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Why Romans 9?
The systematic theology known as Calvinism has strayed from biblical theology with the novel doctrines of Augustine, and the further additions of John Calvin. Calvinistic determinism teaches that God does not merely decide what He will allow genuinely free creatures to do, but He is the One Who unilaterally determines and irresistibly causes everything every creature will ever decide to do. When Calvinists see Paul’s arguments in Romans 9 they falsely imagine that he is supporting the fatalistic philosophy which is central to their worldview. By ignoring the historical context of the passage and capitalizing on some of Paul’s harsh rhetoric against His unbelieving countrymen they set up Romans 9 as their preeminent proof-text. The idea that Romans 9 lends any credibility to the unchristian philosophy of determinism couldn’t be further from the truth. By simply walking through the passage with an eye towards the historical context, as well as Paul’s teaching in other passages, Paul’s point will become abundantly clear; and it has nothing to do with Calvinism’s novel doctrines. Paul is simply preaching the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ, a salvation that is first for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.
There are many erroneous doctrines in the calvinistic system, but it is not the most dangerous systematic theology floating around in the doctrinal winds of our day. So at the outset I would like to make it clear, I believe there are many godly children of God who have embraced Calvin’s philosophical system. Though Reformed Theology (i.e. Calvinism) leads to the dulling of human responsibility through its deterministic worldview, it still teaches that there are conditions men must meet in order to inherit eternal life. It is true that Calvinists will complicate the simplicity of biblical truth by insisting that God Himself irresistibly causes His elect to meet the conditions which He commands. Nevertheless, they do not deny, but consistently affirm, that the Bible teaches that there are indeed conditions for inheriting eternal life. Though their doctrines rely too heavily on unbiblical philosophy, they still teach the biblical doctrines that are able to make men wise for salvation through Jesus Christ. In light of this, the reader must not imagine that this book is written to condemn Calvinists; it is not. It is written to clarify the teaching of Romans chapter 9.
So, if Calvinism is not so far removed from historic and orthodox Christianity, and is not a lethal threat to the souls of those who embrace it, why make a book about its most beloved proof-text? The reason is that there are lethal threats influencing the Church in our day, and Romans 9 is one of the strongest passages God has given us in order to combat at least one such error, namely, the Judaizing tendencies of some in the Hebraic Roots movement. Romans 9 teaches us that entry into, and continued good-standing among, God’s holy people Israel is not achieved by any real or perceived natural lineage from Abraham. It also teaches with great force that one does not maintain membership in Israel through obedience to the Old Covenant Law. Instead, Romans 9 attacks the false boasts of lineage and Law by teaching that the only condition for being a member of Israel, is that we are members of the Body of Christ through faith. It emphatically teaches, “Not through lineage, and not through Law, but through the Lord Jesus Christ!” This clear teaching is invaluable in exposing the deception of the Judaizers of our day.
In this book I will attempt to focus on the meaning of the passage itself, and not get lost in the weeds of calvinistic interpretations. I will try to avoid bouncing back and forth between the false interpretations of Reformed Theology and the truth contained in the text itself. Calvinism’s false understandings will be mentioned in passing, but we will not discuss them at length. Paul’s reasoning in Romans 9 is crystal clear. Once we see what he is communicating, it is hard to unsee it and revert back to viewing the passage through a deterministic lens.
This book is not written for Calvinists, though they are welcome to read it. I suffer from no delusion that those in that camp will be impressed by my interpretation. Calvinism has made a tangled mess out of the passage, and I am not going to try to untie every knot. Those readers who wish to see this passage broken down in a more polemical manner can watch my Romans 9 series on my YouTube channel @gospelcommission
I will go through Romans 9 in order, section by section, following the natural divisions of the passage. Since some sections are more involved than others, the chapter lengths in this book will vary. This might be annoying to some readers, but I have chosen to do this so that the natural divisions of the passage are clearly spelled out in the chapter titles. Hopefully this will help the reader keep Paul’s train of thought in the forefront of his or her mind.
When dealing with the text I will focus on what each section says and how it follows Paul’s line of argument. I will also appeal to other verses in Romans 9 itself, other passages in the book of Romans in general and any Old Testament references Paul cites. I will also refer to other passages in Paul’s writings that have a similar context, theme and phraseology. These passages are primarily found in Galatians and Ephesians. And for a wider understanding, we will not shy away from other passages in Scripture that will shed light on the broader context. I believe the honest and objective reader will see that the text stands by itself and that references from outside of the epistle are given for further clarity and confirmation of what the passage itself clearly communicates.
What’s On Paul’s Mind? 9:1-5
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
Romans 9:1-5
The key to understanding Romans chapter 9, or any passage of Scripture, is to understand the context. We need to know what Paul is talking about so that we can follow his train of thought. But in the first verse of Romans 9 Paul seems to begin a new topic out of the blue. He abruptly begins talking about his burden for the Jews and laments their rejection of the Gospel and the fact that they are cut off from the blessings God had promised them. If we look back on the last few verses of chapter 8, it is not easy to figure out why Paul starts talking about the people of Israel and their present alienation from Christ. Where did this lament for his people come from? Is it really out of the blue, or has this been on his mind from the beginning? Let’s take a look at the related passages from chapters 1-8 to see if we can pick up on Paul’s train of thought.
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. … For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Romans 1:1-4, 16
In Romans 1:16 we learn what is foremost in Paul’s mind as he begins his epistle. He declares that salvation is for all men, both Jew and Gentile, and that this salvation is received through faith in the Gospel. In that verse he includes the phrase, “for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” In Romans 1:1-2 he declares that the Gospel was promised beforehand in the Jewish Scriptures. This is why the Gospel is “for the Jew first.” It is most culturally relevant for those who have an understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, and have been waiting for the fulfillment of the promises made in those Scriptures. But if this is so, there seems to be something wrong. If the Gospel is most relevant for Jews, then why had most Jews in Paul’s day rejected the Gospel? And even more important, if they reject what God promised them, does that mean God’s plan has failed? These questions are what Paul is going to address in Romans 9.
But he also wants to make it clear that salvation is also for the Gentiles. There is only one message of salvation, namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this salvation is received in the same way by both groups. Though the New Covenant was explicitly promised to “the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” believing Gentiles have been graciously invited to partake of the New Covenant blessings (Jer. 31:31, Eph. 2:19). He will reiterate this primary point throughout the letter; people are not saved through Jewish lineage or commitment to the Law of Moses, but through faith in the Lord Jesus. And he will drive it home forcefully in Romans 9.
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.
Romans 3:1-2
Paul anticipates an objection that unbelieving Jews will have when they hear him say that the Good News of the promised Messiah is for Jew and Gentile alike. They would wonder, “If it is not obedience to the Old Covenant Law or natural descent that makes one right in God’s eyes, then what benefit does the nation of Israel have?” In Romans 3:1-2 Paul declares that the primary benefit of the Jewish people was that God had entrusted them with the Old Testament Scriptures. The Scriptures were inspired by God and were able “to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ” (2 Tim. 3:15). In this sense, the Jews had an advantage over the Gentiles. They had a better understanding of the nature, character and plan of God. This is just another reason that their rejection of Christ was so strange and unexpected.
For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”
Romans 3:3-4
Paul then defends God’s justice. Though the Jews had been entrusted with the Old Testament, most of them failed to believe in Christ when He came in fulfillment of the promises contained in those Scriptures. They were faithless, but God was faithful and fulfilled His word. God was just and righteous when He rejected them for their unbelief. They had no excuse, and they had no right to blame God for judging their sin.
And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Romans 2:27-29
In fact, a few verses earlier in Romans 2:27-29 we see that though many Jews had failed to enter the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, many Gentiles had already received the promised Spirit through faith. At this point, Paul has not yet made it clear how the rejection of the Jews led to the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, but he will make this point forcefully in Romans chapters 9-11. But here, in the early chapters of the epistle, we can already see that Paul is anticipating a more in-depth discussion on that topic. He intends to make it clear that God is not only righteous in judging the unbelieving Israelites for their rejection of His Son, but He is also righteous when He glorifies His name among the nations and grants believing Gentiles an inheritance among His people (Rom. 11:17-23, Eph. 3:6, Rom. 2:25-29).
But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?–as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
Romans 3:5-8
Paul again anticipates an objection from the unbelieving Jews. They argue that since God’s faithfulness was magnified by their unbelief, then why does God hold them accountable for their sin? If His glory was not diminished, but on the contrary, He received glory in spite of their rebellion, why should He punish them for their unfaithfulness? Paul says that such an argument is similar to saying that we should sin more so that God will be more glorified. He then concludes by saying that those who say such things deserve the wrath they will receive. You might notice that this hypothetical debate between unbelieving Jews and the apostle sounds very similar to the hypothetical debate in Romans 9:19-21, but we will get to that in due time.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Romans 8:13-17
After answering the Jewish objection in chapter 3, Paul continues to discuss the necessity of being saved through faith in Christ, and not through obedience to the Law of Moses in chapters 4-5. The Gentiles do not need to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to become members of God’s holy people. By receiving the Scriptures, the Jews have experienced more knowledge about God, but being born a Jew and boasting in the Law gives them no advantage in the kingdom of God. They must be saved through faith in Christ, just like the Gentiles.
Paul’s teaching leads up to a climax in Romans 8. In that chapter we learn that those who have been justified through faith in Christ have been adopted as God’s children and the Spirit of God has come to dwell in them. God’s Spirit is the firstfruit of the eternal life which they have been promised to receive in full if they continue to trust in Christ until the end. God promises to work in them as they work out their salvation by putting sin to death by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13, Phil. 2:12-13, Gal. 6:7-8).
It seems that as Paul is writing about these wonderful truths and delighting in the great salvation that God has prepared for those that love Him, he is struck with grief for his countrymen. He remembers that they are alienated from the adoption as God’s children and the glories that are to come. He shows this grief in Romans 9:4 when he states that his people are “Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants … and the promises.”
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31-34
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Surely promises in the Old Testament about the New Covenant and the kingdom of the coming Messiah like the ones quoted above crossed his mind as he wrote. Having spoken in depth about justification by faith in chapters 1-5, sanctification by the Spirit of God in chapters 6-8, and the hope of glory at the resurrection of the dead in the second half of chapter 8, he decides to turn back to the topics he raised in chapters 2 and 3. In chapters 9-11 he is going to explain why it is that those who were most prepared for the Gospel, have for the most part rejected it. And he is going to show why the unfaithfulness of the Jews has not destroyed God’s sovereign plan, but instead has been the means of advancing it. This is what is on Paul’s mind in Romans 9.
Isaac & Ishmael 9:6-9
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 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. For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
Romans 9:6-9
After lamenting over the lost condition of his unbelieving nation, Paul turns his attention to explaining what this means for the faithfulness and plan of God. Some might assume that since those who were promised the New Covenant have rejected it, this means God’s promise has failed. He quickly assures everyone that this is not the case by stating, “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect” (Rom. 9:6a). He wants us to know beyond all doubt that God’s word, his promise and plan, has not suffered any setbacks.
Though Israel has failed to receive the Messiah, and the New Covenant that is in Him, this has not hindered God’s word from being fulfilled. But how can this be? God promised the New Covenant to “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer. 31:31). And the nation of Israel has rejected it, so how can this seeming contradiction be reconciled? Paul immediately gives us the answer in the second half of verse 6, “they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” That is to say, not all the natural descendants of Israel (i.e. Jacob) are part of Israel (i.e. God’s chosen people). God does not determine who His holy people are by natural lineage.
He goes on to explain this further in verse 7, “nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham.” Not all who are descended from Jacob are part of God’s holy people Israel. And not all those who are descended from Abraham by physical lineage are the children of Abraham in God’s eyes. So, we must not think of Israel in terms of a bloodline.
In verses 7-9 Paul is going to use two of Abraham’s sons to illustrate this perspective. In verse 7 he writes, “nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ 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.” So not all of Abraham’s children will inherit the promise given to Abraham.
Abraham had another son before Isaac, namely Ishmael. He was born of Sarah’s servant, Hagar. So, if all of Abraham’s descendants were heirs of the promise, then Ishmael would also be Abraham’s heir along with Isaac. But we know that this is not the case, because in Genesis 21:10 Sarah says, “for the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” And in verse 12 God concurs by saying, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.”
Ishmael was born “according to the flesh.” That is to say, Ishmael was born by natural means. But, Isaac was a child of promise. When Sarah was beyond the age of bearing children God gave “the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son’” (Rom. 9:9, Gen. 18:14). Paul is telling us that it is not his “countrymen according to the flesh,” who are Abraham’s descendants, but another group of people that will be counted as the “seed” of Abraham, and heirs of the promises given to him (Rom. 9:3-4).
This is not the first time such a concept has been expressed in the New Testament. It is a common theme that comes up again and again in Paul’s writings and elsewhere. Consider what John the Baptist said to the religious leaders that came to him at the Jordan River in Matthew 3:9, “do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” We will consider this more in the later chapters.
Who & How?
Now, we must consider the question, who are the “children of promise”? Paul has not explicitly said here who these children of promise are and by what condition God reckons them as children of Abraham. It is this point of ambiguity that Calvinists have used to support their perspective. They do this by simply asserting that since these three verses, Romans 9:7-9, do not give us the conditions by which one becomes a child of promise, that means there are no conditions. They boldly proclaim, “It is by God’s unconditional election and monergistic regeneration that one becomes a child of promise.” This is a regrettable way of interpreting Scripture. We must let Paul in Romans 9, in the rest of Romans and in similar passages in his other epistles, clarify his teaching here. I believe as we do this, the honest reader will see that this text is by no means a proof-text for Augustinian determinism, instead, it is simply a reiteration of Paul’s Gospel message which he proclaims throughout his writings.
In Romans 9 Itself
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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. 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.” Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 9:30-10:4
In Romans 9:30-10:4 we see that Paul reiterates what he has been arguing throughout Romans 9. Here at the end of the chapter, and bleeding into chapter 10, he is still talking about unbelieving Israel, and giving us an answer as to why they are unbelieving. In 10:1 he reiterates his burden for the lost condition of his people, which confirms to us that he has not changed the topic, but is continuing to deal with the same issue he brought up in Romans 9:1-5. He is telling us that the nation of Israel, generally speaking, has failed to trust in the Messiah because they were seeking to establish their own righteousness through the works of the Law of Moses. They have rejected the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ because of their own personal and national pride. Paul concludes that the nation of Israel has refused God’s way of faith and chosen their own way instead.
