A Burning Passion for Souls

We have now come to chapters 9 through 11 of Romans. This section is not an excursus, a parenthesis, or a brand-new, separate section. It deals with an intense personal problem of Paul. Paul was examining the question that if the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, to the Jew first, why did the Jews, his brothers and kinsmen according to the flesh, reject the gospel?

We cannot read Romans 9 without understanding Paul’s burning passion for lost souls. Paul said in Romans 8 that nothing in all creation is able to separate believers from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But now Paul was asking that if nothing can separate us from the love of God, why are the vast majority of God’s chosen people, the Jews, not saved? It is an important intellectual problem. If God’s word of promise to them has failed, how can we have the great assurance expressed in Romans 8?

The inconceivable tragedy Paul was facing is that the vast majority of the Jews, in spite of their many religious privileges, rejected the gospel. In these three chapters, the apostle wrestles with this problem of the Jewish resistance to the gospel. Wherever Paul went to preach the gospel, his people opposed it and began to riot. For example, we read in Acts 13:

When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and to not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.’ . . . When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord. . . . But the Jews. . . stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. (Acts 13:45-46, 48, 50)

In these chapters Paul is dealing with the problem of what is called theodicy, the justification of the ways of God with respect to men. Why were the Jews perishing while Gentiles were being saved? In fact, it seems that Israel has been disinherited and replaced by the Gentiles. Jesus himself stated, “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12). He also declared, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Matt. 21:43).

Concerning this passage Dr. James Boice says:

1. God’s word has not failed. Only the elect will be saved. No one has an inalienable salvific birthright.
2. God previously disclosed this truth in the Old Testament that only the elect will be saved.
3. The failure of the Jews to believe was their own fault.
4. Some Jews did believe and were saved.
5. It has always been the case that only a remnant and not all would be saved.
6. The present salvation of the Gentiles will inspire more Jews to be saved.
7. In the end, all Israel will be saved, fulfilling God’s promises to them.¹

In these chapters, then, Paul gives the Christian philosophy of history. He moves from celebrating our sure salvation in Romans 8:31-39 through his lament of Romans 9:1-5 and ends with a doxology in Romans 11:33-36.

The Truth

In the Greek text, Paul begins, “The truth I speak in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 9:1). Paul was considered by the Jews to be a traitor who sold himself and went over to the enemy side. He used to be a champion persecutor of Christians, as he himself said:

I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. (Acts 26:9-11)

He also said, “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:13-14).

It is true that after his conversion, Paul spoke against the stubborn unbelief and self-righteousness of Jewish people. He even wrote about their killing of the prophets and the Messiah, Jesus Christ: “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men” (1 Thess. 2:14b-15).

Yet Paul loved his kinsmen, the Jews, and had a burning passion for them to be saved through faith in Christ. Additionally, he wanted all Jews to know of his sincere love for them. So he says, “I am speaking the truth in Christ.” An apostle of Jesus Christ speaks only truth. Jesus Christ is truth, so Christians always must speak truth. Paul was declaring, “As a Christian united with Christ, I am speaking. Christ’s presence is with me as I speak, so I am speaking truth. You must believe my sincerity.”

Paul appears to be taking a lawful oath to show that he is speaking the truth about the great and intense anguish of soul he was experiencing. He is saying that Christ is guaranteeing the truth of what he says. Then he says, “I am not lying.” In this time of postmodernism, lying is normal. Many politicians and preachers today are mere sophists who try to fool people. But a Christian cannot be a postmodernist. Lying is the business of the devil and all his children. The devil is the father of all lies and has always negated God’s revealed truth. God said, “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die,” but Satan said, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 2:17; 3:4).

Then Paul says, “My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit.” Paul’s conscience was bearing witness that what he was saying was the truth. Moreover, it was certified by the Holy Spirit, who is truth.

Though Scripture never defines conscience, essentially it is an inborn faculty that monitors one’s conformity to a moral standard. So conscience is only as good as the moral standard it monitors. For example, if one is used to cannibalism, his conscience will approve it. Conscience is independent of us. It is an independent witness that God placed in us. Yet because it is culturally conditioned, it is not infallible. It is a reliable guide only when it is enlightened by the Spirit in God’s word, which alone is the infallible standard. This is why we must diligently study the Scriptures daily, because we need to have renewed minds and renewed consciences.

