Romans 9:1-4a “Hearts”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹I am speaking truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, ²there is to me great grief and unceasing pain in my heart, ³for I could wish I myself to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴ones being Israelites…

As I’ve been pondering these verses, I find they lead in two directions, both of which I believe are worthy of serious consideration. First of all, there is the obvious challenge I hope we all feel. Paul is actually saying he’d give up his own salvation if only it would bring about the salvation of others. It has been shocking to me to read many, many commentaries on this passage and how many of the authors barely pause to even consider this. A few of the old reformers do and I really like what godly old Robert Hawker wrote (ca. 1798): “Perhaps no passage in the word of God is more difficult to apprehend, than the one at the opening of this Chapter...I must leave the passage as I found it, for I am free to confess it is attended with too much difficulty of apprehension for me to explore.”

I couldn’t have said it better. It is almost hard to believe, yet Paul certainly couched it in certainty with his assertions of “I am speaking the truth in Christ, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit…” Moses was of the same spirit when the Lord would destroy the Israelites after the golden calf incident and he prayed, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed…but now, please forgive their sin – but if not, then blot me out of the book You have written” (Ex. 32:31,32).

These two men would challenge us all to plumb the depths of our own hearts and consider the depth of our love to others around us. The nearest I can find such feelings would be to my children and grandchildren. Would I give up my own salvation and spend eternity in hell, cut off from Christ, if that could guarantee that all of them would choose life and be born again? I want to answer yes, but I find my soul hesitating at the brink, and wonderfully thankful there is no such possibility. As the Lord sternly told Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me I will blot out of My book. Now, you go…” I am glad that is true, that I don’t need to even consider that choice, but it bothers me that my soul hesitates at the brink, when Paul is saying he would!

That leads me back to Robert Hawker’s words, “Perhaps no passage in the word of God is more difficult to apprehend, than the one at the opening of this Chapter...I must leave the passage as I found it, for I am free to confess it is attended with too much difficulty of apprehension for me to explore.” I agree. I guess we can observe that out of the entire human race, only one man was ever truly given that choice and thank God, He did love us that much. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). “All we, like sheep, have gone astray…and He has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...By His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5,6).

Certainly Paul’s and Moses’ spirit is the spirit of Christ, the spirit of self-sacrifice for the good of others, and certainly we ought to all find our hearts driven to do all the Lord would have us do for the salvation and the good of others. I would pray at this point for the Lord to help me have that spirit, but, again, if I try to push it to such a point as Paul expresses, I have to run back to Hawker’s words: “I must leave the passage as I found it.” Give up my own salvation? Burn in hell forever? “I must leave the passage as I found it.”

Just so it’s said, I am very aware of the many ways people play down the straightforward meaning of these verses, and perhaps in heaven we’ll find out they were right. However, personally I will retreat back to the old adage, “If the plain sense makes good sense, why make any other sense?” As difficult as the straightforward understanding of this passage may be, I feel like all the other attempts to explain it fall into what I call “hermeneutical gymnastics,” – something I sincerely try to avoid. As John Eadie warned, “Interpretations are generally false in proportion to their ingenuity.” I will leave that discussion at that.

The other observation I want to make is to consider our attitude toward the Jewish people themselves. Here in America, it is generally true that those of us who call ourselves Christians hold the nation of Israel in high regard. We should note that has not always been the case. For centuries and including right down to the some of the great reformers like Luther and Calvin, what came out of the Church has been an ugly spirit of animosity toward the Jewish people. “Christ-killers,” they’ve been called. Theologically, the claim has even been made (or at least intimated) that the Jewish people have been forever rejected, and today “God’s people” have become the Church. So, in those people’s minds, the Jewish people today are just a bunch of rejected Christ-haters who no longer own any special place in this world and certainly not in the great eternal plans of the Lord.

It's hard to believe that people who think like that read their Bibles! Ought not the Church exhibit the spirit of Paul that we see here in Romans 9? Looking ahead, an even cursory glance would tell us that the Jewish people not only always have, but always will, hold a place of prominence in the heart of God and His plans for eternity! Unbelievable. I once heard someone say, if you visit the Holy Lands, you should identify yourself as an Evangelical, not as a Christian. Apparently the history of the Church has been toward the Jewish people so vindictive, they assume anyone who calls themself a Christian hates them. They know the “Evangelicals” from America love them, but they see us as someone different than “Christians.” How sad is that?

I think it important to note that the foundation of the Jewish people was the Abrahamic Covenant, which was unconditional and eternal. God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants forever. The Mosaic Covenant is the one that was conditional. In Deut. 28, the Lord promised blessings if they obeyed and warned of terrible curses if they did not. Today, it is that Mosaic Covenant that is in abeyance, not God’s love for Abraham’s descendants. In fact, what Jesus will bring to the Jewish people is the New Covenant, which will then be itself unconditional and eternal.

I also want to note that the Lord promised that Abraham’s descendants would not only be blessed but that they would themselves be a blessing. Many, many of the inventions and technical advances we’ve all enjoyed actually came from Jewish people. Also, while the Lord promised to Abraham, “I will bless them who bless you,” He went on to say, “And I will curse them that curse you.” Personally, I want to respect and appreciate the Jewish people because their presence in this world usually spells blessings for all the rest of us, but I also want to note I certainly don’t want to join the sad group of people who will be cursed by God for how they’ve cursed Israel!

Would that the Church (and people who call themselves “Christians”) had displayed down through the centuries something of the spirit of Paul expressed here in Romans 9. Far from hating the Jewish people, Paul could long to see them saved (just like us) and honor them for their place in the heart and plans of God.

May we who call ourselves Christians exhibit that same spirit.

And Lord, search us and know our hearts,,,and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Give us Your heart and lead on, O King Eternal!