Paul had a deep, passionate love for the people of Israel, which was rooted in God’s sovereign hand in the nation of Israel. Does leaning too heavily into God’s sovereignty kill evangelistic zeal and passion? Overwhelmingly, the answer must be, “no”, as we look today at Romans 9:1-5 specifically, verses four and five. If anything, Paul’s passion was ignited to go after the people of Israel that they might come to know Jesus. 

One of the desired outcomes in going through these first five verses of Romans 9 is that our apathy for evangelism will be driven out. Evangelism is a mark of a believer. Focusing on verses four and five, we should see our lives as one continuous opportunity to speak on behalf of God to the world regarding who Christ is. This is the platform for the gospel God has given us: it is our life attached with God’s testimony, ordinances and laws. Our theology should inform our hearts and as it informs our hearts we should begin to act to help the world understand this God that we know and that we love. 

In these five verses, we have a front-row seat regarding how the gospel burdened the heart of Paul and how he loved the lost, specifically Israel. As we understand more of God’s passion and love for Israel, may we come with a heart of gratitude that God has chosen to extend His grace to us as Gentiles. May we know better our God, everything about Him, and may we walk as His chosen in a manner worthy of the calling that He has placed in our lives. 

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“I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying: my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit– 

2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race , according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 9:1-5, ESV) 

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1. The Evidence of Passion (v1) The three witnesses: Christ, Paul’s conscience, the Holy Spirit. (Passion for the Lost, Part I) 

2. The Extent of Passion (vv 2-3) An ongoing, unrelenting burden. (Passion for the Lost, Part I) 

3. The Esteem of Passion (vv 4-5) - Here, Paul reminds his hearers, his readers that there is a very specific and exclusive love God has for Israel, that God has granted them very unique privileges, which are: 

1. Their Adoption (Passion for the Lost, Part II) 

2. Their Glory (Passion for the Lost, Part II)

3. Their Covenants (Passion for the Lost, Part II) 

4. Their Law (8:4) 

■ The Law: The Jews have a great advantage over every other nation. “1Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?2Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” (Romans 3:1-2 ESV) To be an Israelite meant that your people were blessed to have been given the divine mind of God: for He came in close proximity to them in granting them this divine understanding. God gave them a special knowledge of salvation given to no other nation. Moses affirmed this great advantage, this great privilege in Deuteronomy 4:8. 

Application: with this great privilege comes great responsibility! Israel was commissioned by God to share with the world the nature and character of God, the truth of His holiness, the blessings for obedience, the cursings for disobedience, the message of the Messiah that is coming into the world, the end result being the world could be reconciled with God through faith. As Christians, we have been given a great privilege, a great responsibility. Have we lost sight of our privileges? From Romans 8, one chapter in God’s word, we can identify some very significant privileges Christians have been given: 

No Judgment in Christ (v1), Sin no longer controls us (v2), We have been justified (v4), Peace (v7), The Holy Spirit (v9), The resurrection (v11), Adopted as children (v14), Intimacy with God (vv15-16), Co-heirs with Christ (v17), Future glory (v24), The Holy Spirit’s intercession (v:27), All things work together for our good (v28), We become like Christ (v29), We share in God’s glory (v30), We are spiritual conquerors (v37), Nothing to fear (v38), We are eternally secure (v40). 

Listen Church!! Do we understand these (and all of) our Christian privileges? All of them are held very dear to the hearts of the leadership of Southside. Everything that is done, every opportunity to equip this church presented by the Leadership is so that this body would know our God! We are not putting out programs to attract people to come visit us at Southside. It is not to be puffed up with knowledge. It is because of the extraordinary privilege it is to the proximity we have to God through His Word. All of Christianity, our walk with God, begins with knowledge and our knowledge informs our living and the leadership wants it to take root in your heart so that it changes your approach to life, that it gives you truth to pass on to others who do not yet have your hope, and to pass the law of God on to the next generation. Effectively, you are being equipped to lovingly and clearly pass on your faith; like Israel, a conduit of living water to the world. 

■ The Warning that goes with this privilege is that you cannot sit on the promises of God, which is what Israel was doing (and perhaps, we are too!). Consider Romans 11:11 and 19-22. Be careful to continue in the kindness God has given to you, to persevere in obedience lest the hearers/readers of Paul’s letter become like the Jews.

Application: How does this happen in the church today? Do we not cling to our calling and our election without repentance, do we identify with a group of people rather than with Christ, do we lack true repentance over sin and we do not exercise true faith? A close examination of our lives will tell us whether we are in the faith! Our lives should exemplify and defend God’s righteousness and character in everything we do. If they do not, then we are idolaters! God does not just grant us a Bible, easy access to it and turn a blind eye towards us. 

