Romans 9:1-13

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Romans (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

Read Romans 9:1-13
Romans 9:1-13 - 1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit--2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever., Amen.
 
GOD’S GRACIOUS ELECTION OF ISRAEL
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants., On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac., 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son., 10 And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand--12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger., 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[1]

• “Yah… I don’t know… thanks for coming!”

 
I’ve never publicly taught Romans 9-16… or Revelation.

• I have taught Daniel 7-12 here at Leavener.
• There is a reason for this.
• For years, there have been multiple interpretations of the Scripture in many passages.
• It is a lot easier to interpret Scripture that is in the past of history and Scripture itself because we have history and Scripture to proof text it.
• But what do you do with Scripture that deals with prophecy that occurs after the Scripture itself was written?
• This is the issue… this is what has been debated and discussed for hundreds of years.
• In this very room we have people that have different interpretations of the Scripture concerning prophetic issues.
• Have all the prophecies already been fulfilled? If not, what prophecies are yet to be fulfilled?
• Is knowing and understanding these passages of Scripture vital to my own spiritual life? Some will say “Yes” and some will say “No”.
• It is similar to anti-vaxers, to pro-vaxers and those in between. What information are you listening to?
• But let me go back to the issue… it causes division because of opinions, knowledge, lack of knowledge, commitment to the understanding or lack of commitment to the understanding.
• Will the evil one use the Word of God to cause division in the Church?
• This is why we have denominations… and even those denominations become divided.
• Are you kidding me? There have been great wars among the god-fearing believers for years!
• So now we come to the part of the text that stirs up many questions… pre-destination, foreknowledge, prophecies fulfilled, prophecies yet to be fulfilled, who is included in the covenants then and now? Have the covenants been fulfilled?, etc.
• In this very room we have highly educated and knowledgeable students of God’s Word… even greater than today’s speaker.

Deuteronomy 29:29 - “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever,…

• Two facts can be extracted from this verse:  (1) God possesses “secret things” that belong to Him alone (2) God has “revealed” certain “things” to man.[2]
• “Mystery” points to truth that God is in the process of revealing
• Any theological position that elevates God’s sovereignty above His love defames His character in the end—for God is “love” (1John 4:8, 16).
• Yes, He is sovereign; but His sovereignty never, under any circumstance, violates His love.[3]
• In this room, we have people who barely know who Jesus is… much less Paul, Romans and all those terms we just tossed out in the previous statement.
• So somewhere in the middle we have to present a difficult passage of Scripture to a wide variety of listeners.
• I will not go into great depths here but do a flyover and hopefully create opportunities for discussion outside of this gathering and further study by each of you.

 
Romans 9
1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit--2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

• Paul, a Jew, passionately loved the Jews.
• Consequently, he could identify with the Old Testament writing prophets along with John the Baptist.
• These individuals risked their lives for the sake of the truth, yet few Jews listened to their counsel.
• Sorrow filled their hearts, a scenario that Paul’s “unceasing grief” understood well. [4]

3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.

• The audience is the Church at Rome but inside of the letter, Paul is rebutting the Jewish unbelievers; more directly his fellow Pharisees.
• So at some points he is talking to believers of Jesus and at other points he telling them about his discussions with non-believers of Jesus as the Messiah.
• Paul continues answering the questions he received from the unbelieving Jews in Romans 3:1-8—proving, in the process, that a person’s salvation is independent of lineage or good works but totally dependent on whether he has exercised faith in Christ.
• Paul would allow himself to be “accursed” (set apart for destruction) should it mean that his “kinsmen according to the flesh” would find Christ.
• Yes, he was willing to go to Hell and the Lake of Fire in exchange for the salvation of the rebellious Jews.[5]

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

• Jehovah has blessed the Jewish nation beyond measure.
• First, they are “Israelites” in that they are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel”—all his descendants belonging to physical Israel).
• “The adoption as sons” of Romans 9:4 does not communicate that all Jews are part of God’s “spiritual” family.
• The physical nation of Israel was adopted as the national son of God, not the spiritual son of God.
• To become a spiritual son of God requires repentance and faith while depraved, which only a small percentage of Jews have exercised.
• Therefore, the wife of Jehovah is Israel, whom He married at Mount Sinai.
• The bride of Christ, on the other hand, is the church—made up of Jews and Gentiles alike with no racial distinction, the church having been birthed in Acts 2.
• Israel also received “the covenants and the giving of the Law” (Romans 9:4), one conditional covenant and four unconditional covenants:
• In the case of an unconditional covenant, the one initiating the covenant is responsible to fulfill the conditions prescribed in the covenant regardless of the recipients’ response.
• 1. The conditional Covenant of Law, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)
• 2. The unconditional Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-14; 22:15-18; 26:2-5; 28:13-15)
• 3. The unconditional Palestinian Covenant (The Land Covenant) (Deuteronomy 30:1-10)
• 4. The unconditional Davidic Covenant (2Samuel 7:16; 1Chronicles 17:10-14)
• 5. The unconditional New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) [6]

5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever., Amen.

