Romans Chapter 9 

Can anyone understand the teachings found in Romans, Chapter 9? Have the mysteries hidden within it exceeded the limits of human comprehension? Should the writer declare that the mysteries hidden in Romans 9 are not only simple fundamental truths, but also truths most familiar to us – would this be too farfetched and hard to believe? Obviously, if the Lord has hidden some profound doctrine in the passage, then it is justified for it to remain hidden till this day since no one can understand it. It is only when the truths that the Lord has hidden are so plain, simple and straightforward, then we will begin to appreciate and recognise the magnificence of God’s unsurpassed wisdom. Should we exhaust all the words and languages in the world, it would not be adequate to describe the wonder of His marvellous wisdom!

Though the truths in Romans 9 are simple to understand, to be able to explain them would call for the use of the most difficult bible interpretation principle. For this reason, the truths in the passage have remained hidden to this day. The most difficult interpretation principle mentioned is to interpret the passage only according to the intentions of the Bible’s author – the Holy Spirit, no more and no less. At no time should it be based on man’s intellectual reasoning. By illustrating this principle with an example found in Matthew, Chapter 2, Verses 13 to 15, it will be made clear to us. This passage records the incident where Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus as a child to Egypt to escape from King Herod:

‘When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."’

“Out of Egypt I called my son,” are the words used in the passage to describe how God has called His Son Jesus Christ out from the land of Egypt in fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy. Though, nothing seems to be unusual here, but if we were to probe deeper into the source of this prophecy, we would come to realise that it is fulfilled rather inappropriately.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.” ~Ho 11:1-2

The verse Matthew quoted from Hosea, spoke of God’s deliverance of His people – the Israelites, out of Egypt. In its context, when God showed more mercy and grace to the Israelites, they rebelled more against God by turning towards the worship of idols and foreign gods. When Matthew quoted this verse, he used it to authenticate the fulfilment of how God had called Jesus out of Egypt. Disturbingly, by doing so, it has somehow associated Jesus with the sinful Israelites. No matter how we look at it, we will find that the verse has been used rather inappropriately and perhaps even suggests a misquotation by the author. But the truth is, Matthew did not make a mistake in his writings – and this is precisely why it is the most difficult interpretation principle in the bible we have mentioned.

When the Holy Spirit led Matthew to understand how the prophecy was fulfilled in the person Jesus Christ, Matthew used only the apparent meaning of the phrase to reveal the fulfilment. “Egypt” was used in reference to the geographical location of the place and “my son” was used to describe the relationship between God and this group of people. In the Old Testament, it referred to God’s love and care for the Israelites, just as a father would care for his son. In the New Testament, it was a fulfilment by Jesus Christ as the one and only begotten Son of God. When “my son” was used in the New Testament, what had been fulfilled was only the relation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and did not take on a deeper meaning to include the spiritual condition of the Israelites as spoken of in the Old Testament. Hence even though the Israelites sinned in the act of idol worship, it had nothing to do with Jesus, because the fulfilment was fulfilled up to the meaning of “my son” – the relationship of being God’s Son, and not any further. This unique way of bible interpretation is found all over the New Testament. One distinct example is spoken by Jesus Himself, “I come like a thief” [Please read “Behold! I come like a thief”], another one is Melchizedek in Hebrews [Please read “Melchizedek, without father or mother?”]; which both require the same bible interpretation principle by using only specific aspects of a “thief” and “Melchizedek” to refer to the characteristics of Christ, and not all of it. If we were to over-interpret by assigning more meaning than what is intended by the Holy Spirit, it would have made Jesus an actual thief, and Melchizedek the actual manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament.

