Chosen by Grace
This week, Pastor Bob led us into Romans 9:1–16, a passage that feels both beautiful and heavy. After the mountaintop of Romans 8—where we hear about God’s love, our adoption as His children, and the unshakable security we have in Christ—Romans 9 forces us to ask a sobering question:
If all of that is true…what about everyone else?
- What about the people we love who don’t believe in Jesus?
- What about friends, neighbors, or co‑workers who seem far from God?
- What about people who have heard the message of Jesus many times and still don’t respond?
Paul’s deep anguish for his people
Paul doesn’t talk about these things in a detached, academic way. He begins Romans 9 with startling honesty:
“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” (Romans 9:2)
He’s talking about his own people—the Israelites—many of whom did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Paul says he is so burdened for them that, if it were possible, he would rather be cut off from Christ himself if it meant they could be saved.
That’s not casual concern. That’s gut‑level anguish.
And Paul isn’t just emotional; he says the Holy Spirit is bearing witness with his conscience. In other words, this deep sorrow for people who don’t know Jesus is not just Paul’s personality—it reflects God’s own heart.
We see this elsewhere in Scripture:
- God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).
- Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44), grieving that they don’t recognize what would bring them peace.
- John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world so much that He gave His Son.
God really does care about people who don’t know Him. And when we feel burdened for others, we’re actually sharing in God’s heart.
Why we share our faith (and why “because we’re supposed to” isn’t enough)
Pastor Bob reminded us that sharing our faith isn’t just about:
- Obeying a rule,
- Checking a religious box, or
- Growing a church.
Those things may be true or good in their place—but they’re not the main reason.
The real engine behind telling others about Jesus is anguish and love:
- The realization that eternity is real.
- The conviction that separation from God is real.
- The longing that people we know and love would experience forgiveness, hope, and life in Christ.
When *that* lands in our hearts, the rest follows. We can learn better ways to talk about Jesus, we can stumble and grow and make mistakes in how we share—but the motivation becomes love, not pressure.
For some of us, that may look like:
- Inviting a friend over for dinner and having an honest conversation about faith.
- Bringing a neighbor to a church event where they can encounter Christian community and hear the gospel.
- Praying regularly (and specifically) for a co‑worker, a spouse, a child, or a friend who doesn’t know Jesus.
The question underneath all of this is simple but uncomfortable:
Do we feel any of Paul’s anguish?
Or have we grown numb to the spiritual reality of people’s lives?
Has God failed Israel?
Romans 9 isn’t only about our burden for others. Paul is also wrestling with a big theological question: If Israel was God’s chosen people, and many of them have rejected Jesus, does that mean God’s promises have failed?
Paul answers clearly: No.
He lists the incredible privileges God gave Israel:
- Adoption as His people
- God’s visible glory among them
- The covenants and promises
- The giving of the law
- Worship in the temple
- The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
- And, ultimately, the Messiah Himself—Jesus—coming from their line
And yet, even with all that, many Israelites did not believe.
So what happened? Paul’s key statement is:
“For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” (Romans 9:6)
In other words, physical ancestry—having Abraham’s blood in your veins—was never the full story. From the very beginning, God’s promises were always about something deeper than biology. There has always been a “true” Israel—a people defined not just by family tree, but by God’s promise and their response of faith.
God’s pattern in the Old Testament: narrowing the line of promise
To make this point, Paul goes back to the book of Genesis and shows that God’s promises were always more specific than “all of Abraham’s descendants.”
1. **Abraham’s sons**
Abraham had more than one son:
- Ishmael (through Hagar, Sarah’s servant),
- Isaac (through Sarah, his wife),
- and later, additional sons through another wife (Genesis 25).
Yet God made it clear that the covenant promises would flow specifically through **Isaac**, the child of promise—not through Ishmael or the others.
So being a physical child of Abraham wasn’t enough by itself.
2. **Isaac’s sons**
Isaac’s wife Rebekah had twins—Jacob and Esau. Before they were even born, before they had done “anything good or bad,” God declared:
“The older will serve the younger.” (Romans 9:12; Genesis 25:23)
In that culture, the older son typically had the primary rights and blessings. But God chose Jacob, the younger, as the one through whom the covenant line would continue.
