Chapter 9, Verses 1-5

Rom. 9:1 "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." 

Paul had a great heaviness in his heart and he continually sorrowed for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh.  Paul was an Israelite and he knew the customs and backgrounds of the Israelites.  By his actions that we read about in the book of Acts, Paul was continually trying to convince the Jews of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul at one time had been where many of the Jews were at this time.  He had been a non-believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord struck him down on the road to Damascus and revealed himself to Paul.  This heaviness and continual sorrow that Paul had in his heart was not for all that were the natural descendents of the nation of Israel, but was rather for the elect among the natural descendents of the nation of Israel.  We will see this truth when we get to verse 6.   

During the Old Testament economy, God had adopted the nation of Israel to be a peculiar nation unto him.  He was to them a God and they were to him a people.  Beginning when the children of Israel were in Egyptian bondage the Lord manifest his glory to them.  He appeared to them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  Likewise, he manifest his glory at Mount Sinai when he gave the ten commandments and made a covenant of worship and service with them.  Many other times he manifest his glory unto them. 

The Lord made covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, telling them he would multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, as the sand upon the seashore, and as the dust of the earth.  In addition, he made the covenant of the law with the nation of Israel.  Later he made other covenants with Israel also.   

At Mount Sinai, God gave the covenant of the law and service to the children of Israel at the hand of his servant Moses, who went up into the mount for forty days and forty nights.  God wrote upon two tables of stone the ten commandments and these were given to the nation of Israel and God made a covenant of service with the children of Israel using the ten commandments as a foundation for that service.  Furthermore, God gave the ordinances of the tabernacle and priesthood and the worship of God unto Moses and the children of Israel.  He gave to them all the sacrifices and ordinances and feasts that they were to keep at the appointed times and manners in which God appointed. 

There were many promises that God made unto Israel based on the covenants that God had made with them.  As long as they kept the commandments God promised them multitudes of blessings and also if they failed to keep the commandments then God promised them many curses would come upon them.  These promises included delivering the inhabitants of the land of Canaan into their hands and the possession of the land of Canaan and that God would be with them in their battles and would bless their labors, etc. 

The coming of the Messiah was after the promises of God.  He was the promised seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God also promised that he would be the Lion of the tribe of Judah.  God also promised David that he would be of his seed.  He was also promised to be the seed of a woman.  Christ fulfilled all of these promises according to the flesh. 

Choosing the law path rather than Christ.

Despite all of this, most of the Jews of Paul's day had rejected Christ and sought for righteousness under the keeping of the law.  This, of course, was the cause of Paul's great heaviness and continual sorrow.  Paul sorrowed even to the extent that he felt he could desire to be separated from Christ if it would bring his brethren into a relationship with Christ.  This, however, could not be that Paul be accursed from Christ. 

Chapter 9, Verses 6-13 

As it is written...

Rom. 9:6 "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." 

Is. 55:11 "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."  God's word that goes forth from his mouth cannot be of none effect.  It will accomplish that which God intends for it to accomplish.  We should never assume that God intended to do something, but was unable to bring it to pass.  When it comes to the salvation of God's people, he will not fail even unto the loss of a single one. 

For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.

Among other things, this teaches that there are two Israels taught in the scriptures.  There is a natural Israel and there is a spiritual Israel.  These two Israels are not identical.  We can take the above statement and show that there are two applications that are both true:

1.  For they are not all natural Israel, which are of spiritual Israel.

2.  For they are not all spiritual Israel, which are of natural Israel.  

Both of these statements are true.  God has a large number of spiritual Israelites, which are not natural Israelites.  Similarly, there are some natural Israelites, which are not spiritual Israelites.   

"Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."  Many of the Jews of Paul's day rested in the fact that they were the natural descendents of Abraham and subsequently they believed they were children of God because of their lineage from Abraham.  Paul refuted that idea by showing that while God had promised great blessings to the seed of Abraham, he promised that in Isaac shall thy seed be called.  Abraham had eight sons.  He had a son by the bondwoman Hagar named Ishmael.  He had a son by Sarah named Isaac.  He had six sons by the concubine Keturah.  Yet only one of those sons was by promise of God.  That son was Isaac.  This teaches us that God's children are children of promise not children by natural descent.     "That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."  Therefore, a Jew could not make the claim that he was a child of God based on his descent from Abraham.  Likewise, a Gentile, who had no natural descent from Abraham could rejoice in being a child of God if he was a child of promise from God.  The key to being a child of God is to be a child of promise.  The children of promise are the children of God. 