But those who have trusted in Christ, even from among the Gentiles, have been justified before God. They have received the gift of righteousness through faith, just as Abraham had done many centuries earlier. So we see that in Romans 9 itself Paul clarifies that the condition for salvation in the New Covenant is faith in the Messiah. There is no reason to assume that becoming a “child of promise” is anything other than entering into the New Covenant blessings. But, for the sake of those who have been confused by Reformed Theology’s claims about Romans 9, let’s take a look at other passages which confirm this interpretation.
Who Are the Children of Promise?
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar– for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Galatians 4:21-31
In Galatians Paul deals with many of the same themes he does in Romans. And in chapter 4 he references Isaac as a “child of promise” and makes application of that fact in a way that really opens up the passage we are discussing. Looking at Romans 9 in general, and 9:6-9 in particular, in light of Paul’s argument in Galatians 4:21-31 is very helpful. To ignore this parallel passage while discussing Romans 9:6-9 would be tantamount to theological malpractice, so let’s take time to consider it.
In this passage Paul makes a contrast between Ishmael born of Hagar and Isaac born from Sarah. He tells us in verse 24 that these two women, and their offspring, represent “two covenants.” Hagar and Ishmael represent the Old Covenant given at Mount Sinai and those unbelieving Jews who were still following the Law of Moses but rejecting Christ. He says that those unbelieving Jews were in bondage, and like Hagar’s son, would not inherit the promise of Abraham. Paul also notes that just as Hagar persecuted Isaac, so many of the unbelieving Jews of Paul’s day were persecuting those who had faith in Christ.
According to Paul’s analogy, Sarah and her son Isaac represent those who have trusted in Christ and are members of the New Covenant. These do not walk under the bondage of the Law of Moses, but have liberty in Jesus Christ. Though they suffer persecution in this world, their inheritance is eternal in the heavens. Isaac represents the Church of Jesus Christ, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. These believers are “the children of promise,” born of the Holy Spirit of God! They are heirs according to the promise, and the children of the flesh (i.e. those trusting in circumcision and the letter of the Law) will not be co-heirs with them (Rom. 2:28-29).
Who does Isaac represent in Galatians 4:21-31 and in Romans 9:6-9? He represents the Church of Jesus Christ as a whole and the individual members of it. Chrstians, both Jew and Gentile, are the children of promise! Who does Ishmael represent in Galatians 4:21-31 and who are the “children of the flesh” in Romans 9:8? Ishmael represents the “Israelites” “according to the flesh” who had rejected Christ and were boasting in circumcision (Rom. 3:1, 9:3-4).
How Do People Become Children of Promise?
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; … He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
Romans 4:13-14, 16-17, 20-25
So, how does one become a child of promise? It is through faith in the Gospel. As Paul said in Romans 1:16, “the gospel of Christ … is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” God’s righteous people are not reckoned through their natural ancestry, but through faith in the promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jews were especially prepared for faith in the Gospel, but they chose their own righteousness over the gift of righteousness in Jesus Christ, which is received through faith.
In Romans 4:13-25 Paul has already covered this topic in detail. It is for this reason that he feels no need to mention faith in Romans 9:6-9. Why would he? He has already discussed it in detail using the same terminology in chapter 4. In Romans 4:16 he states, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” Those reading through the book of Romans would have no reason to imagine that Paul is now introducing a different way to become children of Abraham and heirs of the promise. He has already told us that God counts those who believe in the resurrection of Christ as Abraham’s children, and thus heirs of the promise. They are justified through faith just as Abraham was. In this way they become children of the promise. This is Paul’s theology.
When we look back at Romans 9:6-9 Paul’s point becomes abundantly clear. In verse 1-5 he lamented over Israel’s unbelief. In verse 6 he pointed out that their unbelief did not nullify the promises of God to Israel. Why is this so? Because God does not reckon His people Israel according to natural descent from Abraham or Jacob, but through faith in Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ, and the individual members of it, are the children of promise through faith in Jesus Christ.
Turning the World Upside Down
It is important that we see what Paul does in Romans 9:7-9 and Galatians 4:21-31. Paul, it seems, has taken the historical perspective of the Old Testament narrative about Isaac and Ishmael and turned it on its head. Historically speaking, Isaac should represent the nation of Israel, and Ishmael should represent an outcast people who are alienated from the promises given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But, Paul uses Isaac as a representative of those who have believed in Jesus Christ; in Paul’s thinking, the Church is Isaac. And he points to the unbelieving nation of Israel and says, “You are Ishmael, children of the slave woman, cast away from the inheritance because of your unbelief and persecution of God’s holy people!” He is not pulling any punches! Imagine how strong this language would sound to those whose boast is, “We are children of Abraham!” This is almost as strong as what the Lord Jesus Himself said to the unbelieving pharisees in John 8:37-44:
“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. “I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father–God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
In Romans 9 Paul has shown that he loves, and is in grief over, his unbelieving countrymen. But Paul’s zeal for God’s reputation, God’s Gospel and God’s holy people, the Church, outweighs his love for his people according to the flesh. Paul is teaching that God’s people are not reckoned according to the flesh, but according to faith in Jesus Christ. Believing Jews first, and also Greeks, are those who are the children of promise. God has been faithful to His word, though people have misunderstood its fulfillment.
The Spirit, Not the Letter
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
Romans 9:6
And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Romans 2:27-29
But of course, Romans 9 is not the first place in Romans that Paul talks about God’s people being recognized spiritually instead of naturally. He has already discussed this at some length in Romans 2, as we already noted in chapter one of this book. In Romans 2:27-29 Paul made it very clear that those who have the Spirit of God, not those who are born of natural descent, are true Jews. God’s people are not distinguished by their ancestry, but according to the Spirit which is received through faith.
Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. … that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:7-9, 14
If we jump back over to Galatians 3, we see that this was a common theme for Paul. We once again see that people are declared Abraham’s offspring, and heirs of the promise through faith in the Gospel. In fact, Paul tells us that the promise Abraham received and believed was a foreshadowing of the Gospel. And those who believe in God’s faithfulness, even as Abraham did, receive the Holy Spirit. Those who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, are born again and made new creatures in Christ Jesus.
Summary
So, what is the clear interpretation of Romans 9:6-9? It is simply this. The children of Abraham are the Israel of God. And the children of Abraham are not reckoned according to natural lineage through Abraham or Jacob, but through faith in Jesus Christ. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor. 1:20). Those who trust in Him are heirs of the promises given to Abraham, and members of the Israel of God. But those who refuse to trust in Him, those who seek to establish their own righteousness by the Law of Moses, are cast out from the inheritance, even if they are naturally descended from Jacob. God has fulfilled His promises to Israel, but not all who are descended from Israel (i.e. Jacob) are Israel. Instead, those who trust in Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, are the children of promise; these are the Israel of God!
Jacob & Esau 9:10-13
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (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), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Romans 9:10-13
In 9:6-9 Paul has already compared Isaac to the Church, and Ishmael to the unbelieving nation of Israel. Now he is going to use a similar illustration to drive his point home, as well as clarify some points that his former illustration failed to address directly. He starts verses 10-13 with the phrase, “and not only this.” This phrase helps us realize that the next illustration he uses is related to the one he has already presented in verses 6-9. Just as he seemingly turned the historical context of Isaac and Ishmael on its head, so will he do with the narrative about Jacob and Esau.
In verses 6-9 Paul made it clear that it is not Abraham’s descendants “according to the flesh” that receive the promise; that is, the kingdom of God is not a matter of natural lineage. Nevertheless, he did not explicitly reference the condition for becoming Abraham’s descendents. Now he is going to clarify that issue for us by contrasting Jacob and Esau. In particular, he wants to emphasize that commitment to the Law of Moses is insufficient to make one a member of Israel.
He makes this point clear by focusing the narrative about Jacob and Esau on their birth. He points out the fact that they were twins and “had not done anything, good or evil” while they were still in their mother’s womb. This means that Jacob’s inheritance of the promise was not based on what he had done, but on God’s gracious choice. Paul wants to emphasize that salvation is “not by works” but through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 9:11).
In 9:6-9 Paul was focused on pointing out that physical lineage was not the condition for becoming an heir of Abraham’s promise. Though he assumed the reader already understood that faith was the condition for becoming a child of Abraham since he had talked about it at length in Romans 4, he did not mention it explicitly. Here, in 9:10-13, he intends to focus on this divinely ordained condition for membership in Israel, and contrast it with what the unbelieving Jews and Judaizers assumed it was, namely, keeping the Law of Moses.
Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 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.” So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
Genesis 25:21-26
So far in Romans 9 Paul has been dealing with issues related to the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel and how this might affect God’s plan. To ignore this context has led to many strange interpretations. In Romans 9:6 we see that the question Paul is trying to clarify is, “Who is Israel?” That is to say, he is trying to explain who God’s chosen people are; which nation is classified as His “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9). In verses 6-9 he uses Issac and Ishmael to illustrate the fact that God has chosen the Church, not Israel according to the flesh. It is true that Isaac and Ishmael are individuals, but we cannot ignore the topic under discussion nor the insight we get by reading the parallel passage in Galatians 4:21-31; Isaac and Ishmael represent the peoples of the two different covenants (Gal. 3:24).
Now, who represents who in 9:10-13? When we consider the Old Testament passages which Paul quotes in verses 10-13 we will receive further confirmation that we are accurately following Paul’s line of reasoning. In verse 12 Paul quotes Genesis 24:23, “the older shall serve the younger.” When we look at the passage we see that Rebekah was pregnant with twins. She didn’t know why her pregnancy seemed so difficult, so she sought wisdom from God. God explained that she was having twins. He said, “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.” He let her know that her two sons were going to become two nations, and that the nation coming from the second born son would become first in prominence.
As we follow Paul’s thinking from Romans 9:1 it is hard to think of any quote that would be more appropriate to prove his point. Historically speaking the physical nation of Israel came first, but in God’s plan of salvation the Church has the most significant role. The nation of Israel was just a foreshadowing of what God had in mind. National Israel was raised up temporarily so that Christ could come and bring salvation for all nations, including Israel (Gen. 12:2-3). As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4:22, “salvation is of the Jews.” God’s eternal plan was not to create a nation to rule over a small plot of land in the Middle East, but to create a kingdom-family that would reign with Him over all things forever. This “younger” “chosen race, royal priesthood, and holy nation” would be made up of men from every tribe and nation, just as God had promised Abraham (1 Pet. 2:9, Gen. 12:1-3). Though Israel had been unfaithful, God’s plan and promise were not hindered because God always intended to reckon those in Christ as His holy people (Rom. 9:1-6, Gal. 3:15-18). As Romans 9:6 states: “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel (i.e. God’s chosen people) who are of Israel” (i.e. descended from Jacob). To lose this line of argument, is to lose the meaning of Romans 9.
God Hates Esau?
Paul is still arguing that the Church is the Israel of God. He is teaching us that people become members of the Church, not through lineage (Rom. 9:6-9) nor through devotion to the Law of Moses (Rom. 9:10-16), but through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! If this is the case, then what are we to make of the fact that God hated Esau and loved Jacob before they were born? I’m sorry to be a broken record, but context always helps.
Paul quotes from Malachi 1:2-3 in Romans 9:13. Many are aghast at such language. There is no reason to be, since the Bible talks about God’s hatred for the wicked. How could a holy God not hate evil and those who practice it? Of course the Bible also declares that in His compassion, He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather they repent and live. And it even declares that He loves His enemies and sent His Son to die for them so they could be reconciled to Him. And He goes further, by commanding His Church to plead with the wicked to be reconciled to God for Christ’s sake. He even sends His Spirit to plead with them by convicting them of sin and pointing them to the Savior. So, we need not be scandalized when we read verses like Psalms 5:5 that reads: “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.”
But of course, it is not the mere mention of God’s hatred that makes the passage a bit shocking. But rather that it is applied to a baby that has not done anything wrong; one that has done no evil. So, what is this all about?
The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.” Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever. Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’
Malachi 1:1-5
When we flip back and look at the passage which Paul cited, we should not be shocked to learn that the passage is not talking about Esau the baby, but Edom the wicked nation that descended from Esau. But, we still have to wrestle with the fact that Paul quotes it in a way that connects it with Esau the man, while he was a baby in the womb. So, what does it all mean?
Paul is using Old Testament passages that refer to Jacob and Esau as the heads of two nations. This fits his argument that the Church, not the physical nation of Israel, is God’s holy people. So, though he speaks of the two men at their birth, he doesn’t have the individuals in the forefront of his mind. They are just an illustration, an analogy of “two covenants” (Gal. 4:24). This is made clear by the context of Romans 9 thus far, and the Old Testament passages he cites. Paul is saying that God “hates” unbelieving Israel because of their rebellion and unbelief. Just as he called Israel an outcast slave child in verses 6-9 by comparing them with Ishmael, now he is comparing unbelieving Israel with Esau, who became the head of the nation of Edom. He is comparing them with the wicked man who sold his birthright for a bit of porridge. Paul is not holding any punches. He is calling national Israel Edom, a nation despised not only by Jews, but “hated” by God Himself!
We might be tempted to object, and say that Paul would not speak so strongly against his people. After all, he started Romans 9 by swearing that he was willing to be cut off from Christ for their sake. But, then we would be making the same mistake about God’s servant that we are tempted to make about God. God loves those that He hates, and Paul is furious with the unfaithfulness of those for whom he is willing to die. Consider the following passage from Paul in light of the point he is making here in Romans 9:10-13, and it will remove all doubt that Paul carries a righteous anger towards those whom he loves more than his own life:
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16
So, why does he refer to Jacob and Esau in the womb if he is actually focused on nations? Because Paul is trying to make two points at one time. He wants to tell us who God’s people are, namely, the holy nation of the Church. But he also wants to make sure we understand that people become members of God’s elect people through faith, not the works of the Old Covenant Law.
