Romans 9–11

9TH CHAPTER

Paul’s Concern for the Jewish People

¹As a Christian, I’m telling you the truth. I’m not lying. The Holy Spirit, along with my own thoughts, supports me in this. ²I have deep sorrow and endless heartache. ³I wish I could be condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of others who, like me, are Jewish by birth. ⁴They are Israelites, God’s adopted children. They have the Lord’s glory, the pledges,^aMoses’ Teachings, the true worship, and the promises. ⁵The Messiah is descended from their ancestors according to his human nature. The Messiah is God over everything, forever blessed. Amen. 

⁶Now it is not as though God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel ⁷or a descendant of Abraham. However, ⸤as Scripture says,⸥ “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” ⁸This means that children born by natural descent ⸤from Abraham⸥ are not necessarily God’s children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham’s descendants. 

⁹For example, this is what the promise said, “I will come back at the right time, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁰The same thing happened to Rebekah. Rebekah became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac. ¹¹Before the children had been born or had done anything good or bad, Rebekah was told that the older child would serve the younger one. This was said to Rebekah so that God’s plan would remain a matter of his choice, ¹²a choice based on God’s call and not on anything people do.^b13The Scriptures say, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.” 

¹⁴What can we say—that God is unfair? That’s unthinkable! ¹⁵For example, God said to Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.” ¹⁶Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 

¹⁷For example, Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I put you here for this reason: to demonstrate my power through you and to spread my name throughout the earth.” ¹⁸Therefore, if God wants to be kind to anyone, he will be. If he wants to make someone stubborn, he will. 

¹⁹You may ask me, “Why does God still find fault with anyone? Who can resist whatever God wants to do?” 

²⁰Who do you think you are to talk back to God like that? Can an object that was made say to its maker, “Why did you make me like this?” ²¹A potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his clay. He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay. 

²²If God wants to demonstrate his anger and reveal his power, he can do it. But can’t he be extremely patient with people who are objects of his anger because they are headed for destruction? ²³Can’t God also reveal the riches of his glory to people who are objects of his mercy and whom he had already prepared for glory? ²⁴This is what God did for us whom he called—whether we are Jews or not. 

God Chose People Who Are Not Jewish

²⁵As God says in Hosea: 

“Those who are not my people 

I will call my people. 

Those who are not loved 

I will call my loved ones. 

²⁶Wherever they were told, 

‘You are not my people,’ 

they will be called children of the living God.” 

²⁷Isaiah also says about Israel: 

“Although the descendants of Israel are 

as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, 

only a few will be saved. 

²⁸The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land, 

completely and decisively.” 

²⁹This is what Isaiah predicted: 

“If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us some descendants, 

we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.” 

³⁰So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God’s approval won his approval, an approval based on faith. ³¹The people of Israel tried to gain God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings, but they did not reach their goal. ³²Why? They didn’t rely on faith to gain God’s approval, but they relied on their own efforts. They stumbled over the rock that trips people. ³³As Scripture says, 

“I am placing a rock in Zion that people trip over, 

a large rock that people find offensive. 

Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.” 

10TH CHAPTER

If You Believe You Will Be Saved

¹Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Jewish people is that they would be saved. ²I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God, but they are misguided. ³They don’t understand ⸤how to receive⸥ God’s approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God’s way for receiving his approval. ⁴Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God’s approval. 

⁵Moses writes about receiving God’s approval by following his laws. He says, “The person who obeys these laws will live because he obeys them.” ⁶However, Scripture says about God’s approval which is based on faith, “Don’t ask yourself who will go up to heaven,” (that is, to bring Christ down). ⁷“Don’t ask who will go down into the depths,” (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead). ⁸However, what else does it say? “This message is near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message of faith that we spread. ⁹If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. ¹⁰By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved. ¹¹Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.” 

¹²There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who calls on him. ¹³So then, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

¹⁴But how can people call on him if they have not believed in him? How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message? How can they hear if no one tells ⸤the Good News⸥? ¹⁵How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? As Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who announce the Good News.” ¹⁶But not everyone has believed the Good News. 

Isaiah asks, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke. 

¹⁸But I ask, “Didn’t they hear that message?” Certainly they did! “The voice of the messengers has gone out into the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth.” 

¹⁹Again I ask, “Didn’t Israel understand ⸤that message⸥?” Moses was the first to say, “I will make you jealous of people who are not a nation. I will make you angry about a nation that doesn’t understand.” ²⁰Isaiah said very boldly, “I was found by those who weren’t looking for me. I was revealed to those who weren’t asking for me.” ²¹Then Isaiah said about Israel, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to disobedient and rebellious people.” 

11TH CHAPTER

God’s Continuing Love for Jewish People

¹So I ask, “Has God rejected his people Israel?” That’s unthinkable! Consider this. I’m an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he knew long ago. Don’t you know what Elijah says in the Scripture passage when he complains to God about Israel? He says, ³“Lord, they’ve killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I’m the only one left, and they’re trying to take my life.” ⁴But what was God’s reply? God said, “I’ve kept 7,000 people for myself who have not knelt to worship Baal.” ⁵So, as there were then, there are now a few left that God has chosen by his kindness.^a6If they were chosen by God’s kindness, they weren’t chosen because of anything they did. Otherwise, God’s kindness wouldn’t be kindness. 

⁷So what does all this mean? It means that Israel has never achieved what it has been striving for. However, those whom God has chosen have achieved it. The minds of the rest of Israel were closed, ⁸as Scripture says, 

“To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep. 

Their eyes don’t see, 

and their ears don’t hear!” 

⁹And David says, 

“Let the table set for them become a trap and a net, 

a snare and a punishment for them. 

¹⁰Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see. 

Let them carry back-breaking burdens forever.” 

¹¹So I ask, “Has Israel stumbled so badly that it can’t get up again?” That’s unthinkable! By Israel’s failure, salvation has come to people who are not Jewish to make the Jewish people jealous. ¹²The fall of the Jewish people made the world spiritually rich. Their failure made people who are not Jewish spiritually rich. So the inclusion of Jewish people will make the world even richer. 

¹³Now, I speak to you who are not Jewish. As long as I am an apostle sent to people who are not Jewish, I bring honor to my ministry. ¹⁴Perhaps I can make my people jealous and save some of them. ¹⁵If Israel’s rejection means that the world has been brought back to God, what does Israel’s acceptance mean? It means that Israel has come back to life. 

¹⁶If the first handful of dough is holy, the whole batch of dough is holy. If the root is holy, the branches are holy. ¹⁷But some of the olive branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place. You get your nourishment from the roots of the olive tree. ¹⁸So don’t brag about being better than the other branches. If you brag, remember that you don’t support the root, the root supports you. ¹⁹“Well,” you say, “Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted onto the tree.” ²⁰That’s right! They were broken off because they didn’t believe, but you remain on the tree because you do believe. Don’t feel arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹If God didn’t spare the natural branches, he won’t spare you, either. ²²Look at how kind and how severe God can be. He is severe to those who fell, but kind to you if you continue to hold on to his kindness. Otherwise, you, too, will be cut off ⸤from the tree⸥. 

²³If Jewish people do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted onto the tree again, because God is able to do that. ²⁴In spite of the fact that…