Romans 6:23 "Free Doesn't Mean No Cost"

                As I sat down in my office this past week and began to compile of all the various things that I had read about our verse for today, it dawned on me that I had missed a very important piece of information.  A few weeks ago we talked about the gift of Jesus that we have received.  Last week we talked about how we are to share that gift with others.  However, there’s something very crucial to our study of the True Gift of Christmas that I have completely overlooked.  I’ve overlooked the concept of what a gift is; what is a gift?  A gift is something given to someone without payment.  It’s a present.  Another definition of a gift is a natural ability or talent.  In other words, it’s something that you’re not owed, but you’re given anyway.  It’s something that you didn’t earn, but you still received.  Y’all, I had a hard time when we first moved down here because I have always referred to someone getting older as them turning a certain age.  For example, here in about a month and a few days my daughter will turn six.  However, down here, y’all (and unfortunately some in my house have started to say this too) will say that she made six.  I have to admit that that always throws me off, because saying that someone made a certain age almost sounds like they did it themselves.  To make something implies that you create something or that you cause something to exist that didn’t previously exist.  Well, Ashby didn’t have a thing to do with her coming into existence.  The only thing she has really contributed is staying alive (and she constantly tests that reality every day).  I guess it’s one way of phrasing it so that receiving and giving presents at birthdays seems to be in celebration of some accomplishment.

                Now, obviously, I’m just having a little fun with y’all about the language barrier exists, which the longer I’m here the wider I find it to be.  But I want us to turn back to the concept of a gift being something that we are given and not something we earn; a gift being something that we receive or have received without any payment on our behalf.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  In other words, what we should get because of our sin is death, but what God chooses to give us as a present, something that we don’t pay for, is eternal life.  Just let that sink in for a second.  Let that one float around in your mind as you try and comprehend the magnitude of that verse.  What we deserve is death, but God gives to us, free of charge, eternal life.  However, it’s not really free of charge is it?

                Well, to us the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ is free, but to God it most certainly wasn’t free.  You see, there was a debt that was owed because of the sin of mankind, and that debt had to be paid somehow.  The biggest problem for us is that we, as fallen human beings, stood totally incapable of repaying that debt.  Only God could pay the debt, and that’s exactly what He did in the death of Jesus, in the death of His Son.  In other words, God paid God for a debt that was owed to Himself.  Notice that I didn’t say that He absolved that debt, but that He paid it.  Tim Keller in his book King’s Cross, which is a wonderful look at the gospel of Mark, does a beautiful job explaining the substitutionary atonement in the death of Jesus upon the cross.  Keller uses an analogy of someone breaking your lamp.  The breaking of the lamp creates a need for a replacement so that light can be restored to an otherwise dark room.  Now, there are two options for how that lamp is to be replaced.  Either the person who broke the lamp replaces it, thus costing them something, or you replace your own lamp, which costs you something.  Now, even if you were to replace your own lamp, there is still a cost.  The person who broke the lamp doesn’t pay anything, but the restoration of light to the room isn’t free.  It cost the offended party instead of the offending party, but there’s still a cost.  Friends, that is exactly what God did for us in Jesus Christ, the good and perfect gift that we looked at in James 1 a few weeks ago.  God provided the means by which light could be restored to the dark room that was our standing with Him.  It costs us nothing to have that relationship restored; it was a free gift from God.  The wonderful relatively new Christian hymn In Christ Alone points out this substitutionary nature of Christ’s death upon the cross perfectly:  Til on that cross as Jesus died; The wrath of God was satisfied; For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live.

                Now, I want to take a second and clear up what I mean by the word free for just a moment.  German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, makes the distinction between what he refers to as cheap grace and costly grace.  Now, I don’t have enough time to read you the entirety of what he says on this distinction, but I want to give you a few bullet points on this.  Bonhoeffer says that cheap grace is the enemy of the Church.  Cheap grace is grace without price, without cost.  Cheap grace is the notion that because Christ has paid the price, that we are left to run up as big of a tab as we would like knowing that our sins are forgiven.  Cheap grace means “the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs….Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”  In other words, cheap grace is that view of this gift of eternal life in Christ in which our debt was simply absolved and not paid, and paid in full.

