Romans 9
9
God’s Sovereign Choice
1 #
2 Cor. 11:10; 1 Tim. 2:7; [2 Cor. 12:19; Gal. 1:20]; See ch. 1:9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For #[Ex. 32:32] I could wish that I myself were #1 Cor. 12:3; 16:22; Gal. 1:8, 9 accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,#9:3 Or brothers and sisters my kinsmen #[ch. 11:14]according to the flesh. 4They are #[ver. 6; ch. 2:28, 29; Gal. 6:16] Israelites, and to them belong #[Ex. 4:22]; See ch. 8:15 the adoption, #Ex. 40:34; 1 Sam. 4:21; 1 Kgs. 8:11 the glory, #Gen. 17:2; Deut. 29:14; Gal. 4:24; Eph. 2:12 the covenants, #Deut. 4:14; [Ps. 147:19] the giving of the law, #Heb. 9:1 (Gk.); [ch. 12:1] the worship, and #[Eph. 2:12]; See John 4:22; Acts 13:32the promises. 5To them belong #ch. 11:28 the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, #[Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:16-19] who is God over all, #ch. 1:25; John 1:1; 2 Cor. 11:31; Heb. 1:8blessed forever. Amen.
6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham #[Gal. 4:23]; See John 8:33 because they are his offspring, but #Heb. 11:18; Cited from Gen. 21:12; [Gal. 3:29]“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but #Gal. 4:23, 28the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9For this is what the promise said: #Cited from Gen. 18:10, 14; [Gen. 17:21]“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10And not only so, but #Gen. 25:21also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of #[ch. 4:17]; See ch. 8:28him who calls— 12she was told, #Cited from Gen. 25:23“The older will serve the younger.” 13As it is written, #Cited from Mal. 1:2, 3“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14What shall we say then? #Deut. 32:4; 2 Chr. 19:7; Job 8:3; 34:10; Ps. 92:15Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, #Cited from Ex. 33:19“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So then it depends not on human will or exertion,#9:16 Greek not of him who wills or runs but on God, who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, #Cited from Ex. 9:16“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For #2 Chr. 20:6; Job 9:12; Dan. 4:35who can resist his will?” 20But who are you, O man, #Job 33:13 to answer back to God? #Isa. 29:16; 45:9Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21#Isa. 64:8; Jer. 18:6 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump #2 Tim. 2:20one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience #[ver. 21, 23; Acts 9:15] vessels of wrath #[Prov. 16:4; 1 Pet. 2:8]prepared for destruction, 23in order to make known #Eph. 3:16; See ch. 2:4 the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he #[ch. 8:29]has prepared beforehand for glory— 24even us whom he #See ch. 8:28 has called, #See ch. 3:29not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea,
# Cited from Hos. 2:23; [1 Pet. 2:10] “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 # Cited from Hos. 1:10 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called #See ch. 8:14; Matt. 16:16‘sons of the living God.’”
27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: #Cited from Isa. 10:22, 23; [Hos. 1:10] “Though the number of the sons of Israel#9:27 Or children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, #ch. 11:5only a remnant of them will be saved, 28for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29And as Isaiah predicted,
# Cited from Isa. 1:9 #
James 5:4 “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
#
Deut. 29:23; Isa. 13:19; Jer. 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11 we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
Israel’s Unbelief
30What shall we say, then? #[ch. 10:20] That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, #ch. 1:17; 3:21, 22; 10:6; Gal. 2:16; 3:24; Phil. 3:9; Heb. 11:7a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel #[ch. 10:2, 3; 11:7] who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness#9:31 Greek a law of righteousness #[Gal. 5:4]did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the #See 1 Pet. 2:8stumbling stone, 33as it is written,
#
1 Pet. 2:6, 7; Cited from Isa. 28:16; [Ps. 118:22] “Behold, I am laying in Zion #Isa. 8:14 a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
# ch. 10:11 and whoever believes in him will not be #Isa. 49:23; Joel 2:26, 27put to shame.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Romans 9
9
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ; I am not lying. My conscience offers testimony to me in the Holy Spirit,
2 because the sadness within me is great, and there is a continuous sorrow in my heart.
3 For I was desiring that I myself might be anathemized from Christ, for the sake of my brothers, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 These are the Israelites, to whom belongs adoption as sons, and the glory and the testament, and the giving and following of the law, and the promises.
5 Theirs are the fathers, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all things, blessed God, for all eternity. Amen.
6 But it is not that the Word of God has perished. For not all those who are Israelites are of Israel.
7 And not all sons are the offspring of Abraham: "For your offspring will be invoked in Isaac."
8 In other words, those who are the sons of God are not those who are sons of the flesh, but those who are sons of the Promise; these are considered to be the offspring.
9 For the word of promise is this: "I will return at the proper time. And there shall be a son for Sarah."
10 And she was not alone. For Rebecca also, having conceived by Isaac our father, from one act,
11 when the children had not yet been born, and had not yet done anything good or bad (such that the purpose of God might be based on their choice),
12 and not because of deeds, but because of a calling, it was said to her: "The elder shall serve the younger."
13 So also it was written: "I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau."
14 What should we say next? Is there unfairness with God? Let it not be so!
15 For to Moses he says: "I will pity whomever I pity. And I will offer mercy to whomever I will pity."
16 Therefore, it is not based on those who choose, nor on those who excel, but on God who takes pity.
17 For Scripture says to the Pharaoh: "I have raised you up for this purpose, so that I may reveal my power by you, and so that my name may be announced to all the earth."
18 Therefore, he takes pity on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 And so, you would say to me: "Then why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"
20 O man, who are you to question God? How can the thing that has been formed say to the One who formed him: "Why have you made me this way?"
21 And does not the potter have the authority over the clay to make, from the same material, indeed, one vessel unto honor, yet truly another unto disgrace?
22 What if God, wanting to reveal his wrath and to make his power known, endured, with much patience, vessels deserving wrath, fit to be destroyed,
23 so that he might reveal the wealth of his glory, within these vessels of mercy, which he has prepared unto glory?
24 And so it is with those of us whom he has also called, not only from among the Jews, but even from among the Gentiles,
25 just as he says in Hosea: "I will call those who were not my people, 'my people,' and she who was not beloved, 'beloved,' and she who had not obtained mercy, 'one who has obtained mercy.'
26 And this shall be: in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they shall be called the sons of the living God."
27 And Isaiah cried out on behalf of Israel: "When the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.
28 For he shall complete his word, while abbreviating it out of equity. For the Lord shall accomplish a brief word upon the earth."
29 And it is just as Isaiah predicted: "Unless the Lord of hosts had bequeathed offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made similar to Gomorrah."
30 What should we say next? That the Gentiles who did not follow justice have attained justice, even the justice that is of faith.
31 Yet truly, Israel, though following the law of justice, has not arrived at the law of justice.
32 Why is this? Because they did not seek it from faith, but as if it were from works. For they stumbled over a stumbling block,
33 just as it was written: "Behold, I am placing a stumbling block in Zion, and a rock of scandal. But whoever believes in him shall not be confounded."
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