■ The “giving” of the law. There is importance in the “giving”. Remember (Israel) God came near to you, which He did not have to do. The Old Testament summary of the giving of the law is found in Deuteronomy 4:32-26. This is the only nation, the only 

people group on earth who have heard the voice of the Lord come out of the Shekinah glory and live. In the New Testament, Hebrews 12:18-21 emphasized this giving of the law to the people of Israel. God pledged Himself to Israel in a very unique way. It is obvious God has a special place in His heart for Israel and it is obvious Paul recognized this. Paul recognized that it was also obvious in… 

6. Their Worship (or ”Temple services”). 

■ The services. God taught them how to approach Him, He prescribed to them the acts of worship, He described to them how He is to be worshiped, He commanded them to worship Him in the way He has prescribed and described.. “The services”, when mentioned in Scripture, the Hebrew understanding is a formula of assurance. (See Exodus 28:1-3, Hebrews 8:1-4) The key truth in God’s teaching to the people of Israel regarding worship is that as they rightly approach Him, God gives them His assurance He will come near to them. 

■ Pointing to Christ (Hebrews 8:5-6) These services served to point the people of Israel, the people of the world to the coming of the Messiah; but, Israel missed this and Paul was grieved. 

■ A Warning (Numbers 16:3, Korah’s rebellion, and Hebrews 9, Jude 11) Everyone must approach God according to His direction, His prescription, His will. We approach God, we come near to Him, through Christ! 

7. Their promises (v4). These are not covenants, which Paul has already covered. In context, a “promise” is a summons, a general announcement whereas, a “covenant” is a pledge made by God that contains very specific instructions as to His plan. “Promises” feed from the “covenants” of God, they are results from the covenants God has made. To ensure the covenants will happen, God gives the promises, the volume of which are overwhelming! Paul is effectively backing up the dump truck and unloading on them, doing so with the promises of God. All of the promises are associated with the Messiah and the coming kingdom. Why does Paul bring up the promises? It was to remind the Jews reading this letter of God’s faithfulness. To ensure they knew that God had not forgotten them, that he Had provided access to Himself. 

“Now we must remember that the reign of the Messiah has already started in His people, the church. The kingdom of God has come already in that sense in the hearts of all

believers; it has come in the church, though it has yet to come in a visible, external form. But the kingdom of God has already come so that some of the promises of the Messiah’s reign are already fulfilled while there are still yet others to be fulfilled” (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones) 

One critical promise we have today, associated with the coming hope of the Messiah and his kingdom is Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

Undoubtedly, Paul had a great passion, a great love for Israel and it is because of all the things God has done…the law, instructions for access to Him, all the promises associated with His covenants. 

8. The Patriarchs (the Fathers). God gave these men special experiences so that Israel would hold onto this hope that they had; but, Paul is telling them that they.have forgotten these men, their faith, their covenants and their leading of the nation of Israel. 

9. The Coming of the Messiah through (Israel), which is the greatest privilege given to Israel and you missed that, too! Jesus was providentially, pre-ordained by God to be a Jew. Not just did they forget He was a Jew, but that He was also God. Christ was (is!) Deity! Paul concludes his defense by affirming Christ’s humanity concerning the flesh and affirming Christ’s Deity. Effectively, Paul concludes by saying, “You have rejected God!”. 

Application: What about us? Do we understand the privilege we have to regularly be in a church like this, to have such abundant and free access to God’s Word? If you want to examine your level of faith, looking at this passage before us today, look at your evangelistic zeal, which is a direct reflection of your love for God. Why? It reflects your understanding, your depth, your passion for what God has done for you in your own life. True believers are not apathetic towards unbelievers; rather, a mark of salvation being a passion and zeal for the loss to come to know Him, to have the same hope they do. If you truly love God then, be ready people are going to ask you, it is going to be natural. 

Selah: 

1. Have you lost sight of the privileges God has given you through saving faith in Jesus Christ? If you have, what has caused you to lose this vision? 

2. Do you genuinely see your life as a conduit of living water, of hope, for a world desperately in need of Christ or have you placed a dam around your heart hoarding God’s truth simply for your own benefit? 

3. As you closely examine your life, can you with a clear conscience say that your passion is to exemplify and defend God’s character and righteousness? 

4. Will you store up God’s Word in your heart, that you might not sin against Him by memorizing Colossians 1:9b-10 → “...be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”? 

Father, thank you for the love that we have through Christ Jesus. Thank you for Your grace. Thank you for forgiving people who assume on Your grace, on Your mercy, on Your love, on so many things. Many times it is because like Israel, we sit in a place of privilege and we do not recognize it. And so we take all of these things for granted and, in that way, we sit before You in contempt because we can be like spoiled children, who have such great blessings and yet hoard them to ourselves. So easily, we turn to You and just ask for more and wonder why You are not blessing us in a greater way. May we be a people who take up our cross daily and follow You. May we be a people who die to ourselves, be willing to die that one person might come to know You, to exchange our salvation because we understand the reality of Your holiness, the depth of Your goodness and the breadth of Your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.