God’s Sovereign Choice
1 2 Cor. 11:10;1 Tim. 2:7;[2 Cor. 12:19;Gal. 1:20]; See ch. 1:9I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For [Ex. 32:32] I could wish that I myself were 1 Cor. 12:3;16:22;Gal. 1:8,9accursed 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. 4 They are [ver. 6; ch. 2:28,29;Gal. 6:16] Israelites, and to them belong [Ex. 4:22]; See ch. 8:15the adoption, Ex. 40:34;1 Sam. 4:21;1 Kgs. 8:11the glory, Gen. 17:2;Deut. 29:14;Gal. 4:24;Eph. 2:12the 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. 5 To them belong ch. 11:28the 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.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham [Gal. 4:23]; See John 8:33because they are his offspring, but Heb. 11:18;Cited from Gen. 21:12;[Gal. 3:29]"Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This 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. 9 For 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." 10 And not only so, but Gen. 25:21also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 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 [ch. 4:17]; See ch. 8:28him who calls— 12 she was told, Cited from Gen. 25:23"The older will serve the younger." 13 As it is written, Cited from Mal. 1:2,3"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
14 What 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! 15 For 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." 16 So 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. 17 For 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." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You 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?" 20 But who are you, O man, Job 33:13to 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. 18:6Has 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? 22 What 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, 23 in order to make known Eph. 3:16;See ch. 2:4the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he [ch. 8:29]has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he See ch. 8:28has called, See ch. 3:29not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As 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.’"
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Cited from Isa. 10:22,23;[Hos. 1:10] "Though the number of the sons of Israel9:27 Or children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, ch. 11:5only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
Cited from Isa. 1:9James 5:4"If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
Deut. 29:23;Isa. 13:19;Jer. 49:18;50:40;Amos 4:11we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah."
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What 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; 31 but that Israel [ch. 10:2,3;11:7] who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness9:31 Greek a law of righteousness[Gal. 5:4]did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? 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, 33 as it is written,
1 Pet. 2:6,7;Cited from Isa. 28:16;[Ps. 118:22] "Behold, I am laying in Zion Isa. 8:14a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
ch. 10:11and whoever believes in him will not be Isa. 49:23;Joel 2:26,27put to shame."