Israel & God's Promises

We have just finished the marvelous 8th chapter of Romans, a chapter of mighty praise to God for his great and eternal salvation which he has made excellent provision for all who repent and believe the gospel! The next 3 chapters are seemingly out of place, or order; so much that we could immediately jump to chapter 12 and continue right on to the responsibilities of all who have received Jesus Christ as Savior. The entire context of Chapter 1-8 have dealt with the doctrine of Salvation: Justification and Sanctification. Because God is JUST, and his apostle Paul understood, being a Jew, the problem that the Jew would have with the Mercy of God being made available to the Gentiles, he then addresses the issue directly. Israel as a nation had rejected Jesus as Messiah, having him crucified at the hands of the Roman Empire; Paul was once among that number! As the gospel message continued to go forth throughout Israel and the Gentile nations, the Jews began persecuting the Christians. 

The entire Old Testament was a JEWISH book which spoke of God’s many promises to them, including a Savior. The PROBLEM then would be that since the Nation wouldn’t accept the claims of Jesus, they would either conclude that the message that Paul was preaching was FALSE, or the promises that God had made to Israel had FAILED, and God is no longer JUST; his Word is False!