Romans 9.8-The Racial Descendants Of Abraham Are Not The Children Of God But Rather The Children Of The Promise Are
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 5, 2009
Romans: Romans 9:8-The Biological Descendants Of Abraham Are Not The Children Of God But Rather The Children Of The Promise Are
Lesson # 301
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 9:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter nine and by way of review we have noted the following thus far:
In Romans 9:1, Paul implicitly appeals to Christ and the Holy Spirit as witnesses as to the veracity of his statements in Romans 9:2-3.
Then in Romans 9:2, Paul expresses his great sorrow and unceasing grief over the nation of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
Paul in Romans 9:3 communicates to his readers his great love for the nation of Israel by expressing his desire to be separated from Christ for their sake.
Then, in Romans 9:4-5, he lists eight privileges that were given to the nation of Israel by God that helps the reader understand the depth of his sorrow and grief.
Next, in Romans 9:6, we have the start of a new paragraph and in this verse Paul presents the premise that not all Israel is Israel and that God’s Word has not failed and for the rest of the chapter he illustrates this premise.
Last evening we studied Romans 9:7 in which Paul continues to develop further the principle that not all those who are Israelites racially or biologically are considered by God as the true or spiritual Israel.
In this passage, he supports this distinction between racial or ethnic and spiritual Israel and explains its basis in Romans 9:7-13.
Paul’s argument is divided into two sections: (1) Verses 7-9: Illustration with the selection of Isaac (2) Verses 10-13: Illustration with selection of Jacob over Esau.
His proves his point in these verses through the presentation of Old Testament passages.
In this passage, he cites Genesis 21:12 to prove this point with his readers that being a spiritual child of Abraham is not a birthright or in other words it is not based upon one’s racial heritage but rather it is based upon faith in the promises and in particular faith in the promised Messiah.
This evening we will note Romans 9:8, which teaches that the racial descendants of Abraham are not considered by God to be either His children or Abraham’s spiritual descendants but rather He considers the children of the promise as being both His children and Abraham’s spiritual descendants.
Let’s read Romans 9:1-13 and then concentrate on verse 8 for the rest of the evening.
Romans 9:1-13, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: ‘THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.’ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: ‘AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.’ And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.’ Just as it is written, ‘JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.’”
Corrected translation of Romans 9:6-8:
Romans 9:6-8, “Now, this does not by any means imply that the word originating from God is nullified because each and every person who descended from Israel, these are, as an eternal spiritual truth, by no means, Israel. Nor because they are, as an eternal spiritual truth, Abraham’s biological descendants are they, as an eternal spiritual truth, spiritual children. On the contrary, ‘by means of the line of Isaac for your benefit, spiritual descendants will be effectually called.’ This means these biological children by no means are, as an eternal spiritual truth, God’s children. On the contrary, the promised children are, as an eternal spiritual truth, regarded as spiritual descendants.”
Romans 9:8, “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
“That is” is composed of the nominative neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (ou!to$), “that” and the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (ei(miv), “is.”
Together, they introduce a statement that clarifies Paul’s statement in Romans 9:7.
“Children of the flesh” is composed of the articular nominative neuter plural form of the noun teknon (tevknon) (tek-non), “children” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun sarx (savrc) (sarx), “of the flesh.”
The noun teknon means “children” and is used with reference to Abraham’s “biological” posterity as indicated by the noun sarx, which refers to biological or racial descent.
“Who” is the nominative neuter plural form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (ou!to$), which means, “these” and not “who” since it refers to the preceding expression ta tekna tes sarkos, “biological children.”
“Children of God” is composed of the nominative neuter plural form of the noun teknon (tevknon) (tek-non), “children” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$) (theh-os), “of God.”
The noun teknon is used with reference to God’s children as indicated by the genitive form of the noun theos, “God,” which modifies it.
The articular construction of the noun theos signifies that the word is a reference to God the Father since it is commonly used in this manner in the Greek New Testament to indicate this.
Also indicating that theos is a reference to the Father is that the word it is modifying, namely, the noun teknon, “children” speaks of a father and child relationship.
Romans 9:8, “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
“But” is the adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that stands in direct contrast to the idea that the biological children of Abraham constitute the children of God.
The word presents the stark contrast between those Jews who are only biological children of Abraham with the children of the promise.
In context the children of the promise are those descendants of Abraham who were in the line of Isaac and exercised faith in the covenant promises and in particular faith in the promised Messiah.
In context, the biological children of Abraham are a reference to those descendants of Abraham who were born in the line of Ishmael.
