Verse by Verse

¹⁷ For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”

¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Scripture saith — And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth (Exodus 9:16).

Raise thee up = stand — Made him king and kept him king

He has mercy — And He said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy (Exodus 33:19).

Hardeneth — Pharaoh hardened his own heart first (Exodus 5:2; 7:3). Then God gave him over (Exodus 5:21; 7:23; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20-27; 11:10; 14:4,8).

As a matter of fact, the narrative in Exodus states that to begin with, Pharaoh persistently hardened his own heart. The whole record is deeply significant in this respect. Firstly, Exodus 3:19 establishes the prescience of God. Then 4:21 simply foretells what God will do as to Pharaoh’s conduct. The effects of the first plagues were that Pharaoh was responsible for hardening his own heart. At 9:12, we find the statement of the Lord’s intervention in this matter; “The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.” Yet again in 9:35 the hardening is ascribed to the monarch. After that in each case it is ascribed to God (10:1, 20; 11:10). Clearly, therefore, the hardening was retributive and not arbitrary. Yet, while God did not make Pharaoh wicked, and his punishment was nothing more than he deserved, the argument in Romans stresses the absolute sovereignty and righteousness of God. The recipient of pardoning mercy can never boast in his priority of merit. He who is punished can never charge God with unrighteousness.

This idea, therefore, is not merely Pharaoh’s exaltation to kingship but his being maintained in that position instead of being immediately cut off for his self-will. Not the creation of the man is in view but the object for which God permitted him so long to be kept in authority. — Vine, page 144.

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!

¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

The quote is to Moses (Exodus 33:19) when Moses interceded for Israel after the people made the golden calf.

Since the Jews rejected salvation, God offered it to the Gentiles. Jews might respond that this was unrighteous.

God’s mercy and compassion are not determined apart from His character. The cause is not in human will or effort.

There are two sides to grace, and Romans deals with them both. On one side is represented Romans 10:12-13 — For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is grace indeed; salvation full and free, offered to all who will simply “call upon the name of the Lord.”

But there is another side to grace — a side against which many people rebel. It is the side that proclaims that salvation is wholly of God, entirely apart from man’s will or his works. — Stam, page 226

¹⁰ And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac

¹¹ (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),

¹² it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

It is true that the doctrine taught here has been pushed by some beyond what is written. Calvin was very guilty at this point. He attempted to deduce from this passage what has come to be called “double predestination.” The Bible nowhere announces the predestination of the lost. It would seem that Calvin and others have drawn an inference in purely human logic. They would hold that the choice of Jacob implies the reprobation of Esau. Both of these brothers were born in sin; they both had the nature of Adam. They both grew up in sin. They both were children of wrath, disobedient by nature. If there had been any merit in these two sons, God would have been unjust in not rewarding that merit. The choice of one deserving man over another deserving man would have been favoritism. When we see that the two were equally undeserving, the whole picture becomes different. Everything that is said in the entire Bible about the nature of fallen man may be said — must be said — about both Jacob and Esau. God determined, for causes that are to be found in Himself and have not been revealed to us, to show favor to Jacob. This is grace and grace alone. To show grace to one does not imply condemnation of the other. The condemnation had been equally upon both since the fall of Adam. The grace that is now manifested is sovereign. — Barnhouse, page 28.

Paul answers anyone who says Isaac’s election over Ishmael was due to Ishmael’s illegitimacy (he was the son of a bondwoman).

Esau have I hated (Malachi 1:1-5) — God’s wrath was directed toward Esau’s descendants (Edom).

Not yet born, neither having done any good or evil — election isn’t by claim of birth or merit.

The quote is form Genesis 25:23 — And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

God’s love to Jacob was undeserved (grace). His hatred of Esau had a moral ground and Esau deserved it (justice).

Verses 12 and 13 refer to Jacob and Esau, not personally, but in relation to the nations they represented.

Verse 12 — at their birth

Verse 13 — long after

Hate — strong preference for one over another and not always enmity.

