Question:
I am in a Bible study, and we are going
through the book of Romans. When we got
to Romans 9, there was a lot of discussion.
I was going to ask my pastor to help explain, but I was wondering what
is going on in Romans 9?
Answer:
Let me see if I can explain
what's going on in Romans 9.
The first thing you need
to grasp is the overall context of the flow of the book of Romans. Paul
wrote Romans as an introduction of the Grace of God as revealed in the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Romans is the single greatest treatment on the doctrine
of salvation contained in one book! The first eight chapters outline this
salvation. After an introduction in 1:1-15, you have the theme of the
letter summarized in
Next, in
Chapter 5 shows the
results of this newfound righteousness in Christ. In 5:1-11 Paul details
the doctrine of eternal security of all believers. In
That, in a nutshell, is
a quick overview of Romans 1-8. Romans 9-11 is an interlude in the
book. You could quite easily go from Romans
I speak the truth in
Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have
great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself
were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my
own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine
glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the
promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry
of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Here Paul expresses
sorrow over the fact that not all
It is not as though
God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from
Next, Paul says that
Not only that, but
Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before
the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s
purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was
told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written:
"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
Not only did God
sovereignly choose Isaac over Ishmael, but not all of Isaac's descendents were
children of promise--God chose Jacob over Esau. And to drive the point of
divine, sovereign choice home, He did so while both were in the womb
("before the twins were born or had done anything good or
bad"). Why? "In order that God's purpose in election
might stand." Why did God choose Jacob over Esau? To
demonstrate that it is God's prerogative whom to choose for salvation.
Notice, Jacob was not chosen "by works, but by Him who calls."
What then shall we say?
Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on
whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose,
that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in
all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy,
and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
Now, if you're like me,
you're asking the question, "that seems unfair of God to do
that?" Paul goes back to the life of Moses to get God's reply to the
charge of unfairness: God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and
He will have compassion on whom He will have compassion. God is sovereign
(i.e., He's in control of the show). We are not to impugn His holy,
righteous character, nor are we to question His judgment! If God is
sovereign, then He has the divine right to act as He chooses, right?
One of you will say to
me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But
who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him
who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ " Does not the potter have
the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes
and some for common use?
Here's another logical
question. If God is sovereign in all things, then how can I be
responsible for what I do? I am, after all, only doing His will,
right? Notice Paul's response: Who are we to talk back to
God? In other words, shut-up and don't talk back to God. He is the
potter, we are the clay. The clay has no right to complain to the potter,
"why did you make me this way?" The clay in this metaphor is
the mass of sinful humanity (remember, back in
What if God, choosing to
show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects
of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches
of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for
glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the
Gentiles?
Now, here's the
catch. Notice the language Paul uses in this section. Remember, the
purpose of all creation is for God to display His WHOLE glory, and part of that
glory is His holy wrath. God, choosing to show His wrath, bares with great
patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction.
God is patient and long-suffering, and He has tolerated mankind's sinfulness
for a long time. It is very important to note that the objects of wrath
were prepared for destruction. By whom? Not God! Who
sins? We do, and by our sins we prepare ourselves for destruction.
God is passive in all this (He bares this with great patience). Now
notice that the objects of mercy (i.e., believers) are prepared in advance for
glory. Here, God is active in the preparation. Why? Because
if the original lump of clay is sinful humanity, then something has to be done
in order for us to be ready for glory--God prepares us.
The bottom line is that
Romans 9, in context, was meant to prove to Jewish readers that not all
In Romans 10, Paul will
show that
I hope this long winded
letter helps clear things up a bit.
Question (continued):
Therefore, Isaac is the promise of God to
Abraham, and Jacob's descendents are God's selection for the fulfillment of His
promise. Jacob's descendents then, are the chosen. Then all of this
is to show that the selection for the Jews' salvation was predestined at the
time of Abraham when Sarah gave birth to Isaac. The Gentiles salvation
began when they believed Jesus' teachings, then the prophets (apostles and
disciples). I still can't get past the issue of my beliefs that
each of us still has a chance to redeem ourselves up until the last
breath. I know there is an answer, and I'm hoping that we will continue
on past Romans until the end. I'm sure the answer is there and will hit
me between the eyes one of these days! You have helped clarify Romans for
me up to the point where we have read. Thank you so much for taking so
much time. I really appreciate it.
Answer
(continued):
I wouldn't take Romans 9
so literal as to say that Jacob's descendents are the chosen. There is a
sense in which they are and a sense in which they are not. They are
the chosen in the sense that the Jews were the Chosen People to bring God's
blessings to the world. They were the chosen people in the sense that the
Messiah, Jesus, came from the Jews. They were the Chosen People in the sense
that they received God's law and promises. They are not the Chosen People
in the sense that as a nation they will receive salvation.
The Old Covenant was
never a means for salvation. Salvation has always been by grace through
faith (Romans 4). The whole point of Romans 9, in a nutshell, is to show
that God is sovereign and He chooses whom He will according to His
purposes. Paul illustrates this with the examples from the Patriarchs
(Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) by showing that God chose to bring the promise through
Isaac and then through Jacob, bypassing Ishmael and Esau. The Jews
thought their national heritage granted them salvation and Paul is trying to
dispel that notion.
You are right in
believing that everyone has a chance to be redeemed until the moment they die.
We are living in an age of grace in which God is saving people through faith in
His Son. I wouldn't let the concept of sovereign election weigh too
heavily on you. It's a God thing. It's not meant for us to fret and
worry about who is elect and who is not. It is meant to give us
illumination that our salvation is part of God's unfolding plan. When I
think of sovereign election, I am amazed and in awe that God worked in my life
to bring me to this point. It humbles me because all this time I thought
I was searching for God, and it turns out that He was drawing me to Himself all
along.
As far as
evangelization, I think we can draw two things out from sovereign
election. One, if I know salvation is a God thing, then I'm not going to
worry about how glibly I present the gospel. Why? Because I know as
long as I am faithful to present the truth clearly, then God will do the
rest. If I did not believe in sovereign election, then every time I
present the gospel and people do not believe, then I am going to wonder if
there was something I did wrong; maybe if I refine my arguments a bit I can win
them next time. The second thing we can draw from this is presenting the
gospel is the vehicle God has chosen to bring people to faith. Election guarantees
that there will be positive responses to the gospel.
Bottom line, we need to be faithful to present the
gospel clearly and truthfully. We need to be in prayer to God for the
lost because only He can change man's heart, and we need to be thankful to God
for the salvation we have.