Romans 9:1-5
Journal
Please use one of the prompts below to get your journaling started.
- Explore your fears and what’s behind them.
- Write about a relational conflict you are experiencing.
- List out all that you are grateful for.
- Recall a significant reaction, conversation or event.
- Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
Romans 9 Commentary
Bible Text: Romans 9:1-5 (ESV)
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Reflection Questions: Romans 9:1-5
“These verses reveal a fact about Paul that is easy for us to forget: He was a Jew and never lost his sense of Jewish identity or his love for his fellow Jews […] Because he was used by God to bring so many Gentiles into the people of God, Paul was viewed by a good number of Jews as a traitor and as one who had lost any natural affection for his own people.” [1]
- How can I cultivate a heart like Apostle Paul’s, of “great sorrow and unceasing anguish,” for people’s salvation?
- Given all the historical spiritual advantages of the Jews listed in this passage, their rejection (for the most part) of Jesus is particularly painful to Apostle Paul. What can I learn from this?
[1] Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary – Romans (Zondervan, 2000) 290.
Prayer