ROMANS 21

     We will begin this lesson in Romans 9:1 "I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy
Ghost," Romans 9:2 "That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow
in my heart."

     We will see in the beginning of this chapter a sorrowful Paul. As
we have said before in these lessons, Paul was a Pharisee and he never
would quite give up on his Jewish brothers. He went to great lengths
to try to reach them over and over. His greatest opposition came from
his own people.  In many cases, Paul practiced the old Jewish law to
try to win them to Christ, but even this failed and Paul went away
sorrowful.

     Romans 9:3 "For I could wish that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:"

     We see, here, in this verse that Paul would have gone to almost
any length to have his Israelite brothers come to Christ. He says that
he would even give up his own salvation, if this would have saved
them.  Paul makes it clear, here, that these Israelites are his
brothers in the flesh, not the spirit. His spiritual brothers are
Christians.

     Romans 9:4 "Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,
and the service [of God], and the promises;"

     This just means that God had chosen the Hebrews (Israelites) to
give the law to, and he had chosen them to be a peculiar people set
aside to worship Him. God's first choice for the salvation message to
go to was these Israelites.

     Romans 9:5 "Whose [are] the fathers, and of whom as concerning
the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."

     We find, here, the same thing that we find in Revelation about
the physical house of Israel belonging to Father God.  The spiritual
house of Israel (Christians) belongs to Jesus.  You remember from the
Revelation teaching, that the 144,000 Jews: 12,000 from each of the 12
tribes are marked with the Father's seal and the vast number in white
robes around the throne had been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The
white robed large number were followers of Jesus and bore His name
(Christians).

     Romans 9:6 "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.
For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel:"

     This means those who follow God are His children. The followers
of God are Israelites, not those who were born into the house, but
those who chose to follow God.

     Romans 9:7 "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are
they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

     Isaac was the son of promise. He represented the Spirit.  Abraham
had a son of the flesh (Ishmael). The promises God had made to Abraham
came through the Spirit, not through the flesh. You see from this that
the Spirit of God and the promises thereof are for the Spirit, and not
for the flesh.  Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Notice above, it
speaks of seed as one, not many seed. Flesh does not inherit the
things of God. I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption." God is Spirit and His blessings are
for His children in the Spirit.

     Romans 9:8 "That is, They which are the children of the flesh,
these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed."

     Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus." We can look at another Scripture in Luke 3:8 "Bring
forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say
within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto
you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham."  We can easily see from this that God is not interested in
the flesh, but the spirit of man.

     Romans 9:9 "For this [is] the word of promise, At this time will
I come, and Sarah shall have a son."

     Genesis 17:19 "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son
indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed
after him."  You see again here that the promise that God made to
Abraham was to come through the child of promise (Isaac) the child of
the spirit. We can see the chain of blessings from the following verse
in Genesis 25:11  "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham,
that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-
roi."

     Romans 9:10 "And not only [this]; but when Rebecca also had
conceived by one, [even] by our father Isaac;"

     Rebecca, also, had 2 sons; one of the flesh (Esau) and a son who
the promises of God would flow through (Jacob) whose name would be
changed to Israel.

     Romans 9:11 "(For [the children] being not yet born, neither
having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)"

     This business of election is sometimes hard to explain.  We find
that all through the Bible there are people who have been chosen out
and called to do a certain thing for God. A very good example of that
is John the Baptist who seemed to live for one purpose (to tell of the
coming Messiah). God has elected that certain things will happen to
get the job done that He wants done. We see in the verse above, that
He has chosen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to funnel the spiritual
blessings to all the believers in the world. I Peter 1:2 "Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."  We
see from this, that God actually knew from the foundation of the world
who would choose to follow Him and who would not. He did not
predestine, He foreknew.

     Romans 9:12 "It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the
younger."

