God's Sovereign Role in Salvation

Background info on Chapters 9-11

Explanation: Paul has brought the previous section of his letter to a resounding close on a high note! He has shared the Golden Chain of Redemption and focused on God’s gift of Eternal Security to His children. He has emphasized the believer’s freedom from condemnation and has happily shared the promise of no separation!

The change of focus in the next three chapters (9 - 11) must be dealt with in this context. Paul is going to spend these chapters discussing the problem that has risen from the comparatively small number of Jews who are embracing their Messiah in faith. Paul is concerned about the vast majority of the Jews who are still rejecting Christ. Even though he is the Apostle to the Gentiles, he is an ethnic Jew and he has compassion on his lost countrymen.

The most troubling aspect of this situation is that Israel as a nation has been and continues to be the Chosen People of God. God Himself is the One who unconditionally chose (elected) the nation to be His people (cf. Deut 7:6-8), but now that Messiah has come, the Jews are largely rejecting Him. The question of this rejection is the topic of the next section, and Paul’s answer is not one that is easily accepted by fellow believers.

Chapters 9 - 11 are the most controversial chapters in the letter, but are definitely worth our attention. As these are God’s timeless truths, this section is not just a historical analysis of unbelieving Jews, but these principles continue to operate in the present, and have tremendous impact on our understanding of salvation.

Our understanding of God’s sovereignty in Salvation should increase our passion for the lost (Rom 9:1-5)

Explanation: Paul shifts the topic to the general rejection of the Jews in regards to accepting Jesus as their Messiah. He starts by declaring that he has “great heaviness and continual sorrow in [his] heart” (Rom 9:2), and then he offers a hypothetical situation in which he wishes that he could be “accursed from Christ” (Rom 9:3) for the sake of his fellow Israelites.

What is taking place? What is this all about? Paul is distressed by the reality that the majority of the “Chosen People” are rejecting Jesus and Paul realizes the negative eternal consequences of their choice. Paul is not the only person to recognize this startling development because his logical arguments in these chapters deal with the questions from others on this very same subject: why the reluctance of the Jews to embrace their Messiah?

To begin, Paul gives a brief sketch of salvation history as it applies to the Israelites as a nation. The nation of Israel was adopted by God from the other nations to be His covenant people, and He gave His law to this people group in a specific way. The nation was given the Law, the Tabernacle, and the Promises. The earthly (or fleshly) nature of the Messiah came to earth in the Incarnation through the nationality of Israel - Jesus was a Jew! (Romans 9:4-5)

Argument: Paul addresses the issue straightly, without any attempts at evasion. The issue of the general unbelief of the Jews in their Messiah is troubling to the thoughtful reader. The situation is much the same in the 21st century (if not worse) as it was in the first century. Those who should be embracing Jesus are in fact rejecting Him!

Paul addresses this very situation in chapters 9 to 11. Before moving to Paul’s teaching on the Doctrine of Election, it would benefit us to reflect on the first three (3) verses of this section: the heart of Paul is troubled by the unbelief of his countrymen. Far from being a dry and dusty theological treatise given in a lecture hall, Paul’s treatment of this topic is intensely personal. Paul loves his fellow countrymen and is grieving over their rejection of Jesus. He cares enough to pray for them to the point of being willing (were it possible) to trade places with them.

Application: Whatever our understanding of the Doctrine of Election it should lead us to become even more compassionate for the lost. This is not just about a group of Jews that lived and died two thousand years ago; this is also about people you and I know who are alive now and are heading for Hell because of their unbelief.

Are we praying for specific individuals to become saved? Are we praying and asking God to intervene in their lives? Are we burdened with the souls of the lost? If not, repent of the hardness of your heart and ask God to give you a similar burden to Paul’s.

Our understanding of God’s sovereignty in Salvation should increase our confidence in the Word (Rom 9:6-8)

Explanation: Paul begins his defense of God’s sovereignty in the process of salvation beginning with v. 6. His first area of concern is with the Word of God itself. He is clear when he states that God’s Word has not failed, even though many of the Chosen People are not coming to faith in Christ. Paul does see the trustworthiness of the Word as a place where an objector could start, so he tackles the issue head on without evasive tactics.