"For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son."  In addition in Gal. 4:28 we read, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."  Isaac's birth was by promise from God.  God promised Isaac before Sarah ever conceived.  God promised that Isaac would be born at God's set time in the next year.  Further, Isaac was born of parents who were unable to have children according to nature.  The children of promise are promised beforehand in the covenant of redemption.  Their spiritual birth is at God's appointed time.  They are born of the Spirit when they were dead in trespasses and sins.  Thus, they are born contrary to nature. 

"And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac."  Jacob and Esau had the same natural father-Isaac and natural mother-Rebecca.  Yet as we will see, God chose one and did not choose the other.  This destroys the belief that one is a child of God based on natural descendency. 

"(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."  From this verse of scripture, it is plain that God chose Jacob and did not choose Esau.  What is also clear is that this choice was not based on works.  The children had not been born, neither had done any good or evil.  God's choice of a people is not based on their works, furthermore, it is not based on good or evil done by the individual.  God chose Jacob and did not choose Esau before they were born.  God loved Jacob and hated Esau before they were born.  God is sovereign and maintains his sovereignty at all times.  This choice of a people is based on the sovereignty of God and according to the purpose of God.  God purposed to choose and save Jacob and he did not purpose to choose and save Esau.  According to the covenant of redemption, this purpose and choice was made before the world began.  Man had no voice or choice in this purpose of God.

Chapter 9, Verses 14-18 

Rom. 9:14 "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." 

"That's not fair."

The answer most people give when you quote to them the scripture, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated," is "that's not fair."  The assumption is that God has to be fair and that everyone deserves an equal and fair chance to be saved.  To them, to love one and hate another, is unfair.  Further, they believe that God loves everyone, until they reject him or fail to choose him.  Thus, they accuse God of being unrighteous if he loves Jacob and hates Esau.   

First, God is sovereign.  That is, he acts independent of all others and he answers to no one.  He is under no obligation to act as we may want him to act.  This sovereignty is manifest in the statement, "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."  As the above plainly teaches, it is God who chooses to have mercy and it is God who chooses to have mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy.  Man has no right to demand that God have mercy on him.  If God chooses to have mercy on one and not on another, then that is God's sovereign choice and he is just to do so.  While God is merciful and compassionate to some, he is not merciful and compassionate to others.   

Almost all men are to varying degrees merciful to some and compassionate to some and not merciful to others or compassionate to others.  Yet they believe it okay for them to be this way, and then accuse God of being unjust if he is this way.  Yet God has more right than man as God is sovereign.

 Second, do we really want God to be fair?  Is it fair for the just to die for the unjust?  No, it is not fair for the just to die for the unjust.  Yet, this is the only way that anyone will see heaven's glory world, that the just (Jesus) die for the unjust (his elect).  I would rather look for the mercy and compassion of God toward his elect than to see a fair God who always must act in a fair way.   

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."  The vast majority of religious people today believe that salvation from sin is based on the choice and the actions of the sinner to get right with God. 

First, the new birth or salvation from sin is not by the will of man: John 1:11-13, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Thus this new birth and salvation from sin is not by the "will of man" but by the sovereign actions of a sovereign God.

Second, the new birth or salvation from sin is not by the actions of man:

                   1.  Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

                   2.  Eph. 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."

                   3.  2 Tim. 1:9 "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

In conclusion, the salvation and new birth is not by the choice or actions of men but by the mercy of a sovereign God. 

"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth."  The very God of glory hardened the heart of proud Pharaoh that he would not let the children of Israel go until God had showed forth the ten judgments on the land of Egypt and thus show His mighty power and that His name might be declared throughout all the earth.  God in his sovereignty chose to harden Pharaoh's heart. 

 "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."  As can be seen, the main theme of chapter 9 is the sovereignty of God in election and salvation.  God has mercy on whom he chooses and he hardens whom he chooses.  God is sovereign.