When we encounter passages that require this type of interpreting principle, it is often difficult and in some cases almost impossible to interpret the contents. If the explanation of a single sentence calls for such efforts, what about a few sentences? What more a paragraph? Or a whole chapter? If a whole chapter in the bible requires this kind of interpretation, it is no wonder that nobody has been able to interpret it. When Romans, Chapter 9, expects the use of such difficult bible interpretation principle, this will explain why no one has been able to unravel the mystery in the chapter for the past thousands of years. If we were to apply this principle and expound the passage only up to what has been intended by the Holy Spirit without assigning excessive meaning to it, we would then start to see this chapter in a whole new light. The great puzzle which once seemed impossible to solve has now begun to piece together.

But before moving on to its interpretation, we need to familiarise ourselves with the themes and the content that are being addressed in the book of Romans. Prior to Romans, in the final chapter of Acts, Paul declared that God had decided to turn Salvation from the people of Israel to the Gentiles. Following that, in the book of Romans, Paul continued to explain why God made this decision from the doctrinal viewpoint. The book of Romans laid the foundation of the gospel in clarifying how a person can receive salvation and who are those that God would choose to become His people. Paul used the Israelites and Gentiles as a comparison. The Israelites were from the bloodline of Abraham – the chosen race of God. They were given the rights to sonship, the promises, covenant, laws and rites of God. According to the flesh, Jesus came forth from these people (Ro 9:4-5). Meanwhile, the Gentiles had no relationship with Abraham. They were outside the promises and covenant that God made with Abraham. The people of Israel had kept the Law of God for several thousand years. What then had caused God to make the decision to turn His salvation to the Gentiles? The Israelites who kept the Law did not attain salvation, while the Gentiles who had never kept the Law of God obtained it. How could the Israelites come to accept this fact?

Paul’s main aim in writing Romans was to clarify the doctrinal truths behind “justification by faith and not by works.” The Israelites during the time of Jesus represented the very group of people who sought “justification through works.” They thought that by keeping God’s Law with their good works, they could attain salvation (Ro 9:31-32). However, not through works but “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” (Ro 10:4). So it came about that even though the Gentiles did not have the Law, they believed in Christ and turned out to be the ones who fulfilled the final purpose of the Law. Hence they represented the group of people who were “justified by faith.” Paul in Romans, Chapter 9, explicitly teaches how God selects a person unto salvation – that salvation depends neither upon the status as a descendant of Abraham, nor upon good works, but solely upon faith in Christ.

The following is the accurate and complete interpretation of Romans, Chapter 9:

 

Salvation is independent of human blood relation (Ro 9:6-9)

‘It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."’ ~Ro 9:6-9

Apart from Isaac, Abraham had other sons, however, only Isaac was born according to God’s promise. When Abraham was a hundred years old and Sarah ninety years old – way passed the age of child bearing, God spoke to him saying: “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Ge 17:19) Paul emphasised that not all born of Abraham were his descendants but only Isaac who was born according to God’s promise was the true descendant of Abraham. As such, not all Israelites were God’s people, only those who trusted in His promise and born of His power were called the people of God – the true Israelites. Of those who were born according to God’s promise, it was said: “Yet to all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.” (John1:12-13) Therefore, Israelites could not rely upon their blood relationship as the descendants of Abraham and assumed natural inheritance to God’s salvation. The rightful recipients of salvation were those that believed in God’s promise, the “true Israelites” born of faith in God. They could be Israelites – natural descendants of Abraham, or they could be Gentiles outside the bloodline of Abraham. In summary, we title this passage: “Salvation is independent of human blood relation.”

 

Salvation is not attained through the good works of keeping the Law (Ro 9:10-14)

“Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!” ~ Ro 9:10-14

Apart from being Abraham’s descendants, the greatest distinction between the Israelites and Gentiles was that they possessed God’s laws and decrees. While the Gentiles were indulging in all kinds of sins and immoralities, the Israelites lived according to God’s Law and proved themselves more holy as compared to any Gentile nation of their time. Their holiness became their pride and they considered the Gentiles as “unclean” in their sight. So they thought that by keeping the Law, they would surely receive God’s favour and be given salvation. The Gentiles being without the Law were naturally unable to live a holy life and therefore automatically disqualified from salvation. The Lord Jesus had to correct their misconception: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (Jn 5:39-40) The Israelites mistook the keeping of the Law and the doing of good works as the way to salvation. Thus, Paul had to use an analogy based on two well-known characters in the Old Testament to illustrate to them how good works could never earn them salvation. It was written that while Jacob and Esau were in the womb of Rebecca, God told her: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” When God decided this, neither Jacob nor Esau had yet done any good or evil deed. From this, we can see that God’s election takes no consideration of whether that person has kept the Law or done any good works. Therefore, a man who keeps the Law and does good works is not more qualified to receive God’s salvation. Similarly, a person who does not keep the Law and sins perpetually is not less qualified to receive His salvation. If a man who abides by the Law is no better than a man who does not abide by the Law with regard to salvation, isn’t God unfair to the law-abiding person? Now that God has taken salvation away from the law-abiding Israelites and given it to the Gentiles who do not keep the Law, hasn’t God been unfair to the Israelites? Paul’s main intention in writing this passage, was to make it clear to the Israelites that God was not unjust because: “Salvation is not attained through the good works of keeping the Law.”

 

 

 

 

Salvation is by God’s mercy alone (Ro 9:15-18)

‘For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.’ ~Ro 9:15-18

Paul teaches us that God’s salvation arises solely out of God’s compassion and grace, the good works of man have absolutely no part in it. No matter how determined a person “desires” to keep the Law and put in all his “effort” to do good, he cannot depend on his “desire” and “effort” to make himself more deserving of salvation. Even before Pharaoh was born, before he had any “desire” and “effort” so to speak, not having done any deeds of good or evil; God had already decided to use Pharaoh as an instrument to demonstrate His wrath. Therefore, a person’s salvation or destruction solely lies within the mercy of God and takes no consideration of how arduous he is in keeping the Law or how perfect are his good works. This is exactly the same way how we received Christ: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ep 2:8-9)” Salvation comes from the mercy of God alone, not because of the good in us or the amount of charitable works we have done. Our good works have absolutely no part in God’s salvation. Even the world’s greatest sinner, should he receive God’s mercy, he too would be saved. Similarly, the most upright person in the world, would perish should God not show mercy on him. To sum up, Paul tells us that: “Salvation is by God’s mercy alone.”

 

Salvation is God’s Sovereignty (Ro 9:19-24)

‘One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?’ ~Ro 9:19-24

This passage teaches us that “Salvation is God’s Sovereignty,” God has complete sovereignty over the life and death of a person. When the Israelites heard Paul said that salvation was by God’s mercy alone and had no relationship with the keeping of Law, they were ghastly dismayed. For if a person’s salvation or destruction depended on God’s mercy alone and good works had no part in it, then why did God still find fault with them when they did not keep His Law? If a person’s salvation is solely dependent upon God’s decision, then why were they still held accountable for their deeds? But Paul rebuked them, for they did not know their place and dared to speak against the Creator as His created beings. Did the Creator not have the freedom to decide the life and death of His creatures? Who were they to interfere with the Lord’s decision to grant salvation also to the Gentiles? Their confidence in observing the Law and their good works had made them puffed up to be bold enough to blame God for extending His salvation to the Gentiles! Therefore, Paul had to remind them that God as the Creator of all beings, held absolute authority to decide who should be saved and who should perish. Now God called not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles to receive His mercy and salvation, who could challenge His sovereignty? This was a boundary that the Israelites should never cross!