     We see in this that Ishmael (son of the flesh) served Isaac (son
of the spirit). We, also, see in this that Esau (the oldest son)
served Jacob (the younger son). Since we are looking at the spiritual
side of these lessons, we can not overlook the fact that the law was
given first to the physical house of Israel, and that grace was given
to the spiritual house of Israel (Christians). Grace is better than
the law.

     Romans 9:13 "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have
I hated."

     We know that God would not hate Esau without a cause.  God hated
Esau, not because of who he was, but because he did not regard his
birthright as being very valuable. In fact, he thought so little of it
that he sold it to his brother for a bowl of soup. The blessing of God
through Abraham and Isaac then would come through the second son
Jacob. From him, the 12 tribes of Israel would come. I say, again, God
did not just hate Esau without a cause. Esau turned his back on God
when he sold his birthright.

     Romans 9:14 "What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness
with God? God forbid."

     If this had been predestined some would say this was unfair, but
this was not predestined, only known ahead of time by God.

     Romans 9:15 "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I
will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion."


     It is God's world and we are His creation. He can do with us
whatever He chooses to do. We are His creation and He is the Creator.
Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul."

     Romans 9:16 "So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

     I Peter 2:9 "But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light:" I Peter 2:10 "Which in time past [were] not a
people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy."  We read, also, Titus 3:5 "Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost;"

     Romans 9:17 "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this
same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth."

     We know that the 10 plagues that came upon Egypt were for the
purpose of discrediting the false gods of Egypt. Egypt represents the
world. God shows, through Pharaoh's rebellion, that the gods of this
world are no match for the real God. We see an almost identical
Scripture in the Old Testament account of this event. Exodus 9:16 "And
in very deed for this [cause] have I raised thee up, for to shew [in]
thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the
earth."  I Samuel 2:7 "The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he
bringeth low, and lifteth up." I Samuel 2:8 "He raiseth up the poor
out of the dust, [and] lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set
[them] among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory:
for the pillars of the earth [are] the LORD'S, and he hath set the
world upon them."  Look also at Proverbs 16:4 "The LORD hath made all
[things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."  This
all speaks for itself, we need no more comment here.

                                 Notes























                         Questions 21

1.  Paul says in verse 1, that what bears him witness?
2.  Why did Paul keep on trying to win the Jews to Jesus?
3.  In the third verse, what did Paul say he wished himself, if it
    would save his Jewish brothers?
4.  These Physical Israelites were Paul's brothers in the____.
5.  Who were Paul's spiritual brothers?
6.  Who had God chosen to give the law to?
7.  Who was God's first choice to give the salvation message to?
8.  Who does the physical house of Israel belong to?
9.  Who do the Christians belong to?
10. Who are the true Israelites?
11. Which of Abraham's sons would the promise come through?
12. Which of Abraham's sons was thought of as the son of the flesh?
13. In Galatians 3-29, we find that who are the heirs?
14. In Galatians 3-26, we find that we are children of God by what?
15. What unbelievable thing can God raise sons of Abraham of, if He
    has to?
16. In Genesis God promises Abraham a son, what is his name?
17. After Abraham's death, God blessed his son____.
18. What was the names of the 2 sons of Rebecca?
19. Which of these sons would the blessings of God come through?
20. What are the names of the 3 patriarchs who the blessings would
    flow through to all believers in God?
21. In 1 Peter  1-2, the elect was according to what?
22. When did God know who would follow Him?
23. God did not predestine, He ____.
24. Since we are looking at the spiritual, what does the fact that the
    second son ruling over the first tell us?
25. In verse 13, who does God hate?
26. Why did God hate him?
27. What absolutely ridiculous question is asked in verse 14?
28. Why does God not have to explain what He chooses to do?
29. In 1 Peter 2-9, what are those who have come into the Light out of
    darkness called?
30. Not our righteousness saved us, but what?
31. Why did God bring the 10 plagues on Egypt?
32. In Proverbs, we read that God made all things for whom?
33. We find in 1 Samuel that ___ makes the rich and the poor.

                                 Notes