personal response to believing in Jesus.

Abraham's Children

READ

Romans 9:8-9

8 This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Not all of Abraham’s descendants were considered in the special line that would eventually produce the Messiah, humanly speaking. Sarah had been barren and she suggested Abraham use her handmaid to produce a child. That child was Ishmael, but he was not to be the chosen one. God promised that Sarah would have a son even though she and Abraham were beyond child-bearing age.

REFLECT

Think of the plan God had to eventually provide redemption for everyone, not just the nation Israel. Have you benefitted from His promises by trusting in Jesus as your Savior?

RESPOND

Read Genesis 18:1-15 to see the historical background to what Paul was referring in the Romans passage. This is a good thing to do when reading a New Testament passage that refers to something in the Old Testament. You will grow in your understanding of the Bible when you do so.

Esau and Jacob

READ

Romans 9:10-11

10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes.)

Paul goes on to specify exactly to which son he was referring. Paul referred to him as the one through whom the “children of promise” would come. It was Abraham’s son, Isaac, who married Rebekah. Twins were born to them, Esau and Jacob. Before they were born, God said what would be true of the two sons, “the older would serve the younger.” That is, Esau’s descendants would serve the descendants of Jacob. This choice by God was made before either one had done anything good or bad.

REFLECT

It is helpful to remember that God has an overall plan for the world even before children are born. You are not someone He has lost track of.

RESPOND

For background of these statements in Romans, read Genesis 25:21-26.

The Younger and Older

READ

Romans 9:12-13

12 (He calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

The fact that God made the choice of Jacob over Esau before their birth reveals His choice was not based on their behavior. Nor does it mean that one was right with God and the other was not. Either of them, or both, could have become right with God by having faith in Him, as their ancestor Abraham did (see Genesis 15:6).

REFLECT

No matter who your parents are, think about the privilege you have of trusting in Jesus for your salvation. It’s your spiritual birth that makes you right with God, not your natural birth.

Esau had the same privilege as Jacob to believe God for salvation.

RESPOND

How are you doing with your disciple? Are you reading these posts together and thinking about how you might pass on these thoughts to others?

God's Mercy

READ

Romans 9:14-16

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

Paul did not want people claiming God was unfair because He chose Jacob over Esau. This passage does not mean that people have no choice to make. Other verses such as John 3:16; 5:24 and 14:6 reveal a choice must be made by an individual. Apart from believing in Jesus, all are condemned, as expressed in John 3:18: “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

REFLECT

Have you made the choice to believe in Jesus as your Savior? If so, you have eternal life and will never perish.

RESPOND

Use the above references in John to help show others a decision must be made either to trust in Jesus as Savior or to reject Him.