16 Romans 9:1-18

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Romans 9:1-5

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.

Paul takes a turn in the focus of his letter, where he now expresses his deep concern, sorrow and constant grief for the people of his own background – the Jews. He says that he is honestly, deep-down, concerned about them, and his conscience bears witness with the Holy Spirit of this fact. He uses very strong words to express his concern for his people – sorrow and grief; words that are usually used in relation to death. He seems to be saying that he’s upset because they are still dead, and haven’t come to know the life that Jesus has to offer them.

He goes on to say that he wished he was cut off from Christ instead of the Jews being cut off from Christ. He says this out of desperation – not as a heartfelt desire that this should really happen. He refers to the Jews as his countrymen in human terms, since he came from the same faith and background as them.

He then goes on to explain how the Jews (Israelites) received so much from God, and were therefore so blessed by God. They were adopted by God, when God called Abraham. They experienced God’s glory like people of no other race or faith did. They received the covenants from God – the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. It was to them that the law of God was given through Moses. It was to them that the various instructions to worship God were given – again through Moses. They received amazing promises from God for their lives. Those promises made to Abraham pertained to them through their ancestors Isaac, Jacob. It was through the lineage of Abraham that Jesus came as a man into the world. He then concludes this thought by saying that not only was Jesus human, but He was also divine and was therefore above all things, and all people. He goes on to say that Jesus is the eternally blessed God. So Paul is once again proclaiming as he did in the 1^st Chapter that Jesus was both human and divine.

Romans 9:6-9

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.”

Paul goes on to say that it doesn’t mean that God’s Word has had no effect on the Jews at all, meaning that it actually has, and some have been saved as a result – himself included since He was from a Jewish background. He goes on to say that not all those who of natural descent (born into Jewish families) are truly of the faith of Israel, nor can they be called children of God. In fact, God clearly said that it was through Isaac that the promise would be fulfilled and Abraham would have descendants. It was not through Ishmael or through any servant of his. It means that mere descendants of Abraham would not be called the children of God, but rather, only those who, like Abraham, believed in the promise of God that he would have descendants like the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky. Faith was a prerequisite to being saved. Only those who believed God, just like Abraham did could really be called children of God.

The promise of God to Abraham was that at the same time the following year, Sarah would have a son, and it was through this son Isaac, that God decided would bring descendants of Abraham into the world. Paul seems to be saying clearly here that it’s faith that makes one a child of God and not merely being a descendant of someone who has faith.

This same truth applies to us, The Church today. Just because our parents were or are believers in Jesus, does not make us believers in Jesus or make us Christians. We need to have faith in Jesus for us to be considered believers or Christians. The Christian faith is not naturally inherited.

Romans 9:10-13

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.”

Now Paul goes into another arena that has become rather controversial today, and needs to be understood well, lest he be misunderstood. He talks about Rebecca conceiving sons through Isaac and how even before they were born and could do good or evil, God had chosen Jacob and not Esau, as the one through whom the descendants he talked about to Abraham, would come. This goes to prove that God’s choice (election) matters, and not man’s works. Let’s remember he’s still talking about the process through which the Jews came to be called the children of God and a chosen nation. It had nothing to do with their works, but really had everything to do with God’s choice, so as to fulfil His purpose, which was far wider than the Jewish nation actually – it was the purpose of making it possible to save the whole world through Jesus.

God told Rebecca, that Esau, who was the first of the twins to come out, would serve Jacob, the one who came out second. Then Paul quotes a verse from Malachi 1:2-3 where He uses a hyperbolic word, ‘hate,’ to mean that he didn’t love Esau as much as He loved Jacob. It’s the same word used by Jesus, when He says in Luke 14:26 that he who does not hate his parents, wife and children, siblings and his own life cannot be His disciple. If you look at the Gospel of Matthew 10:37-38 where the same conversation is recorded, we get a better understanding of it. Here it says that whoever loves his parents or his children more than Jesus is not worthy of Him. So we see the meaning of the word, ‘hate,’ does not literally mean hate – it means ‘to not love as much as.’

What Paul is saying in essence is that God had a plan and a process of redeeming the world. It was through Abraham and his descendants, the Jews (not the Gentiles), Isaac (not Ishmael), Jacob (not Esau), that Jesus would eventually come into the world and open up the possibility for the world to be saved.

Romans 9:14-18

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.

Reading the above verses can give rise to a question that Paul then addresses. He says that if it’s true that God is choosing whom He wills, does it mean that He is then unrighteous? He answers his own question with an emphatic, “Certainly not.” He then quotes Exodus 33:19, where God says to Moses that He will be merciful to those He chooses to be merciful to and He will be compassionate to those He chooses to be compassionate to. Now this can further raise the question about God’s righteousness, because it seems like God is partial, but let’s read on. He goes on to explain the reason why God makes such choices. If it’s not based on one’s good deeds, then it must be for some other reason. He then makes reference to Exodus 9:16, where God speaks to Pharaoh through Moses telling him that God did not put an end to his life and all the Egyptians because God was merciful to them. He goes on to say that He actually raised him up for the very purpose of showing His power to him and so that the whole world might hear about God. (Egypt was such a powerful nation back in the day, so the news of what happened there would reach the whole world). What he’s saying is that even the choice of Pharaoh being in the position as the head of Egypt, was for a purpose – to declare God’s power to him, and that God’s name would be made known in all the earth.

This gives us a glimpse of the purpose behind which God chose the people of Israel - that eventually God’s power might be made known to them, and that His name made would be made known to the entire world, through Jesus. Paul then concludes this section where he says that God can be merciful to those He chooses to be merciful to, and harden hearts of those He chooses to harden. Not only was God merciful to Pharaoh, but there came a time when God actually hardened Pharaoh’s heart, where he could not repent. 

To conclude, we can say that God chose the Jews, and this choice was not based on their good deeds, but rather on God’s plan. This choice was not just for their own sakes, but that through them Jesus would come into the world, and through Him the whole world would have a chance to be saved. Let’s keep in mind that Paul began this conversation about his sorrow and grief for the Jews, who had rejected Jesus and therefore were still not saved.

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God bless you and have a good day or night

Michael Collins