Romans 9. I feel like the apostle Paul could have ended Romans with chapter 8 – it was an amazingly celebratory chapter that wrapped up the whole story of salvation and welcomed all Jesus followers into the new family of God. (In fact, many Bible studies only cover Romans 1-8.) Yet Paul continued his letter to the churches in Rome. Here’s what he writes about:

Romans 9-11 is a sidebar to ethnically Jewish people, discussing what their place is in the story and how God has been faithful to them.

Romans 12-16 explores how believers, both Jewish and Gentile, are called to live out their faith together as a unified church.

One key verse in Romans 9 is this, “It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God…” (9:8). Paul is referencing the fact that it is not your bloodline – if you were born of Jewish heritage or not – that brings you into the family of God. The possibility of belonging to the family of God is available to anyone who believes in Jesus and chooses to follow him. It has nothing to do with your bloodline.

It’s not quite the same thing, but this makes me think of what it is like to go to church in the American South. There are many people who go to church in the South because their grandparents went to church, and their parents went to church, and going to church is just a part of the culture. The Apostle Paul would say that even though your whole family goes to church, that does not make you a follower of Jesus. When you stand before Jesus at the end of time, it will be just you standing there – not all your grandparents and relatives. Your bloodline does not save you. (Though they can certainly play a big role in praying for you, sharing the gospel with you, and encouraging you to have your own relationship with Jesus!)

Paul writes, They are the Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises… (9:4-5). Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved… (9:27). All ethnic groups have access to God’s mercy and can be saved through faith. There were many of the Jewish bloodline (including Paul himself) who believed Jesus was the Messiah and who became children of God by faith. Unfortunately, there were many more of the Jewish bloodline who chose otherwise and did not embrace salvation through Jesus. Not all will choose to follow Jesus.

Many people were thinking that their heritage, their bloodline, would put them in right standing with God. I am afraid there are many Americans who have this same perception, that they are of some special status before God simply because of the faith of their fathers. Choosing to repent and believe the gospel is an individual choice. Then, having been reconciled and established in a right relationship with God, we live in community with other believers who seek to follow Jesus and live as he did.

What is your bloodline, your family heritage like? Are you the first Christian in your family? Or have you been blessed to be born into a bloodline of Christians? If so, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus that is your own, not based on whatever your parents did?