Later, the prophet Malachi summarizes it like this:
“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Malachi 1:2–3)
Pastor Bob reminded us that this is strong, comparative language, not literal emotional hatred toward Esau as an individual. It’s a way of saying: God set His special covenant love and purpose on Jacob and his descendants, not on Esau’s line.
All of this shows that from the very beginning, God’s promises have never applied mechanically to everyone in a biological category. God has always been free, and intentional, in how He works out His plan.
So what does this mean for Judaism and Christianity today?
This raises an important and sensitive question: If someone today is Jewish, sincerely follows the Old Testament, but rejects Jesus as the Messiah—are they saved?
According to the New Testament, the answer is no.
Jesus Himself said:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
That’s not a statement of arrogance; it’s a statement of reality. The entire storyline of the Old Testament is pointing forward to Jesus. Christianity is not a brand‑new religion tacked onto the Bible—it is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament anticipated all along.
Jesus said:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)
So:
- Christianity doesn’t *replace* the Old Testament story.
- It *fulfills* it.
- Jesus is where the promises, symbols, and prophecies of the Old Testament come together.
That’s why the New Testament insists that everyone—Jew and non‑Jew alike—needs Jesus.
What about us? Lineage, background, and spiritual autopilot
It’s easy to point at first‑century Israelites and miss how similar we can be.
Some of us lean on:
- Growing up in a Christian home,
- Being baptized or confirmed,
- Going to church regularly,
- Trying to be a moral or “good” person.
Those things may be good gifts, but they don’t, by themselves, make us children of God. Just as Israel’s ancestry didn’t automatically make every descendant a true heir of God’s promises, so our religious background doesn’t automatically make us spiritually alive.
What confirms that we belong to God is **faith in Jesus**—a living trust in who He is and what He has done for us.
How does God choose—and is that fair?
Romans 9 also raises a question that many of us feel but rarely say out loud: If God chooses people, is that fair?
Paul anticipates that concern:
“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14)
He quotes God’s words to Moses:
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
And then Paul concludes:
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16)
There’s mystery here—mystery that Christians have wrestled with for centuries. Different traditions emphasize different aspects of this passage. But Pastor Bob highlighted a few anchors that Scripture gives us:
-God truly loves the world.**
We saw this in John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:3–4.
- God is fair and just.**
He never does wrong. He is a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11).
- Salvation is by grace, not by our effort.**
If we could earn it—even partly—it would no longer be pure grace.
- Even our faith is ultimately a gift.**
God stirs our hearts, convicts us, opens our eyes, and draws us to Himself.
From our perspective, we make a real response—we repent, we believe, we say “yes” to Jesus. But behind and beneath that yes is a God who has been at work long before we were even aware of Him, patiently and graciously pursuing us.
Where this lands for us
Romans 9 doesn’t answer every question we might have about how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility fit together. Some of that remains beyond us.
But it does push us to two very practical, personal places:
1. Humility and gratitude
If we belong to Jesus, it’s not because we were smarter, more spiritual, from a better family, or morally superior. It’s because God had mercy. That reality should make us deeply grateful and deeply humble.
2. A renewed burden for others
If we know God’s heart for the world—His tears over Jerusalem, His desire that people come to know the truth—then we can’t stay indifferent.
So we’re left with some honest questions to carry into the week:
- Is my heart at all like Paul’s?
Do I feel sorrow for people who don’t know Jesus?
- When I think about my family, neighbors, co‑workers, or classmates—do I pray for them specifically?
- Am I open to being used by God, even in small, awkward, imperfect ways, to point someone toward Christ?
God is still at work in the world, just as He was in Abraham’s day, in Paul’s day, and in every generation since. He hasn’t failed His promises. He hasn’t abandoned His purposes. And somehow, in His mysterious sovereignty, He invites us into His mission—with tears in our eyes and hope in our hearts.
Scriptures referenced
- Romans 9:1–16
- Romans 8 (context of adoption and assurance)
- Romans 1–2 (gospel “to the Jew first and also to the Greek”)
- John 3:16
- Luke 19:41–44
- 1 Timothy 2:3–4
- Matthew 5:17
- John 14:6
- Genesis (general background to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
- Genesis 24–25 (Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau)
- Exodus 24:3
- Exodus 32 (Moses interceding for Israel and willing to die with them)
- Joshua 24:24
- Ephesians 2:8–10
- Malachi 1:2–3 (“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”)
- Psalm 7:11
- 1 John 4:7–21
If all of that is true…what about everyone else?