Paul points out that the Promises of God were indeed made to Israel. He then points out that not all who are ethnic Jews are the same Israelites to whom the promises were given. He states it this way, “for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom 9:6), He expands on this in the next two verses by making the distinction between physical descendents of Abraham and the children of the Promise (Rom 9:7-8)

Argument: Paul is not making the distinction; he is simply recognizing the distinction that God made between the children of the flesh and the children of the Promise). Paul has already addressed the issue those Jews who thought they were in right standing with God simply because they were born as ethnic Jews. In Chapter 2 Paul covered this by stating: Romans 2:28-29

Romans 2:28–29 ESV

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

By using this reference to answer the hypothetical question of the supposed failure of the Word, Paul asserts the confidence we have in the Word. God made covenant promises to Abraham concerning his descendents and Abraham was becoming concerned about the fulfillment. God graciously tells Abraham that his descendants will be counted through Isaac - the Son of the Promise. God delivered on His promise through the supernatural birth of Isaac, and it is through the Promised line of Isaac, not the fleshly line of Ishmael that Messiah would come (Romans 9:8)

Application: The Church of Jesus has been given great comfort through this promise of God. God promised the Jews that He would have a people reckoned through the line of Isaac. Yes, many of the Jews of Paul’s day (and even in our day) reckon that they are physical descendents of Isaac and therefore automatic inheritors of the promise. Their misunderstanding of the Word DOES NOT mean that God has failed or that His Word contains ineffective promises. God has always had a faithful remnant of the Jewish people and He will always have such a remnant in every generation.

God also has a faithful remnant of Gentile believers in every generation, including ours. Jesus is the One who established His Church and He is the One who promised that it would endure (Matt 16:18). This is our confidence - God is actively saving souls in each generation and He will continue to do so according to His promises.

Our understanding of God’s Sovereignty in Salvation should increase our thankfulness for His undeserved Grace (Rom 9:9-13)

Explanation: Paul expands on God’s sovereignty in salvation by illustrating this truth through Jewish history. After he has shown that God favored Isaac over Ishmael, he now proceeds to relate the account of Jacob and Esau. Unlike Ishmael and Isaac who were half-brothers (different mothers) Jacob and Esau not only had the same two parents, they were twins. Paul shows how God sovereignly chose Jacob over Esau before the boys were born. God’s choice at this point clearly shows that it was His choice and not based on one twin being better or more moral than the other.

NOTE: This is the point at which differing interpretations come into play. How this account is interpreted is what makes this entire section of the letter so controversial. The main interpretations are as follows:

Romans 9 is not about Salvation it is about Service. The issue is that God chose Israel to serve Him as a Kingdom of priests and had special privileges in this area. The selection of Jacob instead of Esau is one of preference for service - the line of Esau was not chosen to serve God in the fashion that the descendents of Jacob were.

Romans 9 is about salvation. This section of the letter is presented as an apologetic as to how God is Sovereign in the process of the salvation of individuals. God chooses to deliver a certain people for His own glory and for the eternal good of the Elect.

Romans 9 is about salvation, but it presents a corporate view of Election as opposed to an individual election. Jacob and Esau represent nations, not individuals and God chose Jacob so that his descendants received the promises. In like manner, God chooses Jesus for salvation in a corporate sense and those that place their faith in Christ then become the Elect

I hold to the second view - Romans 9 is about the salvation of individuals and that the bible teaches that God is Sovereign in His choice of the Elect. If the issue was Service and not Salvation, why is Paul so grieved? Why is Paul hypothetically bringing up being accursed for his countrymen if the issue at stake is not the eternal salvation of souls?

It is an unconditional election in that it is not based on anything an individual does, nor is it based on the individual’s choice to choose God without God’s prior action in that person’s life.

Application: Gaining a greater understanding should lead the believer to a greater appreciation of Grace. When we better understand the level of God’s love for Jacob over Esau we can appreciate more of the truth involved. We have a tendency to focus on the second part “but Esau I have hated,” Yes, this is a hard truth to grapple with, but the really amazing thing is that God Chose to place His love on Jacob. Jacob was the original flim-flam man of the OT. He was a trickster, a manipulator and a deceiver. Yet God chose Jacob.

The reality is that none of us deserve Grace. We are rebel sinners who want to go our own way and do our own thing. If God didn’t come to seek us out, we would not have come to Him on our own. Believers who have even a limited understanding of grace should be humble and thankful before a merciful God.