Romans 9
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”
13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Paul begins with a discussion of the nation of Israel, according to the flesh, and the blessings given to the Israelites, including adoption. But Paul's expressed willingness to be separated from Christ, if it would bring salvation to fleshly Israel, is even more difficult to comprehend for those who believe that God has, for His own pleasure, unconditionally passed over or reprobated those for whom Paul expresses such concern. If it is true that God, for His own pleasure, decided to pass over those He did not elect, then Paul, who was in continual grief for these same kinsmen, is completely out of sync with God's desire.
Verses 1 through 5 discuss the nation of Israel and the benefits of their biological descendants.
Verses 6-8 go on to distinguish between the biological descendants and true spiritual descendants of Israel and Abraham.
So the argument Paul considers is whether the word of God was ineffective for his countryment. Paul easily discards this argument because it incorrectly confuses true Israel with all descendants of Israel, or ethnic Israel. The word of God was not ineffective because all who descend from Israel do not belong to the true Israel (just as all of Abraham’s offspring are not children of God). Rather, true Israel only includes the children of promise – those who are counted righteous by faith (per 9:30, “a righteousness that is by faith.”)1
Verses 9 and 10 then provide the context that leads to the quote in verse 12 from Genesis 25:23: And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” The twins represent two nations, the Israelites and the Edomites.
So why in verse 11 does Paul point out that the twins were not yet born and had done nothing that would explain God’s call and election? Simply stated, God had a plan for these two nations even before the birth of the fathers of these two nations. The question is what plan? Some naively argue that the plan is to save one twin and condemn the other. But the plan is for nations (as addressed in verses 1-9 and in the quote from Genesis) and this conclusion is made clear by verse 12. As individuals, the elder son Esau never served the younger son Jacob. Rather, the reference to the twins is intended as a reference to two nations: the Edomites and Israelites. As nations under David, the Edomites served the Israelites; the older served the younger. The clear context is the nation of Israel and service, not two individuals and their personal salvation. If it were the latter, that Paul is talking about the twin brothers, then verse 12 was ineffective and failed – Esau never served his twin brother Jacob, rendering such an interpretation totally unacceptable. In fact in verse 6 Paul discards the possibility that the word of God is ineffective. We should not just 6 verses later reach a conclusion that causes the word of God to be ineffective. Rather, this passage must, and clearly does, refer to nations, not to the salvation of individuals. There is simply no shift from a discussion of nations to a discussion of individuals; rather the text before and after refers to the nation of Israel, Pauls' countrymen.
To make it clearer, verse 13 quotes from Malachi 1:2b-3: “2 Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” Unlike the situation in Genesis 25 (discussed above), Jacob and Esau are now long dead in Malachi 1. What is written is what happened after the return of the exiled Jews of Babylon. Both nations were destroyed by Babylon. But the Israelite nation was restored, while the Edomite nation was not. Applying this to Esau personally and then extending this to all who are not God’s elect is simply out of context and most importantly, is in direct conflict with verse 12.
Now it is important to note: All portions of Chapter 9 above reflect a discussion of nations, not individuals.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Paul now addresses the logical question which follows. If God chose to bless Abraham, then Isaac, and then Jacob, men of evident faith, (just like He chooses us if we walk in the faith of the steps of Abraham [Romans 4:9-12]), is God unjust? He then looks at specific situations to provide examples which answer this question.
So first, to be clear, God grants mercy to whom He pleases. No one can earn the right to His mercy; God is not unjust because He chooses to grant mercy to those who believe, and makes them children of the promise. He can establish His own rules to determine who receives His mercy. And He makes this point in verse 15 using a quote from Exodus 33:19, immediately after Moses conversed with the Lord and the Lord granted the request of Moses that the Lord go with Israel: “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here”. God granted the plea of Moses, as the representative of God’s people, and then revealed this statement about His character here quoted in verse 15.
Verse 17 now broadens the discussion to God's use of those who do not believe and raises the example of Pharaoh, who God raised up and hardened to show His power. It is wise to note that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart AFTER Pharaoh rejected the request of Moses (Exodus 5:1-2) and, in response to this request of Moses, Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to gather straw for themselves, cruelly adding to their burden. God can either harden, or dispense mercy, as He wills, by whatever rules He sets. All-in-all, if He chooses to have mercy upon gentiles who exercise faith, who can fault God?
NOTE: Nothing in the verses above states that God grants mercy to some and actively hardens others without regard to their actions. To the contrary, the above examples show God's different response to those who believe God and to those who reject God. There is no support here for the view that God's salvation of the elect or hardening of those He does not elect is unreleated to their actions. Further, the relationship between human actions and God's decision to grant mercy or harden is immediately reinforced in the first example given below of the potter and the clay.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Verse 19 address the next logical question: If none can resist God’s will, how can God fairly judge anyone? Paul first answers with a question: who is finite man to argue with God and claim that God has no right to shape anyone however He chooses?
