Romans 9:1-5
It is important before digging into the rigorous theological work of Romans 9 to note Paul’s tone of voice. He is not lecturing, but imploring. He’s consumed with concern for his Jewish brethren who haven’t believed in Jesus.
Three Observations
1. Doctrine and devotion are essential.
Right thinking about God and deep concern for people are like bicycle wheels, you need them both if you want to get anywhere. There are some who lean toward doctrine and study and debate and theology. There are others who lean toward charity and compassion and generosity. But the gospel balances you out, like Paul. As doctrine flows through his pen in Romans 9, love bursts from his heart.
2. Doctrine without devotion is dead.
The Pharisees were serious Bible students and Jesus chastised them more harshly than any harlot or swindler because their knowledge puffed them up. The didn’t love people, they loved principles. If our study of the Bible does not lead to devotion to people, something is wrong. Listen to John Piper’s experience of studying Romans 9:
Then, about ten years later, came the fall of 1979. I was on sabbatical from teaching at Bethel College. My one aim on this leave was to study Romans 9 and write a book on it that would settle, in my own mind, the meaning of these verses. After six years of teaching and finding many students in every class ready to discount my interpretation of this chapter for one reason or another, I decided I had to give eight months to it. The upshot of that sabbatical was the book, The Justification of God. I tried to answer every important exegetical objection to God’s absolute sovereignty in Romans 9.
But the result of that sabbatical was utterly unexpected—at least by me. My aim was to analyze God’s words so closely and construe them so carefully that I could write a book that would be compelling and stand the test of time. What I did not expect was that six months into this analysis of Romans 9 God himself would speak to me so powerfully that I resigned my job at Bethel and made myself available to the Minnesota Baptist Conference if there were a church who would have me as a pastor.
In essence it happened like this: I was 34 years old. I had two children and a third on the way. As I studied Romans 9 day after day, I began to see a God so majestic and so free and so absolutely sovereign that my analysis merged into worship and the Lord said, in effect, “I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God’s grace over their rebellious will.” This is when Bethlehem contacted me near the end of 1979. And I do not hesitate to say that because of Romans 9 I left teaching and became a pastor. The God of Romans 9 has been the Rock-solid foundation of all I have said and all I have done in the last 22 years.
Likewise, Paul’s meditation on this theology led to deep desire to see people saved (10:1), a clear plan of action to work toward that end (10:14-17), and all manner of practical advice about life (12-16).
3. Devotion without doctrine is dead.
It is a kite without a string. What begins as compassion topples to the ground in a pile of silliness. Without good doctrine about God, our attempts to help people turn misguided. We begin to care more about people’s right to choose than God’s right to demand. We grow more passionate about people’s desires than God’s design.
Our adversary won’t tempt us to replace our crosses with swastikas. He’ll tempt us to elevate the second most important command above the first; to lose our love for God in our frenzy to love people. So, for every trip into the world to serve people, we need 10 trips into the word to survey God. Our love for God must inform and under-gird our love for people.
Conclusion
Before we begin our study of Romans 9, let’s pledge to take it seriously, to think, to ask our questions, to apply our minds. Because doctrine and devotion are woven together.
Discussion Starters
- Who is the most compassionate person you know? What fuels their compassion?
- Who is the most serious Bible scholar you know? What fuels their study?
- What is the most pressing issue negatively effecting our society? The world? What is the most important thing a compassionate person can do? On what are you basing your answers?
- Would you consider yourself more a “doctrine guy” or a “people guy”? Why? Which type of person would thrive most in Dulins Grove? How can one become both?
- Read v1. Why does Paul make such emphatic claims to honesty here?
- Read v3. Have you ever felt such desire for another’s salvation that you would give yours to them if you could? Who?
- Why does Paul say “according to the flesh” when referring to his kinsmen? (See verses 6-8)
- Read v4-5. Why did they reject Jesus in spite of all these advantages?
- Divide the 33 verses in chapter 9 and read it together. What do you find most disturbing in this chapter? Most surprising? Most confusing?
