Romans 9:1-9, “True Children of God.”
Verse 1... God is the God of Truth (Psalm 119:160), “All Your words are True; all Your righteous laws are eternal.”
Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: ‘So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.’”
The Bible is the Word of Truth. In the last chapter of the book of Revelation (22:6) it tells us, “the angel said to [John], ‘These words are trustworthy and true.’”
Jesus (John 14:17), calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth,” telling His Disciples, “The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”
Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6), and no one is saved, no one goes to heaven, apart from believing in Him.
God’s children are to be Truth-seekers and Truth-speakers (Ephesians 4:14-16), “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (80x’s, I’m telling you the truth)
Knowing, obeying, speaking the Truth in love, is the major purpose and responsibility of the children of God, for all those who belong to and serve Christ the Lord, and so, Paul begins this section by stating that priority.
Verses 2-5... Paul’s love for Israel is clearly and repeatedly expressed in this section. His heart is in anguish and he has great sorrow because the Jews continue to reject their Messiah, the Christ, God’s Son!
Pauls says (v. 3) he would sacrifice himself for their sake, if it would bring them to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Paul is a Jew, therefore, these are his brothers and sisters racially, the people of Israel; whom God set apart from all other nations on the earth, allowing them to see His glory, to be blessed by His covenants, to receive His Law; it was to them that God sent His prophets, and also granted them the blood ancestry through which Christ, God’s One and Only Son, would come.
Verses 6-9... The majority of all the Jews who have lived on the earth have rejected Jesus Christ. Does that mean God failed? Was He not powerful enough to acquire a people of His very own? I mean, God set Israel apart as His covenant
people, as a nation that would bring honor and glory to Him, but that is not what has happened.
Notice (v. 6), “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel,” and verse 7 basically says just because they are blood ancestors of Abraham does not make them true children of Abraham. What does that mean?
Galatians 3:26-29, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
God’s Word is talking about a spiritual ancestry, the line of those who, by faith, belong to God through Christ (See John 1:10-18; 3:3, 6-7).
Last week we studied how God knew us and loved us before we were born. How God made us His very own children, granting us new life through spiritual birth, and He did this before the foundation of the world was laid.
Miraculously, sovereignly, God worked out His plan to give His own Son as the once for all sacrifice for all sin; and everyone who repents and believes in Him becomes a child of God, born again by God’s Spirit Who indwells us, seals us, and marks us as God’s very own possession.
Ephesians 1:11-14, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.”
1Corinthians 12:13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Back to Romans 9:7, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned [counted, calculated].” And verse 8 says, “In 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.”
This is important: You see, it is not through blood ancestry, i.e., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve tribes [sons] of Israel [Jacob]. through which a person is eternally connected to God through Christ.
Look at verse 9, “For this is how the promise was stated: ‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.’” Let me try to make this clear by taking you to the appropriate passages of Scripture (See Genesis 12:1-4; 15:1-6; 16:1-4a; 17:1-2, 15-20 [everlasting covenant]; 18:10-15; 21:8-13, 20).
In Genesis 3. Satan deceives Eve, Adam disobeys God, bringing sin’s curse upon us all, separating us from life with God, destined for death, (v. 15) God promises to demolish both sin and death, by His Son (John 3:16).
You cannot be saved through human ancestry, national birth, religious covenants, rituals, good works, or religious affiliations. You are saved solely by your faith and belief in Jesus Christ as Savior, confessing Him as Lord, you repent, believe, and follow the instruction in God’s Word!
Mark 1:15, "The time has come," [Jesus] said. ”The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" [and then] 17, "Come, follow Me.”
Galatians 3:29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Those who repent, believe and follow Jesus, are God’s true children and His servants, doing what is right and good, made effectual in Christ (see Ephesians 2:10).
1Peter 2:9 “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”
God’s Blessings, Pastor Mike