The conscience either approves or condemns our actions. When it approves, we have a good, or clear, conscience. When it condemns, we have a guilty, defiled, corrupt conscience. Beyond this, we can also have a dead, seared, cauterized conscience. Paul writes about this: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2). Continuous sinning will kill one’s conscience.

Our consciences can also be defined as being strong or weak. Paul deals with this idea in Romans 14, where he says that those who can eat meat have a strong conscience, while those who eat only vegetables have a weak conscience. Those with weak consciences must prayerfully study the Scriptures to obtain a strong conscience. But whether one’s conscience is weak or strong, one should never violate it.

So Paul boldly asserts that he is speaking the truth in Christ, he is not lying; his conscience confirms it, certified by the Holy Spirit.

The Pain

What was the statement Paul was so careful to certify? “I have great grief and unending pain in my heart” (v. 2). Paul was a small man, but he had a huge heart of love and compassion for unbelievers. The gospels often say that Jesus himself was “moved with compassion” to heal the wretched and despised people coming to him. In the same way, Paul had a heart of flesh, not of stone. He daily experienced great grief and never-ending pain over those who were perishing and going to hell. He felt truly the pain the unbelievers would experience in hell, especially the Jews.

Is your heart broken for lost souls, especially for your own kindred, relatives, and friends? Paul felt pain even for those who beat him with one hundred and ninety-five heavy blows and pursued him to kill him (2 Cor. 11:24, 26). Truly, Paul had a big heart that was filled with the love of God. His heart ached for his people every day of his life. May we consider what Dr. Robert Haldane says and apply it to our own lives: “In this we may discern a characteristic of a Christian. He who has no sorrow for the perishing state of sinners, and especially of his kindred, is not a Christian. No man can be a Christian who is unconcerned for the salvation of others.”²

Passion for Souls

Romans 9:3 shows the extent of Paul’s love: “I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.” This is a hypothetical and conditional wish-if it were possible that a mere sinful man could die for the salvation of others, if he could die in behalf of others and make atonement for them by coming under the wrath of God and going to eternal perdition, Paul would do it. Paul was saying he would go to hell, if that were possible, if doing so would help his Jewish brothers to be saved and go to heaven.

What a radical statement displaying Paul’s burning love for the lost! Paul clearly knew there is a hell and there is a heaven. He knew all too well how terrible it would be to go to hell, and what a great blessing it is to have eternal life and be with Christ in paradise.

Paul was not the first to express such a sentiment. Moses also had a big heart. He was willing to make atonement for his people who committed, he said, “a great sin” in the worship of the golden calf. He asked God to blot him out of the book of life if that would save the sinners. Moses said, “Let me be accursed in their place” (see Exodus 32).

But no man can atone for the sin of another because no sinner can save himself or others by his substitutionary death. Not even a sinless man could do so, if such a one could be found in God’s universe. Only the God-man Jesus Christ can make atonement for sinners by his sacrifice. So Paul declares, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man” (Rom. 8:3). Elsewhere he states, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21); “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’ . . . . Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'” (Gal. 3:10, 13).

Paul had already written in Romans 8 that no elect can be cut off from the love of Christ. No Moses or Paul can atone for another. But we see the burning passion for souls in these verses.

In the light of the reality of hell, no Christian can be unfeeling or neutral. We must have a big heart of love and feel the pain of those under the wrath of God. We must witness to them, warn them, and pray for them. We must especially evangelize our family and kinsfolk. Paul longed to take their place outside of Christ that they could be in Christ. Speaking of the characteristics of a Christian leader, Paul writes: “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:25-26).

Charity begins at home. Where is your son? Where is your daughter? The Bible says that a man who does not provide for his own family, especially for their spiritual needs, is worse than an unbeliever.

Charles Spurgeon spoke of a story he heard from another pastor:

I heard of a dear [dying] girl the other day, who said to her pastor, “I could never bring my father to hear you [preach], but I have prayed for him long, and God will answer my request. Now, dear pastor,” she said, “you will bury me, won’t you? My father must come and hear you speak at my grave. Do speak to him. God will bless him.” And he did, and her father was converted. The death of his child brought him to Christ. Oh to be wiling to die if others may be saved from the death eternal. God give us just such a spirit as that. (C. H. Spurgeon, “Concern for Men’s Souls,” sermon 1425, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. XXIV, 1878 [Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1997 reprint], 418)

It was Paul’s passion to see his brothers “according to the flesh” (kata sarka) become his brothers “in the Lord” (en tô kuriô).

