Reading Romans

Hey Parents,

Just wanted to give you a quick update on what your kids studied yesterday morning in Sunday School....as you know we've been reading Romans for the past several weeks and yesterday they went through Chapters 9-11.  Let's take a quick look at what they covered yesterday!

In chapters 9-11, we mainly find a unit that focuses squarely on Israel's continuing place in God's redemptive plan.  While our students jumped over chapter 9 for the most part, I want to give you just a little background so our continual narrative is intact!  Most of Chapter 9 focuses on Paul's confession that his people's (the Jews) overall rejection of the gospel grieved him deeply.  Israel had many spiritual advantages through the old covenant that should have prepared the people to welcome the gospel.  Their rejection of it, however, was not evidence of God's plan failing or of God being unfair.  The prophets of Israel had long declared that God's salvation would be characterized by both His sovereign choice and His divine mercy.

Paul explained that Israel stumbled over God's plan of freely giving His righteousness to those who believe, yet he prayed earnestly for his people to be saved.  He knew the gospel was for all - Jew and Gentile.  He was devoted to preaching the gospel to everyone, even if presently his people stubbornly rejected it.  This gets us into chapter 10 so let's look at the points the students covered.


Pray for Others (Romans 10:1-4)
In the first 4 verses we see where Paul is passionate about praying for the salvation of the Jewish people.  He wants them to see that their zeal and enthusiasm for the law is not in all ways bad, but much of their energy is misplaced.  The Jewish people were more worried about trying to establish their own righteousness rather than accept the righteousness freely given from God.  They still had not realized that Christ was the end of the law and the end of the quest for a life of righteousness by following the law.

We see here an example of the importance that prayer should play in our lives concerning those around us that we claim to love and care about.  If we truly love someone, then we should be praying constantly for their spiritual well-being and health.  If we know people, whom we claim to care about, who are not in a relationship with the Lord, we should be praying for them.  If we have Christian brothers and sisters who are struggling in their walk, we should be praying for them.  In short, we should be praying as believers!


Tell Others (Romans 10:8-14)
So here Paul takes our Christian responsibilities a step further.  Not only should we be praying for those around us, but that we should also be prepared and ready to tell others about Jesus.  Paul says that when we believe in Jesus, we are made righteous through Christ and that when we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we are saved.  As believers, as those who have claimed and professed the truth that Jesus is Lord, we should become more righteous in our living.  Why??  It's simple.  If we accept Christ and have the Spirit of the Lord living inside of us, then we MUST begin to desire a righteous lifestyle...that's just how it is.  We cannot live in a relationship with Christ and still desire an unrighteous lifestyle...it just can't happen.  And part of that change in our living, part of that righteousness that God imparts to us through Christ, is the desire to tell others.  We begin to understand that those we love need to be introduced to Jesus and the only way that will happen is if His followers tell them!  So Paul is putting some action to our faith....we should be praying and telling others.


Send and Go to Others (Romans 10:15-18)
Paul continues his thought here that people will not hear about Christ unless the people of God are willing to go to them, go to where they are, and proclaim the name of Jesus.  This is another piece of action that Paul is putting to our faith....we should be praying, telling others, and going to where others are and proclaiming the name of Jesus!


In chapter 11, Paul's states that through his understanding, Israel might presently have stumbled over the gospel, but God hadn't rejected the people of Israel.  In fact, Paul revealed that just as God had used Israel's rejection of the gospel to spur the Gentiles to faith in Christ, God would also ultimately use the conversion of Gentiles to spur many of the people of Israel to be saved.  So Paul ends the chapter with a burst of praise for God's unsearchable wisdom!

Next week we are tackling Chapter 12 so read up and we'll touch base next Monday!

Heffe