It is very important that we cover the conversation about predestination before moving on because the entire topic seems to cloud our ability to read Romans 9–11 in context. Once we begin the Calvinism/Arminianism debate, we completely lose sight of the purpose of the letter to the Romans and what Paul has been talking about since the beginning of the letter!
Let us remind ourselves, Paul has been building a very reasoned, logical, systematic case for the acceptance of a “blended family” of God. This family is struggling to figure out the place of new Gentile converts, mature Gentile believers, and the Jewish presence which serves as the root of this community. Paul has argued that we are all a part of this family because of this faith that saves us. It is by the exact same faith that every single member of God’s family is justified and declared righteous before him. It is this justification which sets us free and does not allow condemnation to reign in any form in our hearts.
But this is a hard truth for Paul’s main Jewish audience (remember, Paul has already made multiple comments about his audience being people who are trained in the Law, as well as another comment coming up in chapter 11). This idea of the Gentiles being included and swept up by this scandalous grace would be a hard truth to swallow — not impossible, but difficult. To this audience, Paul continues:
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Paul’s heart is full of love and breaks over his Jewish brethren who struggle to accept this gospel as they try to lead this new church. (Please, let us remind ourselves not to beat up “those silly Jews” and to identify with the fact that those of us who are “well-seasoned believers” in the church fit in this same seat and struggle with the same things.) He breaks into a poetic benediction about the blessing of being God’s b’hor and the special calling they’ve had for centuries. It is their story to live and to tell! It’s their family, their adoption, their covenants, their law, their Text, their lineage, and their Messiah whom we speak of now!
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.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though 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 him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
I like the translation of the ESV here: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed…” On the heels of this benediction, Paul says this is what the story of God has always been about. Going to the very beginning of the patriarchs and the founding of this family, Paul points out that God has always chosen to work through promise to bring the unlikely and the outsider in. Not only does He work through the b’hor, but He also works through the barren and the second-born as well.
Paul’s heart breaks for his people and he rejoices in their story — their story! But it is their story that is meant to point to the very struggle they are having.
It is usually at this point where everyone begins to lose their minds as Bible interpreters. Being all worked up about predestination, we immediately begin focusing our attention on God’s rejection, rather than the point of Paul’s (what I believe is obvious) argument! While we tend to focus on “Esau I hated,” what we lose in the theological jostling is the fact that Paul is talking about whom God accepts, not whom God rejects!
This entire argument is about Paul pleading with his Jewish brethren to accept the truth that God wants to show kindness to their Gentile counterparts. This passage isn’t being quoted because of Esau; it’s being quoted because of God’s choosing to validate his promises and work through Jacob. It is not about God’s rejection, but God’s compassion. This should be abundantly clear from the next paragraph:
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Paul asks the Jewish audience if this inclusion of the Gentiles is unfair. By no means! For God gets to show kindness to anyone He desires. Notice that the quotation says nothing about rejection, only acceptance, mercy, and compassion. It is God’s prerogative to decide who gets to receive His kindness.
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “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.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Again, we are usually so quick to run to God’s rejection, God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, that we miss the greater point of Paul’s argument. Paul has just finished saying exactly what he said earlier in the letter. Man is not dependent on his own efforts to find God’s mercy and grace. This justification and acceptance comes from faith and is a reality because of the mercy of God.
If one remembers, they might think back to our conversation about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and how it showed God’s relentless pursuit of those who might reject him. This passage isn’t speaking about God deciding who gets in and who is left out! This passage is pleading with all the folks who think they are “IN” to consider the kindness, the mercy, the reckless pursuit of a God who desires to bless all nations!
But this conversation isn’t over yet.
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