 

Salvation turned to the Gentiles was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy (Ro 9:25-29)

‘As he says in Hosea:
"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people;
and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," and,
"It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
'You are not my people,'
they will be called 'sons of the living God.' "
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
"Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
It is just as Isaiah said previously:
"Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah."’ ~Ro 9:25-29

It was not an afterthought or a last-minute decision, Paul quoted an Old Testament prophecy to verify that it was within God’s plan to turn the gospel from the Israelites to the Gentiles. God spoke of the Gentiles originally as “not my people” and “not my loved one,” because they were outside the covenant that God made with Abraham. The Gentiles were previously rejected by God, for they were not God’s chosen people; but God had now turned in favour of them to receive them as His own, calling them “my people,” “my loved one” and “sons of the living God.” In contrast, the Israelites even with their great multitude, only a small number believed in the Lord, thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy that “only the remnant will be saved.” Paul needed the Israelites to understand that all that had happened was in fact a fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy. Salvation went to the Gentiles not because God was cruel to them, rather, if not for the great mercy and kindness of God to preserve for them a remnant, they would have completely perished just like Sodom and Gomorrah. This passage explains that: “Salvation turned to the Gentiles was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.”

 

Salvation turned to the Gentiles because the Israelites pursued the Law in the wrong manner (Ro 9:30-33 & Ro 10:1-4)

‘What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."’ ~Ro 9:30-33

“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” ~Ro 10:1-4

This passage reveals why salvation was turned to the Gentiles. Paul continued to explain how the Gentiles, without the Law and the pursuit of righteousness, came to receive justification and sanctification, while the Law-abiding Israelites did not receive it. The Law was not given to Israel so that they could attain righteousness through keeping it, rather it was meant to lead them to faith in Christ so that they could receive salvation freely. However, the Israelites chose to establish their own form of righteousness by keeping the Law and with their good works, to prove themselves more holy than others. Due to this, when Jesus revealed their nature as mere sinners also in need of repentance, they burned with rage and nailed Him to the cross. It was not that the Law was useless, for should the Israelites decide to obey the Law truthfully, they would eventually find salvation in Jesus – “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Although the Gentiles did not have the Law, they fulfilled the requirement of the Law by believing in Christ and they were saved. Sadly, the Israelites were self-righteous and refused to repent, therefore they did not submit to God’s righteousness and perished. This passage clarifies that: “Salvation was turned to the Gentiles because the Israelites pursued the Law in the wrong manner.”

 

We see how Paul in the book of Romans, Chapter 9, laid the foundation for Salvation regarding “justification was by faith and not by works.” The entire chapter revolves around this topic, making no mention of the doctrine of Predestination. When Paul used the example of Jacob and Esau, he was moved by the Holy Spirit and applied the same bible interpretation principle as how Matthew had interpreted “Out of Egypt I called my son.” This unique way of interpretation only involves the incident that “Jacob and Esau were in the womb of Rebecca” and “neither Jacob nor Esau has yet to do any good or evil deed,” in order to demonstrate that “God's election is not by works but by Him who calls.” Whereas whether God did love Esau and hated Jacob without cause is not within the discussion of Paul’s message. For we all know full well (Paul would have known better) the reason behind God hating Esau. Esau, for the sake of his fleshly need, despised God’s blessing by selling his birthright for a single meal – a mere bowl of red stew (He 12:16). Likewise, God had not loved Jacob without reason, for he valued God’s blessing beyond anything in the world and was willing to sacrifice everything he had in exchange for that blessing. God with His foreknowledge already foreknew the future of the two brothers. Therefore, even while they were in their mother’s womb, God told Rebecca that “the older will serve the younger.” The point which Paul wants to put through to us in this passage does not take into account the entire incident; because of this, we find it hard to get its intended meaning. But if we were to take a step back and adopt a broader view with reference to the main theme of Romans 9, then it is no longer difficult to see that  Paul’s message here is actually saying: “God’s election of man to salvation does not depend on the works of man.”