- What about the people we love who don’t believe in Jesus?
- What about friends, neighbors, or co‑workers who seem far from God?
- What about people who have heard the message of Jesus many times and still don’t respond?
Paul’s deep anguish for his people
Paul doesn’t talk about these things in a detached, academic way. He begins Romans 9 with startling honesty:
“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” (Romans 9:2)
He’s talking about his own people—the Israelites—many of whom did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Paul says he is so burdened for them that, if it were possible, he would rather be cut off from Christ himself if it meant they could be saved.
That’s not casual concern. That’s gut‑level anguish.
And Paul isn’t just emotional; he says the Holy Spirit is bearing witness with his conscience. In other words, this deep sorrow for people who don’t know Jesus is not just Paul’s personality—it reflects God’s own heart.
We see this elsewhere in Scripture:
- God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).
- Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44), grieving that they don’t recognize what would bring them peace.
- John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world so much that He gave His Son.
God really does care about people who don’t know Him. And when we feel burdened for others, we’re actually sharing in God’s heart.
Why we share our faith (and why “because we’re supposed to” isn’t enough)
Pastor Bob reminded us that sharing our faith isn’t just about:
- Obeying a rule,
- Checking a religious box, or
- Growing a church.
Those things may be true or good in their place—but they’re not the main reason.
The real engine behind telling others about Jesus is anguish and love:
- The realization that eternity is real.
- The conviction that separation from God is real.
- The longing that people we know and love would experience forgiveness, hope, and life in Christ.
When *that* lands in our hearts, the rest follows. We can learn better ways to talk about Jesus, we can stumble and grow and make mistakes in how we share—but the motivation becomes love, not pressure.
For some of us, that may look like:
- Inviting a friend over for dinner and having an honest conversation about faith.
- Bringing a neighbor to a church event where they can encounter Christian community and hear the gospel.
- Praying regularly (and specifically) for a co‑worker, a spouse, a child, or a friend who doesn’t know Jesus.
The question underneath all of this is simple but uncomfortable:
Do we feel any of Paul’s anguish?
Or have we grown numb to the spiritual reality of people’s lives?
Has God failed Israel?
Romans 9 isn’t only about our burden for others. Paul is also wrestling with a big theological question: If Israel was God’s chosen people, and many of them have rejected Jesus, does that mean God’s promises have failed?
Paul answers clearly: No.
He lists the incredible privileges God gave Israel:
- Adoption as His people
- God’s visible glory among them
- The covenants and promises
- The giving of the law
- Worship in the temple
- The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
- And, ultimately, the Messiah Himself—Jesus—coming from their line
And yet, even with all that, many Israelites did not believe.
So what happened? Paul’s key statement is:
“For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” (Romans 9:6)
In other words, physical ancestry—having Abraham’s blood in your veins—was never the full story. From the very beginning, God’s promises were always about something deeper than biology. There has always been a “true” Israel—a people defined not just by family tree, but by God’s promise and their response of faith.
God’s pattern in the Old Testament: narrowing the line of promise
To make this point, Paul goes back to the book of Genesis and shows that God’s promises were always more specific than “all of Abraham’s descendants.”
1. **Abraham’s sons**
Abraham had more than one son:
- Ishmael (through Hagar, Sarah’s servant),
- Isaac (through Sarah, his wife),
- and later, additional sons through another wife (Genesis 25).
Yet God made it clear that the covenant promises would flow specifically through **Isaac**, the child of promise—not through Ishmael or the others.
So being a physical child of Abraham wasn’t enough by itself.
2. **Isaac’s sons**
Isaac’s wife Rebekah had twins—Jacob and Esau. Before they were even born, before they had done “anything good or bad,” God declared:
“The older will serve the younger.” (Romans 9:12; Genesis 25:23)
In that culture, the older son typically had the primary rights and blessings. But God chose Jacob, the younger, as the one through whom the covenant line would continue.
Later, the prophet Malachi summarizes it like this:
“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Malachi 1:2–3)
Pastor Bob reminded us that this is strong, comparative language, not literal emotional hatred toward Esau as an individual. It’s a way of saying: God set His special covenant love and purpose on Jacob and his descendants, not on Esau’s line.
All of this shows that from the very beginning, God’s promises have never applied mechanically to everyone in a biological category. God has always been free, and intentional, in how He works out His plan.