• Paul sets out sort of a problem that he’s dealing with in the chapters. Israel has been given all kinds of great privileges by God, but still finds itself not saved as a whole.[7]
• This discussion helps prove the fact that salvation is not based on lineage or good works but faith in Christ alone.
• Simply, this is the discrepancy between the promises and privileges God has given Israel and Israel’s reality.
• God chose Israel to be His people. He blessed them, gave them wonderful things, and yet, at the present time, as Paul looks at the situation in the early church, he finds very few Jews who are coming to Christ.[8]
• Free will - Adam possessed the freedom to accept or reject God’s love—to obey or disobey.
• His descendants have had the same privilege, for God’s character prevents Him from forcing His love on the unwilling.
• Hence, the cross was a necessity.[9]
• Genesis 3:15 - I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.[10]
• Jesus would bruise Satan’s “head” (remove Satan’s authority) through allowing Satan to bruise His “heel” (through submitting to crucifixion), for Satan had gained dominion over the earth through Adam’s sin.
• People perish only because they reject God’s plan (or purpose).
• This reality is sovereignty at its best, for the God of the Scriptures, Who can accomplish His goals with man possessing the freedom of choice, is much greater than a “god” who must program man’s every move to accomplish the same.[11]

 

• In these three chapters, Paul basically addresses how the remnant of believers within the physical nation of Israel relates to both national Israel and the church (which began in Acts 2). [12]

GOD’S GRACIOUS ELECTION OF ISRAEL
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

• Paul is saying there are two Israels, in a sense.
• Not all who belong to Israel are Israel.
• There is what we might call a physical Israel, as opposed to a spiritual Israel.
• Abraham had two sons. Only one of them inherited.
• Isaac only had two sons, but only one of those—Jacob, not Esau—inherited.
• And so on down through history of Israel there has, in other words, been a selection process going on within physical Israel.
• Jews misunderstood God’s purpose for the nation.
• They were not chosen to be saved, as they incorrectly assumed.
• They were chosen to the very special office of bearing the Father’s Son and taking the news of His coming to the Gentiles.
• Israel was not chosen to be saved, but to function and serve in an extraordinary office.
• She was chosen as “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5-6) for the purpose of taking the Law and message of the coming Messiah to the Gentile nations.
• Jews alone received the Ten Commandments (read Exodus 20), truth they were to take to the nations.
• The Jews also received the revelation of the coming Messiah through passages such as Isaiah 9:6-7.
• Instead of spreading this magnificent news, they “blasphemed” God’s “name” through disobedience (Isaiah 52:5; Romans 2:17-24a).
• Because God’s limitless foreknowledge allowed Him to foresee Israel’s negative response to His truth, He spoke through the prophet Isaiah (in 700 BC) of how Jesus would be a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:5-6) and the Gentiles’ “hope” (Romans 15:8-12).
• Thus, after His crucifixion and resurrection, the gospel was taken to the Gentile nations through Jesus’ Jewish followers (Acts 10:1-48; Romans 11:13).[13]

7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac., 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. 10 And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand--12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.

• The blessings promised to Abraham, which come to full fruition through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, were passed down through Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), Abraham’s son through Sarah (Genesis 21:1-7)—not through Ishmael, Abraham’s son through Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16; 21:8-21).
• The blessings of Abraham (associated with the coming Messiah) were also passed down through Jacob, Isaac’s son through Rebekah—not Esau, Jacob’s twin brother (Genesis 28:1-15).
• Note that none of these passages teach that God detested or despised either Ishmael or Esau.
• In fact, God greatly blessed Ishmael according to Genesis 17:20.
• God chose Isaac (over Ishmael) and Jacob (over Esau) for the purpose of bringing the “seed” of Genesis 3:15, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), into the world.
• Thus, God chose to bless the world through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a choice that in no way affected the eternal destiny of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, or Esau.
• In each case, their eternal abode was based on whether they accepted or rejected the “seed” of Genesis 3:15, Who is Christ (Galatians 3:16).
• This truth is foundational for the proper interpretation of Romans 9-11. [14]

13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[15]

• Did God really hate Esau (Romans 9:13), never granting him opportunity to be saved?
• Was Pharaoh’s heart hardened by God (Romans 9:17-18) to prevent him from believing?
• Did God prepare “vessels of wrath” (Romans 9:22) on which to display His wrath, never granting these individuals the freedom to exercise faith in Christ?
• Those persons who answer these questions in the affirmative choose to elevate God’s sovereignty above His love.
• In fact, according to their view, God must cause all things if He is to maintain His rightful position as the sovereign Ruler of the universe.
• If so, all events are a direct result of God’s will, making the “war” between Satan and God a sham—actually no war at all, should God be the cause of Satan’s every move.
• The war between Satan and man would also be bogus, for man’s response to Satan’s schemes (either good or bad) would not only be a result of God’s doing, but also God’s will.  For God to hold man responsible for sin He has caused and willed would prove Him doubly unjust.
• Should God will and cause all things, He would will and cause everything that occurs— all sickness, misfortune, calamity, and hardship.  He would also be the source of evil.  Where man spends eternity would also be God’s choice—never man’s.[16]

 
Genesis 27:41 - Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” [17]

• Hate – Miseo (mi-say-o) – Greek word that ranges in meaning from disfavor to detest.
• Some will define hate here as “love less”
• NLT translated it as “rejected”

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 9:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[3] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[4] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[5] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[6] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[7] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ge 3:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[12] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[13] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[14] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 9:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Bob Warren. (2014). Romans 9.
[17] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ge 27:41). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.