The letter to the Romans explains how a person comes into relationship with God to receive salvation and blessing. The relationship with God is based on grace received by faith. This message caused questions to arise about the people of Israel. What happened to the special relationship between God and Israel? How can a Jewish person be saved? Does God still have a plan for Israel? These chapters answer those questions as Paul continues to explain the message of the gospel.

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20). Some people have used this verse to rebuke any person who tries to examine the justice of God. They say that God's justice is so much higher than ours that we cannot understand it.

[1]

Is there some high level of justice at which black becomes white and evil is actually good? If a human judge condemned infants, judged mistakes and willful crimes alike, and punished people for doing what they could not prevent, we would not say that he was judging according to a higher level of justice, but that he was unjust.

God’s justice is higher but not opposite to ours. Our sense of justice comes from his and is based on his standard. He commands us to be holy in the same sense that he is holy. If his action sometimes seems unjust to us, that is because we do not see all of the facts, because our values are too temporal, and because our perceptions are distorted by our own desires.

God does not simply profess to be just and refuse to explain his ways to his creatures. Instead, the book of Romans emphasizes that the justice of God is visible. Those who reject God are without excuse (1:20) because of what they know of God. Sinners know that they deserve judgment (1:32). Romans 2 is entirely on the impartiality and consistency of God's judgments. The work of atonement is so that God can be just even though He justifies sinners (3:26).

It is obvious that God wants us to see that he is just. For this reason, God has explained his policies of salvation, explaining why they are just. It would not be possible for us to truly worship God unless we see that he is just. If we do not believe that God is just, our obedience to him would be like obedience to a tyrant or robber.

Therefore, God allows himself to be put on trial, or even puts himself there (3:4). He is confident that his actions are consistent with true justice. An honest trial of God's actions will show him to be righteous and the sinner guilty.

► Why is it important for us to understand the justice of God’s actions? How do we know that God wants us to understand his justice?

A biblical view of God’s sovereignty:

• God has chosen to allow people to make real choices with consequences.
• God responds to the choices people make (Romans 1:24, 26, 28).
• God is powerful and wise enough to accomplish his ultimate plan in spite of what any person does.

Every person decides whether or not to accept the gospel and is saved or rejected on that basis. God offers salvation, gives people a realization of their guilt, gives them desire for grace, and gives them the ability to believe. He sends messengers to persuade unbelievers to repent. But the individual person makes his own decision about salvation.

[1] “To be the God of eternity, he must be able to stand above accusation before all devils, all angels, and all men. No one must be able to [rightly] accuse him of unfairness.”
- R.G. Flexon, Rudiments of Romans

Main Point of Chapter 9

God has chosen the way of salvation, and nobody can be saved any other way.

Summary of Chapter 9

This chapter is often interpreted to mean that God chooses who will be saved and who will be lost on a basis that we cannot know. Actually, the point is that God has chosen the way of salvation, and nobody can be saved any other way. His sovereignty is not demonstrated by choosing some people and rejecting others without any criteria. His sovereignty is demonstrated by his setting the criteria – the design of the way of salvation.

► A student should read Romans 9:1-5 for the group.

Notes Verse-by-Verse

(9:1-3) Paul expressed agonizing grief for Israel because they were spiritually lost. He mentioned that he was their brother. Paul had excelled in the religion of the Jews. He respected their scholars. He was grieved to realize that most of the teachers and leaders and most of the people they served had rejected Christ.

(9:4-5) Israel was a nation with great spiritual privileges.

• They first had God as Father.
• They first saw the glory of God revealed.
• They had
  • The covenants as terms of his blessing.
  • The law.
  • The forms of worship.
  • The promises of ultimate salvation.
• The patriarchs were Jews.
• Jesus was born as a Jew.

Paul previously said in 3:1-2 that the Jews had great advantages.

Judaism could be said to be the root of Christianity. Even now Judaism has more in common with Christianity than any other religion. 