Jacob was flawed but desired his birthright. Esau chose his path (Hebrews 12:16; Genesis 25:34). He despised his birthright long before he sold it.

⁸ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

⁹ For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

The quote is from Genesis 18:10 — And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

Abraham and Sarah planned according to the flesh and tried to help fulfill God’s promise. Ishmael was the result, but God is sovereign in His selection and choose Isaac.

They who are the children of the flesh — only of the flesh and not also of the promise because the children of promise are also of the flesh.

Promise — not just that Isaac would come, but that he would come through God’s power.

⁶ But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

⁷ nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

Paul repeats his point from Romans 2:28-29. He makes a distinction between Jews by birth (natural descent) and those who believe the word of God (promise to Abraham).

Called = chosen

Abraham had at least two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. The Jew would say the physical descent from Abraham makes him an Israelite. He declared any man born a Jew had a right to the promises of God. In contradistinction to this, Paul demonstrates that God never worked on that principle. What about Abraham himself? Though Ishmael was a son by physical birth, he is not an Israelite. God set Ishmael aside and chose Isaac instead. As he says, “in Isaac shall thy seed by called.” Here is a clear instance of election.

But someone might say, “Ishmael was not legitimate. He was born of a handmaid,” which was true. So Paul takes the case of Jacob. What are the facts in this case? Two boys were born; they were twins. Jacob and Esau were twins; so that the Jew could not say, “Well, the one man had the prior right because he was the older.” Here were two sons with the same father and the same mother, born at the same time. Not only so, but Esau was born first, and if there should be any priority on the ground of age, Esau should have had the priority. What did God do? He said, “The Older shall serve the younger.” Every Jew knew that. This was another instance of election, God working in absolute sovereignty (verse 11).

That is the answer to the Jew. God chooses according to His own sovereign will and sets aside all human ideas of merit and superiority. — McClain, page 180.

⁴ who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

⁵ of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Israelites — National, theocratic name, not racial name

Adoption (collective rather than individual) — When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1). And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is My son, even My firstborn (Exodus 4:22).

Glory (manifestation of the presence of God) — And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel (Exodus 24:16-17).

Covenants (Abraham, Moses, David — mutual understanding between two parties who agree to discharge certain obligations. But in this verse, there is no joint obligation but indicates action by one party only.) — Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).

Service (in tabernacle and temple) — Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God (Hebrews 9:1-6).

Promise — Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

Whose — from whom — Christ does not belong to Israel

Flesh — referring to Christ’s humanity through Israel and the virgin birth

Who is over all, God blessed forever — referring to Christ’s divinity

Israel has a special place, as opposed to Gentiles — Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11-12).

Verse 5 is a clear statement of the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ. See Romans 1:3-4.

1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

² that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,

conscience also bearing me witness — should be “my conscience bearing witness with me.” Paul’s conscience bore witness along with his words and his conscience was guided by the Holy Spirit.

I could wish — If it were possible, but it wasn’t. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35). God wouldn’t allow it, and it wouldn’t have saved Israel.

accursed — anathema, disfavor of God

Moses said the same thing — And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written (Exodus 32:31-32).

… The parallelism between chapter 9 and the first part of chapter 3 — In the third chapter three questions were asked which represent supposed Jewish objections raised against the teaching that Jew and Gentile were on the same ground before God in matters of sin and justification by faith.

The first objection was that such an equalization would abrogate the distinctive privileges of the Jew. The question in 3:1 was answered in 3:2. So now chapter 9 shows what are the distinctive privileges of the nation (vs.4-5).

The second objection in chapter 3 was that the validity of God’s promises would be destroyed (3:3). That was answered in 3:4. Similarly chapter 9 shows that the unbelief of Israel is no evidence that the Word of God is come to naught (vs.6-13).