By referring to God’s choice of Jacob before his birth, he is able to emphasize that Jacob’s election as the line of promise had nothing to do with his works. Jacob was not chosen as the heir of the promise given to Abraham and Isaac because he had done anything to earn it. By illustrating his point in this way, he is able to contrast works with grace. This drives home the truth that God’s saints are not chosen by God because they keep the works of the Law, but because they trust in Christ. And yet, at the same time, he continues to compare Esau with the unbelieving nation of Israel, and Jacob with the Church. By setting up the passage in this way he is able to illustrate both of his main points at the same time. Paul was weaving his argument in such a skillful way, and we must recognize the ingenious subtlety of his illustrations, or we will unknowingly butcher the text.
Romans 9:6-13 is primarily applied to the two nations under discussion, namely, national Israel and the Church. But, every corporate group is made up of individuals. So we cannot imagine that these passages have no application to the salvation of individuals. Paul is addressing two nations, and the individuals that make up those nations. Those who believe in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are members of the Israel of God. But, those who reject Christ, and rely on their natural lineage and obedience to the Law of Moses, are cast out of the inheritance just like Ishmael, and together form the nation God despised, that is, Edom. Remember, the Gospel promise is for the Jew first, but most Jews in Paul’s day had despised the New Covenant promise and sold their birthright for the porridge of natural lineage and Old Covenant Law. This fact is applicable both to the unbelieving nation of Israel, and also the individual members of it.
We might object that this is all too hard to understand, and say that Paul is making his point obscure by mixing metaphors. This might be so, since Peter said this is sometimes the case with Paul’s writings in 2 Peter 3:16, “in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” If this is the case, then we better make sure that we are not among those who take Paul’s meaning and twist it to support our own doctrines. All the more reason to follow Paul’s argument closely.
But, I tend to believe that Peter was not referring to passages like Romans 9. Early Christians did not find such passages difficult to understand. Christians did not imagine this passage had any reference to determinism for several centuries. Not until Augustine imported that foreign doctrine into the text in the 5th century. The reason many in our day struggle with the passage is that the Church has been strongly influenced by the philosophical doctrines of Augustine which gained acceptance in the 16th century. Men who teach esoteric doctrines like unconditional election have been effective at using the strong wording in Romans 9:10-13 to proof-text their doctrine. They found a passage that uses terminology which is well suited to their fatalistic philosophy and have infused the word of God with a meaning completely foreign to the text. But when we follow Paul’s line of thought, and pay attention to how he is citing and applying the Old Testament passages, we realize fatalism was the farthest thing from his mind.
…Not Of Works…
…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…
Romans 9:11
So far we have considered the line of reasoning that led up to Romans 9:10-13 and how Paul continued to drive his point home by using the narrative about the birth of Jacob and Esau. Now let’s take a closer look at Romans 9:11. It is packed with phraseology that is misunderstood by those who come to the text with a deterministic worldview. For this reason we need to narrow in on that verse and unpack a couple of the phrases Paul uses. By doing so we can see how it undergirds Paul’s argument and has nothing to do with determinism.
We want to understand what Paul means by contrasting election with works. The two phrases we want to nail down are, “according to election… not of works” (Rom. 9:11). Let’s start with the phrase, “not of works.” This is used by Paul again and again throughout his letters. In Chapter 9 we see it clearly spelled out in verses 31-33:
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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.
We see here, in the same chapter, that when Paul mentions “not by works,” he is referring to the works of the Law of Moses, and he contrasts it with faith. Please note, by contrasting works with faith he is not preaching lawlessness. He is not telling us that as long as we believe in Jesus, nothing we do matters. He is not discounting the “righteous requirements of the law” summed up by the two greatest commands to love God and others (Rom. 2:26, 8:4). Paul everywhere demands righteousness and obedience to Jesus Christ. He makes it very clear that those that live unrighteous lives “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9, Gal. 5:19-21). When he minimizes works, he is referring to the works that were peculiar to the covenant made with the house of Israel at Mount Sinai, and he is contrasting them with faith in Christ. The works he references include things like the Sabbath, Jewish feast days, food laws and temple offerings. It further includes circumcision, which though introduced through Abraham, later became a sign for membership in the Old Covenant. He references such things in Colossians 2:16-17 and focuses on circumcision in Galatians 5:1-4:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:1-4
He is teaching that obedience to the Old Covenant is not what justifies us before God. Instead, faith in Christ, a faith that works through love, justifies us before God and makes us members of God’s chosen people. He summarizes these distinctions in Galatians 5:6:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Galatians 5:6
Christians are not permitted to be lawless. Jesus gave us commands which we are to keep diligently (Mat. 7:21-27, 28:29-30, 1 Cor. 9:20-21). But we are not obligated to keep the peculiar commands given to the nation of Israel through Moses.
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. … Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. … For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:1-4, 9-10, 13
In Romans 4:1-4 we see that Abraham’s works are contrasted with his faith. What works is the passage referring to? Again, the phrase “by works” is referring to the laws of the Sinai covenant. In this case, it is referring specifically to circumcision which was given to Abraham after his justification, but later included in the Sinai Covenant (Rom. 4:9-10). Verse 13 tells us that Abraham’s heirs are justified through faith, not through the Old Covenant Law, including the sign of that covenant, circumcision.
We can go elsewhere in the same epistle, and get more examples of what Paul has in mind when using this phrase.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:20 ESV
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Romans 3:28 ESV
And we can jump over to Galatians, a book with a similar theme as Romans, and see how Paul uses the phrase.
“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Galatians 2:16
This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:2
We have considered these passages in order to answer one question: When Paul says “not of works” in Romans 9:11, to what is he referring? Is he talking about everything a human being does by his own will, even faith, as Reformed Theology would have us believe? Certainly not! He continually contrasts faith with works in his writings; He is referring to the works of the Law of Moses. These works included things like circumcision, sabbath days, obligatory festival celebrations and the sacrificial system associated with the Temple in Jerusalem. He is making it clear that a person does not become a member of God’s elect people by keeping the Old Covenant Law.
It is important for us to understand how Paul uses this phrase so we can understand his point in Romans 9:10-13, and elsewhere. We must not take that phrase out of context and give it the meaning that many in the Reformed camp have given to it. We must stick with defining Paul’s language according to Paul’s usage.
Judaizers
Why does Paul dwell so much on the fact that we are justified through faith in Christ, and not through the works of the Law of Moses? It is worth taking a couple minutes to consider this question. It will help us to get into Paul’s mind as we read Romans 9, but it will also give us insight into his teaching throughout the New Testament. In order to consider this issue, let’s turn to Acts 15.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. … But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” … They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law“–to whom we gave no such commandment–
Acts 15:1-2, 5, 23-24
Paul was called by Jesus Christ to focus his ministry on the Gentiles. This does not mean that he never shared the gospel with Jews. In fact, it was his custom to first search out the Jews in every city in which he ministered. This is because in his mind the Gospel was for “the Jew first, and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). Usually some Jews who heard his message believed. But there were also plenty of Jews who rejected the message and stirred up trouble for him. He was hounded by unbelieving Jews in almost every area he ministered. This persecution was a thorn in his flesh which God used to humble him.
But, persecution was not Paul’s main problem. Like the other apostles, he had learned to rejoice in tribulation just as the Master had commanded. His greatest burden was for the spiritual well-being of the churches. And one of the greatest dangers to the churches was false teachers, primarily those known as the Judaizers.
We see these men introduced in Acts 15. They were Jews, and later their Gentile converts, who went around confusing the Gentile churches with their teaching. They taught Christians that in order to be made right with God they must be circumcised. And then in order to remain in right-standing with God they must live according to the Law of Moses. They were not merely teaching the Gentiles to “fulfill” the Law by walking in love for God and others as Christ and all the apostles taught (Mat. 7:12, Rom. 13:8-10). But the Judaizers were demanding that Gentiles keep the aspects of the Law that were peculiar to the Sinai Covenant which God made with the nation of Israel.
This teaching was a perversion of the Gospel of Christ and it was bringing many of Paul’s disciples into spiritual confusion. We see how important he considered this issue in passages like Galatians 1:6-10 and 5:1-4:
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
This was not a mere matter of opinion in Paul’s mind. It was the difference between God’s grace in Jesus Christ and being cursed by God apart from Christ. This is the error that was attacking the Gentile churches everywhere. For this reason Paul never ceased making mention of it in his letters. If we do not understand that this was the error that was ravaging the churches in Paul’s day, we might fail to understand much of what Paul wrote.
The Judaizers were not the only spiritual danger the churches faced, but Paul certainly considered them one of the foremost errors of his day. So, in order to understand Paul’s argument in Romans 9, and throughout his epistles, we must keep this in mind. And we cannot forget that he established these issues as foremost in Romans 1:16-17 when he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”
One of Paul’s primary questions in Romans 9 is, “How will God’s plan be fulfilled in light of the nation of Israel’s unbelief.” Explaining how the Old Covenant is fulfilled by the New Covenant is key to combating the errors of the Judaizers. So in Romans 9 Paul is arguing that entry into, and good-standing in, the New Covenant is not through Jewish lineage or through submission to the Old Covenant Law given at Mount Sinai. He is driving home the truth to the church in Rome that people become Christians through faith in Christ, not submission to the Law of Moses. We are justified by faith and “not by works” of the Law.
…According to Election…
…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…
Romans 9:11
The next phrase we want to consider is, “according to election.” Those in the Calvinist camp have a tendency to read their doctrines into any passage that mentions the word election. And many non-Calvinists feel intimidated by the word. This is unfortunate since election simply means choice. Or if it is in the verb form to elect, it simply means to choose. This word does not carry with it any deterministic undertones. It is used to point out that God determines who is a member of His holy people. The word itself does not tell us whether God makes His choice based on certain conditions or no conditions at all. We will have to determine what, if any, conditions God uses to make His choice by looking at how the concept of election is used in the context of Paul’s writing in Romans.
When Paul refers to “the saints” he is talking about those who have been justified and set apart for God (Rom. 1:7). When he talks about “the faithful” he is speaking about those who have faith in Christ (Eph. 1:1). When the apostle calls people “the elect” he is referencing those whom God has chosen (Col. 3:12). These terms are not esoteric or confusing. They are simply referring to God’s people. Each term emphasizes a different truth. Saints are those who have been declared righteous by God through faith. The faithful in Christ are those who are trusting in the Son of God for their salvation. And the elect are God’s chosen people, His Israel, the heirs of the promise given to Abraham, the father of faith.
When discussing the phrase “children of promise,” and considering how these individuals were chosen, we looked back to Paul’s teaching in Romans 4. This passage showed that Abraham’s children, the people of Israel, were chosen on the basis of faith in Christ, not according to lineage or works of the Law. So, if there was a question about what condition God uses to elect individuals to be part of His people Israel, we could return to Romans 4:13-16. But, for the sake of those that struggle under the influence of calvinistic philosophy, we will approach the phrase “according to election” from another angle and see if the Bible leads us to the same conclusion.
We have already noted above that the phrase “not of works” in 9:11 is contrasted with faith when used elsewhere. Here, in 9:11, Paul is contrasting the works of the Law of Moses with the term election when he states, “according to election … not of works.” So, what does Paul have in mind when he uses this phrase? Thankfully, he uses the phrase again in a related context a couple chapters later.
Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Romans 11:5-7
In Romans 9:11 Paul used the phrase “according to election.” In Romans 11:5-7, still discussing the issue raised in Romans 9:1-6, Paul gives us a more complete phrase. Here he tells us that God’s people are chosen “according to the election of grace.” By now it should not surprise us that he then contrasts being chosen by grace, with being chosen according to the works of the Law of Moses. After all, this is what he has been talking about since Romans chapter 1! So, we can see that in Romans 9:11 Paul is telling us that God’s people are chosen according to grace, not according to the works of the Law of Moses. Let me say it again, Romans 9:11 is contrasting election by grace with election by the works of the Law.
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Romans 4:16
Could we interpret the phrase “according to the election of grace” to mean “according to unconditional election,” as Reformed Theology would have us believe? If we take the context of the book of Romans seriously, we cannot. In the fear of the Lord we must not import any foreign concepts into the text. And the idea that grace must have no conditions in order to be grace, is completely foreign to the theology found in the book of Romans. Paul has already stated clearly in Romans 4:16 that the reason God has chosen His people according to faith, and not according to the works of the Law of Moses, is so that it could be according to grace, and not something we earned by works. Isn’t this exactly the point Paul makes in Romans 11:5-6: “At this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace”? And isn’t this clearly what Paul is saying in Romans 9:11, “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”?
Paul contrasts grace and election with works. Calvinists wish to contrast grace and election with faith. But in Paul’s mind faith, grace and election are concepts that stand in opposition to works and Law. Calvinists conflate faith with works and therefore imagine that Paul contrasts faith with grace and election. So every time Paul speaks of grace or election, they imagine that faith cannot be the condition by which we receive the grace of election. This is probably the most fundamental biblical error of those in the Reformed camp. Simply put, when Paul uses the terms works and faith, they are contrasted with each other. When he uses the terms faith and grace, they are not contrasted with each other, but work in harmony together. To imagine that Paul classifies faith as a merit earning work because it is something a person does, is to completely misread Paul.
More on Romans 9:11 in Appendix 1
Romans 9:11 has a couple other phrases often misunderstood by those who come to the text with a deterministic worldview. But so that we do not get bogged down in the weeds of calvinistic philosophy and presupposition, but stay focused on Paul’s line of argument throughout Romans 9, I have opted to put the discussion of those phrases in Appendix 1 of this book. In that section we look at the phrases “the purpose of God,” and “of Him who calls.” But for now we will continue on focusing on Paul’s line of thought in Romans 9.
Paul’s Analogy Or God’s Analogy?
Before moving on to Romans 9:14-18 let me make one more note about how Paul has been communicating up to this point in Romans 9. We saw that Paul chose Issac and Jacob to represent the Church in 9:6-13. Was he really taking liberties with the historical context of the narratives he cited? No, he was not. By using the narratives in the way he did, he was pointing out that even in the book of Genesis, God was foreshadowing the coming salvation through Christ. He is giving us apostolic insight into the narratives related to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Abraham received promises from God that culturally should have been inherited by his firstborn son. But, God turned things on its head, and chose his second born son. Isaac should have passed his inheritance onto his firstborn son, but once again, God sovereignly intervened and shook up the status quo by choosing the second born son, even before he did anything to deserve it. By doing so, God was showing us that it was His divine prerogative to determine which ancestral line the promises of God to Abraham would flow through.