                Bonhoeffer goes on to describe costly grace by saying, “Costly grace is the gospel…the gift that must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.  Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.  It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.  It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.  Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son…and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.  Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.  Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

                Far too often, we use the concept of grace and sayings like “justified by grace alone” as excuses to do whatever it is that we want to do.  We very casually throw out the notion that we’re all sinners and so it’s okay to sin.  Now I’m not denying that we’re all sinners, but our response to this gift of eternal life in Christ cannot simply be to go about our lives as if it is some trivial matter.  There has to be some change, some transformation, some acknowledgement of that gift on the part of the recipients.  Imagine if you would, that you had the ability to give someone who was completely broke a life-changing amount of money.  You were able to give them so much money that it was virtually impossible for them to spend it all in their lifetime.  Imagine if after giving them that money, that person went out and spent it on frivolous things without any recognition of what they had been given.  Imagine them acting as if it was their right to have that money without so much as a thank you to the one who had given them that gift.  Imagine them spending their money the same way in which they did before being given this life-changing gift, buying everything they wanted and have no self-control when it came to their spending.  Why, we would find this absolutely apprehensive and appalling.  So, why is it that we live this way when it comes to God’s grace?  Why is it that we use the gift of grace as an excuse to sin instead of responding to it by trying to imitate Christ?

                Several years ago, when I was in seminary, this verse became the center of a disagreement between myself and the church that I grew up in.  The pastor of my parents’ church, who came well after I had moved away, wrote me a letter with this verse as the theme.  Without going into too much of the details of the disagreement, I was supposed to preach at the church of my youth one Sunday, but because of some circumstances that existed between that church and the church that I worked for at the time, I was unable to fulfill my agreement to preach.  In the letter the pastor of that church wrote to me he stated that he found my backing out of preaching to be a poor reflection of my character and he quoted to me that “the wages of sin is death.”  Now, y’all know me.  I don’t typically do things without good reason, and there was a very pointed reason why I couldn’t preach at the church of my youth.  Y’all also know that I don’t tend to take kindly to attacks at my character, especially when they are unfounded.  In a moment of weakness, I wrote a response to that pastor which read:  “First off, I’m sorry that I cannot preach on the agreed upon Sunday, but the denominational strife between our two churches might place my current church’s status of moving from the PC(USA) to the EPC in jeopardy.  Secondly, just so you know, while the wages of sin is death, the gift of God’s free grace is eternal life in Jesus Christ.  While I do not see my actions as being sinful, I’m thankful that even if I cannot recognize my own sin that the death of my Savior is great enough to cover the price that is owed for my indiscretions.  If your copy of God’s Word does not contain the second part of Romans 6:23, I suggest that you rush out and buy yourself a newer Bible.  If you don’t have the money for it, I will be happy to take care of it for you.”  Like I said, it was a moment of weakness, but I felt it important to point out that this verse cannot be divided in half.  Yes the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ.

                Now, really quickly, I want to point out one more really amazing thing about this verse as it pertains to our relationship with God.  We’ve well established that while this eternal life in Christ is a free gift of God as far as we are concerned, that it cost God dearly.  It cost God His one and only begotten Son.  Now, we can relate to sacrifice.  We maybe can’t relate to a sacrifice of the same magnitude as we’re talking about here, but we understand sacrifice.  However, we tend to hold on to the cost a little bit more than God does.  Let me explain what I mean by that.  You see, we tend to remember exactly how much any gift cost us.  Y’all I can go down the list of things that I have bought for people over the years and I can almost tell you within a few cents how much it cost us.  I’m not bitter about it, I just have a mind for numbers and it’s one of those weird things (one of many) about me.  My kids are going to get Christmas presents from Amy and I and I’m going to watch them play with them and be excited that they love them so much.  However, when the first one of them (probably Thomas) turns something into a sword that wasn’t made to withstand collisions, I’m going to remember how much it cost us as parents and I’m going to have that moment (all be it brief) of thinking of my son as an ingrate.  “Don’t you know how much that cost me and you’re just going to break and destroy it by using it how it’s not meant to be used?”  Well, actually, no; he doesn’t know how much it cost us, because he doesn’t really have an accurate concept of money at four years old.

