Romans 9:4-5

[Regarding 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. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised [or Christ, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Christ. God who is over all be forever praised!]! Amen.

Paul is continuing this list of benefits of being a natural Jew that he began back in chapter 3:1-2: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” They have (1) the very Word of God entrusted to them (from chapter 3) – they were the custodians and the majority writers (perhaps all except Luke), (2) the adoption as sons – the Lord, passing by other nations, had selected them as a people to Himself and had adopted them as His children (Exodus 4:22; Jeremiah 31:9); note also that this adoption is “national” and not “individual” as Paul has explained in Romans 8:15,23, (3) the divine glory – the presence of God between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant (the mercy seat) (1 Samuel 4:22); God Himself dwelled with the nation of Israel, (4) the covenants – the official dealings of God with His people (specifically Abraham and Moses and David); only the covenant with Noah belonged to all the nations – all other covenants (besides the New Covenant) belonged solely to Israel, (5) the receiving of the law (only the Jews were given the law at Mt. Sinai, and God Himself was their Lawgiver – see Deuteronomy 4:8), (6) the temple worship (commands issued by God Himself regarding how to appropriately worship Him); the other nations were ignorant regarding true worship of God (in Spirit and in truth), (7) the promises – the less official dealings of God with His people (all the Jewish people, not just Abraham); (ie, the Promised Land) see Isaiah 41:8-10, (8) the patriarchs – it is a blessing to be descendant from extraordinary men and women (Acts 3:25); God Himself identified with these patriarchs – claiming “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” and finally, (9) the human ancestry of Christ – how amazing it is to consider that God Incarnate chose to enter His creation through a particular ancestry, that of His chosen nation, Israel.

What did Israel do with all of these benefits? (1) They disbelieved the word and stumbled over the message; (2) they dishonored and despised God as their Father; (3) they placed no value on the presence of God in their midst; (4) they lost sight of God’s covenant commitments; (5) they broke God’s law; (6) their worship lost its reality and became an empty ritual; (7) the great promises were not mixed with faith (Hebrews 3:18-4:2); (8) they did not follow in the steps of faithful Abraham who believed God (Romans 4:11-12); and last, (9) they crucified their own Messiah (Matthew 27:22; John 19:15-16; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15). “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12:47-48). The Israelites were given much, and much was/is required of them.

Paul has two points in giving this list of benefits of being a natural Jew: First, he is reminding his audience that God’s covenant privileges are real even when they are not embraced. Second, he is at the same time suggesting that the benefits must never be presumed upon. Paul is saying, “It doesn’t matter what privileges and advantages you’ve had; if you have not embraced Christ, you have no part of Him or of the blessing of God.” We should never discount the significance of the means of grace, even when people neglect, abuse, or reject them. And we should never presume that we are guaranteed salvation just because we have the privilege of being a part of a congregation that loves the Lord and His word and teaches the Bible in the pulpit and the classroom.

There is one more thing about this list. Some theologians, like John Piper, teach that these benefits of being a Jew apply to all believers, thus making us Jews in a sense. (1) We have the Word of God that speaks to us. The Word doesn’t influence non-believers in the same way. (2) We certainly have been adopted (individually per Romans 8 and not nationally) as sons through Christ. Piper would say that believers are the “True Israel”, and thus make it also a national election of the true church. (3) We have the divine glory to look forward to – a future glory and not a past glory. (4) We have the New Covenant in Christ. (5) We are not under the law of God, but we are under the law of Christ. Indeed the law has accomplished its purpose by leading us to Christ. (6) We must worship God accordingly – in Spirit and in truth. Christ fulfilled our temple worship and welcomes us into fellowship. (7) All of God’s promises to us are “Yes” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). (8) Everything promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob belongs to the believer as an heir of the promise. (9) Jesus was Jewish according to the flesh, but we are in Him and He is in us through faith.