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To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
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This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
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You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
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No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
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Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
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Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
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And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
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Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—
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For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race,
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the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
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God’s Sovereign Choice
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
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As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
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and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
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Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
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Israel’s Unbelief
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
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but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.
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As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
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Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
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But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
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Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”
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But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
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The Remnant of Israel
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
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God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