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul again used the same method by taking a particular aspect of Pharaoh’s life to teach the fundamental of salvation. Pharaoh was used as an instrument to demonstrate God’s wrath, his destruction was the result of not having received God’s mercy. Paul used this incident to illustrate to the Israelites that a person’s salvation or destruction hinged only on God’s mercy and not upon his own works. As to the reasons why Pharaoh failed to receive God’s mercy and why God had used Pharaoh’s life in such a manner, were not within Paul’s considerations. For it was not Paul’s intention to point that out in his Romans 9’s example. However, for the sake of completeness, let us look at what Pharaoh was like from the book of Exodus. Even before God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, he was already a follower of the Devil, a seeker of black magic (Ex 7:11, 22). When Moses first pleaded with Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave, he flatly refused and even amplified their agony. Pharaoh made slaves of the Israelites and relentlessly added to their sufferings. In all these, he had forgotten that the prosperity Egypt now enjoyed came about all because of Joseph, the forefather of Israel (Ge 41, 47). Not only was Pharaoh ungrateful in returning good for evil, when his trusted magicians warned him, saying, “This is the finger of God,” he remained unmoved and continued setting his heart against God. His defiance against God was most evident in the ten plagues when he repeatedly went back on his words and refused the release of the Israelites (Ex 8-10). Pharaoh persisted to the end in pursuit of the Israelites to the Red Sea (Ex 14), where he suffered complete destruction together with his entire Egyptian army. Now, where can you find a man with such strong inclination to sin and resistance against God? God had therefore pre-arranged this man, raising him up as the Pharaoh to demonstrate His power. Notably, God did not harden Pharaoh’s entire life but only during the ten plagues. Why only then? Pharaoh had lived a life of sin, surely he required no additional help to aid him in his wickedness. However, the ten plagues were a demonstration of God’s power, if Pharaoh was left to rely upon his own strength to resist them, he would have long cowered in fear. Thus, it was necessary for him to draw strength from Satan whom he worshipped to resist God to the end. Though the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is by Satan, in the Bible it is said “God hardened his heart,” thus illustrating God’s sovereignty over Satan. [Please read “Predestination and Free Will (6) – God’s Predestination (part 2)”] Paul, in the example of Pharaoh, used the same interpretation principle in “Out of Egypt I called my son” by taking only the apparent meaning of the incident. Without a doubt, Paul himself was fully aware that God would not harden a person’s heart without reason. Those that God hardened must be haters of God, people deserving to be hardened, and Pharaoh was one of them.

Romans, Chapter 9, clearly teaches the relationship between the Law and Salvation. “But, why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” Israelites said these with regard to the Law. Looking into their history, we have seen how thousands and even hundreds of thousands Israelites were killed for disobeying the Law of God. Their nation was destroyed and also exiled for this very reason. But shockingly, Paul claimed that the Law had no part in Salvation. If it was so, why then did God deal so harshly with them when they disobeyed His Law? Paul, therefore had to further use the analogy of the potter and the pottery, to help the Israelites to understand that God had complete sovereignty over salvation. The analogy of the potter and the pottery does not suggest that “God has predestined some to be saved and others to perish without taking into account a person’s decision and choice.” For we see in the succeeding verses that the reason why Israel did not receive salvation was because they adopted the wrong attitude in their pursuit of the Law. Paul would not contradict himself by saying “a person’s choice and decision has no part in his salvation” and then immediately said that “they did not receive salvation because they sought to establish their own righteousness through the doing of good works.” The first does not take into consideration the decision of the person, while the second is dependent on the person’s decision. Clearly, they are opposing statements and cannot stand at the same time. From this, we are certain that the passage is directed at Israelites in their pursuit of the Law and not about God’s Predestination.

In “Predestination and Free Will (5) – God’s Predestination (Part 1),” why didn’t the writer use Romans 9 to explain the doctrine of Predestination? This is because the whole chapter has nothing to do with Predestination. The greatest mistake of today’s Doctrine of Predestination is to have used an irrelevant scripture – Romans, Chapter 9 – to explain Predestination, which resulted in a confusing and unexplainable doctrine. Romans 9 teaches basic salvation truth, a simple truth that is so familiar to every Christian, yet it remained hidden for the past thousands of years. If the Lord Himself has not revealed its interpretations, perhaps no one would be able to unravel this passage for the next thousands of years or even till the end of time.

Blessed is His name for His unsurpassed wisdom. For who can fathom the mind of God? Who has been His counsellor? For if only the spirit within a man knows his own thoughts, in the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.