Then Paul continues and vindicates God’s use of His sovereignty to shape men as He pleases. He brings us back to the description of God, as the potter, and men as the clay, that we should recognized from God’s instruction to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 18. Jeremiah 18:2-4: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” Why was it marred? It was marred by the nation of Israel’s sin and the call was to repentance. The finality of the potter’s work will depend upon the nation’s response as stated in Jeremiah 18:7-10 7 “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”
What is the vindication? God does not act towards His creation without reason, wisdom and opportunity for mercy. If a sinful nation turns from its evil, God will spare that nation; if a nation doing what is right does evil and refuses to obey, God will withhold the good He had promised to them. Verse 22 now asks a question. Is God to be faulted if He patiently tolerates those who will not repent and decides to use them as objects of His wrath to show the riches of His mercy upon not only true Israel, but the Gentiles? The balance of the chapter answers that question.
NOTE: Unconditional Election charges God with a desire to display His wrath upon those He did not elect, having created them and prepared them for destruction, without any possible way of escape, simply because He desires to make His power known, as stated in verses 17 and 22, and thus they are born the hopelessly hated: “Esau I hated." Thankfully, this passage does not teach any such thing. Indeed, pay careful attention to the first question in verse 19, "Why does He still find fault?" This question expressly asks how is it fair if God judges those who have no power to believe and are mercilessly hardened by God? The answer is that the premise is incorrect, as explained in the following verses; it is God's will to save those who believe, while He judges those who refuse to believe and reject Him by their own volition. Especially consider Jeremiah 18:8 quoted above: "if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it." This verse expressly conflicts with any argument that God's decision to grant or withhold His mercy is made without regard to faith and oppurtunity for repentance.
25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. 28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” 29 And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Paul now quotes from Hosea to prove that Israel should not be surprised the gentiles are included in God’s plan of salvation. These final verses of Chapter 9 summarize and build upon the purpose of verses 22-24.
Indeed, just as God's disappointment with national Israel was relieved when many returned to God, the gentiles who believe are the sons of God.
And none should be surprised that even though Israel is innumerable, only a remnant will find the righteousness that is by faith. Again, it is not Israel according to the flesh who have salvation, but only the remnant that believe God.
The reality is that the gentiles who did not live under the law and pursue righteousness found the righteousness that is imputed by faith; but Israel, rather than pursuing righteousness by faith, pursued righteousness by works and, as prophesied in Isaiah, they thus find Jesus to be a stumbling block and rock of offense.
They did not find the righteousness they pursued because they did not pursue it by faith. They pursued, but with works rather than faith. And thus they stumbled over the stumbling stone. What should they have done? They should have believed upon the Son of God, for "whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
Note: Nowhere in this Chapter did Paul shift his focus from nations to individuals
The difficulties in interpretation of Chapter 9 vanish when we recognize that this Chapter, from beginning to end, retains its focus upon nations, and predominantly Israel as it leads into Chapter 10. This is much like the references in Galatians Chapter 4 to Sarah as the freewoman and Hagar as the bondwoman, representatives of the law and, in contrast, the promise. Complications are also avoided when we look at the context of the many Old Testament quotes in Chapter 9. When we understand the context of these quotes, the purposes and proper interpretation of Chapter 9 becomes clear. In context, none of them suggest that anyone is saved or condemned based upon God’s choice to elect some and not to elect others. Rather, judgment falls upon those who persist in sin rather than repenting and believing in God. The final conclusion of the Chapter praises the gentiles who pursue God by faith and thus find righteousness through Jesus Christ and explains the condemnation of Israel who pursued God without faith, by the works of the law, and thus stumble over Jesus, rather than finding the salvation that is in Jesus.
1There are a limited number of verses which can be incorrectly interpreted as direct support of the view that the exercise of faith is work. However, scripture predominantly frames faith and works as distinct concepts, not equivalent concepts. There is a proper relationship between faith and works - if faith is true, then works will result. But faith is not a work; work is the result of true faith. Some incorrectly understand Ephesians 2:8-9 to teach that faith is a work; however, these verses directly proclaim the exact opposite, making it clear that salvation is by grace through faith; it is not of works. Some misunderstand James 2:26, which states that faith without works is dead, to teach that faith is a work. However, James is proclaiming, like Paul in Ephesians 2, that true faith produces work, not that faith is a work. If faith is a work, it conflicts with Ephesians 2:9 which expressly states that salvation is “not of works”; rather, salvation is by grace through faith. Grace through faith is not grace without faith. Ephesians 2:10 properly unites James and Ephesians: believers are “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. Finally, some interpret John 6:29 to teach that faith is work. However, it is clear in the passage that Jesus is proclaiming the exact opposite. To those who desired to do the works of God, but did not embrace Jesus as the Son of God, that was the one thing they needed to do, to “believe in Him who He has sent.”