Romans 9:6–13
Before we continue, we remember that Paul opens this argument with tears of “great sorrow and unceasing anguish.” Paul needs to address the obvious question that must be raised after what he explained in chapter 8.
Coming down from the high mountain proclaiming that nothing can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” he finds that his brothers in the flesh have rejected that love. For us, it would be natural to ask, “Has the word of God failed? Does God not keep His promises?” Paul’s answer? “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named’” (Romans 9:6–7).
Abraham had other children. Ishmael is the one most of us remember, but we should also remember that Abraham had other children with his second wife, Keturah, after Sarah died. Keturah bore Abraham six more children (Genesis 25:1–3). Yet these, along with Ishmael, were not inheritors of God’s promises to Abraham. Paul reminds us that God had promised that Isaac was the one God had chosen to bless.
But this doesn’t simply move the lineage one step forward. Isaac himself has twins through his wife Rebekah (Genesis 25:21–23), and again, God chooses one, Jacob, not both. Paul reminds us that this decision was made “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad” (Romans 9:11a). This reminds us of the argument that Paul has been building up since the beginning of Romans. Romans 3:27 reminds us that we cannot boast because we are not saved by our works, but by faith.
We might be tempted to move the distinction from works to something God foresaw in Jacob, perhaps that Jacob would eventually believe while Esau would not. But look at where Paul himself places the cause: “not because of works but because of him who calls.” Paul does not ground God’s choice in something Jacob would eventually do or choose. He grounds it in God who calls. Paul tells us that God’s Word has not failed because His promise has always proceeded according to His own purpose. He chose Isaac, and before Jacob had done anything good or bad, He chose Jacob.
Today, as we consider our position in Christ, in God’s love, we remember that we are not here because of our intellect, our faithfulness, our good decisions, or even our desire to find God. God’s promise cannot fail because it is He who chose you. Not because of how special you are, but because of how great the One who made the promise is.
God chose you because of Him.
-steve