Calvinism 101: Session 6
Unconditional Election in Romans 9
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? – Romans 9:14
Following Paul’s Argument in Romans 9
Has God’s Word Failed? (Romans 9:6)
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
- If God promised to save Israel, His elect nation, but most of Israel rejects the Messiah, then are God’s promises unreliable?
- Paul’s defense: not all Israel are Israel. That is, not every biological descendant of Abraham is a true child of Abraham (cf. Rom 4, where Paul demonstrates that we are offspring of Abraham if we have faith)
Argument #1: Isaac, not Ishmael (Romans 9:7-9)
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
- Even though Ishmael was also a physical descendant of Abraham through Hagar (Gen 16), he was not a child of the promise (Gen 15). Isaac was (Gen 21).
- This demonstrates that God’s elect is not coterminous with ethnic descendants of Abraham.
Argument #2: Jacob, not Esau (Romans 9:10-13)
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- Even though both Jacob and Esau are biological descendants of both Abraham and Sarah, and even though they are twins, God chooses Jacob and rejects Esau.
- Paul is demonstrating what he will again return to in Romans 11, that even when it seems that all of Israel does not believe, a remnant remains: “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace,” (Rom 11:5).
- And just to emphasize that there is very little distinctives between Jacob and Esau, Paul writes that this election of Jacob over Esau—before they were born or had done anything good or bad—Rebekah is told that “The older will serve the younger,” (Gen 25:23).
- Why does Paul emphasize this? “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.” He wants to make it abundantly clear, it is God’s choice that is decisive and determinative of who the elect are, who the remnant, the “true” Israel is.
- Paul then cites Malachi 1:2, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Malachi is writing much, much later (516 BC) than Jacob and Esau’s time (maybe around 1800 BC). Esau at this point is the nation of Edom, this isn’t a word spoken when Rebekah is pregnant with the twins, yet Paul interprets the “older will serve the younger” through the lens of Malachi 1:2—God has actively rejected Esau, and chosen Jacob.
This, Paul believes, demonstrates that God’s promises do not fail—even though it may appear that much of Israel has rejected the Messiah, we can be confident that all of the true children of Abraham will certainly believe because the guarantee of their faith is not themselves, but God’s sovereign, free, unconditional choice.
Is That Fair? (Romans 9:14-18)
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
- Paul assumes that if you have been following his argument you may be tempted to think “That is unjust.”
- A warning against interpreting the problem away so that Paul “What shall we say then?” makes no sense—for instance, here is how the heretic Pelagius (354-418), translated Romans 9:15, “I will have mercy on the one whom I foreknow will deserve mercy.” (Pelagius’ Commentary on Romans).
- “By no means!” (Gk. mē genoita, μὴ γένοιτο), Paul uses this phrase 10x in Romans (3:4, 6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11)—it always means: “That’s impossible”
- Paul’s argument has now shifted from proving what he has proven in verses 6-13 (not all Israel is Israel), but he does continue to use the Old Testament to make his case, so now he moves on from the patriarchs of Genesis to the Exodus story to defend God’s justice in election.
The Argument
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (citing Ex 33:19)
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (citing Ex 9:16)
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
- Paul assumes that verse 16 should be the conclusion we draw from 15, and 18 from 17. And all of this demonstrates that God is not unjust/unrighteous in His election of some over others, why He hardens some and has mercy on others.
Examining Exodus
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy…The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex 33:18-19, 34:5-7)
- Moses wants God to show him His glory.
- God’s response is to have all His “goodness” pass before Moses and proclaim His name “The LORD”—which we read about in Exodus 34:5-7.
- There must be connection between “glory”, “God’s name,” and “I will be gracious…”
- First, the connection between the name and “glory”
- “God’s name and his glory, at least very often, signify the same thing in Scripture,” (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World, published in 1765).
- O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. (Ps 8:1; cf. Ps 102:15; 148:13; Isa 48:9, 11; 59:19)
- 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’……The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD (Ex 33:18-19a; 34:5-6a)
- The “cloud” is the visible presence of God, and is explicitly associated with God’s glory in Ex 40:35, 1 Kings 8:11, 2 Chron 5:14, Ez 10:4
- But notice, upon Moses’ request to see God’s glory, God’s response is to declare His name—meaning, God’s glory is the revelation of who He is.
- Notice: in 33:19 God says it is His goodness that will pass before Moses, but in 34:6 we are just told that Yahweh Himself passes before Moses. Why? Just like “glory”, God’s “goodness” is Himself, His character, His person.
- “God’s name and his glory, at least very often, signify the same thing in Scripture,” (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World, published in 1765).
- Second, the connection between God’s name and “I will be gracious…”:
- Note the connection between 33:19 and 34:6 in the repetition “gracious” and “merciful” in both passages. Verse 19 is thus likely a truncated summary of the full disclosure of God’s name that 34:6-7 provides. Why only emphasize “grace” and “mercy” when 34:6-7 also includes punishment? Because 34:6-7 is itself lopsided to emphasize grace and mercy over judgment, as do the majority of future references to this passage in the Bible (ex. Ps 86:15; 103:8).
- Note the syntactical similarity between 33:19 and 3:14
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Ex 3:13-14)
- “I am who I am” vs. “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious”
- “I will be who I will be” “I will be…who I will be…”
- God’s declaration of His name “I AM WHO I AM” is many things, but it is also a declaration of total independence and freedom. God is not who He is because of who you are—He is who He is because of Him alone. He is not constrained by outside forces, standards, events, or persons.
Therefore, for God to be God, He must be unconstrained—the only thing that delimits who God is or what God can do…is God. I am who I am. This, Paul believes, is what frees God from the charge that He is unrighteous in having mercy on some, and hardening others. Which makes sense of Paul’s conclusion:
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy,” (Rom 9:16)
- If it did in fact depend on human will or exertion for who was elected, then God would be unjust to choose Jacob and not Esau “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad.”But it doesn’t. And God chooses Jacob over Esau, “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls,” (Rom 9:11).
