{"id":23220,"date":"2022-09-18T22:00:17","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-8_31-39-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-06T20:19:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T03:19:59","slug":"romans-9_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-9_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are The True Children of God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romans 9:1-13 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Romans 9:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 9:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit–
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 Here Paul expresses how much it hurts his heart to see that many of his own fellow Israelites have chosen to reject Jesus as their Saviour (Messiah) and how much he wishes that they would know Jesus personally.<\/p>\n

Likewise, when you have a growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will naturally have a heart to see those closest to you and people in your community know Jesus as well.\u00a0 Take a minute even now to pray for those closest to you and people in your community who don\u2019t know Jesus personally.<\/p>\n

Romans 9:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0 If you include Paul\u2019s mention of the patriarchs in verse 5, then in verses 4-5 Paul mentions 7 ways that the people of Israel have been especially blessed: (1) how God adopted them as His special children (\u201ctheirs is the adoption as sons\u201d); (2) how they got to experience an exceptional portion of God\u2019s presence and miracles (\u201ctheirs the divine glory\u201d); (3) how God made various covenants especially with them; (4) how God gave them His written law; (5) how God gave them a whole system for drawing near to God and worshiping Him (\u201cthe temple worship\u201d); (6) how God gave them all the promises we find in the Old Testament; and (7) how God gave them the patriarchs (v5), that is, the founding fathers of Israel who showed them how to live by faith.\u00a0 Paul laments how, despite receiving so many special privileges and blessings from God, his own people of Israel had largely rejected Jesus.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 It is tragic when we receive God\u2019s blessings but forget God\u2019s purpose for giving us His blessings in the first place.\u00a0 The blessings God gives you and me are all ultimately to point us to Jesus and His love for us.<\/p>\n

Romans 9:5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5: Here we see a powerful statement about Jesus\u2019 human nature as well as His divine nature.\u00a0 On one hand, his human ancestry can be traced through the patriarchs of Israel like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 On the other hand, Paul says that Jesus Christ \u201cis God over all, forever praised\u201d.\u00a0 As a way to avoid the conclusion that Jesus is God, some have attempted to read verse 5 differently.\u00a0 Instead of reading it \u201cChrist, who is God over all, forever praised!\u201d, they read verse 5 as \u201cChrist, who is over all.\u00a0 God be forever praised!\u201d or \u201cChrist.\u00a0 God who is over all be forever praised.\u201d\u00a0 But many scholars, including those who don\u2019t even necessarily believe that Jesus is God, have submitted that the fairest reading of this verse, based on grammatical structure, sentence flow and context, is the one which identifies Christ as God.<\/p>\n

Romans 9:6-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-9:\u00a0 What does Paul mean when he says “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans\u00a09:6)?\u00a0 Talking about his own people, Paul means that just because you come from a Jewish background doesn’t automatically make you a child of God or, to use a Jewish term, a “son of Abraham”.\u00a0 That’s because becoming a true child of God, or a true son of Abraham, is not about whether you are related to Abraham naturally by blood; rather it’s about whether you have placed your faith in the same God Abraham believed in.\u00a0 It is our faith in God’s promise, and not our human ancestry, that makes us children of God.<\/p>\n

To illustrate how it is faith in God\u2019s promise that makes us God\u2019s children, Paul brilliantly shows how\u00a0in the case of Abraham and Sarah\u2019s children, God chose Isaac, the child who was born by a miracle of faith and who was the subject of God\u2019s promise, instead of Ishmael, his older half brother.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, we can better understand why Paul had “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” (v2) in his heart for his fellow Israelites.\u00a0 For despite receiving such a rich heritage from God (which Paul describes in verses 4 and 5), many of his fellow Israelites had rejected Christ and assumed that they were already children of God just because they were blood descendants of Abraham, when that is not the case.<\/p>\n

Likewise, just because you come from a Christian background, or your family is Christian, or you grew up going to church, or you have a general belief in God, doesn’t make you a child of God even if you say you are one. \u00a0\u00a0What makes you a child of God is personally having faith in Jesus Christ, that He died for your sins and rose again.\u00a0 As the saying goes, God does not have any grandchildren; He only has children who have a direct relationship with Him by faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Romans 6:10-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad–in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0not by works but by him who calls–she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-13: \u00a0Finally what are verses 10 through 13 talking about?\u00a0 Paul is showing that God Himself has a plan to save people.\u00a0 This is called the doctrine of \u201celection\u201d (v11), the idea that God chooses who will receive salvation.<\/p>\n

To illustrate this, Paul references Isaac and Rebekah, and how they had two twins, Esau and Jacob.\u00a0 Before either twin had done anything good or bad, God had already chosen the younger twin Jacob.<\/p>\n

Likewise, before you were born or had done anything good or bad, God already had a plan to save you from your sins, to make you His child, and to adopt you into His family through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In this way, your election as a son or daughter of God was “not by works but by him who calls” (Romans\u00a09:12).\u00a0 It was nothing you did to earn it.<\/p>\n

If the doctrine of election is true, then doesn\u2019t that mean that ultimately people don\u2019t have a choice about whether or not to receive Jesus, and that it\u2019s all predetermined?\u00a0 If so, isn\u2019t it then unfair that God would send anyone to hell since they had no choice in the matter?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 Keep in mind that God\u2019s sovereign will and our freedom to choose are two realities that the Bible recognizes.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mystery to us how God\u2019s sovereign will and our freedom to choose work together exactly, but it is safe and reasonable to believe the following:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 First, the choices we make in life are real choices and have real consequences.\u00a0 It matters whether we say yes to Jesus or not.\u00a0 It matters whether we share Jesus with others or we don\u2019t.\u00a0 Though God has an overarching plan, we don\u2019t know and cannot assume to know who God has chosen to save and who He hasn\u2019t.\u00a0 All we can do is do our best to respond to God with what He has given to us, by responding in faith to Jesus and also sharing Jesus with others, knowing that all of it counts for eternity.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Second, whereas we are bound by space and time, God is not.\u00a0 God is beyond space and time.\u00a0 Because God is outside space and time, God sees everything not just as it is today but as it was thousands of years ago and as it will be thousands of years later, all at once.\u00a0 We cannot know exactly how or when God elects people to be saved or at what point He takes into account the decisions we make, but we do know He does take into account our decisions.<\/p>\n

Rather than worrying too much about how God\u2019s sovereign will and our free will interact, we\u2019re much better off making the best choices we can with what we have, trusting that God is working in and through it all for good.\u00a0 Let’s respond to Jesus with faith, and like Paul let’s passionately live our lives to lead people to Jesus Christ so that they too can respond to Jesus with faith.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Father, I pray today for those around me who don\u2019t yet know You personally.\u00a0 I pray that I would be the best possible witness to them of Your saving grace and make the most of every opportunity to share Your love with them.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Romans 9:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 9:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit–
\n2\u00a0\u00a0I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 Here Paul expresses how much it hurts his heart to see that many of his own fellow Israelites have chosen to reject Jesus as their Saviour (Messiah) and how much he wishes that they would know Jesus personally.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23220"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23223,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23220\/revisions\/23223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}