An Arminian Interprets Romans 9

Opening Statement of the Inherent Limitations

- In beginning to interpret this chapter, it’s important to start with the obvious truth: the questions that this passage raises are vexing issues. Election, predestination, and foreknowledge are the perplexing problems that haunt Romans 9.

- A quick reading of this chapter reveals staggering challenges for an Arminian interpreter. I would argue, though, that the Calvinist interpretation solves one problem by creating several bigger ones, “solving” these theological issues while creating concerns that speak to questions about God’s justice as well as humanity’s ability to genuinely love God.

- Further, there are limitations brought into play here by the reality that we are dealing at one level with issues of the infinite. God’s purpose, God’s mind, and God’s plan all create problems that human minds cannot fully comprehend.

- Nonetheless, we will do the best we can to interpret the chapter faithfully.

The Context of the Passage

- Paul has just spent eight chapters laying out the plan of salvation. It is the greatest presentation of that plan found anywhere – Paul’s theological tour de force. While the gospels give us the story of salvation, the first half of Romans represents the greatest explanation of salvation ever written.

- Having eloquently laid out the plan of salvation, Paul now transitions into a new subject, one that naturally flows from what he’s just written.

- The subject: what about Israel?

- The nature of God’s plan of salvation as revealed in Jesus opens the door to faith for all who will repent and believe in Jesus, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. This is, of course, the good news.

- But the good news also raises a concern. If this is the salvation revealed in Jesus, what do we do with Israel? Their story dominated the Old Testament. Are they now just discarded? What about the promises God made to them?

- Paul is going to spend three chapters unpacking the larger picture of Israel in light of this new plan of salvation. Our purpose here is only to unpack the first of those three chapters: Romans 9.

- Romans 9 is one of the most challenging chapters in the New Testament. There are numerous theological challenges to understanding it. To try to make its points clear, I’m simply going to go through it verse by verse and try to unpack the argument Paul is making.

Introduction: The Burden on Paul for His Countrymen (vv. 1-5)

- As I just noted, the focus of these three chapters is Israel’s place in light of the plan of salvation revealed in Christ.

- In vv. 1-3 Paul shares the deep burden that he has for his fellow Israelites, despite the fact that his conversion to Christianity would have led them to despise him as a traitor. This is a tactical starting point for Paul: what he says is not going to be colored by hatred or indifference toward Israelites. No, he actually has a deep concern for them.

- In vv. 4-5 he celebrates many of the glories that the Old Testament had chronicled for the Jewish nation.

- So he starts out with this: he is a Jew, with a deep burden for the spiritual health of his fellow Jews.

Chapter 9 Summary

- What follows for the remainder of the chapter is Paul’s argument about how Israel is connected to the plan of salvation. He does it in four main sections:

1. Proving that God’s promises haven’t failed (vv. 6-13).

2. Proving that God’s actions here aren’t unjust (vv. 14-18).

3. Proving that God’s actions here don’t overwhelm human free will (vv. 19-29).

4. Proving that God’s actions lead to salvation by faith (vv. 30-33).

- Paul essentially picks his starting point and then answers what he presumes to be the most likely objection to his argument as he progresses.

Part One: Proving that God’s promises haven’t failed (vv. 6-13)

- Paul starts at a crucial, logical place: does the plan of salvation revealed in Jesus negate all the Old Testament plans and promises? He says at the beginning of v. 6: “It is not as though God’s word had failed.” He’s saying, “Everything I’ve just written in chapters 1 through 8 do not mean that God’s been lying up this point or that He’s thrown out He promised before!”

- How can Paul say that if God is now inviting Gentiles into the Kingdom of God, not just Jews? It’s important to identify who the real children of Abraham are: “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (v. 6b). In other words, not everyone who claims to be a Jew is truly a child of God. Being a true child of God is about more than racial or national identity. Paul further emphasizes that point in v. 7a: “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.”