1I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Paul’s opening words in this chapter seem to step out of the flow of thought found in the previous chapters. Why the break? In chapter one, in his introduction to this letter to the believers in Rome, Paul said that the goal of his apostleship was obedience of faith in all the nations (1:5). Chapters 1-3 contain an indictment of all the descendants of Adam, including the Jews. He said, “...for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin...” (3:9). Paul also said that Abraham “is the father of us all,” thus including the Gentiles as heirs of the world (4:13,16). In chapters 5-8, Paul described the salvation received by all who are justified by faith.
Yet, neither the word “Jew” nor the word “Israel” is found anywhere in chapters 4-8. In chapter 3, he spoke briefly of the advantage of the Jews in having been entrusted with the words of God. He raised the question, “For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” His brief answer to this question then led to a statement of conclusion of his argument that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin (3:1-9).
Now, in chapter 9, Paul returns to the question that he raised briefly in chapter 3: What about the Jews? Do they have an advantage? What are the consequences of the failure of some of them to believe in Christ? Were God’s promises to them nullified by their unbelief? How does Paul, who is himself a Jew, feel about their failure to believe?
In verse 1, Paul affirms three times that he’s telling the truth when he says that he feels great sorrow and unceasing pain in his heart concerning the failure of his fellow Jews to receive Jesus as the awaited Messiah. His words in verse 3 are probably the latter part of an unstated conditional sentence. The implied condition might be, “If it were possible,....” That is, “If it were possible for me to bring salvation to my fellow Jews by being separated myself from Christ, I would wish it to be so.” In verses 4-5 he enumerates the privileges that the Jews had, beginning with the privilege of adoption. God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). God said that the people of Israel collectively were His son and the first in rank among the nations.
Israel experienced the glory of God dwelling in the tabernacle and in the temple. Israel was the recipient of God’s covenants with Abraham and with David, and of the New Covenant. The Mosaic Law, the Levitical priesthood, the provision for approach through sacrifice, and the promises of blessing were all given to Israel. The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the ancestors of Israel. And, by accepted legal descent through Joseph and by physical descent through Mary, Christ came as an Israelite. The privileges of Israel cannot be overstated.
The latter part of verse 5, “who is over all, God blessed for ever,” can be understood as a description of Christ. The Greek text also allows that it be understood as a separate doxology: “May God, who is over all, be blessed forever.” In I Timothy 3:16, the clear majority of the Greek manuscripts state that “God was manifest in the flesh.” This statement, also in an epistle of Paul, is supportive of the view that the latter part of verse 5 is a description of Christ. In either case, the Deity of Christ is clearly stated elsewhere in many places in the Scriptures.
It seems striking that a chapter which is often thought to be rigid in its emphasis on Divine election begins with an emotional lamentation by the apostle Paul concerning the dismal spiritual condition of his Jewish kinsmen. His threefold insistence in verse 1 that he is sincere leaves no question that he was writing with sorrow of heart. Surely that sorrow of heart also reflects the grieving of the Spirit of God caused by those Jews who failed to receive the Lord Jesus when He came.
6Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
In verse 6, Paul hastens to make clear that his lamenting the failure of Israel to receive Jesus as the Christ is not to say that the word of God has failed. He then returns to a principle that he stated in 2:28-29: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Mere physical descent from Abraham does not give a person a right to receive God’s blessing of Abraham. If that were so, the line of Ishmael would also be heir to God’s promises. Instead, God told Abraham, “... in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Genesis 21:12).
Verse 8 says that the example of Isaac also teaches the truth that a person must have a miraculous birth in order to become a child of God. The fulfillment of God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah would have a son in their old age (Genesis 18:10-14) would require Divine enabling.
10And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11(for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
In verses 6-9, Paul used the birth of Isaac as an illustration to show that God’s word had not failed. Both Ishmael and Isaac were sons of Abraham, but only Isaac was born as a child of God’s enabling promise. Thus, Ishmael’s ineligibility to be an heir with Isaac was a matter of the unacceptability of Abraham’s human effort, not of Divine failure.
Now, in verses 10-13, Paul gives a second illustration to show that God’s word had not failed. He goes forward to the time of the twin sons born to Isaac and Rebekah. Verse 10 specifically states that Rebekah conceived the twins by one man. That is, unlike the case of Ishmael being the son of Hagar rather than of Abraham’s wife Sarah, Jacob and Esau had the same father and the same mother. Paul emphasizes that God’s word to Rebekah, “the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23), was spoken before the twins were born and thus before they had done anything good or evil. It was God’s choice that Jacob, who left Rebekah’s womb after Esau, would have preeminence over his older brother. Paul says that this example of God’s choosing Jacob to become heir to the Abrahamic promises teaches us that God has a plan and that He accomplishes this plan by His own calling, not by human works. Thus, the failure of some Jews to obtain the salvation Christ offered does not mean that God’s word failed. God saves not by human works but by His own calling in accord with His own choice.