                The funny thing is that we’re like kids in that regard when it comes to the free gift of God that is eternal life in Christ.  God could look down upon us and say to us, “Don’t you know how much that cost me?  You’re just going to destroy it and use that gift how it’s not meant to be used?”  And you know what?  Our response would be that of a child.  No, we have no clue what it really cost you.  We can say that it cost God His Son the same as my own son could tell me that something cost me $20, but do either of us really know the extent of that price?  But here’s the amazing thing.  I’m sinful; I’m fallen.  There’s a chance (and pretty good one) that I’m going to hold my son’s breaking of his new toy against him.  I’ll think twice before I buy him something else.  I won’t forget it.  However, when it comes to our sin and our deserving death, God forgives.  God won’t withhold that gift of eternal life in Christ from us because of our misusing it.  Once He grants to us that gift, then it is everlasting.  Once we have truly been claimed by God then nothing can separate us from Him.  Once we are found in Him, He does not hold over our heads what we deserve.  “If you don’t start acting right then I’m going to give you death and not the free gift of eternal life.”  This isn’t some simple punishment or threat that we use to get children to act appropriately.  This is the gift of eternal life in Christ, a gift that cost God dearly. 

                So, as we get ready go out into the world, how should we respond?  Well, walking back through our Advent series, we know that Jesus is the gift, that we are to share that gift, and that we have received that gift not because of who we are but because of who God is.  We’ve been given the gift of Jesus to both cherish and share with others by God at a great cost to Himself, yet it cost us nothing.  Friends, when you think about the gift of Christmas this year and you think about all of the wonderful things that you enjoy, think about the cost.  Think about the price that God paid.  Think about what this table represents before us.  Think about the fact that you have been given this gift not because of anything good within you but because God has chosen you as His own possession.  Think about what a wonderful gift we have in Christ.  And think about the fact that we have a God who loves us so much that He willingly sacrificed His one and only Son on our behalf.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Romans 5:12-21 "Jesus Christ: Son of Adam

                As you can tell from the décor around the church, the change in some of the colors around the sanctuary, and most notably, the lighting of the first candle on our Advent wreath, the season of Advent has begun.  I mentioned last Sunday that the English word advent comes from the Latin word adventus (which means “coming”).  Well, the ultimate question that must be asked (and answered) is “Who/What is coming?”  What is it exactly that we are celebrating the coming of during the season of advent?  Well, the simple answer to that question is Jesus.  However, is there ever really such thing as a simple answer when it comes to Christ?  Now, we’ve spoken several times about the fact that throughout Scripture, Jesus is called and referenced by many different names.  In fact, he even refers to himself by a couple of different names.  But perhaps no name or title carries with it greater importance than the title Son.  Now, often times when we hear the name Jesus and the title Son in the same sentence we think of Jesus as the Son of God, and that’s absolutely right.  However, Jesus was also the Son of other people in Scripture as well.  Now his sonship to these others isn’t exactly like that of his to the Father, but each sonship carries with it a certain unique connection.  It’s that concept of Jesus as the son that is going to be our focus during this advent season.  For today, we will be looking at Jesus as the Son of Adam.

There is perhaps no greater or more often asked question in all of the Christian faith than, “What if Adam had never eaten of the fruit?  What if he and Eve had never eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden?”  Well, the short answer is that the Fall would have never happened.  If the Fall hadn’t happened, then there would be no sin and subsequently no death since death was brought about as a result of Adam’s sin.  Now, we could get into all types of discussions over whether or not God’s plan all along involved Adam eating of the fruit, and consequentially sin coming into the world.  Although these discussions can be entertaining and very thought provoking, I don’t think that it’s worth our attention at this time.  Ultimately, like all what-if scenarios, there’s really no point in sitting around and asking the question.  The bottom line is that it happened.  As far as we’re concerned, Adam sinned, fell, and with him we fell.  Since that point in time, the concept of original sin (sin being passed from one generation to another, beginning with Adam) has existed.  Since that point in time it has been impossible for man to exist completely separated from sin, the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity.  We have been non passé, non pecarre  (not able not to sin).  We can’t help it; we’re prone to sin.

