Romans 9:25-26

Calvinists love Romans 9:6-24, because it teaches so clearly the doctrine of unconditional election. But many Calvinists forget about the rest of chapters 9-11. We need to look at it, because Paul is not finished. It’s true that he has given us the keys. But there are many more implications, in addition to our individual salvation being determined by God’s choice, to this glorious doctrine than many students of theology are able to convey. These implications include how the physical nation of Israel meshes with the spiritual Jews and the Gentile conversion and what all of this means as the end of time draws near. We’ll begin looking at these implications as we continue to work through Romans 9-11. For now, notice v25-26:

As He says in Hosea: "I will call them 'My people' who are not My people; and I will call her 'My loved one' who is not My loved one" [Hosea 2:23], and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God'" [Hosea 1:10].

Paul jumps right back into the topic of unconditional election. He says that God’s purpose to reveal the glory of His mercy against the backdrop of evil is evidenced in the calling of the Gentiles. God reveals His mercy in the calling of the Gentiles. Paul quotes from Hosea, and he applies the prophet’s words to God’s calling of the Gentiles. They were not God’s people and yet, out of mercy, He’s going to make them His people. He’s doing this through Paul’s ministry. It’s Old Testament proof that God has chosen the Gentiles, and Paul is appealing to it to illustrate the mercy of God to the Jews in his audience.

Gentiles had not received the covenant promises. God had not come to the father of the Gentile nations like He had come to the father of Israel and given this glorious covenant of grace, and yet God in His mercy has now included these Gentiles in the promises to Abraham. But the Gentiles were considered to be wicked, dirty idolaters; they were enemies of the Jews, those considered to be God’s people; they deserved judgment, and in choosing then to be His children, God displays His mercy. He displays His mercy by calling Gentiles out of the world and into His kingdom, into His family, so that they worship Him, love Him, and serve Him. They deserved immediate judgment, but God chose them in mercy.

Throughout this passage, Paul has taught us two important truths. First, God’s judgment is always just. Second, God’s mercy is always more that just. It’s always a gratuitous display of His infinite love, and Paul has said that to us over and over, “Whenever you see God judge, don’t ask, ‘How can God be so mean?’ It’s just justice. Whenever you see God show mercy, think, ‘There is no deserved or conditioned reason for that; it’s just the pure, unconditional love, grace, and mercy of God.’”