Up until now, we have been assuming that Paul was the one who was turning things upside down with his application of the Old Testament narratives, but actually this was God’s original intent! God was showing from the beginning of the Bible that He planned to do things in a way that would not be in line with human culture and sensibilities. He was foreshadowing that the firstborn son, Israel according to the flesh, and the first covenant given at Sinai, were going to be overshadowed by a new and greater covenant in the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. God always intended that the first should be last, and the last should be first (Mat. 20:16). God’s way of dealing with the patriarchs was not by accident. God was intending to communicate exactly what Paul is now expressing in Romans 9:6-13. This has been God’s plan all along, and He has fulfilled it in spite of national Israel’s unbelief. So, let’s look at Paul’s argument again with this in mind.
A Second Look
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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. 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.”
Romans 9:30-33
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Matthew 21:42-44
In Romans 9 Paul was having a hypothetical debate with his unbelieving countrymen. They had rejected Messiah and chose to trust in their physical ancestry instead. So Paul refers to some irrefutable facts about their ancestry in order to show them their folly. Were all of Abraham’s descendants blessed with Abraham’s promise? No, only Isaac’s line was chosen. This fact proves that God can limit the promise to whichever line He so chooses. Paul’s countrymen would have to concede this point. In fact, they would gladly boast in this point because they were descendants of Isaac, not Ishmael! But Paul continues his line of argument and points out that not all the descendants of Isaac will inherit the promise, but only those from the line of Jacob. This is another testimony to the fact that God is the One Who chooses which descendants of Abraham will experience the blessing. Again, Paul’s unbelieving kinsmen would have no objection to this fact, but only a sense of national pride. After all, they are not Edomites, but Israelites!
But if we look at Romans 9 as a whole we can see what Paul was getting at with this line of argument. He was reminding the unbelieving Israelites that God had, in the past, already limited which ancestors of Abraham would receive the blessing. And this means that God still had the right to set boundaries on how the blessing would come. Paul is telling them that God had indeed limited the scope of the promise once again in their day; Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone! It is through Him that Abraham’s blessings flow. Those that reject Him will be crushed. Those that stumble over Him will perish, but those that trust in Him will “not be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33).
Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. … For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:15-18, 26-29
What is Paul saying in Galatians 3:15-18 and 26-29? He is telling us that the promise given to Abraham, which declared that he would be the heir of the world, is not received through our physical connection by birth with Isaac or Jacob, or by any other hereditary line of Abraham (Gal. 3:8, Rom 4:13). Instead, the only way to become an heir of the promise given to Abraham is through a spiritual connection with Jesus Christ. When we believe in Him we are born again as God’s children. And because we are children of God in Jesus Christ, we are also heirs of Abraham, because Christ is the Seed of Abraham to which all the promises were made! God has limited the heirs of Abraham to the line of Jesus the Messiah! Israel has been reconstituted around Jesus the Messiah!
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Moses & Pharaoh 9:14-18
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 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.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 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.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Romans 9:14-18
In Romans 9:14-18 Paul contrasts Moses, and the people of Israel which he led, with Pharaoh and his people. He is pointing out that God gave mercy to one nation, and hardened the leader of another, thus bringing destruction on that nation. That these five verses are meant to be considered together as one complete section is made clear by verse 18 which references the mercy given in verses 14-16, and the hardening enacted on Pharaoh in verse 17. So, what we have in 9:14-18 is the third set of Old Testament characters used to illustrate Paul’s point. And, as we will see, Paul once again applies the passage in an unexpected way. He compares the unbelieving nation of Israel with Pharoah, and he compares Moses, and the nation who followed him, with the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ.
In Romans 9:1-5 we see Paul’s grief over the unbelief of his people. Then in verses 6-9 he tells us that this has not ruined God’s plan, because God chooses His people through faith in Christ, the Seed of Abraham, not according to natural lineage. He illustrated this by comparing unbelieving Israel to Ishmael, and the Church to Isaac. So, national Israel’s unbelief did not hinder God’s promises to Israel because God’s people, Israel, are reckoned by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Then in verses 10-13 Paul compares the nation of Israel to Esau who sold his birthright for some porridge, and the Church to Jacob who became the greater of two nations. He emphasized in these verses that we are members of Israel by the grace of God through faith in Christ, not by the works of the Law of Moses.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 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.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Romans 9:14-16
In verses 14-16 Paul anticipates and answers an objection by the unbelieving nation of Israel. In 9:6-13 he rebuked them harshly by comparing them with Edom whom God “hates,” and with Ishmael, the child of a slave woman, who was cast out of the inheritance of God’s promises. In response to this heavy rebuke they are sure to cry out, “This is not fair! We are the children of Abraham according to the flesh, the favored people of God. We have borne the yoke of Moses’ Law for generations, and now we are just cast aside?! This would mean God is unjust!”
But Paul defends God’s honor. He declares that it is God’s prerogative to dispense His mercy as He wishes. He doesn’t have to give people mercy because of their ancestry or because they follow the Old Covenant Law. It is His sovereign right to choose on what conditions He dispenses His mercy. God’s mercy is not earned by striving to build up their own righteousness by commitment to the Law of Moses, but by placing their trust in the Jewish Messiah.
God was acting justly when He chose to save a people consisting of Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ. And He is acting justly when He casts out those Israelites who reject His Son. He is under no obligation to give mercy to unbelieving rebels. He is able to raise up stones to be Abraham’s children, and no one can stop Him or cast aspersions on His justice for doing so (Mat. 3:9). It is His prerogative!
A Nation Shown Mercy
“Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. “For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Exodus 33:13-19
By this point in our study we should not be surprised to find out that the passage from which Paul quotes is related to God showing His grace and compassion on the nation of Israel. He has done the same thing in the previous verses by referencing the blessings received by Isaac and Jacob. He will soon contrast the mercy given to Israel by referencing the nation of Egypt, led by Pharoah, and consider the judgment God brought on that nation. But in 9:14-16 he focuses on the mercy given to ancient Israel when God brought them out of Egypt.
Moses is pleading for God to go with the Israelites so that all nations would know that they have found grace in God’s sight. Once again we have a passage that was originally applied to national Israel being applied to the saints of God who corporately make up the Church of Jesus Christ. In this way, Paul is arousing the jealousy of the unbelieving nation of Israel. Later, in Romans 11:13-14, Paul explicitly states that this is his general strategy, “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.” Paul is replying to the anticipated objection of the Jews by defending God’s right to show mercy to the believing Gentiles if He so chooses, and he uses an Old Testament passage about their Jewish ancestors to do it! We must recognize that Paul is attacking their national pride in almost every verse. Romans 9 is a sharply worded rebuke to the unbelieving Jews.
Unconditional Mercy?
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Romans 9:16
Does 9:16 mean that God decides unconditionally to give mercy to whom He arbitrarily chooses? If we take the verse completely out of its context we might be able to say that. The words themselves are arranged in such a way that we could give that meaning to them. This is how people fall into the error of proof-texting. People find a verse that has wording conducive to their pet doctrine, insist on isolating it from its surrounding context and then claim that it proves their theology. If someone tries to correct their error by bringing in the surrounding context they will claim that by doing so the person correcting them is reading into the text. We must not get trapped by this deceptive practice. And it is indeed deceptive, even when done by sincere, though misguided, Christians. We must tremble at God’s word by submitting our theology to the Scripture, not try to submit the Scripture to our theology. We are all susceptible to this temptation, so we must walk in fear and trembling as we study God’s word.
But when we take another look at Romans 9:16, we could also say that God gives His mercy not based on people striving to keep the Law of Moses, but by simply trusting in His promise and grace. This also would line up with how Paul chooses to word the sentence. So, which of these interpretations is supported by the context?
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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…. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Romans 9:30-32, 10:2-3
By now, the context should be clear. Even if we ignored Paul’s line of reasoning from Romans 9:1 up to verse 11, we could always look a few verses later and see Paul making nearly the same statement with a few more details. Romans 9:30-10:4 gives us a clear understanding of Paul’s point. He is telling the unbelieving Jews that God has the right to give His mercy to anybody, even Gentiles who believe in His Son. And He has the right to reject those who strive to establish their own righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses. Salvation “is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:16).
But We Have Borne the Burden!
This response to the hypothetical objection of the unbelieving Jews brings to mind a parable of the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus teaches a parable about a landowner who went out in the morning to hire laborers. He found some men and agreed to give them a day’s wage for their work. A few hours later he found some more workers and hired them. He told them he would pay them fairly. He continued to hire people throughout the day and tell them they would be paid fairly. At the end of the day he went and settled accounts with the men. Those hired last were paid first. The land owner gave them a day’s wage. So when the men hired first came to be paid, they imagined that they would receive more than a day’s wage. But they received the same amount as the other men. This upset them. They thought they deserved more because they had worked longer. They argued, “We have borne the burden and the heat of the day!” But the landowner said, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:12-15)
The nation of Israel in Jesus’ day had fallen to the sin of national pride. They imagined that because God had chosen their nation and set it apart from other nations, this meant they should always have the preeminence. They failed to understand that God made them into a great nation so that through them God could bless all nations (Gen. 12:1-3). They didn’t understand that the primary purpose of Israel was to be the nation through whom Christ, the Savior of the world, would come (John 4:22, Rom. 9:5). Instead, they chose to boast in the Law of Moses which made them unique and separated them from the other nations. They chafed at Paul’s teaching that they must enter into salvation in exactly the same way as the Gentiles, by receiving God’s grace and mercy through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16-17). Here in Romans 9:14-16 Paul is rebuking their pride and declaring that they must submit to the righteousness of God through faith in the Messiah, and not seek to establish their own righteousness through the Law of Moses. They have no choice in the matter; God is the One who sets the terms of salvation. Truly, the Gospel “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
Pharaoh Raised Up
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.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Romans 9:17-18
In Romans 9:17-18 Paul continues his same line of thought. He has just referenced Moses and his nation as the recipients of God’s mercy. And now he is going to contrast Moses with Pharaoh. Following Paul’s line of thinking up to this point it should be clear who Pharoah is intended to represent. As Moses and his nation represented the Church who has received mercy through faith in Christ, so Paul will use Pharoah and his people to represent the hardened and unbelieving nation of Israel. We will soon learn in what ways this is an apt comparison, but first let us firmly establish that this is indeed what the apostle has in mind.
This is the third pair of Old Testament characters that have been used to shed light on the condition of unbelieving Israel in Paul’s day, and the nature and blessings inherited by the Church made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. The fact that he has used these historical characters in a way that would seem to be at odds with their historical context is what has thrown many for a loop. But, we have seen that the first pair, Ishmael and Isaac, were used in the exact same way in Galatians 4:21-31. And in that context, which was nearly identical to Romans 9:6-9, Paul spells out exactly what he means. He declares, in Galatians 4:23-24, “But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar.” This combined with the topic that Paul introduced in Romans 9:1-6 shows that this is clearly what Paul has in mind.
Stumbling Block
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.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Romans 9:17-18
but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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. 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.”
Romans 9:31-33
Paul’s argument is abundantly clear, Pharaoh represents unbelieving Israel in Paul’s mind. But since this book is written to help people be certain about the interpretation of Romans 9, we are going to be extra diligent at this point to prove from the context of the chapter in particular and the epistle in general that this is so. I would rather be accused of beating a dead horse than only glancing when I should stare.
In 9:18 we read that the opposite of God’s mercy is God’s hardening. Moses and his people received mercy, but God hardened Pharaoh which ended in destruction for the people of Egypt. In the context of Romans 9 who is being hardened? Romans 9:31-33 tells us exactly who it is. God has actively judged Israel by laying in Zion (i.e. Jerusalem) a stumbling and a rock of offense. This stumbling stone is Christ.
Now, why would Christ be a judgment on the nation of Israel? Weren’t they waiting and hoping for Messiah to come? Indeed they were waiting for Messiah. But they were longing for a Messiah that would exalt their nation and humble the Gentiles. They expected God to reward them for their law-keeping and declare them His special people. But instead Christ “preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near” (Eph. 2:17). He declared the righteousness of God, and humbled those in Israel who were most zealous for the Law of Moses. He proclaimed the new birth, and echoed what John the Baptist had proclaimed, that God is able to raise up stones to be children for Abraham (Mat. 3:9). When the crowds praised Jesus as the coming King, and the Pharisees told Jesus to forbid them, Jesus declared, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luk. 19:40). Consider the parable of the wicked vinedressers in Matthew 21:33-39:
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
ESV
And now consider Jesus’ application of this parable in Matthew 21:40-45:
When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.
ESV
Jesus declares that He is the Cornerstone of salvation. All who trust in Him will never be put to shame. But, to the self-righteous nation who was seeking to establish their own righteousness by the Law of Moses, and boasting in their unique heritage instead of the purpose and plan of God, He is also the stone of stumbling that brings judgment and destruction.
In light of this we can recognize exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans 9:31-33. He is telling the church in Rome that the nation of Israel is under the judgment of God because they refused to submit to God’s will by trusting in Christ. They were not seeking the glory of God, but their own national pride. He reiterates this a few verses later in Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Romans 9:33 speaks of God’s active judgment on the unbelieving nation of Israel. He sent them Christ as a stumbling block. This is exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans 9:17-18. God has hardened the nation of Israel just as He hardened Pharaoh in Exodus.
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
Romans 11:7-11 ESV
Romans 9 is the beginning of a discourse that runs through chapter 11. In Romans 11, two chapters later, Paul is still talking about the same issue that he raised in Romans 9:1-6. He is still explaining why the Jews rejected Messiah, and how that does not hinder God’s purpose, but instead brings it to pass. Their unbelief and the resulting judgment led to the Gentiles receiving salvation (Rom. 11:11).
