Romans 9: Verse-By-Verse Study

Romans 9: Verse-By-Verse Study

Romans 9 is arguably the most controversial chapter in all of Scripture--perhaps causing more disagreements and frustration among Christians than any other.

This chapter is the "flagship" or foundation of most of the "TULIP" doctrines held by Calvinists and Reformed Theology Christians around the world. This chapter remains a confusing mystery to many Arminians, Open Theists, and other Christians, leaving them puzzled and wondering if Calvinists might be correct after all.

Romans 9 is even difficult and divisive for many Calvinists, because it appears to teach "Double-Predestination," a doctrine shunned by many Calvinists as "heretical."

Below I will be examining and commenting on each verse of Romans Chapter 9. Please add your own comments below. This should spark a lively discussion. The goal here is to discuss, debate, and then arrive at agreement on God's Holy Word.

I am using the ESV (English Standard Version) for this study, not only because it is accurate, but also because many of the people who worked on creating the ESV were influenced by Reformed (Calvinistic) doctrines. In this way, I hope to dispel any notion of choosing an "Anti-Calvinist" Bible Translation.

Romans 9:1 (ESV): I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—

Paul begins the chapter by declaring that he knows he is speaking the truth and that the Holy Spirit is bearing witness to that fact in his conscience.

Romans 9:2 (ESV): that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Paul is deeply hurt and upset. (If Calvinism is true, then it appears that Paul is in deep sorrow over the fact that God chose not to save the non-elect Jews)

Romans 9:3 (ESV): For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 

Paul would rather lose his salvation, be damned to Hell forever in his sin, than for his fellow Jews to go there. The passion and love of Paul for the lost is incredible. The word "accursed" here means "eternally cursed," in other words-- Hell/Gehenna/Lake of Fire. If it were possible, Paul would trade his life for all of the Jews' lives. You can truly see the love of Jesus burning strongly in the heart of His servant Paul.

Romans 9:4 (ESV): They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 

Now Paul begins a list of special privileges, blessings, and honored positions which God bestowed upon the nation of Israel (the descendants of Jacob).

"The adoption"-- This was the adoption of the descendants of Jacob as "Firstborn" nation, the only nation on earth specially chosen by God to be His exclusive people. (Compare Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1; Deuteronomy 10:15)

"The glory"-- Perhaps a reference to the "Shekinah," the glorious Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire that led Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. If so, this "Glory of the Lord" was none other than "The Angel of the Lord," the Pre-Human Jesus Christ.

"The covenants"-- The covenants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David; the list goes on.

"The giving of the Law"-- The Law (including the Ten Commandments) which Moses received through angels and by the finger of God.

"The worship"-- The privilege and honor of approaching the Almighty God of the Universe in worship by offering sacrifices and praise.

"The promises"-- There were many, many promises God made to Israel: Some conditional, others unconditional. In this context (as we will see below) it probably refers especially to the promised Seed, Messiah.

Romans 9:5 (ESV): To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 

Paul continues his list of privileges, blessings, and positions that Israel was given by God:

"The patriarchs"-- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), and through their descendants God the Son, Jesus Christ, was born into the world.

Romans 9:6 (ESV): But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 

God's promises to Israel have not failed just because many of the Jews have rejected Jesus. Paul's argument is that not everyone who is Jewish in the flesh is a true Israelite of God, to whom many of God's promises actually apply.

Romans 9:7 (ESV): and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 

Paul is beginning to make a comparison between two different topics. In verse 6, Paul was making the argument that not every Jew in the flesh is truly a Jew in God's eyes, now Paul is using the example of how God chose the persons who would have the privilege of being the Messiah's human ancestors. Paul is going to use this example to show how God selects people for blessings, privileges, and promises.

Paul points out that not all of Abraham's children got to be in the human ancestry of Jesus--only one did, Isaac, because God selected Isaac for this privilege.

Romans 9:8 (ESV): This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 

To be honest, I am at a bit of a loss in understanding this verse here.

My best explanation and understanding of it, is that Paul is driving home his point from above: When God makes a promise to "Israel" or "the Jews," the promise is actually only made to those who believe and accept God and Jesus. 

In other words, Paul is saying "Just like when God promised to bless Abraham's descendants, but only chose one of his sons, Isaac, so also now, even though God promised to save 'Israel,' it only applies to those who believe, not to every fleshly Jew."

This harmonizes with verses 4-6 above, where Paul is making the argument that even though God promised to bless and save Israel, His promises didn't fail--instead the promises were never meant to apply to all Jews.

Romans 9:9 (ESV): For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." 

Paul now goes back to his comparison, giving more details about God's promise to bless Abraham's offspring (and produce the Messiah through his line).