The quote in verse 13, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” is taken from Malachi 1:2-3. These words were written many generations after the death of Jacob and Esau. The quote shows that with the perspective of history, things worked out in accord with God’s choice. The author of Hebrews describes Esau as a profane person...who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright (Hebrews 12:16). Left to his own devices, Esau was a man who lived out the corruption of his heart. Apart from God’s intervening grace, Esau became a man to be despised. Yet, Amos 9:12 seems to indicate that in the future there will be a remnant of the descendants of Esau (Edom) that will be saved.
14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Now Paul asks the question that may have been in the minds of his readers: is it wrong that God chose Jacob over Esau when neither of them had yet done anything good or bad? Paul takes his answer from words God spoke to Moses after He delivered Israel from Egypt. The context of these words is important.
God had called Moses to come up on Mount Sinai to be given the Law. While Moses was on the mountain, the people waiting below became impatient and asked Moses’ brother Aaron to make gods for them to lead them forward. Aaron made a calf of gold from the earrings of the people and built an altar in front of the idol he’d made. The people worshipped the golden calf and offered sacrifice to it. The people even declared that the golden calf had delivered them from Egypt. God said that He would destroy the people for their sin, but Moses interceded for them (Exodus 32:1-14). As Moses pleaded with God for His presence to go with Israel on their way forward to the land He had promised, Moses said, “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us?” Moses also asked to be shown God’s glory. God answered Moses, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Exodus 33:16-19).
Moses pleaded that he and the people of Israel find grace in the sight of the LORD. God answered that He would be gracious to whom He would be gracious and show mercy on whom He would show mercy. Thus, in the context in which these words were spoken, Israel had sinned grievously against God. There is no record of any person in Israel who had taken a stand against the making of the golden calf. Thus, no one, including Moses’ brother Aaron, was deserving of God’s grace or mercy. All the people had sinned. God’s words, then, did not mean that He would bring judgment on someone who was innocent. His words meant that He would determine on which of the guilty ones He would have mercy.
Paul points to these words to explain that there is no injustice with God. All of us deserve judgment. If God shows grace and mercy to anyone, that grace and mercy is undeserved. Though neither Jacob nor Esau had yet done anything good or evil before they were born, both were children of Adam, and both were sinners. After they were born, Jacob deceived his father (Genesis 27:18-29), and Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup (Genesis 25:29-34). Neither Jacob nor Esau deserved God’s favor, yet God chose to be gracious to Jacob.
16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
“Running” in this verse means “striving.” In referring to one who wills or runs, Paul is probably looking back to the focus group of this chapter, Israel. This verse says that Israel’s failure to receive life in Christ is not because of a failure on their part to want to be religious Jews or to strive to keep the Law. The issue is that they, like all of us, have sinned and need mercy. No one can earn or deserve mercy. In fact, as Paul will say in 9:30-10:4, the willing and running of the Jews amounted to a denial of their need for mercy. Only God can make whole that which is already marred by sin.
17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Paul’s point in this chapter is that the failure of the Jews to receive life in Christ does not mean that the word of God failed. He has just said in the previous verse that guilty people don’t need to try harder to make themselves good; they need mercy. Now Paul uses as an example a person that the Jews would readily agree needed mercy: Pharaoh. It would be obvious to every Jew that Pharaoh was guilty of oppressing God’s people and that he did not know the LORD God.
When God sent the prophet Isaiah to speak to Israel, He said, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10). We understand that Isaiah himself could not make the heart of the people fat, their ears heavy, or shut their eyes. Yet, by speaking God’s word to the people, Isaiah would be forcing the people to make a choice. Apart from God’s mercy, an already sinful heart would reject Isaiah’s message and become harder. Thus, by speaking God’s word to Israel, Isaiah would in effect be making their heart fat and their ears heavy, and shutting their eyes. Similarly, God’s sending Moses to speak His word to the hard-hearted Pharaoh would only make Pharaoh’s heart harder unless God chose to show Pharaoh mercy.
God told Moses to say to Pharaoh, “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). Pharaoh was already guilty before God. Pharaoh did not see himself as a sinner and did not ask God for mercy. God was not bound to make Pharaoh change his mind. God was not unjust to judge Pharaoh or to use that judgment to show His power and to make known His Name.
Israel, like Pharaoh and like all of us, had sinned. It’s too late to will and run after a person has already sinned. Israel, like Pharaoh and like all other descendants of Adam, needed mercy.
19Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Again Paul anticipates the thoughts of his readers. Even in the face of an example like Pharaoh, many Jews and others would blame God for judging. They would say, “Wasn’t it God who made Pharaoh’s heart be hard? How could anyone stand against God?” In the next two verses Paul answers that criticism in two ways. First, in verse 20, Paul speaks to the pride of the person who asks those questions. He says that we are little men but God is God; we are creatures but He is the Creator. Then, in verse 21, Paul speaks to the error in the logic of those who ask the questions. Paul compares us to clay and God to a potter. It is significant that Paul does not here compare us to the dust of the earth. He is not speaking of God’s work of creation.
