GOD’S PLANS FOR ISRAEL
In the PAST - Romans 9
I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--
2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, [Genesis 21:12]"It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
8 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.
25 As he says in Hosea [Hosea 2:23]: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"
26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
[Hosea 1:10]'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel [Isaiah 10:22, 23]: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously [Isaiah 1:9]: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
In the PRESENT - Romans 10
1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, [Isaiah 28:16] "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, [Joel 2:32]"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, [Isaiah 52:7]
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, [Isaiah 5 3:1]
"Lord, who has believed our message?"
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did [Psalm 19:4]: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, [Deuteronomy 32:21]
"I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."
20 And Isaiah boldly says, [Isaiah 65:1]"I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."
21 But concerning Israel he says, [Isaiah 65:2]"All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
In the FUTURE – Romans 11
1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says [1 Kings 19:10, 14] in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel:
3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"?
4 And what was God's answer to him? [1 Kings 19:18]"I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
8 as it is written [Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10]: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
9 And David says [Psalm 69:22, 23]: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever."
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written [Isaiah 59:20, 21; 27:9;
Jeremiah 31:33-34]: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,
31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.
32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
THE INVITATION
You can't depend on your own goodness to get to Heaven. We've all sinned (Romans 3:23). Jesus paid the penalty for your sins with His death on the cross and His resurrection (John 3:16).
To be forgiven and be guaranteed a place in Heaven, you need to repent of sin, confess that you are a sinner, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart (Acts 2:21).
You can use the following prayer or your own words, but you must actually believe in your heart that your prayer is real:
Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I confess that I have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed.
Please forgive all my wrongdoing and let me live in relationship with You from now on.
I receive You as my Savior and recognize that the work You accomplished once and for all on the cross was done on my behalf.
Thank You for saving me. Help me to live a life that is pleasing to You.
In Your name I pray, Amen.