If we look at Romans 11:7-11 the connection between Israel stumbling over the stumbling block and being hardened in their unbelief is confirmed explicitly. Being hardened and stumbling over the stumbling stone are the same act of judgment in Paul’s mind. He uses the two concepts interchangeably in 11:7-11. This shows us beyond all doubt that 9:17-18 and 9:31-33 are referring to the same divine judgment on Israel. This passage explicitly states that because Israel stumbled over the stumbling block and was hardened by God, this led to God being magnified among the nations. In Romans 9:17-18 Paul is using Pharoah as an illustration to point his finger at his unbelieving countrymen!
The nation of Israel, generally speaking, rejected the Messiah. A remnant of Israelites received their Messiah, but the majority did not. Because of this rejection the Gospel spread to the Gentiles. By stumbling over the stumbling stone the nation of Israel caused God’s name to be “proclaimed in all the earth” (Rom. 9:17). The fact that they were judged for their pride and handed over to spiritual blindness brought glory to God!
How God Hardened Pharaoh
“But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.
Exodus 3:19-20
Paul is using Pharoah as a type of unbelieving Israel whom God has hardened in their unbelief. So let’s take a minute to consider the narrative of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus so we can see why Paul chose him to represent his rebellious countrymen.
As we look at the narrative, the first thing we see is that God knows Pharoah’s character. He knows that Pharoah will not let Israel go without mighty acts of judgment. He is a stubborn man, and God knows what is necessary to change his mind.
And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. “So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ‘ ”
Exodus 4:21-23
In the next chapter of Exodus, we read something peculiar. God says that He is going to harden Pharaoh’s hard heart so that he will not obey God’s command to let the people go. What could this mean? Many misunderstand this terminology to mean that God in some way goes into a man’s desires and turns them towards evil. They imagine that a man who would choose to do good is somehow forced against his will to do evil. This fails to take into account the fact that Pharaoh was already a proud and stubborn man by God’s own estimation. He was not going to let Israel go without a strong hand forcing him to do so.
“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. “But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
Exodus 7:3-5
Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, “and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”
Exodus 10:1-2
But the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Exodus 11:9-10
In Exodus 7:3-5 we begin to see part of what God has in mind. God intends to bring judgment on the land of Egypt, and He is using Pharaoh’s stubbornness to do it. And again, we see that in some way God is taking an active role in Pharaoh’s hard heart. In this way the Egyptians will know that the Lord is God. But we see in Exodus 10:1-2 that this is also done so that the Hebrews will know that the Lord is God.
We see all of this reiterated in Exodus 11:9-10. God wants to magnify His name in Egypt by showing His power, so He hardens Pharaoh’s stubborn heart in order to multiply the number of His wonders. If Pharoah relented too quickly God’s wonders would not be multiplied. In that case, Egypt and Israel would not see clearly that the Lord is God above all the gods of Egypt. So God lengthens the time of Pharoah’s resistance so that His wonders might be multiplied.
But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said.
Exodus 8:15
And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.
Exodus 9:34
“Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” … And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
Exodus 10:17, 19-20
Exodus 8:15, 9:34 and 10:20 help us gain clarity about how God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. God disciplines Pharoah and humbles him with each plague He brings on Egypt. When Pharoah experiences the Lord’s power, he humbles himself. In response to this God relents and removes the plague. What is Pharaoh’s response to God’s mercy? His heart is hardened. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart by removing the plague. He could have forced Pharoah to submit immediately by wiping Egypt out in an instant, instead He relented after each plague in order to allow Pharaoh’s heart to harden once again. God’s judgment softened Pharaoh’s heart and God’s longsuffering hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
God hardened Pharaoh by taking away His discipline. We read in Hebrews 12:6, “whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” But, Egypt was not God’s son, but a nation under God’s wrath. So He used the stubbornness of Pharaoh to multiply His wonders and glorify His name. Instead of forcing Egypt to release the Hebrews with one strong blow, God struck Egypt again and again, each time relenting and letting Pharaoh’s heart be hardened by God’s patience.
How does God harden hearts? He does it by removing His discipline and instruction. He doesn’t enter people’s motives and turn their heart towards sin like a puppet master. Instead, He removes His disciplining grace and leaves men to their own devices. When a potter is forming clay he doesn’t have to do anything to harden the clay. He can just wait and the clay will naturally harden. It will dry out and harden all by itself. But if He wishes to mold it, he must apply water as the clay is spinning on the wheel. God molds stubborn people through discipline and instruction; His discipline is mercy. He hardens rebellious hearts by letting them do what is right in their own eyes; His leniency is judgment.
God was the Master Potter in how He dealt with Pharoah. He didn’t want Pharaoh and Egypt to be destroyed too quickly; He desired to multiply His wonders and glorify His name. So God applied the water of discipline just enough to soften Pharaoh’s heart, but then God would remove the water of discipline and let Pharaoh’s heart harden again so He could bring another plague on the nation.
“For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ “Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.
Exodus 14:3-6
When God decided it was enough, He completely humbled Pharoah by killing his firstborn son. With this blow, Pharaoh gave up and pushed Israel out of the land. But once they were gone, and the plagues had ceased, Pharaoh’s heart was once again hardened. He and his servants regretted their decision. God let Pharoah believe that Israel was helpless and an easy target for his vengeance. God could have warned him, but instead He hardened Pharaoh’s heart with His silence. In this way God put a hook in the mouth of Pharaoh’s army and led them into a watery grave.
“for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. “Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. “But indeed for this 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.
Exodus 9:14-16
God could have utterly destroyed Egypt from the beginning, but God kept them alive to glorify His name through them. Pharoah and his servants were guilty for their stubbornness of heart and their sins against God and His people. But God used their stubbornness and vengeance for His own glory. By a mixture of discipline and longsuffering He multiplied His wonders in Egypt so that Egypt, Israel and all the earth would know that the Lord is God!
What About Israel?
So, if Paul is using Pharoah and his nation to represent the unbelieving nation of Israel, we would expect to find Scripture teaching that Paul’s countrymen have persecuted God’s people the Church, and that they have been hardened by God. We have already seen that by comparing Israel to Ishmael in Romans 9:7-9 Paul has alluded to their persecution of the children of promise. In Galatians 4:21-31 he states this explicitly. We have also seen that Romans 9:33 and 11:7-11 make it clear that Israel has been actively hardened by God. So let’s look in more detail about these two issues related to the nation of Israel in Paul’s day.
Judgment for the Gentiles First
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. … Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, … For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. … And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Romans 1:18-21, 24, 26, 28
Before looking at God’s hardening judgment on Israel, it is worth looking at what Paul said in Romans 1 about God’s hardening judgment on the Gentiles. Before the Gospel came calling all men everywhere to repentance, God had handed the Gentiles over to darkness. He had given them light through creation and conscience, but they suppressed the truth because they loved wickedness. And they chose to worship idols instead of the living God. For this reason God handed them over to their own wickedness. God’s wrath was not manifested by bringing natural disasters on them. No, that might cause them to fear and rethink their decision to rebel against God. Instead He handed them over to do every wicked thing they desired. His wrath was manifest by giving them what they wanted and leaving them to follow their own foolish wisdom. God hardened them by removing His discipline and instruction.
“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Acts 17:29-31
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
Titus 2:11-12
But with the coming of the Gospel all of this has changed. Christ gave His people a command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel; the Gospel that Paul tells us is “also for the Greeks.” The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. God’s wrath was revealed, but now God’s grace has appeared teaching men to deny worldly lusts (Tit. 2:11-12). God now calls idolaters to repentance through the Gospel.
But Judgment Also for the Jew
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘”You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Matthew 13:10-15 ESV
Why did Jesus speak in parables to the crowd? This was God’s hardening on a people whose “hearts had grown dull.” Jesus told His disciples the principle of God’s hardening judgment. Those that have ears to hear, that is, those who embrace truth, will be given more. But God will cease giving light and instruction to those who reject truth. So Jesus was hiding the teaching of His kingdom from a nation that had already rejected the truth they were given. Then, after speaking to the crowds in parables, He would explain the meaning to His disciples, because they had ears to hear.
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Romans 11:7-10 ESV
We saw this same principle reiterated by Paul in Romans 11:7-10. God had blinded the majority of Israelites in Paul’s day. This was because they stumbled over the cornerstone, Jesus Christ. They rejected Him and chose their national pride instead. So, just as He had done with the Gentiles who “suppressed the truth in unrighteousness,” God handed Israel over to their unbelief and stubbornness of heart. He let them have what they wanted and refused to instruct them any further.
And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
Acts 28:24-28 ESV
In Acts 28:24-28 we again see the nature of the hardening judgment on the nation of Israel. Because the majority of the nation of the Israelites had closed their eyes and ears to the truth, God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles. The sin of Israel led to God’s name being proclaimed in all the earth! Just as Pharoah’s hardening had led to God’s glory, so the sin of Israel led to the spread of the Gospel (Rom. 9:17). Pharoah is a very apt illustration for what God has done with Paul’s unbelieving countrymen. This is why Paul used it; this is what Paul is teaching us. The text is clear, Paul’s reference to God’s hardening judgment has nothing to do with Calvinism’s doctrine of determinism, but with God’s righteous judgment on the unbelieving nation of Israel.
Children of Flesh Persecuting Children of the Spirit
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16
I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Romans 11:1-5
But the comparison between Pharaoh and unbelieving Israel is suitable for another reason as well. Pharaoh was a persecutor of God’s people. And, in Paul’s day, many unbelieving Jews were also persecutors of God’s holy people, the Church. This reality was never far from Paul’s mind since he himself was under constant attack from unbelieving Jews throughout his ministry. Though he does not reference Israel’s persecution of the Church directly in Romans 9:6-9, nevertheless, he does when he uses the same illustration in Galatians 4:28-29: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” And if we follow Paul’s line of reasoning in Romans 11:1-5 he compares the remnant of believing Jews to the faithful followers of God who were persecuted by the rest of the nation in Elijah’s day. So, though Paul does not explicitly spell this out, we can conclude that he intends his readers to understand the connection.
And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
Acts 8:1-5 ESV
There is another very good reason to conclude that Paul would not overlook Pharoah’s persecution of God’s people when comparing him with the unbelieving Jews of his day. Paul himself was once a ringleader for such persecution and was personally involved in the murder of Stephen. Paul never forgot what he was before the grace of Christ changed him; his personal history impacted his perspective. As we read about the Stephen’s murder in Acts 7, we see that it led to the scattering of the believers and the spread of the Gospel. This persecution caused the Gospel to be preached beyond Judea even to the Samaritans. Surely the hardness of Israel led to the glory of God and the spread of the Gospel. Paul knew well that Israel’s persecution of the Body of Christ was an integral part of this process.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:11
We see clearly that the hardening of Pharaoh and the judgment enacted on his nation was a type of the Jewish nation in Paul’s day. Just as Pharaoh was hardened by God’s leniency with him, so Israel in Paul’s day was allowed to harden their heart against the truth and persist in their unbelief to such an extent that they persecuted the Church of God. And just as Pharaoh unwittingly led to God’s name being glorified in all the earth, so Israel’s rejection of the Messiah led to salvation for the Gentiles.
No Hope for Israel?
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” … For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. – Romans 11:25-27, 30-32 ESV
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Romans 11:11-15
With such harsh rhetoric against his countrymen, we might be tempted to imagine that Paul had no hope for the nation of Israel. But at the end of his discourse in Romans 9-11 he gives us a glimmer of hope. He explains that in the past the Gentiles had been handed over to blindness while God dealt almost exclusively with Israel for many centuries. But now that God has hardened Israel because of their unbelief, the Gospel of salvation has spread to the nations which were once blind and alienated from God. Then he tells us a mystery; there will come a time, when the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” that God will remove the blinders from the nation of Israel and many will embrace the Messiah.
God has enacted judgment on all, both Jew and Gentile, for their sin, but He has reserved mercy for all as well. Because of His judgment on Israel, salvation has come to the Gentiles. But, one day, because of the mercy shown to the Gentiles, the Jews will become jealous and turn to the Messiah. May God grant that we are living in that day! Let us proclaim the Gospel in all the earth so that the fulness of the Gentiles comes in, the nation of Israel turns to Messiah, and King Jesus will return from the clouds to raise us to eternal life!
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36
The Potter & The Clay 9:19-29
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 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?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Romans 9:19-21
We now reach a section of Romans 9 that just might be the most quoted by Calvinists. It is assumed by those in the Reformed camp that Romans 9:19-21 is a hypothetical debate between the apostle Paul and a person who takes issue with the doctrines of Calvinism which are supposedly taught in Romans 9:6-18. But, if the reader has carefully considered the previous chapters in this book, you will be very aware that no doctrines peculiar to Calvinism have been taught up to this point in Romans 9. So, if the hypothetical debate is not about the so-called “Doctrines of Grace,” then what is being argued? Context, my dear Watson, context!
In Romans 9:1-5 Paul shares his grief concerning the nation of Israel. He is grieved that they are in stubborn unbelief and separate from the blessings of the New Covenant. In verse 6 he assures us that God’s promises to Israel have not failed, because God’s people (i.e. Israel) are not reckoned according to their natural descent from Jacob. In verses 7-9 he illustrates this by referencing Isaac as the child of promise. He goes on in verses 10-13 to show that devotion to the Law of Moses is also not sufficient to make one a child of Abraham and an heir of the promises God gave him. It is only through the election and mercy of God, which is received through faith, not by works, that we become Abraham’s offspring. In verses 14-18 he reiterates that becoming members of God’s people, is by the sheer mercy of God alone, a mercy that is received through the easy yoke of faith, not the striving labor of the Law.
But Romans 9:6-18 Paul is not merely encouraging the Church that they are God’s people through faith in Christ, he is also rebuking the nation of Israel for their unbelief. In 9:7-9 he compares them with Ishmael who was disinherited because he was the son of a slave woman. In 9:10-13 he compares them with Esau, the man who sold his birthright for a bit of porridge, because they chose their own national pride over the Son of God and the righteousness He gives. And finally, in 9:17-18 Paul compares them with Pharoah, the persecutor of God’s people and one who was hardened by divine judgment. Just as God hardened Pharoah’s heart, leading to the destruction of Egypt, so God is now hardening the nation of Israel for their stubborn unbelief. And just as God used Pharoah to unwittingly glorify His name, so God has hardened Israel, causing salvation to flee from them to the Gentiles.
It’s Not Fair!