In our text for today, Paul begins by stating the very fact that we all fell in the person of Adam.  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.  After eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were told by God of their “punishment”, several pains that they were going to have to endure, ultimately culminating with the words, “till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  There is a separation from God at this point between the creator and the created.  Not only that, but prior to their sinning against God, death wasn’t the plan.  Man was to dwell for all eternity is the blessings of God, enjoying the wondrous things that God had created.

However, prior to the punishments and curses given by God to both Adam and Eve, there is given what is known as the protoeuangelion (first gospel) in Genesis 3:15.  God, speaking to the serpent, says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Now, this may not sound like much, but this is the promise of the Messiah, the promise of Jesus Christ, all the way back in the Garden of Eden.  It’s impossible for us to fathom what was lost at the time of the Fall.  It’s completely beyond our abilities to comprehend the closeness of the relationship that we had with God prior to sin entering into the world.  That is, it’s impossible for us to fathom it in this lifetime.

Later on, when Paul is writing his first epistle to the church in Corinth, Paul refers to Jesus as the last Adam (or as some translate it, Second Adam).  There’s no doubt that much was lost in Adam’s sin.  However, as we’re told in our text today, there is even more found in the obedience of the Second Adam.  But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  The gift of grace that is given to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ is even greater than that which was lost in Adam.  The obedience of Christ is parallel, but vastly superior, to the disobedience of Adam.  The righteousness credited to those who are in Christ is parallel, but vastly superior, to the sin attributed to those who are in Adam because of his disobedience.  The life that comes to us who are in Christ through that imputed righteousness is parallel, but vastly superior, to the death that comes to those who are in Adam through that imputed sin.

I know that it seems so simple and fundamental, but everything that we have is because of Christ.  Now, we all acknowledge that fact and not one of us would disagree with that notion.  However, I think the magnitude of what Christ accomplished on our behalf goes largely forgotten.  As one trespass (Adam) led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness (Christ) leads to justification and life for all men.  Jesus is the Second Adam, the Son of Adam, who fulfills the will of the Father that Adam failed to fulfill.  The plan for man to dwell for all eternity is the blessings and wondrous creation of God wasn’t lost forever.  In fact, we might say that it was even upgraded.  Instead of this earth being our eternal home as it would have been through Adam, heaven is our eternal home through Jesus Christ, the Second Adam.  Heaven, a place so magnificent that we cannot imagine all of its splendor.  A place with street paved in gold, with no pain and no sorrow, enjoying the presence of God Almighty for all eternity.  And these are only a few of the glimpses that we are given as to this glorious home that awaits us all. 

As we celebrate the coming of Christ during this season, let us remember that we celebrate the coming of the one who makes it possible to enjoy the free gift of grace that overcomes the condemnation of the Fall.  We celebrate the coming of the one who would fulfill what Adam and all his descendants failed to do and could not do as a result of sin within us.  For as the sins of mankind continue to increase, the grace of God through Jesus Christ increases even more.  We celebrate the one who came into this world and changed everything that had existed prior to that time.  We celebrate the one who came “so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  We celebrate the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Romans 9:1-5 "Paul's Sorrow"

At this point we enter into what many have considered to be a new section of Romans. A parenthesis if you will. A break from the rest of the letter. Up until this point we have been looking at the revelation of the righteousness of God and promoting justification by faith. We are taught that we are sinners, that we are saved by faith through Jesus Christ, and as the justified we are placed in Christ. With the previous chapters teaching on sin, salvation, and sanctification, chapters 9-11 shift the focus of Romans. It is often thought that chapters 9-11 were simply an addition to the epistle. While it is clear upon examination that chapter 8 could immediately precede chapter 12 seamlessly, the Apostle chooses to provide a brief section showing the righteousness of God. Paul chooses to place a section in between the revelation and application of the righteousness of God which points out that it is not God who has rejected his people, but his people, Israel, who has rejected the Messiah. In doing so, Paul is going to provide some clarification on what he has said in the first 8 chapters of this epistle before continuing forward.