If this passage is saying that God chose Isaac for salvation and rejected Ishmael, it would contradict Genesis 21:17-20, which reads:

"And God heard the voice of [Ishmael], ... Fear not, for God has heard the voice of [Ishmael] where he is...And God was with [Ishmael], and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow."

Romans 9:10 (ESV): And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,

Paul elaborates on this further by showing that God continued to select only certain descendants of Isaac for special privileges and blessings. Just as God only selected Isaac for special privileges, God is now only selecting Jacob for special privileges.

He is making a powerful point that Jacob and Esau were twins, conceived at the exact same time by the same man and woman.

Romans 9:11 (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—

Paul is here making the ultimate case against salvation by works. Paul is declaring that God does not even consider a person's good or bad works when He chooses to elect someone for either a special privilege or for salvation. (As we will see in verses 30-33 below, God's choice is based on how we will respond to His call--many of the Jews were rejected because they responded to Jesus negatively, determined to pursue salvation by works instead of by faith)

Notice, this verse says nothing about God's election not being based on faith. It only says it is not based on good or bad works. In Romans 4:1-8, Paul says "faith" is in a completely different category from "works."

Romans 9:12 (ESV): she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 

This was a prophecy regarding the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau. Esau's descendants would be inferior to Jacob's descendants because they would not have all of the special privileges as a nation that Paul listed in verses 4-5 above.

Romans 9:13 (ESV): As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Paul here quotes Malachi 1:2-3, which reads:

Malachi 1:2-3 (ESV): "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." 

Once again, this is referring to the special privileged position the nation of Israel held compared to that of Esau's descendants, the nation of Edom. The prophet Obadiah explained the reason why God hated the descendants of Esau:

Obadiah 1:10 (ESV): Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 

God chose to give special blessings to Jacob's descendants which He did not give to Esau's descendants, and God said that the reason why is because of their violence done toward Israel. In order to harmonize Romans 9 with Obadiah, it must be that God rejected Esau's descendants for special privileges because He foresaw what kind of violent, hateful people they would be.

Romans 9:14 (ESV): What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 

Paul knew some people would ask the question: "Isn't God being unfair by giving special privileges to Jacob's descendants and not to Esau's descendants?" Paul's answer is: Absolutely not!

Romans 9:15 (ESV): For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

God explained to Moses that He chooses which people He will have mercy and compassion on-- in other words, God chooses which people get special blessings or privileges and which do not. He also chooses the basis for salvation -- He chooses to save not based on any works, but by faith instead (see Romans 9:30-33).

Romans 9:16 (ESV): So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

This verse is tricky. It appears to be saying that the initial "calling" or "enlightening" or "drawing" by God happens first, before anyone can choose or will themselves to believe in God.

Romans 9:17 (ESV): For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 

God raised up Pharaoh (a Gentile) and put him into that special position of authority, knowing what his future evil actions would be, in order fulfill God's ultimate plan to glorify Himself by the Ten Plagues on Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. (Paul is subtly bringing in the idea that God chooses Gentiles to accomplish His will also)

Romans 9:18 (ESV): So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

God is sovereign. He gives whatever special blessings, privileges, and positions to anyone He wishes. God chooses the basis for His decisions. He has chosen that His election will not be based on works at all, but instead will be based on faith. He has also chosen that He can select Gentiles to accomplish His will as well.

God also selects which people He will choose to harden in their sinful thinking... causing them to be even more stubborn and hard-hearted than before. In Exodus, it shows that Pharaoh hardened his own heart first, then God hardened it even more.

Romans 9:19 (ESV): You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" 

If God, in His sovereignty, chooses to use evil for His own good purposes, why does He still find the evil person guilty, since the evil person was merely doing God's will?

Romans 9:20-21 (ESV): But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 

Paul quotes Isaiah 45:9, which is God telling people not to question His election of Cyrus (a Gentile) to save accomplish His purpose and save the Jews. Paul is saying that it is sinful to dispute with God and say that God is making bad decisions.

God has the right to do with His creation whatever is in harmony with His own moral sense of right and wrong.

Romans 9:22-24 (ESV): What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 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? 

God's justice requires Him to punish sinners, and His holiness urges Him to display His wrath and bring glory to His Name, but His love moves Him to be patient with us, not desiring anyone to perish. God knows beforehand which people will choose to believe, not only among the Jews, but also Gentiles.

Romans 9:25-29 (ESV): 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.'" And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."

Paul has been slowly leading up to this point since the beginning of the chapter: God has the right to reject unbelieving Jews and to accept believing Gentiles, because He has chosen that the basis of salvation is faith and not works.

Romans 9:30-33 (ESV): What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." 

Paul sums up the entire chapter right there. His argument has been about the basis of salvation all along -- is it by faith or is it by works? It's the same topic he discussed in Romans chapters 3 and 4.