Romans 9

Romans 9 explains Israel’s place in God’s plan after Christ came. Paul shows that God’s promises have not failed, even though many Jews rejected the gospel. True belonging to God is not based only on physical descent, but on faith, promise, and God’s mercy. Paul also shows that Gentiles are included in God’s plan, while many Israelites missed righteousness because they sought it by works instead of faith in Christ.

Romans 9:1-5 (NKJV)
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Paul begins by expressing deep sorrow for his own people, Israel, because many of them rejected Christ. His grief was so strong that he said he could wish himself cut off if it meant they could be saved, similar to Moses’ burden for Israel in Exodus 32. Paul reminds them that Israel had great privileges: adoption, glory, covenants, the law, temple service, promises, and the fathers like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Most importantly, Christ came from Israel according to the flesh. Their rejection of Him was therefore a great tragedy, even though God’s plan had not failed.

Romans 9:6 (NKJV)
6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

Paul explains that God’s word has not failed just because many physical Israelites rejected Christ. Not everyone who is born from Israel is truly Israel in God’s eyes. True Israel is not based only on race, bloodline, or outward religion, but on faith and a changed heart. Romans 2:28-29 also shows that a true Jew is one inwardly, whose heart is circumcised by the Spirit and not merely by the letter. This means God’s true people are those who believe and are spiritually transformed, whether Jew or Gentile.

Romans 9:7-8 (NKJV)
7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”
8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Paul shows that even Abraham’s physical descendants were not all counted as the children of promise. Ishmael was Abraham’s son by the flesh, but Isaac was the son of promise, born by God’s special word and power. This teaches that being part of God’s people is not based merely on natural birth, but on God’s promise and faith. The true children of Abraham are not simply those related by blood, but those who are connected to God’s promise through faith.

Romans 9:9-12 (NKJV)
9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac
11 for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls,
12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

Paul uses Isaac, Jacob, and Esau to show that God’s plan is based on His calling and purpose, not on human works or natural order. Isaac was born by promise, not by human strength. Then, before Jacob and Esau were born or had done good or evil, God chose Jacob’s line to carry forward the covenant promise. This does not mean God randomly chose one person for salvation and another for damnation, but that God had the right to choose who would carry the special role in His plan.

Romans 9:13 (NKJV)
13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

This verse is often misunderstood. Paul is quoting Malachi, where Jacob and Esau represent two nations: Israel and Edom. The words “loved” and “hated” are Hebrew expressions of preference, meaning God chose Jacob’s line for the covenant purpose instead of Esau’s line. This was about a role in God’s plan, not about God arbitrarily saving one and rejecting the other. Esau also despised his birthright and valued earthly things over spiritual inheritance (Hebrews 12:16), showing that his heart was not aligned with God’s purpose.

Romans 9:14-16 (NKJV)
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

Paul answers the question of whether God is unfair by saying, “Certainly not!” God’s mercy cannot be earned or demanded by human effort. Salvation is not “of him who wills” or “of him who runs,” meaning it does not come by human desire, strength, or works, but by God’s mercy. This does not mean God refuses mercy to some who want it, because Scripture says God desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4), is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), and invites whoever desires to come (Revelation 22:17). Paul’s point is that salvation is by grace, not by merit.

Romans 9:17-18 (NKJV)
17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”
18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Paul uses Pharaoh as an example of how God can use even a rebellious ruler to reveal His power. Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart by resisting God, but God allowed him to remain in power so that His name and power would be shown through the Exodus. God did not force Pharaoh to become evil; rather, Pharaoh resisted God, and God used that resistance to display His authority over Egypt and all earthly rulers. This shows both God’s sovereignty and His power to accomplish His purpose even through human rebellion.

Romans 9:19-21 (NKJV)
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Paul answers another objection: if God is sovereign, why does He still hold people responsible? Paul reminds us that human beings are not in a position to accuse God of injustice. Like a potter has authority over the clay, God has authority over His creation. But this does not mean God arbitrarily decides some people must be lost. In Jeremiah 18, the clay can respond, and God can reshape it. So Paul’s point is that God has the right to use people for different purposes, while still acting with justice, patience, and mercy.

Romans 9:22-23 (NKJV)
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

Paul shows that God is patient even with those who are heading toward destruction. The “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” are not people God created to be lost, but those who, through persistent rejection, place themselves in a condition fit for judgment. Yet God endures them with much longsuffering, giving time and opportunity to repent. The “vessels of mercy” are those who receive His grace by faith. This passage shows both God’s justice against sin and His great mercy toward those who accept Him.

Romans 9:24-26 (NKJV)
24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Paul now shows that God’s mercy includes both Jews and Gentiles. God’s plan was never limited only to physical Israel. By quoting Hosea, Paul shows that those who were once “not My people” can now be called “My people” and “sons of the living God.” This means Gentiles are brought into God’s family through faith in Christ. God’s grace is wider than ethnic Israel and reaches all who respond to His call.

Romans 9:27-29 (NKJV)
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Paul quotes Isaiah to show that only a remnant of Israel would be saved. Even though Israel’s descendants were many, not all would respond to God in faith. The remnant represents those who accept God’s grace and remain faithful to Him. Paul also shows that Israel’s survival was because of God’s mercy. Without the Lord preserving a seed, Israel would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. This again shows that salvation depends on God’s mercy, not human privilege or effort.

Romans 9:30-33 (NKJV)
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;
31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Paul concludes by showing the main reason many Gentiles received righteousness while many Jews missed it. The Gentiles received righteousness by faith, but Israel tried to obtain righteousness by works of the law. Because they depended on their own effort and outward religion, they stumbled over Christ, the “stumbling stone.” Christ became offensive to them because He showed that righteousness comes only through faith, not by works. But whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame, because true righteousness and salvation are found in Christ alone.