Romans 9:6-17
6But it is not as though the word of God has failed For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”
8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
9For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”
10And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
11for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,
12it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”
13Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
15For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”
16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”
This section is interesting to me because I don’t think it is something we hear often. In verse 8 we see that God’s chosen people aren’t just the Jews, as has been up until Christ was crucified. We think of the chosen people as just the Jews, but we see here that the chosen people of God is all of us who are saved, not those who grew up in Jewish heritage. I think it’s an interesting thing to keep in mind.
The highlighted verse sticks out to me because it reaffirms God’s sovereignty. It says that NOTHING we do matters except for what God wills. Think about that on a different level than just turning right or left. Saying yes or no. Think about it on a level of your salvation. You are saved because God wanted you to be. He willed it for His plan. You didn’t accept His grace and salvation because you thought it was the right thing to do (or whatever you THOUGHT was your motivation at the time), but because God said so, and it happened.
It’s a scary thought in this control-oriented society of free will and power. Everything happens on purpose. What’s your purpose?
