Paul has just finished proclaiming that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus our Lord.
Nothing.
But it appears that Paul’s soaring truth leaves him with a very hollow feeling:
“I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Rom 9:1-5).
In short, the Israelites received blessings and promises from God throughout Old Testament history, and Paul is a direct descendant of that tradition, from which he is now declared to be a traitor worthy of death. His heart for his family is broken:
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ 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. For this is what the promise said: ‘About this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 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 – she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’” (Rom 9:6-13).
This long passage opens up a critical key to God’s plan for salvation – election, not inheritance – not earned through works, but only by God’s sovereign and holy choice. Paul will continue to expound on election through Chapter 11. This comes not only from Sarah, but also from Rebekah, both of whom suffered greatly before God chose them to bear Isaac and Jacob, respectively. God intentionally rejected the children of Esau.
Is this fair? Fair is not the question. Is this God’s will and promise of election without regard to bloodlines? Absolutely.
And God’s sovereign choice leads straight to you and me.
“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 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.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Rom 9:14-18).
God has mercy, that is forgiveness and restoration in the presence of sincere repentance. But God also hardens certain people like Pharaoh for his purposes as well.
The only guarantee of mercy, and the only guarantee of perfect unity, is that which comes through repentance at the fork in the road of the Cycle of Unity, where warnings are heeded and not ignored.
As great as it sounds to be raised up by God on the world stage because of our unity with him, we must make sure we are not hardened by sin so that God uses our folly of disunity from him so that his name will be proclaimed by contrast!