One Nation for the Nations

Day 206: Romans 9:1-24

“God chooses people according to his own purposes.” - Romans 9:11 NLT

No chapter in the New Testament is more widely debated than this one. It is the pride of Calvinists and the cringe of Arminianists. (If you don’t know what those terms mean, consider yourself lucky.)  Much of those discussions are predicated on the fact that we can begin to wrap our minds around the vastness of God’s intellect and plan. Which we cannot.

Ben Witherington helps us with this passage as a whole when he comments, “The quoted verse, then, may speak of God’s elective purposes, but the concern is with roles they are to play in history, not their personal eternal destiny. So when Paul speaks of Israel, his concern is with the history of God’s choices and historical purposes, not the history of a race.” - Witherington, B., III, & Hyatt, D. (2004). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (pp. 253–254)

Jacob (Israel) wasn't selected because of his ethics. A basic reading of the Jacob and Esau narrative makes that clear. The family of Abraham was chosen not to become eternally exclusive but to reach the nations (see Genesis 12:3).

God has always worked within big-picture history to bring about his plan. History is not random; it is intentional.

He does this to ensure that all individuals around the world are given the opportunity to be saved by Jesus.

"The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey." - Psalm 37:23 BSB

"The covenant did not include a promise of individual salvation for all Jews; it was limited to God’s special use of the nation of Israel as the conduit for bringing Christ into the world." - Cottrell, J. (1996). Romans (Vol. 2, Ro 9:11)