Romans 9:3-5 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.
Paul’s heart and love for his Jewish kinsmen shines through in this passage. He carried a deep burden for the descendants of Abraham through whom came the Messiah. Paul knew that God had a special plan for Israel but sin got in the way and diverted many from accepting God’s way of salvation. The major sin for the Jews was spiritual pride, thinking that they were righteous because of they had the law and obeyed it. They were privileged as part of the “circumcision,” but this had no value in the scheme of salvation. Paul has already written back in ch. 2 how attempting to obey the law is not sufficient to be righteous. The deeper work of faith in Christ is the only way. Paul’s statement in v. 3 is one of the strongest he makes in any of his letters. At face value, it could mean that his relationship with his kinsmen is more important to him that his relationship with Christ. I don’t think Paul would say that. This verse comes across to me as a rhetorical ploy of over exaggeration full of emotion to make his readers see the seriousness of what he is writing about. The ESV translation tries to show this with the words “could wish.” If this was an option for Paul, he would do it, but it really is not an option based on what he just wrote in ch. 8.
We also begin to find out Paul’s ideas about the place of Israel in God’s plan for humanity. They have many blessings that Gentiles do not have: “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” This sequence more or less follows the scheme of the Old Testament. “Adoption” could refer to God’s election of Abraham and the one through whom his promises will come. “Glory” could refer to Moses’ experience of God’s presence on Mt. Sinai. The “covenants” could refer to the covenant on Mt. Sinai, represented in the Ten Commandments, which is “the giving of the law.” The “worship” could refer to the building of the tabernacle and later the temple, with all the sacrifices and singing that went with these places. Finally, the “promises” could refer to the ministry of the prophets who looked forward to a new covenant through the Messiah.
All of these parts of the Old Testament spoke about the coming Christ and looked forward to the salvation he would bring. Woven throughout this history was the promises made to Abraham. Both the physical and the spiritual lineage of Jesus came from the patriarchs. After reflecting on his own spiritual heritage and how this is fulfilled in Jesus, Paul must issue a statement of profound praise in v. 5. We too share in this heritage by faith (the message of ch. 4). It is surely for Jews but Gentiles can join in through faith. These verses contain significant thoughts about biblical theology.
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