Listed here are some connections between Christianity and Judaism.

1. Christians and followers of Judaism worship the God revealed in the Old Testament.
2. Judaism provided the theological and philosophical foundation of Christianity. Israel was monotheistic and believed in a God that was eternal, uncaused, and holy. God created everything good, but evil and suffering came because of sin. Man is a special creation in the image of God, with a glorious destiny after he is redeemed. We assume these truths, but they contrasted with all of the religions around ancient Israel. These truths were first revealed to Israel.
3. Christians and followers of Judaism accept the Old Testament as scripture, but followers of Judaism do not accept the New Testament.
4. Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was a Jew and affirmed the religion of his people. He stated its true priorities and condemned the distortions of the Pharisees. He did not claim to be starting a new religion but fulfilling the old one.
5. The heart of Judaism was the Messianic hope. The first Christians were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah.

► A student should read Romans 9:6-16 for the group.

Notes Verse-by-Verse continued

(9:6-9) Some of them have been saved; the Word of God has had effect. The people of God are not simply those who are biological descendants of Abraham. They are the people who are saved by believing God’s promise.

From the time that God chose Abraham, salvation was planned this way. God's salvation plan, which was to continue through Isaac, was a work of God in response to faith. God’s pattern for salvation is promise, then faith, then miracle. Isaac’s birth was a miracle.

Ishmael was born by natural means, not by miracle, and God did not use him for the plan of salvation. By the same principle, God does not accept works for salvation. Jews who wanted to be saved by works were rejected by God just as Ishmael was rejected from being the promised son.

► What about the case of Jacob and Esau? Some people think that these verses say that before they were born, God chose which one he would save. What do these verses really say?

(9:10-13) When God chose Jacob instead of Esau, he was not choosing which one he would save. He chose the one he would use to fulfill the plan of salvation. This is the theme of the chapter: God's right to determine the means of salvation. The record of Esau's life in the Old Testament shows that he actually had a change of heart and may have been saved. He was not rejected from salvation but rejected from being the one to be the father of the chosen nation and the Messiah. The term hated simply means “rejected in favor of another,” like it meant when Jesus said that we must hate our father and mother in comparison to our loyalty to him (Luke 14:26).

God did not choose Jacob because of his qualities or reject Esau because of faults. The passage emphasizes that they had not yet done any good or evil when God made his choice. Of course, God knew their futures. The point is that God chose according to his own plan.

► Some people say that 9:14-16 proves that God chooses whom he will save with reasons that we do not know. They say that our actions and choices do not determine whether or not we will be saved. What are these verses really saying?

(9:14-16) God chooses to whom he will show mercy. That does not mean that he does it without any basis or on a basis that we cannot know. God has shown the basis of his mercy: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

He clearly tells us that we are chosen for salvation if we believe and rejected if we do not. Therefore, it is not according to the will of the person to decide how he can be saved. Salvation must be by the mercy of God, received in the way he has decreed.

► A student should read Romans 9:17-23 for the group. Did God create Pharaoh to be a wicked man and control him so that he would do evil?

(9:17-18) Pharaoh was not born to be condemned, but God put him into his position of authority because God knew what he would do. The term raised up does not refer to his creation, but to his installation as ruler. God has mercy on those who believe and hardens those who will not. Hardening does not mean that God changed a good person into a bad one. God gave Pharaoh the resolve to carry out what he already wanted to do.

Those with hardened hearts are considered guilty for their condition. Therefore, according to justice, their choices are real. Earlier, in 2:4-5, the Gentiles are condemned for hardness of heart which is connected to their willful rejection of truth. (See also Jeremiah 19:15, Nehemiah 9:25-29, Mark 16:14, and Hebrews 3:7-13.) Pharaoh would not have had a hard heart if he had not rejected God first.