In light of this line of thought, there is no doubt who Paul is debating with in Romans 9:19-21. And it is abundantly clear what their objection is. Paul is debating with the unbelieving Jews who object to God using them to glorify His name while also judging them for their rebellion. Their complaint is: “If we, national Israel, have been molded by God’s hand and have fulfilled God’s purpose for us by making His name known among the Gentile nations, then why is God still punishing us? We have not harmed God’s plan, but on the contrary our rebellion has fulfilled God’s plan! So why are we condemned?!”
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.” But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?–as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
Romans 3:1-8
Of course the careful reader will remember that this is not the first time Paul has had such a hypothetical debate with his unbelieving countrymen. In Romans 3:1-8 a very similar argument took place. In that place the hypothetical debater was objecting that his unbelief did not harm God, but magnified God’s truthfulness. And so, the objector reasons, God should not judge him for his unbelief since it did not harm nullify God’s faithfulness.
By this point in our study it should abundantly clear to the reader that Romans 9 is not an enigmatic passage that has no connection with the rest of the epistle. Paul didn’t just randomly decide to philosophize by introducing the foreign and fatalistic doctrines about unconditional election and irresistible grace. Chapter 9 is dealing with the same issues that have been touched on throughout the book. One such issue is the unbelief of national Israel and how that relates to the fulfillment of God’s promises. This is why nearly the same debate is repeated in chapter 3 and chapter 9. The Jews were under God’s judgment for their sin, but they felt this was unfair in light of the fact that God, His plan and His reputation were not injured by them. Simply put, they rebelled, and God used that to further His kingdom; then He condemned them for their sin, and they felt this was unfair. They said, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will? … Why have you made me like this?” (Rom. 9:19-20)
Why do Calvinists use this hypothetical debate to proof-text their peculiar doctrines? It is a matter of misinterpreting biblical phraseology. Just as they use Romans 9:16 to support the idea of unconditional election by isolating it from its biblical context. So, they also capitalize on 9:19-21 by isolating it from its historical context.
The words of the argument are expressed in a way that could mirror Pelagius’ argument against Augustine’s determinism in the 5th century. And in the 16th century Jacob Arminius could have said similar words in his debate with Calvin’s disciples. Even today, many non-Calvinists make an argument that sounds strikingly similar to Romans 9:19-21 when opposing the determinism of Reformed Theology. But the problem is, none of those theological debates are in any way related to the debate Paul was having with the unbelieving Jews in Romans 9. They were not defending human free will, they were mad that God used their sin to advance His cause in the earth, and yet judged them for their sin and unbelief! Romans 9 is not a proof-text for Calvinism.
The Potter’s House
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’
Jeremiah 18:1-11 ESV
In Romans 9:20-21 Paul draws from an analogy found in Jeremiah 18:1-11. When we turn to that passage we can get further confirmation as to what Paul is communicating in this hypothetical debate. Jeremiah was told to go to a potter’s house. There a vessel being formed was marred in the hands of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel. God tells Jeremiah that this marred lump of clay represents Israel, and then He shares a principle with the prophet. He tells him that when God promises to judge a nation, but it repents, He will relent from His judgment. On the other hand, if a nation whom He has promised to bless, rebels against Him, He will change His plan and bring judgment on that nation. God then declares that this is exactly what He is doing with the nation of Israel just before their exile to Babylon.
It should be clear by now that Paul does not cite inapplicable passages in Romans 9. Each of his Old Testament references hit the mark perfectly. By alluding to this passage in Jeremiah 18, Paul is telling the unbelieving nation of Israel, whom he is hypothetically debating with, that God has justly hardened Israel and used their sin to glorify His name. They are guilty for their rebellion and unbelief, and also for their persecution of God’s elect people, the Body of Christ. The fact that God and His plan are not harmed by them does nothing to lessen their guilt. God has the right to use their rebellion however He wishes. It is His right as the Potter, that is, as the holy Judge, to hand them over to their unbelief and use their sin to further His kingdom among the Gentiles. Paul forcefully declares, “O man, who are you to reply against God?”
To conflate the analogy of a potter and clay with the philosophy of determinism is to ignore how God uses that analogy. We see very clearly in Jeremiah 18 and in Romans 9 that it is applied to the nation of Israel. And it is not taken to mean that God deals with Israel, or anyone, like they are an inanimate object. No, He is dealing with a nation, the “Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.” This very nation rejected the New Covenant, the promises of God and the Messiah Who fulfilled them. And for this reason, instead of giving them mercy, He hardened them. Instead of making them into vessels of mercy, He formed them into vessels of wrath. And they had no right to object!
Vessels of Wrath & Vessels of Mercy
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, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “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.” 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. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” 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.”
Romans 9:22-29
In Romans 9:20-21 Paul alludes to the potter and clay analogy from Jeremiah 18 and applies it to the nation of Israel who had been hardened by God. This followed his rebuke of the unbelieving Jews in 9:17-18 in which he compared them with Pharaoh who had been hardened by God. Now he is going to tell us about the different vessels that the Potter has made out of that lump of clay. In 9:22-24 he points out that the unbelieving Jews, who make up the large part of the nation of Israel at that time, have been formed into vessels of wrath. And the remnant of Jewish believers along with the Gentile believers are vessels of mercy. This second group makes up the Church of Jesus Christ.
O Man!
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:32
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man–you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself–that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:
Romans 2:1-6 ESV
Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, … You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? … You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
Romans 2:17-19, 21, 23
In Romans 1:18-32 Paul explains that the Gentiles had been handed over to wickedness because they refused to worship and obey God even though the creation and their conscience made it clear that they should do so. They suppressed the truth in their love for wickedness, and the punishment for their sin was to be handed over to more sin. They rejected the light they were given, and so God handed them over to darkness. They knew what they should do, but they refused to do it. What is more, they not only did wickedly, but they even approved of those who practiced evil (Rom. 1:32).
Then in Romans 2:1-6 Paul points his finger at the Jews. We know this passage refers to the Jews because they do not approve of people practicing wickedness, but condemn them; nevertheless, they practice the same things. That this group of people is indeed the unbelieving Jews, and not merely hypocrites in general, is confirmed by Romans 2:17-24. In that passage these hypocrites are called Jews by name and described as those that condemn people who break the Law even though they fail to practice it themselves.
In Romans 2:4-5 Paul asks them, “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” God has put up with their rebellion again and again, but they have only hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks. And Paul lets them know that for this reason they are under the wrath of God and storing up judgment upon themselves. Long before Paul gets to Romans 9:22 Paul has already been calling out the hard-heartedness of his countrymen and warning them to flee the wrath to come. So, by the time we arrive at 9:22 we are fully aware of the identity of the “vessels of wrath.” We are told in that verse that God has “endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.” They have hardened their hearts, and God has judged them by handing them over to their unbelief. He long disciplined them in mercy, but now He has hardened them in His wrath.
This has always been the way God has dealt with men who stubbornly resist the truth. It should cause us each to tremble at the word of God and not harden our hearts against the truth. We see something similar in Ezekiel 14:3-5:
“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, “that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ‘
So, Fatalism?
So, does such judgment on men in general, and on Israel in particular, mean that there is no hope for them? It is interesting to note that the passage in Ezekiel 14 quoted above, as hard as it may sound, was revealed to the nation of Israel. In other words, even when God was hardening them and handing them over to the idols in their hearts, He was warning them through His prophets, and pleading with them to repent. In His wrath, He still remembered mercy (Hab. 3:2). He also told Ezekiel, “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ez. 33:11). Jesus showed this same attitude of heart while preaching to the religious leaders whom He knew were soon going to put Him to death, when He said, “I say these things that you may be saved” (John 5:34).
Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:22-24
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:20-21
For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
Romans 11:13-14
We must not let the philosophy of determinism creep into our thinking at this point and imagine that Paul is espousing fatalism. Though in Romans 9 Paul is using the strongest possible language to arouse the conscience of the unbelieving Jews, this does not mean they cannot still repent and believe. In fact, Paul labors so hard among the Gentiles in order to arouse the jealousy of the Jews so that some of them will be saved (Rom. 11:14). As he writes in Romans 11:11, “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” Yes they are presently vessels of dishonor, but if they will repent and trust in the Gospel, they can still be grafted into Abraham’s Seed, Jesus Christ.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. … And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Romans 11:11, 17-23
Just as Paul warns against losing all hope for those hardened in their unbelief, so he warns those who stand in Christ not to lose their godly fear. In Roman 9:20-21 Paul represented Israel as a lump of clay, but in Romans 11:11-23 he refers to Israel, God’s holy people, as an olive tree. He speaks directly to the Gentile believers and warns them not to be haughty towards the unbelieving Jews.
It is true that the unbelieving Israelites are like branches that have been broken off, and the Christian Gentiles have been grafted into the olive tree. But it is also true that the Jews are the natural branches; that is, the Gospel is “first for the Jew.” And the only reason they have been cut off of the olive tree is because of their unbelief. But, if they turn from their unbelief, God can restore them to their place among God’s holy people. And Paul further warns the Gentile believers that they have been grafted in through faith. If they turn from trusting in Christ and boast in their election as God’s special people, even as the unbelieving Jews did before them, they too will be cut off from the olive tree. After all, if the natural branches were judged for their unbelief, how much more fitting is it if God cuts off wild olive branches who commit the same act of treason?
The Remnant of National Israel
and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Romans 9:23-24
We saw in 9:20-21 that Paul alludes to Jeremiah 18:1-11 where God speaks about Israel as a lump of clay in the hands of the Potter. In Romans 9:21 Paul asserts that God as the Potter, has the the authority to make from the same lump of clay “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.” By this he means that God is able to judge unbelieving Jews and harden them in their rebellion, and save the remnant of Jews who place their trust in Christ. He is able to deal with Israel however He sees fit, because He is the Potter and the Judge. He refers to this sifting of Israel a few verses later in 9:27-29:
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. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” 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.”
This is exactly what Paul has been talking about since Romans 9:6, but here in verses 9:27-29 he makes it explicit; not everyone born from the line of Jacob will be included in the blessings of Israel. God will only save a remnant of believing Jews, and the rest He has hardened. He will continue this topic all the way into Romans 11:1-10. So let’s take a few minutes to compare that passage with Romans 9:27-29.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Romans 11:1-10
This passage says that God has not rejected all of national Israel. He was still in a covenant relationship with a remnant of Israelites that are justified by grace through faith, not by the works of the Law of Moses. In 9:30-10:4 we see that many of the Israelites rejected the gift of righteousness that comes through faith in Christ and sought to establish their own righteousness by the works of the Law. They rejected grace in Christ and chose the works of the Law. Though this was the case, Paul is telling us in Romans 11:1-10 that God has reserved from Israel a remnant for Himself.
He illustrates this by referring to the narrative of Elijah found in 1 Kings 19. In that narrative we see that though the faithful followers of the Lord were few and persecuted, nevertheless the Lord set them apart and called them His own. As we read in Psalms 4:3, “the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly.” So, just as there was a remnant of faithful Israelites in the time of Elijah, Paul tells us that in his day there was also a remnant in Israel who did not reject Messiah, but trusted in Him.
But Also the Gentiles
and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Romans 9:23-24
But in Romans 9:24 Paul shatters the lump of clay analogy and turns it on its head. The lump of clay that represents Israel in Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Romans 9:20-21 has now somehow produced “vessels of honor” from among the Gentiles! Gentiles have somehow snuck into the fold of Israel!
As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “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.”
Romans 9:25-26
In Romans 9:25-26 Paul continues to drive this home in his now predictable fashion, applying verses that were originally applied to national Israel to Gentiles who believe in Christ. After saying, “not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles” in 9:24, He quotes from Hosea 2:23 and 1:10 applying it to Gentile believers. That these verses are indeed applied to the believing Gentiles is made abundantly clear because he then contrasts these quotations with the following three verses from Isaiah referring to Israel and the remnant of Israel:
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. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” 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.”
Romans 9:27-29
So we miraculously see three groups of people come out of one lump of clay. The unbelieving Israelites are made into vessels of wrath in verse 9:22, and the remnant of believing Israelites and the believing Gentiles in verses 9:23-24 become vessels of mercy. This is what Paul has been talking about throughout Romans 9.
He has said that the children of promise are the heirs of Abraham, both Jewish and Gentile believers in Messiah, not the children of the flesh. The second born son Jacob represents the Church of Jesus Christ, and those who make up this holy nation are the elect of God. But the firstborn son Esau, representing national Israel who is zealous for the Law but has rejected Christ, they are rejected by God. And it is not the hardened unbelieving Israelites represented by Pharaoh who receive God’s mercy, but the Jews and Gentiles who receive God’s grace through faith. And now, here in Romans 9:20-29 the apostle spells out for us what the careful reader has already seen, namely the unbelieving Israelites have been rejected as God’s people, and believing Gentiles and the remnant of believing Jews have become the elect people of God.
Reader, please do not miss the significance of verses 22-29! These verses tell us explicitly what Paul has been talking about in Romans 9. He tells us that the unbelieving Jews have been rejected, and the remnant of believing Jews, along with believing Gentiles, are accepted as God’s children! Romans 9 is not a mysterious passage about determinism. It is not a proof-text for the misnamed “Doctrines of Grace”! It is simply Paul reiterating the message he preached everywhere; that is, the Gospel has the power to save all who believe, both Jew and Gentile (Rom. 1:16-17). This section confirms that we have understood Paul’s line of argument up to this point. Isaac, Jacob and Israel under Moses, were representing the vessels of mercy, both Jewish and Gentile believers in Messiah. And Ishmael, Esau and Pharaoh represented the rebellious and unbelieving nation of Israel that Paul was grieved over in 9:1-5. Don’t be intimidated by determinism, Romans 9 is not a fatalistic passage, it is the good news of the Gospel!
Reconstituted Israel According to New Testament
Is Paul’s teaching on this matter strange or without precedent? Did He come up with this idea that Israel has been reconstituted around Jesus Christ? Certainly not! This is the clear teaching of the New Testament, including Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels. Let’s take a quick survey of other passages in order to confirm Paul’s teaching on this subject.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 3:7-10
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ” ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Luke 19:37-40
When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 8:10-12
God has indeed raised up stones to be children for Abraham and the lump of clay has produced stones that cry out in praise because Israel failed to do so! God’s elect and holy people Israel is made up of Jewish and Gentile believers, while many of “the sons of the kingdom” have been cast out because of their unbelief.
