Romans 9

I want to treat this section carefully and first remind my sons in the faith that I do not pretend to be an expert.  I must like Paul, adopt humility when it comes to discussions of God’s sovereign will.  As Nicodemus learned, we must learn it is not given to us to sit around make judgements of God.  As Job learned, me must learn that God is God and we are not. There will be things in Scripture and our own lives that would lead us to question God’s judgement. But finally we trust God is good, and He has proven His goodness with matchless grace and with His Son who gave Himself for us on a brutal cross.

Let us first grasp the context of this chapter.  Paul has changed gears from chapter eight, and there doesn’t seem to be any sort of connecting language that would bridge the thoughts from chapter eight to chapter nine.  The contrast between Paul’s mood is like night and day as he moves away from talking about an overwhelming joy and victory in Christ to his own bitter sorrow and unending grief for the situation of his own people the Jews.  As Paul writes, he often imagines what someone might say in argument.  Perhaps it is more than just imagination but experience of actual objections from people he has encountered.  In this case Paul tells us of the privileges Israel enjoys as being “chosen” to be the recipients of God’s covenant promises and revelation (v4-5).

The first objection is in verse six, perhaps someone might say, “Well then, if Israel is so special then why does it appear that God has failed to keep His promises to them?  They’ve received special revelation other nations have not, but yet they now sit in domination to Roman authority,  they reject the revelation that was given to them in Jesus the Messiah, and now there are Gentiles (foreigners) being accepted into God’s community of people. Hasn’t God failed them, didn’t He say Israel would always be His people?” (cf. 2 Sam. 7:23-24; Deut. 14:2)

For the sake of good hermeneutical evaluation, we must allow this question (and the latter three) act as the boundaries for our conclusions in the chapter.  We must not force the chapter to answer other questions that Paul does not himself raise; I will give a few examples of those sort of questions shortly.  But in order to continue, one must realize the following is given to answer the question of verse six only.

Paul explains that God’s choosing of Israel is not a choice of an ethnic race.  If that were the case then all of Abraham’s children would fall within those parameters. Paul shows this in the progressive selection of Isaac over Ishmael, who was also the natural son of Abraham.  But wait, maybe God only meant the children of Sarah?  No, God selection really has nothing to do with human lineage (v8).  To bolster Paul’s argument he goes on to speak of Isaac’s twins, Jacob and Esau, who are both well within the lineage of Sarah and Abraham, but only Jacob was chosen.  Jacob and Esau both have the same mother, unlike Isaac and Ishmael, but because God made a clear choice between the two brothers, it stands that God’s election of Israel is not based on ethnic race.

The parenthetical statement in verses 11 and 12 also show that God’s choice of Israel wasn’t based on some kind of special behavior of the people God has chosen.  God’s choice of Jacob was already known to Rebecca before the twins were born.  So if the choice of God isn’t based on ethnic race nor good behavior, then what is it then?  Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 to say God is not limited by an human condition for what He does. His choices is based on His own sovereign goodness (v11-15).

Paul raises the second question of the chapter, “Is God unfair seeing that He doesn’t base His judgement on human behavior?” (v14), the following including the quote from Exodus is given to refute any claim that God is somehow being unfair.  Let us note that the book of Romans is being written to a predominately Jewish crowd with Gentiles in the mix.  Paul has labored in the previous chapters that God may declare guilty persons to be righteous because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.  The Jews who are dealing with this “new” way of being made righteous are dealing with tendencies to earn their own salvation.  Paul is of the mind to prove to them that earning righteousness was never the case, even in the Old covenant.

So I say this section of Roman’s nine does not lend itself exegetical evidence of determinism or double predestination.  Rather, within the context, Paul is showing that God’s sovereign choices leads to an enlarging of God’s community rather than a shrinking of it.  This is true even in the case of Pharaoh who heart was hardened that he would not listen.  The result of God’s choices for the purpose of God’s glory and fame being spread throughout the earth (v17-18). God chooses to show mercy to a human race heading for hell, made in the interest of saving “all who believe” (10:4).  God’s choices are completely sovereign, free from any obligation of human behavior, yet does not diminish the fact that we are responsible for our sin and rejection of Him.

This explanation leads into the third question of verse nineteen, “Then why does God blame people who don’t respond to Him? Aren’t they simply doing what God makes them do?” (v20)  And here is the question of a long winded debate.  In other words, when Pharaoh stands before God of heaven on judgement day, will not Pharaoh be able to make a case against God unjustly condemning him to hell?  Will Pharaoh and others like him say, “Hey wait a minute God, why are you sending me to hell when all I did was make the decisions you placed in my heart to make?”

Mountains of volumes have been written in effort to justify God’s judgements.   I write the following for the sake of my sons in Christ: God has not asked us to do such things.  This doesn’t mean there isn’t an answer for those who may question God’s fairness in human history. We should begin with Paul’s response in verse twenty.  “Nay, but, O man, who are thou that repliest against God?”  For those who think they finally have something against God to say, Paul reminds them, you are mere man.  Men have a sense of justice and fairness that falls terribly short of God’s standards.  There is no standard that men could compare with God.

Besides the earlier quotation of Exodus, I see a thematical allusion to Job and even Genesis 1:1.  Job never receives a logical explanation for his suffering.  Despite all his talk about wanting to appear in court with God, God never “explains Himself” to Job, as if God would ever have need to explain His actions to mere mortal men.  God simply asks Job where he was when God formed the universe.  Similarly Genesis 1:1 begins with God and no explanations. Leaving from Genesis 1, In order to continue reading the narrative, one must accept that God isn’t concerned with explaining such things to us, and He is perfectly just and good in doings so.  The only way to continue with reading the scriptures or be in a relationship with God for that matter is through humility.

Paul himself alludes to a master potter who has the sovereign choice to do what he will with the clay (v21).  It should suffice us to accept our humble place in the universe and believe that God is good. His sovereign choices are intended to make known His mercy and glory (v23).  The result is an enlarging of God’s people who will be the receptors of His mercy.  God isn’t confined to choosing within a certain ethnic lineage, both Jews and foreigners alike will be chosen (v24).

To bolster this the argument that God also chooses foreigners to become God’s citizens, Paul quotes from Old Testament scripture Hos. 2:23 (v25) and Hos. 1:10 (v26).  So the Jew’s should not be surprised or think that God is unfair for including foreigners in His choosing.  Neither should Jew’s be surprised that all that is ethnic Israel is not automatically included  in God’s kingdom. He quotes Isaiah  10:22-23  and Isaiah 1:9 to show this, scriptures the Jews would would be familiar with (v27-29).

A fourth question  in verse thirty closes the chapter and further gives context for all that has been said. “What shall we say then?” or in other words “what does this all mean then?” Foreigners (gentiles) became God’s people through faith, not be keeping Jewish laws and rules.  It was never the point to become righteous by rule keeping (v30).  God’s sovereign choice of who is and who isn’t will not be manipulated by someone (the Jews) thinking that have to be justified because of good their own religious behavior. (v31)  It has always been God’s choice that those who “make it in” will do so simply but trusting God (v32).

Therefore that means they must trust in Jesus whom God sent.  But to the Jews who are relying on their rituals and good behavior, Jesus was a stumbling stone, a rock in their path (v33).  Of course arrogant self-rightouesness will find God’s condemnation.  That arrogance is the same evil that crucified God’s Son. The only appropriate response to God’s sovereignty is humility and belief.  These are the conclusions I believe we should make with Romans 9 and do not venture to raise questions that attempt to make judgements against God’s fairness or goodness.  “Nay, but, O man, who are thou that repliest against God?”