I tended to get in trouble a lot when I was a little kid. Almost everyday that my mom or dad would pick me up from daycare one of the workers there would have to walk out to the car with me to inform my parents as to what crime I had committed during that particular day. I was awful. I can remember one of my grandmother’s friends reading my name in the paper and asking my grandmother if I was one of hers. Her response was, “Yeah, that’s the bad one.” The point being that I disobeyed a lot of rules, disappointed my parent on a regular basis and gave them every reason to be unhappy with me. What did my parents do because of this, they loved me. In spite of what I had done my parents never stopped loving me. As we will see in our text today Paul followed God’s example and never stopped loving others. This will unfold itself in what I see as 2 sections in our text. Paul’s love for his people in verses 1-3 and God’s love for His people in verses 4-5.

First, Paul’s love for his people. As we come to our text today we are moving from an emotional high where Paul declares that nothing can separate the love of God in Jesus Christ from a believer in chapter 8 to a somber note in chapter 9. It is as if the Apostle Paul all of sudden slams on the breaks and instantly changes his mood. He writes, “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit”. These words are Paul’s way of telling his audience of the truth of what he about to say. He calls Christ, his Lord and Savior as a witness to the truth that he is speaking. “I am not lying” once more is getting at the truth with which Paul is speaking. Paul is even calling his own conscience as a witness in the Holy Spirit. It is not his actual conscience that he is saying is so great, but the obedience that it exhibits through the work of the Holy Spirit that is to serve as such a credible witness for what Paul is about to say. Think about it this way, when a witness is called to give any kind of forensic testimony in a court of law the witness is first asked to provide an account of why their opinion and statements should be taken seriously. Here, the Apostle Paul is saying that he is speaking the truth and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can attest to this fact.

Paul gives us the reason why he was so insistent on his word being true when he say, “that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” What has happened in the heart of Paul that he has gone from such joy to speaking with great sorrow and anguish? The answer is that Paul has turned his attention to the members of his own race, his own people, the Jews. He is grieving because they have rejected God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Paul’s statements about the truth are needed because what he is saying here is something that will not settle well with the Jews. In the previous chapters the divine truths told by Paul are thrilling to those who believe, yet they are devastating to those who do not believe. In Paul’s day this would have been his fellow Jews, but this is not the extent of the devastation. Anyone who does not profess their faith in Jesus Christ stands utterly in ruins at the words of the Apostle.

Think with me for just a second. Paul, even though he was a Jew, was treated anything but nicely by the members of the Jewish faith. In the eyes of the Jews Paul was the worst of all possible enemies. He was a Jew who had become a believer in Jesus, the one they called “that blaspheming imposter,” as the Son of God. And now Paul was going around trying to convert both Gentiles and Jews to follow Jesus, to convert to Christianity. From the Jews point of view, Paul was not only wrong in his beliefs and a traitor, but he was seeking to destroy Judaism as a whole. Of course, we know that Paul wasn’t specifically trying to destroy Judaism, but he was simply proclaiming Jesus as Israel’s true Messiah. It would be foolish to think that Paul was unaware of this animosity that the Jews held towards him, and that is what makes his profession in v.2 that much more amazing. You see, the Jews harassed Paul, tried any way possible to hinder him and his ministry, and sought to defeat both him and the gospel that he promoted so boldly. Throughout Paul’s travels he had considerable success in gathering large groups of Gentiles to his message and establishing numerous churches. The Jews of the local areas would stir up mobs wherever Paul was and quite often would drive him from his current city. Often times, once they had successfully driven Paul from the city they would send their own teachers to undermine the message that Paul had just delivered. And there were still many of the Jews who simply thought that they should just kill Paul and be done with worrying about him. With feelings and actions like this even the most righteous and godly of persons would excuse Paul from thinking or saying a bad thing or two against the Jews, but that isn’t the case. Paul overwhelmingly loved the Jews. No where in Paul’s writings do we find any personal offense, retaliation, or resentment towards the Jews. In 2 Corinthians he speaks of how he has been beaten by and fears his own countrymen, but never any cross words on Paul’s behalf. Does this remind you of something else found in the gospel accounts? How about Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem even though he knew that he was about to be crucified by her leaders. You see, Paul’s spirit was the spirit of his Master. The love that Paul displayed for those who wanted to harm him is the same love that he shared for his closest friends. It is the love that we ought always show to others.