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Matthew 21:33-46 ESV
Jesus warned the nation of Israel about this judgment in many ways in the Gospels. We see a clear example of this above in Matthew 21:33-46. Those in Israel, like most of the Pharisees, who refused to trust in Christ would have God’s kingdom removed from them, and it would be given to another group of people instead.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
John 10:16
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
John 17:20-21
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
John 12:32-33
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:21-24
This understanding, that the Israel of God would include believing Gentiles, was the express teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus taught throughout the Gospels that the Gentiles would be included in salvation through Christ.
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:44-47
how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
Ephesians 3:3-6
This reconstituting of Israel around Christ, instead of being centered on lineage or Law, was prophesied in the Old Testament, but not fully understood until the Lord Jesus opened the minds of the Apostles to understand the prophecies. Romans 9 is one place among many we see the Apostles teaching this reformation of Israel. Those who fail to recognize this completely fail to understand the core teaching of Romans chapter 9.
Prepared Beforehand for Glory in Appendix 2
We need to address the phrase “prepared beforehand for glory” in Romans 9:23 for the sake of those who have been influenced by the deterministic doctrine of unconditional election. This is the first time the biblical concept of predestination has come up in Romans 9 and we want to understand it accurately. But we do not want to get sidetracked by calvinistic presuppositions at this point, so we will continue to follow Paul’s line of thinking through to the end of Romans 9. We will address this phrase and the predestination it expresses in Appendix 2 of this book.
The Big Picture 9:30-33
We have made it through the first 29 verses of Romans 9. In this final chapter we want to look at the final 4 verses. But before jumping into those verses we want to recap what we have seen up to this point. By doing so we will be able to see whether or not we have followed Paul’s line of thought accurately. So, let’s go back and see if we have to force anything in order to make a straight path from 9:1 to 9:33. I encourage you to pull out your Bible and follow along verse by verse in Romans 9 so we can see together what Paul is arguing in that chapter.
Romans 9:1-5
In 9:1-5 we see Paul grieving over the lost condition of his countrymen. Though they had been prepared as a people by the Holy Scriptures to understand and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the large majority of them had rejected it. This grieved Paul’s heart to the degree that he was willing to be cursed in their place. They had such a high calling, and for some reason they were now cast away from the blessings of God in Christ. This deeply affects Paul.
Romans 9:6
But we see in 9:6 that his grief was not the foremost thought in his mind. The reputation of God was a greater concern for him. God had made many promises to Israel, but due to their unbelief, they had forfeited those promises. So, did this mean that God’s word had failed? Did Israel’s unbelief thwart the plans of God? In 9:6 Paul immediately answers these questions. The unfaithfulness of Israel does not mean “that the word of God has taken no effect.” As he argued earlier in Romans 3:3-4, the unbelief of Israel did not nullify the faithfulness of God.
But, if God intended to establish His kingdom through Israel, and national Israel is not part of His kingdom, then how can Paul say that God’s word has not been hindered? He answers this by explaining that not everyone born from the line of Jacob (i.e. Israel) is part of God’s holy people Israel (Rom. 9:6). His argument is that Israel, God’s holy nation, is not reckoned according to lineage, but by some other means. He will spend the rest of Romans 9 developing this thought alongside other related ideas.
Romans 9:6-9
In 9:3-4 Paul mentioned his “countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites.” Then, in 9:7-9 he turns to his first illustration from the Old Testament to show why his countrymen are not actually part of Israel in God’s eyes, though they are the descendants of Jacob. He points out that it was not Ishmael, Abraham’s son born according to the flesh, that inherited the promises of God. Instead Isaac was counted as Abraham’s seed and heir.
This illustration simply confirms what he has already stated in 9:6-7, “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’” In the same way people are not counted as Jacob’s descendants by natural lineage, so the children of Abraham are not reckoned according to the flesh, but according to the divine promise. Simply put, national Israel, though they are physical descendants of Abraham, are not counted as Abraham’s heirs by God. There is another group of people that are “the children of God” and “the children of the promise” (Rom. 9:8).
The next questions we must ask are, “Who are these children of promise,” and “How does one become a child of promise.” These two questions are so closely related, that to answer the second is to answer the first. Paul does not answer this question in Romans 9:6-9 because he has already written about it at length in Romans 4.
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. … Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Romans 4:13, 16
Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, have become the children of Abraham by receiving the grace of God through faith. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are heirs of the promise.
So, in 9:6-9 Paul is telling us that being born a Jew according to the flesh is not what makes one a child of Abraham or Jacob. The Israel of God is made up of believers, both Jew and Gentile. Salvation does not come through natural lineage, but through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Which is exactly what Paul told us in Romans 1:16-17:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
We see this interpretation further confirmed when we turn to Galatians 4:21-31 and read Paul using the same analogy in a similar context. There Paul explicitly states that Isaac, the child of promise, represents those who are members of the New Covenant, and that Ishmael represents the unbelieving nation of Israel who still insist on finding their glory and righteousness in the Old Covenant given at Mount Sinai.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar– –
Galatians 4:23-24
Romans 9:10-13
Paul is not done driving his point home, so he brings up another Old Testament narrative to illustrate his point further. He refers to Sarah’s twins, Esau and Jacob, which were the heads of two nations, Edom and Israel. And he focuses on the fact that Jacob was chosen to be the heir of Abraham and Isaac’s promise before he had done any good works. In this way Paul is illustrating that the children of promise are not reckoned by the works of the Law of Moses, but by the election of grace (Rom. 9:11).
(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),
Romans 9:11
Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Romans 11:5-6
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Romans 4:16
But, salvation by grace through faith, as opposed to the works of the Law of Moses, is not the only point he intends to make by referencing Jacob and Esau. He is using these two men as an analogy in the same way he just used Ishmael and Isaac in the previous verses. He is teaching us that Esau, the father of the Edomites, a nation rejected and even “hated” by God, represents the unbelieving nation of Israel (Rom. 9:13, Mal. 1:2-3).
Just as Paul used Ishmael, the outcast son of a slave woman, to represent national Israel in Romans 9:7-9 and Galatians 4:21-31, he now points the finger at his unbelieving countrymen and says, “You are Edom! You have sold your birthright for a bit of porridge!” And at the same time he is declaring believers in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, as the true descendants of Jacob and the beloved Israel of God. Paul has turned the natural reading of the narrative on its head and given us prophetic insight into the Old Testament passages; believers are the true Israel, and heirs of the promise, even though they came later in history. In this way, he is assuring all that the word of God has not failed in spite of the unbelief of national Israel; “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6).
Thus far, Paul’s point is clear. He has not strayed from his original point, nor has he brought in any new ideas about the nature of salvation other than what he has been communicating since Romans 1:16. Paul is explaining why God’s word has not failed, though Israel has rejected the Messiah. Paul answers this dilemma by declaring that God’s people, Israel, are not reckoned according to natural lineage or the works of Moses’ Law, but according to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 9:14-18
After rebuking Israel so harshly by comparing them to Ishmael and Esau, Paul anticipates their objection. The unbelieving Israelites would consider this unfair. After all, they had been God’s special people for centuries, and now God is welcoming many Gentiles and rejecting many Jews? But Paul defends God against their unjust accusations. He insists that God has the right to give His mercy to whomever He so desires.
Moses had once pleaded with God to go with him and the nation of Israel in order to show the other nations that they had received grace from God. Paul references this episode in order to illustrate his point. God’s response to Moses in Exodus 33:19 was, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” The unbelieving Jews felt that God owed them since they were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and had inherited the Law of Moses. But Paul cites this Old Testament passage to expose their presumptuous attitude. God owes them nothing; He alone decides who will receive His grace and mercy. And He has determined to give grace to Jews and Gentiles that place their trust in His Son.
People cannot earn God’s mercy by the works of the Law, but must trust in the grace of God given in Jesus Christ. “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:16). National Israel had pursued righteousness by the works of the Law, but God offers right-standing with Himself only to those who believe in Christ.
Paul goes even further in defending God’s justice. He does this by bringing up Pharoah. The king of Egypt had oppressed God’s people and resisted God’s Lordship, and God dealt with him accordingly. He used the stubborn heart of Pharaoh for His own purposes. Paul uses this illustration to show us that God has now dealt with the stubborn nation of Israel in the exact same way. They had rejected the prophets, and in their pride even rejected God’s own Son. So God hardened them and used them for His purposes. Their rejection, and subsequent judgment, led to the Gospel being offered to the Gentiles. Their unbelief did not hinder God’s kingdom, but advanced it!
Romans 9:19-21
At this point, Paul can hear the grumbling of the unbelievers among his people, and he lets us know their thoughts in 9:19, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” He responds to their objection by referring to the illustration God gave to the prophet in Jeremiah 18. God compared Israel with a lump of clay that had been marred in the hands of the potter. He told Jeremiah that when a nation was promised blessing, but turned away into rebellion, that He would revoke the blessing and bring judgment instead. This is exactly what Paul is telling us God did with the nation of Israel when they rejected Messiah. He made them into vessels of “dishonor.” He had been patient with them throughout the centuries, but this was the final straw. He now handed them over to their unbelief and they would suffer the consequences of it.
The fact that God used their rebellion to advance His own purposes did not absolve them from their guilt. They could not argue, as they had in Romans 3:5, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath?” No, they were guilty for their rebellion, just as Pharaoh was for his. That God used their rebellion for His own purposes is none of their business!
Romans 9:22-29
Paul then goes on to tell us what God has made out of the lump of clay representing Israel. He makes the unbelievers of Israel into vessels of wrath that are storing up wrath for themselves because of the hardness of their hearts (Rom. 2:4-5). God has dealt patiently with them, but they have persisted in rebellion and unbelief, and wrath awaits them.
But God has done something unexpected with the rest of the lump of clay. Of course, for those of us that have been carefully following Paul’s line of argument, we will not find it surprising. But for those in Paul’s day, it would have been the revelation of a great mystery that was hidden until the coming of Christ. Paul speaks of this mystery elsewhere in Ephesians 3:1-6:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles– if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel
The mystery is that God always intended to make believing Gentiles part of Israel. God had not only judged some unbelieving Israelites and made them into vessels of wrath. Nor did He merely make believing Jews into vessels of mercy. But out of the lump of clay representing God’s holy people, He even made believing Gentiles into vessels of mercy. He drives this home in 9:25-26 by applying verses originally spoken about God’s forgiveness and acceptance of Israel to these believing Gentiles. We know for sure this is applied to the Gentiles in 9:24 because he goes on to contrast it with verses 27-29 in which God prophesied through Isaiah that the nation of Israel would be destroyed, and only a remnant would be saved. This saved remnant are those believing Jews who had been molded into vessels of mercy in 9:23-24.
So, God had reformed Israel. He did not reject Israel, but reconstituted it. It was no longer founded on lineage or Law, but on the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is “the Seed” of Abraham (Gal. 3:16). Those Jews and Gentiles who reject Christ will be rejected membership in Israel. But those who believe on Christ, first the Jew, but also the Greeks, will be welcomed as members of Israel. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone. Those who receive Him will be received by God! But He is also the Stumbling Stone. Those who reject Him will be rejected by God!
Jesus had come first to the Jewish nation, and they did not receive Him. But to the Jews who did receive Him, and to the Gentiles that believed in Him, God gave the right to become children of Abraham, but even more, the right to become children of God. These believers “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13). It was not their bloodline or their adherence to the works of the Law that led to their new birth, but their faith in God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ.
Romans 9:30-33 (& 10:1-4)
So, now, the moment of truth. As we look at the last few verses of Romans 9, and the first few verses of Romans 10, will it take some philosophical gymnastics and theological wrangling to connect what we have seen so far to fit with Paul’s conclusion?
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 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. 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.” Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 9:30-10:4
“What shall we say then?” Paul sums up the argument he has been making at least as far back as 9:18 where he declared, “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” He explains why Gentiles have received mercy, and the unbelieving Israelites have been hardened. The Gentile Christians received the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. But the Jewish unbelievers had rejected Christ because they sought to establish their own righteousness by adherence to the Law of Moses. Christ came to create “one new man” out of Jew and Gentile, but the large part of national Israel wanted to remain distinct and special (Eph. 2:15). For this reason they stumbled over Christ and His message of peace to those “who were afar off and those who were near” (Eph. 2:17).
They imagined that righteousness was based on keeping the Law of Moses. They refused to accept the gift of righteousness that comes by grace through faith, and insisted on adhering to the Old Covenant, instead of receiving the New Covenant promised to them in the prophetic Scriptures. They had the oracles of God which pointed them to Christ as the fulfillment of the Law, but they rejected them in their personal and national pride. This answers the question Paul raised in 9:1-5 by grieving over Israel. His grief causes the reader to ask, “Why have the Jews rejected the Jewish Messiah?” The answer is that they have chosen their own national and personal glory over the righteousness of Christ.
Paul’s message in Romans 9 is clear. There is no hint of calvinistic determinism. This passage is a forceful argument against the unbelief of the Jews. And it is a great encouragement to those who have fled to Christ for refuge. To read the errors of Calvinism into this passage is to admit that we have missed the historical and theological context and have failed to pay careful attention to Paul’s line of argument. Romans 9 is a reiteration of Paul’s Gospel message, not a proof-text for the deterministic doctrines of Calvinism. In Romans 9 we learn that justification is through faith in Messiah, not through natural lineage from Jacob or through devotion to the Old Covenant Law. In it we learn that God has kept His promise to Israel because Israel is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile.
Appendix 1: Romans 9:11 Phraseology
…Of Him Who Calls…
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad–in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls–
Romans 9:11 ESV
The phrase “Him who calls” in Romans 9:11 is also infused with calvinistic meaning by those in the Reformed camp. For them, when God calls, it is irresistible. In order to help those with this deterministic concept stuck in their minds, I will give a brief explanation of how the New Testament uses the word “call,” and how Paul uses it in Romans in particular.
