Bible Study: Election and Rejection

Introduction -

Last time we saw the passion and burden of the Apostle Paul for his people in

In the passage we see why that burden was so great - God has rejected his people.

In this passage the reason for God’s rejection of Israel is shown by the defense of four attributes of God - I will deal with these attributes as we come to them.

God’s Faithfulness - ()

God’s Righteousness (

God’s Justice ()

God’s Grace ()

The Reliability (Faithfulness) of God

Israel’s rejection does not void God’s faithfulness

God’s word has not been made null or void because some in the line of Abraham do not belong to the people of God.

God remains faithful - The faithfulness of God is, “God’s perfect loyalty and consistency in being true to his name, his character and his word.

Faithfulness is an integral part of his nature.

It is known through fulfilled promises - which is why his faithfulness is being questioned in this passage.

Paul had made this point earlier in (KJV 1900)

14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

High Definition Commentary: Romans Romans 9:1–13

physical lineage was not the determining factor for obtaining righteousness. If it had been, then faith and the promises of God would have been rendered null and void. But those who respond in faith, even though they are not physical descendants, are still counted as Abraham’s heirs according to faith. They have membership in the people of God because of their faith, not circumcision or national lineage.

Three different ways in this passage Paul makes this point clear:

: “Israel dose not equal all Israel.

: Abraham’s children are not all Abraham’s descendants. (Isaac was chosen not Ismael.)

Children of God are not the same as children of the flesh; rather, children of God = Children of promise.

God remains faithful - The faithfulness of God is, “God’s perfect loyalty and consistency in being true to his name, his character and his word.

Faithfulness is an integral part of his nature.

It is known through fulfilled promises - which is why his faithfulness is being questioned in this passage.

The Reality of Rejection

Paul is making the claim that Abraham’s descendants are only defined as the people of God by faith.

Paul had made this point earlier in (KJV 1900)

14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

High Definition Commentary: Romans Romans 9:1–13

physical lineage was not the determining factor for obtaining righteousness. If it had been, then faith and the promises of God would have been rendered null and void. But those who respond in faith, even though they are not physical descendants, are still counted as Abraham’s heirs according to faith. They have membership in the people of God because of their faith, not circumcision or national lineage.

Three different ways in this passage Paul makes this point clear:

: “Israel dose not equal all Israel.

: Abraham’s children are not all Abraham’s descendants. (Isaac was chosen not Ismael.)

Children of God are not the same as children of the flesh; rather, children of God = Children of promise.

The Reasonableness of Rejection

Paul is neither anti-jew nor anti-gentile, “but he does stand against misconceptions of the gospel.”

CHECK OUT THE High Definition Commentary: Romans

The Reasonableness of Rejection

Who is accepted and who is rejected? - This is called according to verse 11 “election.”

It was an objective election not based on good or bad works

It was a foreordained election - 21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: wand the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said unto her,

Two nations are in thy womb,

And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;

And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;

And the elder shall serve the younger.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

It was a national election - Jacob and Esau are not referring to people but nations.

Esau never served Jacob but Edom served Israel during the reign of David.

It was not an eternal election - this did not have anything to do with their eternal destinations - but rather future events.

This election uses words in like “loved” and “hated”

This is taken from (KJV 1900)

2 I have loved you, saith the Lord.

Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?

Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord:

Yet I loved Jacob,

3 And I hated Esau,

And laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

These terms do not mean that God “literally hated Esau” but that he loved less.

It’s the same term used in (KJV 1900)

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

In all of this Paul is saying God makes the rules, he decides who is in and who is not. But this is not an arbitrary decision - it is based on “faith” If we have faith in Christ for salvation - we are in - we are the children of Abraham.

If we are born and raised as an Israelite and yet do not have faith in Christ we are not a child of Abraham.

This passage has challenged me by, Realizing that my salvation, while enhanced and perhaps encouraged by my upbringing and heritage - does not hinge on those. It hinges completely on the call and drawing of the Father, and my repentance toward God and faith in Christ.