6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not
all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s
descendants.[e] On the contrary, your
offspring will be traced[f]through Isaac. Romans 9:6-7, NIV
It would at first
appear that there is a great shift in chapter 9 of Romans. In the last few chapters, the focus would be
on the way in which a person is justified before God. Now, in the next three chapters, Paul focuses
on the Jewish people. He talks about a
hard subject which is predestination and election. He talks about how he is full of sorrow
because of the lost state of the Jewish nation.
He doesn’t hate these people.
Rather, he says he would rather be accursed than to see these people lost. He has a great heart for them.
But, justification
is still the point of these verses. IN
verses 1-13, Paul talks about how even though many are descendants of Abraham,
not all are descendants of the promise.
The promise he is talking about is through Jacob and then through
Isaac. He says these people are ones
through whom received 8 blessings of God including the covenant, the temple
service, the law and the prophets. God
had a special relationship with Israel.
They saw the pillar of fire of God’s presence at night and the cloud by
day. They heard his voice on Mt.Sinai
and heard his thunder. Yet, this does
not and will not justify them. Anymore
than church attendance, giving, what Bible I read or what I do will justify me.
While there is
some elements of this chapter that are a mystery to me. How to reconcile the free will of man and the
sovereignty of God is something that is a bit of a mystery. There are many mysteries in the Bible. That is because God is infinite and we are
finite. Try explaining the Trinity to
people. There is no graphic or explanation
that is perfect. That is because God is
unique. Or try explaining the problem of
evil and how Satan is a created being.
Let me know when you have a perfect answer, I would love to hear
it. There is an element in which God is
a mystery and infinitely greater than our understanding.
One of the
struggles of this chapter, is that it makes God in some ways sound cold. That God would pick some people and not
others. That is the struggle of
election. The Bible affirms both free will (at least in a limited way) and God's Sovereignty, so we should accept both. We should also keep in mind though that God doesn’t
have to pick anyone. We’ve already seen
that there is no one in earth that is acceptable to God earlier in Romans. The fact that he picks anyone is a gift of
mercy and grace. It isn’t our
responsibly to question God, but rather to be grateful for accepting us and
demonstrating that gratitude by living for him each day.
Other resources
Sermon on Romans 9 by Ray Stedman http://www.raystedman.org/romans1/0020.html
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%209
Desiring God ministries sermons on Romans 9 http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/by-scripture/romans/9
http://executableoutlines.com/ro/ro_09.htm