If we think that the sorrow expressed by Paul thus far shows how deep his love runs for his people then we are wrong. Continuing through our text we find, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own people of Israel”. Now, we know from Paul’s previous words in chapter 8 that he cannot be separated from Christ but he is saying if he could he would gladly do so. He would become accursed from Christ if his condemnation could achieve the salvation of the people that he so dearly loved and who hated him so passionately. Paul would willingly place himself under the very curse of God and be delivered to total destruction if by doing so his people would know Christ.

Let me ask you a series of question in relation to our own lives that is similar to that of Paul’s in this situation:
Do you anguish over others? In other words, do you feel pain for those who do not know Jesus Christ and who are perishing without him? I don’t think that many of us feel this pain. It might be that we don’t think that they are really going to perish or perhaps we don’t really believe the gospel as we ought to. But I think that there is a much more fundamental reason, we just aren’t very much like Jesus, we don’t spend much time with him and we don’t think about spiritual or religious matter too often.

Ok another question: Do you anguish over those closest to you (family, friends, etc.)? Do we feel sorrow for a husband with an unsaved wife, a child with a parent who doesn’t believe in Christ, or a friend who stays silent about the gospel when there is ample time to speak. I am blessed that the Lord has granted me with a wife and family who all profess their faith in Jesus Christ. But I still ache when I think of the number of friends that I have that I have stayed silent when I should have spoken. Even though my life doesn’t have too many years on it yet, the number of times that I can think of when I said nothing when given the perfect opportunity to present the gospel is too numerous for me to even begin to count.

So as we have thought about those that we either don’t know or those that we know on a close personal level, what about those that we don’t like so much. Do we anguish over our enemies? Do we anguish over terrorists who seek to kill us for our beliefs? Many times we don’t but we ought to. If Paul can love those who sought to kill him, then there is no reason why we should not at least strive for the same thing. Do you anguish for sinners? Do you feel pain for all the murderers, rapists, thieves, and other criminals? I am as guilty as, if not more so, than anyone else in this room of not feeling sorrow for those in these categories. As the father of a 15 month old little girl I can’t think of how to love a rapist or a child molester. But you see, all people are in need of the gospel, not just those who we care about or who are enough like us but all humanity. That is something that each and every one of us is in need of improving. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will work in our heart to make us more like Paul and even more so like Jesus and help us to love those who we so naturally want to hate.

There is no doubt that as we have looked at the first 3 verses of the 9th chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans that Paul loved the Jews. Paul doesn’t just love them because they are his countrymen, but because they are God’s chosen people who are denying Him. Paul loved whoever God loves, and because God loves Israel uniquely, Paul loved Israel uniquely. So let’s look now at God’s great love for His people. Verses 4 and 5 read, “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Paul is giving us a list of all the ways in which God showed His favor towards His chosen people Israel since the beginning.

First off Paul states that they are Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is a privilege in and of itself. Then Paul mentions Israel’s adoption. This adoption is not the New Testament notion of a believer’s new status before God as a result of redemption and new birth. This adoption refers to God selection of Israel as his chosen nation in which he would bring salvation to the world. Next Paul mention’s the glory of God that was given to Israel. God’s glory is so brilliant that human eyes are not permitted to behold it, yet God allowed His glory to dwell in the midst of His people Israel. Of this John Murray wrote, “This glory was the sign of God’s presence with Israel and certified to Israel that God dwelt among them and met with them.” So to possess the glory of God is something that ought not be overlooked here in this passage as we look at this list of the blessings of Israel.

