Written ~ 07-23-2024
Read Romans Chapter Nine
Romans 9
In the first few verses of chapter nine we find Paul voicing his ultimate burden, he wanted his people, his countrymen, his fellow Israelites… (in other words his “family”) to come to Salvation through Jesus Christ. He went as far as to say he would be willing to have his own life cut off from Christ if that meant his “family” could be saved.
Romans 9:1-3…
1 “With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.”
Paul was absolutely heartbroken that his “family” did not accept the Lord. We should have that same burden for the unsaved. We know, as well as Paul knew, that we cannot stand in for someone else so they can be saved. It has to be their own personal decision. And you can see by these few verses that Paul was overwhelmed with grief that “his people” did not share the same belief that he did, they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. In verses 9:4-13, Paul further specifies who his people, the Israelites, actually were. It distinguishes between the Jews and the Israelites, God’s chosen people. I won’t go into much more detail on these particular verses because Paul gives a pretty clear explanation. But…
Let’s look at verses 9:8b-13 to set up the rest of the chapter…
Romans 9:8b-13…
8b Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to His own purposes; 12 He calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
In verse 9:4, Paul explains that the people of Israel were God’s chosen children… He made His covenant with them, and it was specifically through Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob that He would choose His people. So, this brings us to the question being asked in verse 9:14…then the rest of the chapter Paul is trying to explain how God chooses who will be chosen and who won’t. This is not an easy task.
Romans 9:14…
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!
It says in verses 9:12-13, “…God chooses people according to His own purposes; He calls people, but not according to their good or bad works…” God chose Jacob but rejected Esau while they were still in the womb, that was to make it very clear that we cannot earn our Salvation by being “good.”
God has given each of us free will to either follow the Lord or not. Though His choice is for everyone to accept Salvation, He knows full well that there will be those who reject Him and deny Christ. So, let’s reiterate… it is God’s Will that everyone come to Christ, but He will not push His Will on anyone, He wants that decision to be made because we understand our need for Salvation.
Romans 9:14-16…
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
What about the person whose heart has been hardened? Will God show His mercy on them? Let’s look at the next two verses…
Romans 9:17-18…
17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying My power in you and to spread My fame throughout the earth.” 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and He chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.
If you are not familiar with who Pharaoh is, I invite you to read the story of Moses and this Pharoah in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, chapters 3 through 14…
God’s purpose was for Pharoah’s heart to be hardened, God’s timing and display of His glory will always be up to Him. We may not understand why a person’s heart has to be hardened, but God will always use it for His glory. In this case God used Pharoah to show His power through many signs and wonders, each time though, the Pharoah did not concede, so the plagues upon Egypt continued. Even though the Pharoah’s heart was hardened, he still had the choice after witnessing the power of the Almighty God to turn his heart over to the Lord. But he did not.
Romans 9:19-20…
19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what He makes them do?”
20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
Even though a heart has been hardened… let’s understand this… there is ALWAYS opportunity for the softening of that heart and a complete turn to repentance and Salvation. God will never cut someone off completely for their hardened heart, it will always be God’s desire and His will that everyone acknowledges Him. It’s in that moment of acknowledgement and acceptance that His mercy and compassion will be poured out on them.
One of the points Paul is making in this passage is that we should not question God’s decisions.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says…
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways
and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
It may not seem fair to us that someone’s heart would be hardened while another’s heart is not. But we have to understand that what Isaiah said is very true! God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours. If we were to question God’s authority and His decision making, it’s like a glob of clay telling its maker what to do. See the illustration Paul makes…
Romans 9:21-23…
21 “When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show His anger and His power, He is very patient with those on whom His anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of His glory shine even brighter on those to whom He shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.”
As a reminder, Paul is writing to Christians. So, the next verses show how we, as believers, have been chosen…
Romans 9:24-26…
24 And we are among those whom He selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,
“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”
26 And,
“Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not My people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”
These verses should give us great encouragement! Even if we weren’t a part of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, we are now! As Gentiles we have been given the opportunity to know God as our Father!
You are chosen by God!
What are you going to do with that information? Continue on a path of sin and destruction? Will you allow your heart to remain hardened? Or will you turn to the Lord wholeheartedly! In Ezekiel 36:26 it says, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
Not everyone will heed to the call of the Lord, but my prayer will always be that everyone turns their hearts to Him.
Romans 9:27-29…
27 And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,
“Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out His sentence upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”
29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:
“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.”
The people of Israel, God’s chosen people, had everything they could have ever asked for as His children, but they did not listen to the commands of the Lord, so they were destroyed. The Israelites were blotted off the face of the earth except for a very small surviving group, just so the people that God called to be His own would not be completely wiped out. Verse 9:30 asks a question you and I might have as well! “What does all this mean?”
Romans 9:30-33…
30 “…Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in Him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when He said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a Rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.”
God has made a way for all of us to find Him, to trust in Him and because of our faith in Him, He includes us as His children. It doesn’t mean we will always do everything right; but it does mean we need to trust Him. God has placed the Rock, who is Jesus Christ the Messiah in our path. It very well could be that some see that Rock as an obstacle to avoid and try to go around it at every chance. Just like the Israelites, we can follow their path of avoidance and be destroyed! They didn’t stop to see what was in the path. Instead, they tried desperately to climb over the hurdle and go around the roadblock. They completely missed seeing the LORD because they were too busy trying to do everything in their own power. When they did something wrong in the sight of the LORD, instead of fixing the road that led them back to Him, they dug the pothole even deeper. Is it truly your desire to follow that kind of path?
Let’s all recognize that the Rock in the path, the obstacle, the roadblock is our Savior, Jesus Christ our LORD! He hasn’t been placed there as an inconvenience, He has been placed specifically, in our line of sight, so we can see Him as the way to all Truth. So… Instead of climbing over Him or walking around Him to seek something else for guidance, let’s stop at that Rock, lay down all of our wrongs, all of our wants, needs, desires and put all our trust in that foundational Rock. The immovable, the impenetrable ROCK who is our LORD!
The last part of verse 33 says…
“… anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced…”
Isaiah 28:16 says…
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone…
a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.
Whoever believes need never be shaken.
When we put our trust in the Lord we will no longer be disgraced because of sin in our lives. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and put our faith in Him, we have a firm foundation found in Him alone. Because of that foundation, we will not be shaken!
We have been chosen by God to be His children. Let’s build our lives on the truth found only in Scripture and build our foundation of faith on the solid Rock known only as Jesus Christ. We have been prepared in advance for GLORY! So, walk in that glory! And with confidence and boldness TRUST IN THE LORD, Our Rock, our Salvation!!
~AMEN~