Sovereign Choice. Romans 9:6-13 Far beyond my ability to explain or even understand, is the wonderful truth of a sovereign God forming covenants with mortal man. Israel survives even today because of those commitments God has made with them through the patriarchs. God’s promises were to spiritual Israel, not necessarily to national Israel. God, in sovereign mercy, showed mercy to Israel in the past and presently to the Gentiles. In legal wrath, in the past, He judged and condemned the Gentiles because of their open sinfulness and idolatry. Now, because of Israel’s unwillingness to keep the terms of the covenant and thus their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, Israel is judged and condemned by the justice of God.
V.6. God hasn’t changed His mind about Israel as His chosen people. His word has not failed. He never promised blessings to Israel based on their national identity but on their spiritual response to His mercy and grace. It has always been His intention that they would understand His whole message of redeeming grace including the most important point of all. Jesus is the promised Messiah. God has always responded to those who, in faith, believe in Him personally, not just according to their bloodline.
V.7. Within Israel, there is a separation between those who believe and those who do not believe in God. Being born again by the Spirit of God, not because of the physical descendants, is what determines whether a person is in God’s family. In this chapter, verses 6-13 tell us God reconciles unbelieving Jews by explaining the true meaning and intention of His promises. Verses 14-24 declare His right to show or withhold mercy by testifying to His absolute sovereignty. The Jews's rejection and the acceptance of the Gentiles were prophesied in Old Testament scriptures, verses 25-29. The real reason for their rejection is established in verses 30-33.
As Paul addressed the Roman believers then, to whom the nation of Israel would have been of no account compared to the Roman Empire, He used the promises of God to assure them of the promise of God's election in reaching them with the Gospel. The same is true today. Israel seems too insignificant in size and population among the nations of the Earth to have the impact on world affairs that it does. The nation’s survival as an entity and influence is because of the election of the Sovereign God.
V.8-9. The same holds true when it comes to the saving grace of God. Not all of those who came from Abraham were chosen people. His other sons and daughters were his seed, but through divine sovereignty, it was Isaac through whom the covenant with Abraham was to be fulfilled. He had many physical descendants as natural children. His spiritual descendants came through Isaac. The promised miracle son of Abraham was the chosen one to bear the blessings of a covenant relationship. Isaac was the son of promise, and Ishmael was the son of the flesh, even though both were sons of Abraham.
Rebekah had twins, but it was the second-born, Jacob, that God, in His sovereign will, chose even before they were born. God knew in His infinite wisdom who would respond in faith and who would despise his birthright for a momentary gratification of his flesh. So, we read, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” These are not words spoken in an emotional way but in a logical way. Esau chose to do things his own way for his own satisfaction. Jacob, even though he was deceitful and subtle, when he met God, responded by putting his faith in God. Esau was not excluded from knowing and loving God.
God has the right to make the conditions of salvation in a way that suits His own purposes. In His way of salvation, He shows the riches of His grace and demonstrates His love and His desire to receive love. He has the sovereign right to reject those who disbelieve Him, do not want Him in their lives, and reject Him and all that He offers on His own terms. The blessings that come from the free grace of God and His mercy, are offered to all who will partake of them by faith.
We have no reason for pride or self-centered complacency because, in God's sovereign choice, He elected us to be His children and to place us as sons in His family. It is important for us to remember from the example of Israel that being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world is not a cause for pride but humility. No one is chosen because of heritage or of good deeds they may do. God, in His goodness, grace, and mercy, has singled us out to be recipients of His blessing. This is because of His own sovereign will, not because of any merit on our part of any kind.
V.10-13. Words which are used in the Bible referring to God’s choice of electing and choosing people are used in three ways. God chose Jacob instead of Esau to be the person through whom the nation of Israel would come [v.10-13]. [Eph.1:3-6] describes God’s choice of what He would make out of people who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They would be made holy and adopted into His family so they would be like Christ [Rom.8:29-30]. Salvation was never given because of human efforts. It is only offered because of the mercy of God and is accepted by faith in Him.
Israel thought they were God's people because they were Abraham's seed and had to be reminded it was not natural seed alone that brought them into covenant blessings. It was because of Abraham's faith in God and His obedience of faith that they came into the blessings God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All of Abraham's seed included far more than Isaac's, and Isaac's seed was more than Jacob's. God is the Sovereign who can and does show compassion and mercy on anyone He chooses to. That mercy does not depend on what we will do or eventually decide to do that is the means of our salvation.
God, who knows the end from the beginning of every nation, every event, every family unit, and every human life, has, through the Gospel and by His sovereign choice, planned out that which will fulfill His divine purpose. I rest in this fact gratefully - thankful that I heard and believed the Gospel. Thankful that the Holy Spirit led me to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. Now, from this vantage point, as one inside the door of God's blessings in Christ, I know that I am chosen to be one of His people by His own sovereign will. I am not an afterthought nor a mistake in His family.