Romans 9:6-10

It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned" [Genesis 21:12]. In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son" [Genesis 18:10,14]. Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.

V6 – God’s word has not failed, because not all Israel is Israel. Paul is addressing the questions, "Why are the Jews not receiving their King? Have God’s promises to His people failed?" The prophets answered this Old Testament dilemma by pointing to God’s future activities: He would bring a remnant back to the Promised Land from the captivities, He would send a Savior. So it was a timing thing. But Paul’s problem was bigger, because according to his Gospel, the time had come and gone. The Israelites, though looking for this promised Savior (and looking for this promised restoration of control of the land), rejected Him when He appeared. And now Paul’s audience wants to know how this could have happened without God doing something about it. It appears as if God’s promise failed! And the key to understanding Paul’s first answer to this supposed problem is the doctrine of election. (Paul will give three answers, just about corresponding with each of these three chapters: God’s sovereignty (election) in chapter 9, Man’s accountability in chapter 10, God’s plan and eternal decree in chapter 11).

Paul says that God’s promises to Israel have not failed, because not all Israel is Israel. What does that mean? Paul will say it in an additional way in v7-8 (God’s children are not such simply because they descend physically from Abraham). And he’s already said it earlier in Romans in another way. Romans 2:28-29 “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” It doesn’t matter whether you’re a physical Israelite, unless your heart has been changed. Paul is saying that the covenant promises of God have always found their fulfillment in a subset of the people of Israel. They are not fulfilled in such a way that every physically-born Israelite is counted a child of God. But there has always been a remnant, a believing group within God’s people. There is the external community, many of whom simply go through the motion, and there is within that external community many who truly trust in the living God, have believed His promises, and enjoy the blessing of His salvation. This is true of the church today.

V7-8 – Natural descendants of Abraham are not necessarily God’s elect; rather the elect are regarded as the true descendants of Abraham. Paul says that not all of Abraham’s offspring are children of the promise; rather the children of the promise are regarded as Abraham’s true offspring. This is nothing new. Paul writes the same thing in Galatians 4:22-28 and elsewhere. John 8:33-44 records Jesus’ words saying virtually the same thing. Jesus says to the Jewish leaders, “You are descendants of Abraham, but your father is the devil.” Now it is important to note here that there may be promises for all physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for all physical Jews. That is not my concern now, nor was it Paul’s. Paul is talking about the promise of salvation. Remember the questions: “Why aren’t all the Jews receiving Jesus Christ as their Messiah? Why aren’t they all being saved? What about Israel in this plan of redemption?” And the answer is that the promise of the Kingdom of God is not for all Jews, but only for the children of the promise – God’s elect.

V9-10 – It’s on God’s terms that the promise will be honored. Paul quotes from the Old Testament over 60 times in Romans. Here he turns to Genesis to provide three evidences of the truth of his teaching on election, pointing out first that God decided how and when to bless Abraham with offspring. Remember the promise to Abraham was that he would be the father of many nations – and this promise was made before Abraham displayed faith, indeed while he was an idol-worshipping Mesopotamian. Yet God determined to make it happen His way – not through Ishmael – the half-breed firstborn, but secondly through Isaac, not through Hagar, but through Sarah. And if that evidence wasn’t enough (because Isaac was pure-bred and Ishmael was not), Paul points thirdly to Rebekah and Isaac having twins. And it’s true that both twins were actual, physical, pure-bred descendants of Abraham – even of Isaac. But only one was a child of the promise – and it wasn’t even the first-born! It was Jacob, not Esau. We'll look at the implications of this reality next time.