Romans 9

Romans 9 opens chapters 9–11, the section that addresses the question of Israel. Romans 8 closes with the assurance that nothing can separate believers from the love of God. In this chapter Paul turns to the reality that most of Israel, the people who received that promise, have not accepted Christ.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 Paul confesses his unceasing anguish for his fellow Israelites. He lists Israel's privileges: the adoption, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the fathers, and the fact that Christ came from them according to the flesh.
• Verses 6–13 Paul states that not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. He cites Isaac, the child of promise, and the example of Jacob and Esau, of whom God said before the twins were born, "The elder shall serve the younger."
• Verses 14–18 To the question of whether there is unrighteousness with God, Paul answers with God's words to Moses and to Pharaoh.
• Verses 19–24 Using the analogy of the potter and the clay, Paul speaks of vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. He identifies the vessels of mercy as those whom God has called from among both Jews and Gentiles.
• Verses 25–29 Quoting Hosea and Isaiah, Paul speaks of the calling of the Gentiles and the salvation of a remnant within Israel.
• Verses 30–33 Paul concludes that the Gentiles have attained the righteousness that is of faith, while Israel, relying on works, stumbled at the stumbling stone.

Key Verses

• Romans 9:6 "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." This verse is the starting point of the argument of chapters 9–11.
• Romans 9:16 "So then it is not of him that willeth … but of God that sheweth mercy." This is the verse most frequently cited in debates over election.
• Romans 9:21 The analogy of the potter's authority, which connects to the potter imagery of Isaiah 45:9 and Jeremiah 18:1–10.

People and Places

• Paul: The apostle who wrote this letter and the speaker in this chapter.
• Abraham, Sarah, Isaac: Cited as examples to explain the children of promise.
• Rebekah: The wife of Isaac, who conceives twins.
• Jacob and Esau: The twins born to Rebekah, used as an example to explain election.
• Moses, Pharaoh: Cited as examples to explain God's mercy and His hardening.
• Hosea, Isaiah the prophet: The prophets whom Paul quotes.
• Sodom and Gomorrah, Zion: Places named in the quotations from Isaiah.

Points for Reflection

• The nature of election: This chapter is a central text in the debate over predestination.
• The Calvinist tradition (Presbyterians and others) reads verses 11–23 as the basis for God's sovereign election of individuals to salvation. The article on predestination in the Westminster Confession of Faith likewise cites this chapter as a proof text.
• The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions (Methodists, Holiness churches, and others) understand this election as concerning the historical role that a nation or community is to fulfill. Alternatively, they read it as election grounded in God's foreknowledge of faith.
• For a fuller discussion, see the article Predestination and Free Will.
• "Hated" in verse 13: This word comes from a quotation of Malachi 1. Some interpreters take it as a Hebrew idiom of comparison meaning "loved less."
• Punctuation of verse 5: Some translations, such as the Korean Revised Version, read the sentence as calling Christ "God." Others punctuate the final clause as a separate sentence and read it as a doxology to God.
• Old Testament quotations and related passages: Verse 33 combines Isaiah 28:16 and 8:14, a combination that also appears in 1 Peter 2. The discussion of Israel continues in Romans 10 and Romans 11.