Passion for the Privileged

The tragedy of the Jewish unbelief must be seen in light of the many religious privileges they enjoyed. Considering these privileges made Paul’s grief even more acute. How could these people reject their Messiah? How could they reject the gospel of God?

1. They were Israelites. The Jews were descendants of Jacob, who was given the name Israel because he prevailed with God by his tearful prayer, faith, and surrender. (PGM) He declared, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Jacob saw God face to face and God blessed him, giving him a new name, Israel. The Jews were his children, and as such, all the blessings given to Israel flowed to them. How then could they reject the gospel and become enemies of the God of Israel?
2. Theirs is the adoption as sons. This is not the adoption Paul described in Romans 8:15, which is adoption based on union with Christ by receiving of the Holy Spirit of adoption, which John Murray calls the apex of all blessings in Christ. It is speaking about the external, theocratic adoption of the nation Israel, whom God chose to represent him to the world. Israel was to be the light of the world. This idea of Israel being God’s son is found throughout the Old Testament. God instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.'” (Exod. 4:22-23). The Lord declares through Jeremiah, “They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son” (Jer. 31:9). Elsewhere he says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos. 11:1).
3. Theirs is the glory. The shekinah glory, the sign of God’s presence, was with the Israelites, not with any other nation. The pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud led them through the wilderness. This visible symbol of God’s presence saved his people and judged his enemies. This fiery presence also dwelt in the tabernacle and the temple above the mercy seat, in the Holy of Holies. This is what Zechariah meant when he spoke of “the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel” (Luke 2:32). This God of glory, said Paul, will glorify us. This glory later departed from the temple because of Israel’s sin (Ezek. 10:18) even as the Holy Spirit departed from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14) . Oh, what a tragedy, when the glory of God departs.

   Paul saw this glory finally in Jesus Christ, who is with us always. But Israel rejected their glorious Messiah.

4. Theirs the covenants. Note the plural. We read about the covenants in Genesis 15, 17, 22, 26, 28. The Bible speaks about the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the new covenant. These covenants belong to the Israelites. All covenants, particularly the Abrahamic, represent the one covenant of grace revealed more fully in the course of time in its multiple manifestations.
5. To them belong the receiving of the law. Paul says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Rom. 3:19). The law is a blessing given not to all the nations, but only to the Israelites to govern their lives. It told them what is right and what is wrong and which way to go. This legislation was a great blessing to them, as the psalmist declared: “[The LORD] has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD” (Ps. 147:19-20). No other nation knows God’s law.

   The law was spoken by God’s voice and written with his fingers. The entire law pointed to Christ, yet those who had received it missed him. In the same epistle, Paul writes, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 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. Christ is the end [or goal] of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:1-4).

6. The worship belonged to them. Jesus told the woman at the well, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). The nations worship in ignorance of the true and living God. All worship outside of the worship of the triune God is idolatry, the worship of demons: “They sacrificed to demons, which are not God-gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear” (Deut. 32:17). Paul writes, “[T]he sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20).

   Israel worshiped the true and living God. They had a priesthood and approached God through prescribed blood sacrifices. They knew they were sinners and God was holy. They were instructed in acceptable worship through blood sacrifice because the wages of sin is death.

   Today we worship God in spirit and in truth. So Paul instructs, “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Elsewhere he says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1) Paul describes true worship: “Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:18-20). Jesus himself said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). This is what we do. So the Hebrews writer encourages us: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

7. To them belong the promises. This means all promises, especially the promise of the Messiah, the Lord, Savior, Deliver, and King (see Isaiah 7, 9, 11, 35, 53, 55, 60, 61, 62). It means the first promise, the protoeuangelion: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). It means the promise Peter spoke of on the Day of Pentecost: “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). So Paul writes, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). Paul also says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20). All promised blessings flow to believers only in and through Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. If we miss the Messiah, we miss all. What does it profit if a man gains the whole world and lose his soul? That is why it is important to know the true gospel.
8. To them belong the fathers. To the Jews belonged the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and others who lived by faith and experienced God. They lived by the faith of Abraham, pleased God, and were commended by God. The Hebrews writer speaks of a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, meaning such godly spiritual forebears. What a heritage it is to have godly ancestors!
9. From them comes the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, who is God, who is blessed forever! Amen. The climactic privilege, Jesus the Messiah, did not come from the surrounding nations. The Messiah was an Israelite. “He came to his own, but his own received him not” (John 1:11). In fact, his own people crucified him. What a great tragedy!