So what does this mean for Judaism and Christianity today?
This raises an important and sensitive question: If someone today is Jewish, sincerely follows the Old Testament, but rejects Jesus as the Messiah—are they saved?
According to the New Testament, the answer is no.
Jesus Himself said:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
That’s not a statement of arrogance; it’s a statement of reality. The entire storyline of the Old Testament is pointing forward to Jesus. Christianity is not a brand‑new religion tacked onto the Bible—it is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament anticipated all along.
Jesus said:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)
So:
- Christianity doesn’t *replace* the Old Testament story.
- It *fulfills* it.
- Jesus is where the promises, symbols, and prophecies of the Old Testament come together.
That’s why the New Testament insists that everyone—Jew and non‑Jew alike—needs Jesus.
What about us? Lineage, background, and spiritual autopilot
It’s easy to point at first‑century Israelites and miss how similar we can be.
Some of us lean on:
- Growing up in a Christian home,
- Being baptized or confirmed,
- Going to church regularly,
- Trying to be a moral or “good” person.
Those things may be good gifts, but they don’t, by themselves, make us children of God. Just as Israel’s ancestry didn’t automatically make every descendant a true heir of God’s promises, so our religious background doesn’t automatically make us spiritually alive.
What confirms that we belong to God is **faith in Jesus**—a living trust in who He is and what He has done for us.
How does God choose—and is that fair?
Romans 9 also raises a question that many of us feel but rarely say out loud: If God chooses people, is that fair?
Paul anticipates that concern:
“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14)
He quotes God’s words to Moses:
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
And then Paul concludes:
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16)
There’s mystery here—mystery that Christians have wrestled with for centuries. Different traditions emphasize different aspects of this passage. But Pastor Bob highlighted a few anchors that Scripture gives us:
-God truly loves the world.**
We saw this in John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:3–4.
- God is fair and just.**
He never does wrong. He is a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11).
- Salvation is by grace, not by our effort.**
If we could earn it—even partly—it would no longer be pure grace.
- Even our faith is ultimately a gift.**
God stirs our hearts, convicts us, opens our eyes, and draws us to Himself.
From our perspective, we make a real response—we repent, we believe, we say “yes” to Jesus. But behind and beneath that yes is a God who has been at work long before we were even aware of Him, patiently and graciously pursuing us.
Where this lands for us
Romans 9 doesn’t answer every question we might have about how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility fit together. Some of that remains beyond us.
But it does push us to two very practical, personal places:
1. Humility and gratitude
If we belong to Jesus, it’s not because we were smarter, more spiritual, from a better family, or morally superior. It’s because God had mercy. That reality should make us deeply grateful and deeply humble.
2. A renewed burden for others
If we know God’s heart for the world—His tears over Jerusalem, His desire that people come to know the truth—then we can’t stay indifferent.
So we’re left with some honest questions to carry into the week:
- Is my heart at all like Paul’s?
Do I feel sorrow for people who don’t know Jesus?
- When I think about my family, neighbors, co‑workers, or classmates—do I pray for them specifically?
- Am I open to being used by God, even in small, awkward, imperfect ways, to point someone toward Christ?
God is still at work in the world, just as He was in Abraham’s day, in Paul’s day, and in every generation since. He hasn’t failed His promises. He hasn’t abandoned His purposes. And somehow, in His mysterious sovereignty, He invites us into His mission—with tears in our eyes and hope in our hearts.
Scriptures referenced
- Romans 9:1–16
- Romans 8 (context of adoption and assurance)
- Romans 1–2 (gospel “to the Jew first and also to the Greek”)
- John 3:16
- Luke 19:41–44
- 1 Timothy 2:3–4
- Matthew 5:17
- John 14:6
- Genesis (general background to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
- Genesis 24–25 (Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau)
- Exodus 24:3
- Exodus 32 (Moses interceding for Israel and willing to die with them)
- Joshua 24:24
- Ephesians 2:8–10
- Malachi 1:2–3 (“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”)
- Psalm 7:11
- 1 John 4:7–21
Posted in Authentic Faith, Belief, Bible Study, Expository Preaching, Faith and Justification, Gospel / Good News, Grace, Sin, Who is God
Posted in Israel, Election, Mercy, Covenant, Evangelism, Anguish
Posted in Israel, Election, Mercy, Covenant, Evangelism, Anguish
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