God sent the prophet Jeremiah to the house of a potter. Jeremiah watched there as the potter reworked a marred vessel. Jeremiah wrote, And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then God spoke and said, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremiah 18:4-6).
When Paul compares Israel (and us) to clay and God to a potter, he is not speaking of creation. He is not saying that God created some people to be lost. The lump of clay in Paul’s illustration is that of a vessel which is already marred. We have already sinned. God chooses whether to remake a marred vessel as a vessel for honor or to form it as a vessel for dishonor. God may choose to save a marred vessel, or He may choose to show His wrath against the sin and the sinner. Neither the marred nation of Israel nor the rest of marred humanity have any ground for protest against God. We need His mercy.
22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
The word “What” at the beginning of verse 22 is in italics, meaning that it has been added by the translators. The question raised in these verses is a conditional sentence with only an “if” clause. The implied rest of the sentence might be, “isn’t that His prerogative?” The fact that Paul raises this question tells us that God does want to show His wrath and to make His power known. He wants to show His wrath against the vessels of wrath. He also wants to make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy. The question also tells us that God hasn’t done this yet. Instead, He has endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath.
Peter tells us why God has not yet shown His wrath: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Paul himself also spoke of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:3-4).
Thus, Paul tells us that God, while wanting (Greek: “thelo̅n”) to show His wrath on vessels of wrath, also wants (Greek: “thelei”) all men to be saved. Both are true and do not contradict each other.
In the course of the ten plagues that God brought against Egypt, Pharaoh twice acknowledged that he had sinned and asked for respite from the plague (Exodus 9:27-28; 10:16-17), but in each case, as soon as God removed the plague, Pharaoh renewed his defiance against Him. Pharaoh never came to the point of genuine recognition that He was a sinner accountable to the LORD God or that he personally was in need of His mercy. Yet God gave even Pharaoh much opportunity to change his mind.
In a parable, Jesus spoke of a vineyard owner who sent servants to receive fruit from His vineyard. When the vineyard keepers mistreated his servants, the owner sent his son. Jesus said, “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son” (Matthew 21:37). Jesus’ words in this parable imply that the vineyard owner would have been pleased if the workers had treated his son with respect. Instead, the vineyard workers killed the owner’s son in hope of taking the vineyard for themselves. We understand from Jesus’ words that God would have been pleased if Israel and the rest of the world had reverenced His Son. Still, the prophet Isaiah wrote, Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him (Isaiah 53:10). Both Scriptures are true and do not contradict each other.
Verse 22 says that God wants to show His wrath and to make His power known. Surely He wants His creation to know that He hates sin and is able to exercise judgment against it. Yet, He bears with much longsuffering vessels of wrath “fitted to destruction.” These vessels of wrath are the marred vessels which the potter has set aside as vessels for dishonor (verse 21). The vessels were already marred by sin before God set them aside. Verse 22 does not say that God created anyone to be lost.
Verse 23 says that vessels of mercy were “afore prepared unto glory.” Thus, this verse does say that God had already chosen some vessels to be saved. Verse 24 takes us back to the truth stated in the previous chapter: those whom God foreknew and determined beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son, He called, justified, and glorified (8:29-30). Both from among the Jews and from among the Gentiles, God has called some to be vessels of mercy.
25As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
The quotes in these verses are from Hosea 2:23 and Hosea 1:10. Both verses refer to the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea prophesied of judgment for the northern kingdom but also of restoration. In the context of Romans 9, Paul is saying that these quotations from Hosea agree with his statement that God will call some from Israel to be vessels of mercy. Despite the failure of most in Israel to receive Jesus as the Christ, God’s word has not failed.
27Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
In verses 27-28, Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22-23. In that chapter Isaiah prophesied that God would use Assyria to bring judgment on the sin of Israel but that He would afterward judge Assyria for its pride. The outcome would be deliverance for a remnant of Israel. In verse 29, Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9. In that verse Isaiah spoke of judgment on Israel and of the survival of a remnant of the people. Again, in these quotations, Paul is citing Old Testament support for the principle that some from Israel will be called by God to be vessels of mercy.
30What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33as it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Paul began this chapter by expressing his deep grief concerning the failure of his fellow Jews to receive Jesus as the Christ. He then made clear that their failure did not mean that the word of God had failed. God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be fulfilled in a remnant of Israel on whom He would choose to have mercy.
Now, at the end of this chapter and in the first verses of chapter 10, Paul specifies the error which brought the failure of Israel. In contrast, the Gentiles found what they were not looking for, righteousness. They found the righteousness which God gives on the basis of faith. Israel failed because they sought righteousness by seeking to keep the Law rather than receiving it by faith. Instead of recognizing that they had sinned and needed the mercy offered them by Jesus the Savior, they saw Jesus as an offense to their self-righteousness. In verse 33, Paul cites both Isaiah 8:14 and the latter part of Isaiah 28:16. The coming Messiah, who would be a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation, became for unbelieving Israel “a stumblingstone and rock of offence.” Yet, those who believe on Him “shall not be ashamed.”
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.