The third objection in chapter 3 was that God would be unrighteous (3:5). That was answered in 3:6-8. This is taken up again in 9:14, where the question is asked, “Is there unrighteousness with God?” The answer is given in verses 14 to 33. — Vine, page 136-137

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The whole Old Testament was simply packed with promises that God had made to this Jewish nation. They were Messianic promises, promises which went with the Christ, the Messiah. Now notice the paradoxical situation. If the Jewish nation will not accept Jesus as Messiah, then the unbelieving Jew would say that there are two possible conclusions to be drawn. Either the gospel that Paul is preaching is not true, or else, if it is true, then the promises of God to Israel have failed, because the Messiah and blessing to Israel were connected inseparably. The Jew would say in essence that, either Jesus Christ is not the true Messiah or the Word of God has proven false.

That is the problem, and it was a tremendous one! It is still a problem today, with which men are trying to cope. If people would only read these chapters carefully, they would find a clear statement of the problem as well as the ultimate solution. A great many people set aside the Jew entirely. They say the promises have failed as far as the Jews are concerned. But that is not true. — McClain, page 173.

³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Height/depth — the dimensions of space

Things present/things to come — the dimensions of time

Death in Christ is hope — But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Death in Christ is life — I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Death in Christ is love — The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31:3).

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

As it is written — quote from Psalm 44:22 — Yea, for Thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Separate — (executioner, v.33) Separation from God is death.

Tribulation = suffering which results from pressure on the soul.

Tribulation is a word that has an interesting history. The English word comes from the Latin name for a flail. A piece of wood, a little longer than a broomstick, has attached to it by a leather thong a shorter piece of wood. The laborer swings the flail through the air and the shorter piece of wood beats upon the wheat, separating the grain from the chaff. There came a time when believers were so persecuted that it seemed as though they were being beaten out like wheat. This came to be called tribulation. — Barnhouse, page 191.

Distress = anguish, shut up without the possibility of escape.

The Greek word [distress] is a combination of two words, the one meaning narrow and the other meaning space. It conveys the thought of being hemmed in. — Barnhouse, page 192.

More than conquerors = super-conquerors, super-victorious

Him that loved us — the tense indicates past action continuing into the present.

Not only do we win the battle; we are more than conquerors for these adversities serve to draw us into still closer fellowship with Him, thus enriching our Christian experience. — Stam, page 214.

³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Courtroom scene — accuser, accused, judge, executioner. For the elect, there can be no accuser and the execution has already taken place.

Christ’s intercession — For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).

Verses 33-34 [have] a four-fold assurance for wavering believers of our eternal security in Christ. Consider the four headings carefully:

1. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s Elect? The answer: It is God that Justifieth (v. 33), and this is what really matters.

2. Who is he that condemneth? Again the answer: It is Christ that died (v. 34). He paid the penalty for our sins that we might not be condemned. But more:

3. Yea, rather, that is risen again (v. 34). We have seen at Romans 4:25 that as our Lord died to pay the debt of our sins, He arose again to prove that the debt was fully paid. Who, then, can condemn us?

4. Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us (v. 34). How can we be condemned while God’s precious Son, our Savior, appears in His presence in our behalf?

What blessed assurance for the fainting believer! True, Satan accuses, the Law condemns, and our hearts acknowledge that daily we sin in thought, in word and in deed. But our glorious Lord defeated Satan at the Cross, making a show of him openly (Colossians 2:15), and as to the Law, He took that out of the way, nailing it to His Cross (Colossians 2:14). As to the sins our hearts must continually acknowledge, has not God justified us, did not Christ die to pay our debt and rise to prove it paid — and does He not intercede for us at this very moment? Let us then put aside our doubts and fears, rejoicing that if God be for us we are eternally secure.

Does this promote lax conduct in the believer? Indeed not. In fact God’s infinite grace to us offers the greatest possible incentive to holy living, an incentive that the Law could not possibly provide. Let us not tell God what we think will promote more godly or more careless conduct among His people! He says that it is His grace that teaches, or disciplines us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-12). — Stam, pages 212-213.