The Problem of Privileges

The problem with privileges is that they do not save anyone automatically. In fact, they can condemn people. Paul boasted of his privileges, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phil. 3:4-6). Four of these privileges he inherited; three he acquired. But these did not save him. They only blinded and condemned him.

Paul had great grief and never-ending pain in his heart. How could his brothers, his kinsfolk in the flesh, miss their Messiah who came to save accursed and hell-bound sinners? This is the intellectual problem Paul is dealing with in Romans 9, 10, and 11. It seemed inconceivable that the Israelites who enjoyed all these privileges from God could be accursed and cut off from their Messiah.

Yet throughout the history of Israel, there are examples of privileges not automatically resulting in salvation. Look at Aaron’s children, Nadab and Abihu. They were priests, but they were killed because of their wickedness. Eli and his children were also priests, but they were killed for their disobedience. Korah was a Levite who died because of his rebellion. Samuel’s children were highly privileged but they became wicked and did not follow in their father’s footsteps. David’s children had all the privileges but were killed because they were wicked. Josiah’s children were privileged, yet they also were killed.

Privileges bring accountability, responsibility, and judgment. Judgment is according to knowledge. We cannot put our confidence in privileges. I heard of a man who is known for his frequent womanizing. As the head of an evangelical denomination, he is a highly privileged person. Yet no one is coming forward to take him out of his leadership role. What a tragedy!

What about the privileges we and our children enjoy? We live in a country where we have freedom to preach, believe, and practice our Christian faith without persecution and fear of death. We have great economic prosperity and plenty to eat. We have many Bibles and other Christian literature. Some of us were born and raised in Christian homes where there were daily devotions, Bible reading, and worship. Many have been dedicated, baptized, and received into membership in Bible-believing churches. Many can worship several times a week in churches where the word of God is preached with all clarity and boldness. Many enjoy weekly Holy Communion, which is opportunity to repent and be reconciled to God and man. Many have retreats for all ages and special ministries to students. There are many Christian schools in which Christian principles are taught. Many have Christian parents whose lives and counsel are impressed upon their children. Many engage in regular Bible reading wherein they read the Bible at least once a year. Many enjoy pastoral care and biblical counseling for all sorts of issues. Many churches have spiritual leaders who live exemplary lives which can be emulated.

A Warning and an Encouragement

Be warned from this passage, friends. It is a lament, not a celebration. Like Jeremiah, Paul is weeping over his people. Jesus also wept: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes'” (Luke 19:41-42).

Fathers and mothers, children and others, be warned. Appreciate the privileges God has given you, and if you have not done so already, put your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. He was cut off in our place, suffering our curse and the wrath of God.

If you are a Christian, I pray you will have a burning passion for souls. May you have a big heart full of God’s love so that you will grieve over your dear people and intercede for them. May you live a holy life as you proclaim the gospel to your parents, your spouses, your children, your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, and even and especially your enemies. Anguish over them and pray that God would continue to give you a burden for souls as well as a vision of hell and paradise.

First, though, taste and see that the Lord is good. Without tasting and knowing, we cannot tell anyone who Jesus Christ is. Second, remember the words of Jesus: “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.” Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greeks.”

Every day God saves both those who are privileged and those who have no privileges. Paul was privileged, and God saved him. The man with a legion of demons was a nothing, yet God deliberately went to save him too. And the last act of evangelism Jesus did was to speak to the thief on the cross next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Praise God for showing us mercy! Let us believe the truth and preach the truth: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹ J. M. Boice, Romans, Vol. 3: God and History, Chapters 9-11 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 1012-1015.

² Robert Haldane, Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1996 reprint), 444.