An Arminian Interprets Romans 9

- No, rather it is “children of the promise” (v. 8) who are truly the children of Abraham and thus the children of God. (See vv. 7b-9 as a whole.) It’s always been those who believed God by faith who were truly His children, which Paul emphasizes by mentioning the seminal “faith moment” of Abraham believing that God would bless him with a son through Sarah (v. 9).

- The point is that it’s always been about salvation by faith in God. This new plan of salvation as revealed through Christ is not a wild forsaking of the promises originally made, but instead is the faithful progression of that.

- Now we come to the first troubling part of Paul’s writing in this chapter – troubling, at least, to our modern sensibilities. In vv. 10-13, Paul uses an example about Rebekah’s twins and how God chose their roles “before [they] were born or had done anything good or bad” (v. 11). Toward what end did God do this? “[I]n order that [His] purposes in election might stand” (v. 11). Sounds pretty harsh.

- First, let’s note the context in which Paul is saying this. The chapter is about Israel and their complaints about the plan of salvation revealed in Christ. In that light, this becomes a surprisingly subversive argument. Israel has long (throughout the Old Testament) seen themselves as the “chosen ones.” They are God’s chosen people, right? Did they do anything to deserve this? No. Were they a particularly impressive nation in power or intelligence? No. Were they, more to the point, a people of unusual religious acumen? No. In fact, God chose them before they were even a nation. He chose Abraham to go to a new land and initiated what would become the chosen nation of Israel. Despite their prevalent religious pride, an accurate assessment of their origin would lead to the undeniable conclusion: they are where they are because God sovereignly and generously chose them, not because of any inherent superiority.

- Here Paul turns that on its head. Israel has for generations relished that they are the chosen people – chosen by God’s election. They essentially would say, “We are chosen. God said it. Too bad if you don’t like it!” Now, Paul is saying that God has chosen to let the Gentiles into the Kingdom. Where has Paul gone in his argument? To paraphrase: “This is happening because God chose to open the door to Gentiles. It was His sovereign choice in how He elected for things to happen.” In other words, “They are chosen. God said it. Too bad if you don’t like it!”

- Again, God hasn’t negated any of His promises. After all, for Him to lie would be against His character and therefore impossible for Him. But in how He has chosen to fulfill His promises, a large piece of the puzzle is this simple but profound truth: this is the way God chose to have things happen. It was His sovereign election that opened the door to the Gentiles.

- Those choices almost always raise the rancor of the one who doesn’t get the prime spot. But for God to achieve His larger purposes, sometimes He has to make a choice. In the example in vv. 11-13, God chose Jacob. In the larger point Paul is making, God is choosing the Gentiles.