This week on Things Unseen, we're taking a helicopter tour of Paul's great letter to the Romans,

and we're halfway there now. Today we've reached chapters 9 through 11. What are they all about?

When we read Paul's letters, it's always important to ask, why did he move from saying that to now saying this? So how is the

glory of Romans 8, verses 31 to 39, related to the apparent gloom of the opening verses of Chapter 9, where Paul seems

to be in some distress. Well, you'll remember how Chapter 9 begins. Paul is heartbroken because

he's kinsman according to the flesh, the Jewish people, who have had so many spiritual privileges, by and large,

have not come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul even echoes Moses' words and says

that he'd be willing to be accursed himself if that were possible, if it would lead to their

salvation. I suspect that being in the spiritual heights in Romans 8, 31 to 39 may have triggered in Paul's

emotions the realization that he, a Jew, had tasted the grace of Christ, but his own people by

large, the people he loved, wanted nothing to do with

the Savior.

And in addition, Paul seems to have been aware of the tensions, or at least the potential

tensions in the Roman churches between Jews and Gentiles.

That wasn't altogether surprising because sometime before Claudius Caesar had expelled Jews from Rome,

partly because of some conflict with the Christians.

And Jewish Christians had been sent away too.

But now they'd been allowed to return.

But in the meantime, the churches in Rome must have become very

Gentile-type churches. So I think you can imagine how perhaps the Jewish Christians who

returned may have felt that they no longer really mattered. So Paul's concerned for the Jews,

and then his extended exposition of God's purposes for Jews

...