With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
Romans 9:1-13 NLT
God keeps all His promises. Paul was answering the question: did God keep His promises to Israel? He and others were sad that so many of their Jewish brothers and sisters had not believed in the Messiah. Paul wished more than anything that they would believe. But their lack of belief did not mean that God had broken His promises. Not all those who are born Jewish are believers in the one true God or part of His inheritance (v.8). Paul shows that this was the case even with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. This had been the case throughout the history of Israel: some ignored the word of the Lord and were punished, while others obeyed the Lord and were saved. Even when God’s word was rejected, God’s promises were fulfilled.
Our choices don’t change God’s promises. Our choices do matter; they can change our future. But our choices don’t change God’s love for us or His offer of life for those who follow Him. God keeps His promises. We can build our lives on His promises. This doesn’t mean we can twist Scripture into a “health and wealth” prosperity gospel; that ignores the cross of Christ that believers are called to carry (Luke 9:23). Even when life is hard, God keeps His promises. The best life is when we make and keep our promises to Him.
What promises has God made to you? What are the promises you have made to God?
