Is Israel Still a Part of God’s Plan? Israel’s Present

INTRODUCTION

Paul’s teaching had been opposed rigorously by Jews in every place he traveled. His credentials were questioned. His gospel appeared to be anti-Jewish (at least to many Jews). The church in Rome no doubt had heard about Paul and they had undoubtedly had believing Jews among them who had questions about this man, Paul. Foremost in their minds seems to be the question: What about the Jews? Has God gone back on his promises to them? Has he proven to be unfaithful to his covenant? Is Israel still a part of God’s plan or has God turned away from them to the Gentiles? Paul deals with this question in Romans 9-11 in three phases:

Israel’s past: chosen by God, 9

Israel’s present: rejecting God, 10

Israel’s future: saved by God, 11

Last week in chapter nine we read that Paul was willing to be cursed by God if it could lead to Israel being saved. He went on to defend the faithfulness of God, the justice of God, and the fairness of God in his dealings with Israel. At the end of the chapter he turned from what God had been doing to what Israel has been doing. They had not pursued righteousness by faith but instead pursued righteousness by the law. They stumbled over Christ, refusing to believe in him or depend on him to obtain righteousness with God.

Picking up from the end of Romans 9 – Israel’s responsibility as a cause of their current lost condition.

Three Problems Were Keeping Israel from Being Saved

Israel’s first problem: of God’s righteousness, 1-4

Of all people! They had the word of God that told them that righteousness came by faith. Habakkuk 2:4, Genesis 15:6.

Ignorance should not have been their problem.

Paul reiterates his desire that Israel be saved, 1

Israel had a zeal for God but not according to , 2

They were of the righteousness of God, 3a

As a result, they tried to establish and did not submit to God’s righteousness, 3b

They did not know that Christ was for which the law was reaching and now that he had come righteousness was no available to all who believe, 4

New Living Translation (Romans 10:4)

For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Israel’s second problem: trust (depending on the wrong thing), 5-13

They thought righteousness could come through , 5

That only works if one obeys it completely. It is a dead end since no one can do this.

The word they needed was already close to them. It was the message of righteousness by not by , 6-8

This righteousness is the gospel Paul proclaimed, 9-13

(MULTILINE)

Israel’s third problem: failure to the message, 14-21

They it, 14-18

(MULTILINE)

They should have it, 19-20

They were and obstinate, 21

CONCLUSION

The blame for Israel’s rejection is not the unfaithfulness of God but their .

They chose to go about pursuing righteousness with God in the wrong way, depended on their following the Law to bring about this righteousness, rather than pursuing righteousness through faith alone, and rejected the message of faith they heard.

Even though this was so, Paul still longed to see his fellow Israelites saved.

Note:

Notice the absence of any talk about election (God’s choices) and predestination. The entire focus is on human responsibility (ignorance, seeking to establish righteousness, believing, confessing, calling, hearing).

The potter and the clay have fallen into the far background. So have Moses and Pharaoh, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael. It is human beings responding to God’s message, not some choice God has made.

Nowhere does Paul suggest that people couldn’t respond. In fact he writes as if they certainly could but chose to do otherwise. It isn’t a matter of God foreordaining people to heaven or hell and removing the freedom to make a saving choice from some while giving it to others. You will search in vain for that here. Israel’s present is determined by their own actions. That’s it. It is the same for us.

APPLICATION

The reason that many are not saved today can be traced back to the very same reasons Israel was not saved in Paul’s day:

Depending on

Refusal to the gospel when they hear it.