This is all indicated since Paul’s quotation from Genesis 21:12 is a record of the Lord’s promise that Ishmael would not be Abraham’s heir but rather Isaac, whom He promised Abraham would be born to him.
“The children of the promise” is composed of the articular nominative neuter plural form of the noun teknon (tevknon) (tek-non), “the children” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun epangelia (e)paggeliva) (ep-ang-el-ee-ah), “of the promise.”
The noun teknon is a reference to the spiritual children of Abraham that were born in the line of Isaac.
This is indicated since at the end of Romans 9:7, Paul quotes the Lord’s promise to Abraham that appears in Genesis 21:12 that by means of the line of Isaac, Abraham’s spiritual descendants would be effectually called by God.
In context, epangelia, “promise” refers specifically to the Lord’s promise to Abraham that by means of Isaac’s line Abraham’s spiritual descendants would be effectually called by God.
This is indicated since at the end of Romans 9:7, Paul quotes the Lord’s promise to Abraham that appears in Genesis 21:12 that by means of the line of Isaac, Abraham’s spiritual descendants would be effectually called by God.
Romans 9:6-7, “Now, this does not by any means imply that the word originating from God is nullified because each and every person who descended from Israel, these are, as an eternal spiritual truth, by no means, Israel. Nor because they are, as an eternal spiritual truth, Abraham’s biological descendants are they, as an eternal spiritual truth, spiritual children. On the contrary, ‘by means of the line of Isaac for your benefit, spiritual descendants will be effectually called.’”
Romans 9:8, “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
“Are regarded” is the third person singular present aorist passive indicative form of the verb logizomai (logivzomai) (lo-gidz-o-my), which means, “to hold a view or have an opinion with regard to something.”
In context, it means that those born in the line of Isaac who exercised faith in the promised Messiah are “regarded” by God or “considered” by Him to be the spiritual descendants of the Abraham.
Paul clearly taught in Romans chapter four that Abraham was justified through faith in the Lord.
Therefore, his spiritual descendants are those who imitate his faith in the promised Messiah.
Those who were born in the line of Isaac must also be those who imitate the faith of Abraham in the promised Messiah.
These will thus be “considered” or “regarded” by God as the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Romans 9:8, “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
“As descendants” is composed of the preposition eis (ei)$) (ice), “as” and the accusative neuter singular form of the noun sperma (spevrma) (sper-mah), “descendants.”
The noun sperma refers to the spiritual descendants of Abraham since in context Paul is contrasting the biological descendants of Abraham with his spiritual descendants who are born in the line of Isaac and have exercised faith in the promised Messiah as Abraham did.
The word is functioning as a “collective” singular meaning that although it is in the singular form it is referring to group of individuals, namely, Abraham’s spiritual descendants.
The preposition expresses “equivalence” meaning that those who are born in the line of Isaac and have imitated Abraham’s faith in the Lord are considered by God “as” or “the equivalent to” the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
So in Romans 9:8, Paul is clarifying his statement in Romans 9:7 in which he taught that by means of the line of Isaac and not by the line of Ishmael would Abraham’s spiritual descendants be effectually called by God to inherit the covenant promises that He made to Abraham.
In Romans 9:7, Paul cites Genesis 21:12 to further develop his argument in verse 6 that those Jews who descended biologically from Israel, aka Jacob, are by no means the Israel that God considers to be His covenant people.
In verse 7, he teaches that Abraham’s biological descendants are by no means his spiritual children.
On the contrary, the Lord promised Abraham that by means of the line of Isaac and not by the line of Ishmael would his spiritual descendants be effectually called by Him to inherit the covenant promises that He made to Abraham.
Paul’s statement in verse 8 serves to further explain or clarify his statement in verse 7 by stating that Abraham’s biological descendants are not the children of God but rather the children of the promise are regarded by God as Abraham’s spiritual descendants.
Ishmael was simply Abraham’s child by natural or biological descent.
However, Isaac was not only Abraham’s child by natural descent but also he was the child that the Lord promised him and which promise is recorded in Genesis 21:12 that Paul cited in verse 7.
It would be through Isaac’s line that God would effectually call those Jews who exercised faith in the promised Messiah and the promises made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
Therefore, in verse 8, Paul seeks to clarify his statement in verse 7 by teaching that Abraham’s biological descendants are by no means considered by God to be His children but rather those born in the line of Isaac, the promised child and who imitate Abraham’s faith in the Lord are regarded as spiritual descendants.
With this clarification, Paul again reiterates his statement in verse 6 that being a biological descendant of the patriarchs does not constitute being a true Israelite or in other words being an Israelite that is a beneficiary of the covenant promises made to the patriarchs.