(9:19) Here someone raises an objection: “If God can control people, like he did Pharaoh, how can anyone be judged? Nobody has successfully resisted his will.” The objector speaks as if a person should be excused for resisting God if he ultimately is forced to do what God wants. But God is able to distinguish between those who respond to him willingly and those who do not.[1]

(9:20-23) God is able to select some for judgment and some for mercy, even though he will ultimately be glorified by all (because he is glorified both for his judgment and for his mercy). He has a basis for selection and has the right to select. God sets his criterion for acceptance, and it is unchangeable.

The potter can decide what he will do with the clay. He can turn part of it into a vase for flowers and another part into a garbage container. The same way, God decides that some people are fit only for judgment and other people are fit for mercy. The Greek verb does not specify who did the action. It could mean that the people prepared themselves for judgment. That would be consistent with the statement that God endures their rebellion until the time for judgment comes. God did not create them for judgment or make them into sinners. Their judgment will be for their own choices. The fact that God is sovereign in his choosing does not mean that he chooses indiscriminately but that he chooses by his own standard. He chooses the wicked for judgment and the believers for salvation.

The question “Why have you made me like this?” does not mean “Why did you create me for condemnation,” but “Why did you decide that I was fit for judgment?” But God has the right to determine and reveal his justice.

The illustration of the potter is from Jeremiah 18:1-18. The key verses are 18:7-10. 18:8 says, “If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.”

► How would you explain the illustration of the potter and the clay? Did God make some people for the purpose of showing his wrath? What does it mean that he makes different kinds of things out of the clay?

[1] See the notes on a similar passage in 3:5-8.

Some people have concluded from this chapter that God creates some people for the purpose of judgment and others for mercy. However, Paul himself states his main point in the conclusion of this chapter (9:30-33). It is important that we let the author make his own point from his own illustration. We must not argue an application of the author's story that is contrary to the one he himself states. Paul’s main point is this: God will judge an individual on the basis of whether that person believes or not. As the potter, he has the right to decide the basis of acceptance.

We can rejoice in God’s sovereignty because he is always wise, good, loving, and just in everything he does. Though he has absolute authority, he does not do anything unjust. His actions are always consistent with his own nature.

The point of the chapter is not that God chooses whatever individual he wants without any criterion. The main point of Romans 9 is that God sets the criterion that determines whom he will choose for salvation. The criterion is saving faith.

► A student should read Romans 9:24-33 for the group.

Notes Verse-by-Verse continued

(9:24-26) Many Gentiles became part of the people of God, though they are not called the people of God on the basis of nationality. This connects to the great missionary theme of this epistle: the gospel can be offered to everyone in the world.

(9:27-29) Many Jews will be rejected, and only a remnant will be saved. Jews will not automatically be saved just because they are Jews. If God had acted according to justice without mercy, they would have been destroyed completely like Sodom.

(9:30-33) Here is the conclusion of the chapter. The author must be permitted to write his own conclusion. The theme of the chapter is that God has set the means of salvation. The ones who tried to establish their own righteousness on the basis of the law failed. Those who seek righteousness by faith succeed. The person who tries to establish his own righteousness stumbles over the foundation stone God has laid, but the one who believes will not be ashamed.

(1) How do we know that God wants us to understand his justice?
(2) Why is it important for us to see that God is just?
(3) What is a biblical view of God’s sovereignty?
(4) What is the main point of Romans 9?
(5) What were the spiritual privileges of Israel?
(6) What are five connections between Christianity and Judaism?
(7) What does Romans 9 say about God’s choice of Jacob?
(8) Why can we rejoice in God’s sovereignty?

(1) Write a page (about 450 words) explaining how God is sovereign and yet responds to man’s choices. Use Romans 9, but also use other scriptures.

(2) You should prepare at least two conversations with believers from other churches. You should ask them to explain what they think about the sovereignty of God. You should explain passages from Romans that are relevant to the topic. You should write a description of the conversation and give it to the class leader.