We continue on to see that Israel was privileged to have been given the covenants of God. There is nothing more characteristic of God’s special relationship with the people than covenants. Now I don’t want to get into a covenant theology lecture here but a covenant as it is meant here is referring to an agreement between God and His people Israel. Paul is referring specifically to the covenants established with Abraham, Moses, and David. It would even be through Israel that God’s supreme covenant of redemption through His Son would come to be.

Then Paul states about the giving of the law to the Israelites. Moses and the rest of Israel were given the Law of God at Mount Sinai in Exodus 20. Even though Paul’s teachings were that salvation was by grace through the atoning work of Christ and not law-keeping he doesn’t discount the value of the law. In fact, he counted the receiving of the law as another privilege in the list that Israel has enjoyed. This was an advantage that no nation had until the Christian era when the gospel of God’s grace in Christ was taken to everyone by the apostles and early missionaries.
Paul then goes on to comment on the worship that Israel has been given. This is a reference to the temple worship, the ceremonial system that God revealed through Moses of sacrifices, offering, and cleansings administered by the priests and the Levites. Ultimately the temple all sacrifices and temple worship were brought to completion and fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Israel was also given the promises of God. The Old Testament is filled with many promises, but “the promises” here is referring to the promises of redemption to be fulfilled by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The very one that the Jews didn’t welcome when he finally came. Paul also reminds his readers that it was from Israel that God raised up the fathers, beginning with the first great patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was through those men that the foundations of all the blessings were laid.

The final privilege of Israel listed here by Paul is the human ancestry of Jesus. Everything Paul has said up to this point would have been agreed to by his Jewish opponents. They understood that they had distinct spiritual advantages over other nations. This last item is where the disagreement comes between Paul and his fellow countrymen. The Jews have no desire to recognize Jesus as their Messiah, but Paul cannot leave this fact out. You may be asking why Paul would include such a lengthy list or even more puzzling, why did I feel the need to go through every item on the list. The answer comes to us in the form of progression. You see, each privilege on this list leads to the one following it and ultimately leads to Christ. The flow of God’s actions reaches back to the patriarchs where it began and moves forward to the coming of Jesus in whom it culminates.

Israel lacked nothing in terms of spiritual blessings and advantages, yet the nation wasn’t saved. Sure, there were individual Jews like Paul who had professed Christ as their Savior. But despise all of these advantages Israel as a nation was a nation eternally doomed, this is why Paul expresses such great sorrow for his countrymen. Despite the adoption, the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, the promises and patriarchs, no one, not a nation or an individual, is saved or can be saved apart from Jesus Christ. Paul knew this as well as anyone else. Having been a Hebrew of Hebrews, he knew that his only hope of salvation was through Jesus Christ.

But it is important for us to understand that this isn’t just a message for the nation of Israel in Paul’s day. Think about those of use who have been brought up in or spent some time in the Christian church and have benefited from its advantages. This passage is speaking to those people just as it speaks to Israel. Spiritual advantages will not save you, you must be born again. Just because someone may have been privileged to have Christian parents, like the Jews with their patriarchs, doesn’t mean they are saved. The faith of your parents, your family, your friends will not save you. You must believe yourself. You must follow Jesus Christ yourself.
Some think that a deep knowledge of God will save them. Their education has given them all of the sound theology, right doctrine, and correct answers to important questions. The truth is that no one has ever been saved by head knowledge alone. Satan knows more theology than any of us could ever hope to learn in a lifetime. He has had thousands of years to learn it, but he is not saved.

Perhaps you rely on your church membership for your salvation. Being a member of a biblically sound, believing church is a great advantage, but so was Israel’s adoption as a nation, possession of the law, temple worship, and the promises of God. But membership in a church doesn’t save anyone any more than being a Jew has saved anyone. Many people who are sitting in churches today are Christians in name only. There is nothing in their lives to give any indication that they have been touched by Jesus Christ or been drawn to Him. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.