In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus teaches a parable about a wedding feast. The master of the feast invites many to share in the wedding feast of his son. Many come into the hall, but one does not wear the proper attire, and is cast out for his presumption. Then Jesus concludes the parable by declaring, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Mat. 22:14). This parable illustrates well the two primary meanings of the term “call.” Those called are “invited” to a privilege, but also “summoned” to a duty. So we must rejoice in the grace of God, but also walk out our salvation with fear and trembling. We are invited to the wedding feast, but we are also summoned to holiness.
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 ESV
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
1 Peter 1:13-17 ESV
For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:20-21 ESV
In some places the term “call” is best understood as “summoned”. In this sense, God’s call carries with it a responsibility. We are summoned to a duty. We see this conveyed in the passages above.
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:5-7 ESV
But in the book of Romans Paul most commonly uses the term “call” in its other primary meaning, namely, “invited.” Those who are called are invited to a privilege. Paul often uses “called” as a term of honor. He refers to the saints as the “called.” That is, they have been invited into the privileges of God’s people through the Gospel.
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory– even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.'” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”
Romans 9:23-26 ESV
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad–in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls–
Romans 9:11 ESV
In Romans 9:11 Paul is saying that God has invited them to salvation through the Gospel. It is His sheer mercy that makes it possible for anyone to be His child. We are not welcomed as God’s people by the works of the Law, but according to His gracious choice, and His eternal purpose in Christ. We have been invited to be members of Israel, and heirs of God, through God’s grace. And this gracious invitation is received through faith.
…the Purpose of God…
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad–in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls–
Romans 9:11 ESV
Those who are influenced by the paradigm of TULIP often interpret the phrase “the purpose of God” in a fatalistic way. They imagine that if God planned something, He did so without any reference to the decisions of free creatures. Because of this, they want to read unconditional election into that phrase. So let’s go to other passages in Romans and in Paul’s other letters to get a grasp of what Paul had in his mind when referencing “the purpose of God.”
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory– even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.'” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”
Romans 9:23-26 ESV
We can understand this phrase by cross referencing it with Romans 9:23-26. Before history God planned to create a people made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. The Church, which came later than national Israel in the history of the world, always had the primary place in God’s plan for history. The “vessels of mercy” are those who were elected by grace. They are the Jews and Gentiles who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They are God’s chosen people whom He “prepared beforehand for glory.” God always intended to adopt believers as His children and glorify them with Jesus Christ at the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day.
making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:9-10 ESV
In Ephesians 1:9-10 we learn that God had a secret eternal purpose to exalt His Son as Lord of heaven and earth. God always intended to make His Son the heir of all things. And that is exactly what He did. “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son,” and “in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Gal. 4:6, Rom. 5:6). He sent His Son to become a man and taste death for all men in order to bring “many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:9-10). Then, because of His obedience He raised Him from the dead and gave Him the name above all names so “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” (Phil. 2:8-10). This was God’s eternal purpose. But what does that have to do with Him saving Jews and Gentiles by grace through faith?
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7 ESV
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles– assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV
As we continue to read in Ephesians 2:7 we learn that God intends to magnify His grace through the Church for all eternity. We who believe in Christ will be trophies of God’s grace. So God has exalted His Son, and intends to raise us up with Him so that His grace will be magnified through His Son.
In Ephesians 3:1-6 Paul tells us more about the mystery he first mentioned in chapter 1:9-10. This mystery was not revealed to the generations that came before the coming of Christ. But after Christ came, the Spirit of God revealed that God had always intended to engraft Gentiles who believe in Christ into His holy people Israel.
God’s eternal purpose was to glorify His Son and magnify His grace through His Son by creating a people made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. So, what we read in Romans 9:11 is that people are not elected (i.e. chosen) as God’s people through the works of the Law of Moses, but they are chosen by God’s grace that is received through faith in Jesus Christ. This was done in accordance with the eternal “purpose of God.”
Appendix 2: Prepared Beforehand for Glory / Predestination
Predestination
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Romans 9:23-24 ESV
In light of the fact that many have been so influenced by the errors of Reformed Theology, some might stumble over some of the phraseology in those verses. Calvinists tend to focus on anything that refers to God planning something in advance. From their deterministic mindset, if God planned something, He did so without any reference to the decisions of free creatures. For those in that camp, people’s decisions are simply effects caused by God’s unilateral and unchanging decree. So, let’s take a minute to look at the phrase, “He had prepared beforehand for glory” in verse 9:23.
Before God created the world, He already planned to have a special people that would be called by His name. We saw this in Romans 11:2 when Paul said, “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” The question for Paul throughout His writings is, “Who are those who make up this holy nation, and by what means are they chosen?” His answer is clear throughout his epistles. God has chosen to have a people made up of Jewish and Gentile believers in Messiah. God’s people, whom He foreknew and chose ahead of time, that is, “prepared beforehand,” is the Church of Jesus Christ. Israel has not been replaced in God’s plan, but reconstituted in Jesus Christ.
We see this spelled out four us in Ephesians 3:1-6:
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles– assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
ESV
Ok, but why would Paul feel necessary to mention a predestined eternal plan? Wouldn’t it be sufficient to just tell us God’s will and leave the eternal stuff out of the explanation? Because Calvinists believe in the philosophy of determinism (i.e. God causes all things, including the decisions of His creatures) they have focused on the passages in the Bible that mention God’s predestined plans and they insist that such verses prove their case. They believe that “predestine” means God causes all things, even the decisions of His creatures. They go so far with this philosophy that they insist that a person’s choice to trust in Christ is caused by God’s “irresistible grace.” The person’s decision to trust Christ is just an effect of God’s decision to make them believe through an “effectual call.” But in the Bible “predestine” merely means that God had a plan beforehand. It says nothing about the ability of creatures to make genuinely free choices in regards to rejecting or accepting Christ. It is just pointing out that God has an goal in mind; that is, He had a plan.
So, again, why did Paul mention things like, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:4-5). If he was not trying to insist that God unilaterally determines who believes and who is damned, without any regards to their free choices, then why say, “before the foundation of the world?”
The answer, as always, is found in the context. Remember that Paul is trying to combat the error of the Judaizers, and the boasts of the Israelites, that they have the corner market on God’s election. After all, they were chosen as God’s people long ago in history. They are the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, and they received the covenant at Mount Sinai. So, in their minds, they have the preeminence because of their lineage and the covenant made with them through Moses (i.e. lineage and Law).
When we turn to Romans 9, Paul is wrestling to overthrow the idea that Israelites who keep the Law of Moses are the chosen people of God. He is arguing that God’s plan was always to have a people made up of Jews and Gentiles in Christ through faith, not through the works of the Law. He wants the churches to know that God prepared the Church beforehand, that is, God always intended to form the Church. God foreknew the remnant believers in Israel and the believing Gentiles. That is to say, God prepared beforehand to bring them together as His covenant people through Jesus Christ.
Let’s consider the way Paul has been communicating this throughout Romans 9. He purposely chose Issac and Jacob to represent the Church in 9:6-13. By doing so, he was pointing out that long ago, even in the book of Genesis God was foreshadowing about the coming salvation through Christ. Abraham received promises by God that culturally should have been inherited by his firstborn son. But, God turned things on its head, and chose his second born son. Isaac should have passed his inheritance onto his firstborn son, but once again, God sovereignly intervened and shook up the status quo by choosing the second born son, even before he did anything to deserve it. By so doing God was showing that it was His sovereign prerogative to determine by what line the promises of God to Abraham would be dispensed.
God was showing from the beginning of the Bible that He planned to do things in a way that would not be in line with human culture and sensibilities. He was foreshadowing that the firstborn son, Israel according to the flesh, and the first covenant given at Sinai, were going to be overshadowed by a new and greater covenant in the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. God always intended that the first should be last, and the last should be first (Mat. 20:16).
The Jews who had “borne the burden and the heat of the day,” were not able to understand why God’s people were ultimately chosen by grace through faith in Christ, instead of through Jewish lineage and Law (Mat. 20:12). And, in their national pride, they could not accept that God had made Gentile believers equal with them in God’s kingdom. This is the great mystery that was hidden in former generations but was revealed by God’s Spirit to the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Eph. 3:5-6).
To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Galatians 3:15-18 ESV
In Ephesians 1:1 Paul addresses the “faithful in Christ Jesus.” This was his audience in Ephesians. And those believers were given every spiritual blessing “in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). And it was these faithful that were “chosen” (i.e. elect) through Jesus Christ (i.e. in Him) from “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:3). What was Paul getting at in Ephesians 1? The exact same thing he was getting at in Galatians 3:15-18. God’s plan of creating a Church through Jesus Christ was always His primary goal. It wasn’t plan B. God’s goal in creating the world was not to build the Jewish nation centered on the Law of Moses. No! God’s eternal purpose was to glorify His Son and through Him magnify His grace among Jews and Gentiles by saving all who believe in the Gospel (Eph. 1:10, 2:7)!
In Romans, Galatians and Ephesians Paul is combating the national pride of unbelieving Jews, and the unguided zeal of the Judaizers for the Old Covenant Law, by expressing in various ways that God’s eternal purpose was always to create a people, chosen by grace through faith in His glorious Son! So in Romans he points to how God chose the younger sons of Abraham and Isaac to inherit the promises. He speaks of the vessels of mercy, both Jew and Gentile, as being prepared beforehand for glory. In Ephesians he helps us realize that even though national Israel and the Law of Moses came first in history, nevertheless, the Church of Jesus Christ was chosen through Christ from before the creation of the world! And in Galatians, though the Law came before Christ, it cannot annul the promise that was given to Him through Abraham to be the Seed and Heir of all the promises of God! Predestination is not about God arbitrarily determining to save certain individuals and damn others. Biblical predestination is about God’s eternal plan to glorify His Son, and through Him magnify God’s grace, by creating a covenant people consisting of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ Jesus. It has nothing to do with Calvinistic determinism.
For Glory?
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory– even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Romans 9:23-24 ESV
What did God prepare believers for? He prepared them beforehand “for glory!” Let’s briefly look at what this means since it was also mentioned in Romans 9:4 as one of the things that the nation of Israel would have inherited if they had not stiffened their neck. As we read, “who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.” In this verse we see that adoption and glory are closely related, so let’s take a quick look at a few verses so we can see what is being discussed.
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Ephesians 1:4-5 ESV
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30 ESV
In these two passages we see a parallel for Romans 9:23’s phrase, “prepared beforehand for glory.” These “vessels of mercy” were foreknown by God (Rom. 11:2). That is, God determined beforehand to come into a covenant relationship with them. He reserved them for Himself (Ps. 4:3, Rom. 11:4). So, those “whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” And those whom He chose through Christ, He also planned to be “adopted as sons.”
God planned not only to make Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ His own special people, He planned from all eternity to make them His children through faith in Christ. For we “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). This adoption cannot be inherited through lineage as we see in John 1:11-13, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Galatians 4:4-6 ESV
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. … The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:13-14, 16-17 ESV
Romans 8:13-17 and Galatians 4:4-6 help us to see one aspect of this adoption. Through faith we become children of God, and then because we are reckoned as God’s children, God gives us the Spirit of Christ (Gal. 4:6). Then, by the power of God’s Spirit we are able to live holy lives, putting sin to death (Rom. 8:13). This transformation identifies us as God’s children and heirs of God (Rom. 8:14 and 17). So, we see that after trusting in Christ, we receive His Spirit and are identified as the children of God. Those in Christ are presently the children of God.
and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. … And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:17-18, 23-25 ESV
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20-21 ESV
But there is another aspect of adoption which is the future. Our bodies will be resurrected from the dead and we will be glorified with Christ at His return (Rom. 17-18, 23, Phil. 3:21) We have not yet attained this aspect of our adoption; we have not yet been conformed to the image of Christ and glorified with Him (Rom. 8:23-25, 29-30). This future glorification is conditional on us continuing to walk with Christ in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13, 17, 1 Pet. 1:17). If we suffer with Him we shall reign with Him (Rom. 8:17, 2 Tim. 2:12).
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory– even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? … “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”
Romans 9:23-24, 26 ESV
So, from before the world began God intended to form a holy people made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Though Israel was formed first, national Israel was not His end-goal. He sent His Son to give His life a ransom for all men, so that both Jew and Gentile could be united in One Body. God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent and calling Jews and Gentiles to faith in Christ through the Gospel (Acts. 17:30, Rom. 1:16). Those who turn away from their rebellion against God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be reconciled to God, adopted as His children, filled with His Spirit and given the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Appendix 3: Reconstituted Israel
So, has the Church replaced Israel? No! Instead God has established Israel as God’s holy people. But He has not established Israel according to its connection to the patriarchs or according to the Law of Moses, but by its connection to Jesus Christ.
God gave a promise to Abraham. This promise was not handed down to all of Abraham’s descendants, but was limited to the line of Isaac. God had the right to limit the promise to one descendant and not all. Then he limited it again by choosing Jacob’s line. God was not unjust in doing so. It was His divine prerogative to limit the promise to whichever line He so chose. This is exactly the point that Paul has in mind in Romans 9:6-13. God has now limited the promise once again. There is now only one way to inherit the promise of Abraham. It is not through lineage from Jacob, nor is it through obedience to the Law of Moses that came 430 years after the promise, but it is through Abraham’s Seed, Jesus Christ. Only through faith in Him can one become an heir of Abraham. Though the Jews might cry “Foul,” this is God’s sovereign choice. They do not question that God had the right to choose Isaac and reject Ishmael. Nor are they indignant that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. So now, they have no right to reject God’s sovereign decision when He declares through the Gospel that salvation is not through lineage, nor through Law, but only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has reconstituted Israel. His holy people are not founded on the bloodline of the patriarchs, nor through devotion to the Law of Moses. But citizenship in Israel is dependent on faith in the Lord Jesus. God welcomes all to partake of the promises given to Israel, whether Jew or Gentile. But He reserves the right to exclude anyone who rejects His Son. God has raised up children for Abraham from among the Gentiles because the people of Israel refused to praise the Son of God (Mat. 3:9, Luk. 19:39-40). God has taken the kingdom away from rebels and given it to a people who bear righteous fruit (Mat. 21:43). Jews and Gentiles alike are welcome into God’s kingdom, but God has set the condition for membership, and no one enters except through Jesus Christ.
Kingdom Theology 