SPRINGCREEK FELLOWSHIP
Sunday, May 17, 2026

      • Acts 2:42CSB

  • Your Grace Is Enough

      • Psalm 119:81–88CSB

  • My Life Is In You
  • Trust In God
  • When I Survey The Wondrous Cross (Hamburg)
  • Within (Romans 9:6-33) there are FOUR MAIN QUESTIONS (the first one implied, and the remaining three direct) that will serve as an outline of our study:

    (v.6) - “Has the Word of God failed?”

    (v.14) - “…Is there injustice with God?”

    (v.19) - “…Why then does he still find fault?”

    (v.30) - “What should we say then?…”

    WE BEGAN LAST WEEK WITH…

    I. Question #1 (Implied): “Has the Word of God Failed?” - (9:6-13)

    The immediate IMPLIED ANSWER: NO! - (v.6a) - “It is NOT as though the word of God has failed…”
    Paul then gives TWO ANSWERS - (vv.6b-8) and TWO ILLUSTRATIONS - (vv.9-13).

    ANSWER #1: (v.6b) - “…because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”

    Romans 2:28–29 CSB
    28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.
    It’s NOT your PARENTAGE or a PHYSICAL PROCEDURE at birth that makes one a Jew, BUT it is a SPIRITUAL ACT by the Holy Spirit that makes a person a Jew!

    ANSWER #2 - (v.7)

    Paul’s second answer is ALSO in the form of a NEGATIVE/POSITIVE:

    (v.7) - “Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac.”

    The Bible ACKNOWLEDGES that Abraham had more than one child, but at the same time ONLY ONE son was “…considered as seed” [offspring, descendant]!
    When God first CALLED Abram, He promised him “offspring”!
    Genesis 12:7 CSB
    7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
    Genesis 15:5–6 CSB
    5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

    CLARIFICATION - (v.8)

    WHICH IS also in the form of a NEGATIVE/POSITIVE:
    Romans 9:8 CSB
    8 That is, it is NOT the children by physical descent [τέκνα τῆς σαρκὸς - ‘children of the flesh’] who are God’s children, BUT the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.
    “Why is this important?”
    Galatians 4:28 CSB
    28 Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.
    We are NOT born again because of HUMAN EFFORT, but we, “…like Isaac, are children of promise.”
    In Paul’s argument beginning in (9:1) he is talking about the CHOICE of God in the lineage of the descendents of Israel—as a NATION!
    We now come to the TWO ILLUSTRATIONS given in the form of a GROUND—that is the evidence, or reason why Paul’s argument is TRUE!

    ILLUSTRATION #1 - The Promise to Sarah! - (v.9)

    Paul doesn’t elaborate, or explain because it couldn’t be MORE CLEAR!
    Romans 9:9 CSB
    9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.
    God made the promise to BOTH Abraham and Sarah!
    Genesis 18:10–15 CSB
    10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” 13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” 15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”
    The POINT: When GOD SPEAKS, we can know that His word is TRUE!
    Before Sarah had ever laughed, God had previously given them the name of their future son: Isaac - ‘He laughs!’
    Genesis 17:19 CSB
    19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.

    ILLUSTRATION #2 - Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau! - (vv.10-13)

    Though it may be difficult to RECONCILE or UNDERSTAND how this could be fair or just (WHICH IS why the question in (v.14) is next), Paul’s point is that God did speak of this in His Word!

    1. The SETTING - (v.10)

    BEFORE he quotes the verses, he sets the stage…
    (v.10a) - “Not only that, but…” from Οὐ μόνον δέ, - ‘Not alone, but…’
    (v.10b) - “…Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac.”

    2. The MEANING - (vv.11-12a)

    SO NOW the illustration is the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, and Paul uses another GROUND:
    Romans 9:11–12 CSB
    11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— 12 not from works but from the one who calls…
    THIS illustration emphasizes God’s sovereignty even more than the first since it involves God’s CHOICE of one twin over another.
    AND it was made BEFORE they were even born or “…done anything good or bad.”
    The REASON or PURPOSE (ἵνα - “…so that”) of this illustration is described as:
    “…God’s purpose” - from πρόθεσις - same word used in (8:28) - “…called according to his purpose.”
    “…according to election might stand—”
    From ἐκλογὴν - ‘elect, chosen’. Used seven times in the NT. The emphasis is upon the free choice of God in fulfilling His purposes.
    Of PAUL
    Acts 9:15 CSB
    15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.
    Of ISRAEL in (Romans 11:5, 7, 28)
    Of ALL BELIEVERS:
    1 Thessalonians 1:4 CSB
    4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
    2 Peter 1:10 CSB
    10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
    FURTHER, it was (v.12) - “not from works but from the one who calls…”
    It is CRITICAL to remember God is speaking about His choice of Jacob to be the heir instead of Esau!
    Jacob didn’t “work” for it, or earn it by any merit on his part!
    IT WAS GOD’S PURPOSE, CHOICE, and CALL of Jacob!
    God made his decision and revealed it to their mother!
    THE POINT: God keeps His WORD! When He says something, it will come to pass!
    NOW Paul’s argument isn’t that it’s all God’s choice and consequently, we DO NOT HAVE a choice!
    He’s not suggesting DOUBLE predestination—that EITHER God chooses you to be saved, or He chooses you to be condemned!
    That would negate the MESSAGE of chapter 10!
    In fact, that understanding would negate the end of Chapter 9!
    Romans 9:30 CSB
    30 What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.
    Romans 9:32–33 CSB
    32 Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.
    BACK TO (9:12)…

    3. The SCRIPTURES - (vv.12b-13)

    Romans 9:12 CSB
    12 …she was told, The older will serve the younger.
    Genesis 25:23 CSB
    23 And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
    Esau, the older, did not actually serve Jacob, but Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, did.
    2 Samuel 8:14 CSB
    14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
    Romans 9:13 CSB
    13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.
    Malachi 1:2–3 CSB
    2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
    David Hocking points out this passage was not written BEFORE they were born, but AFTER!
    During the wilderness wanderings, the EDOMITES, the descendents of Esau would not let the Israelites pass through their land on the King’s Highway and threatened to “…come out and confront you with the sword” (Numbers 20:18). They made them wander around and suffer greatly for it.
    Hocking believes the statement in Malachi was, “…because of what they did to Israel!”
    EVEN WITH that explanation, the idea of God “hating” someone is difficult!
    ONE THING that does help my understanding is, according to Robert Mounce is that, “The strong contrast is a Semitic idiom that heightens the comparison by stating it in absolute terms.”
    While we tend to AVOID using the word “hate” (for the most part), it was not so in Scripture.
    Luke 14:26 CSB
    26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
    John 12:25 CSB
    25 The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
    Gary Hamrick - “Their usage was not emotive, but rather comparative! Otherwise our behavior at family reunions would be markedly different! ‘I hate you and I hate you…’”
    Mike Winger - “Love and hate in Near East Culture is a comparative word, not emotional!
    Matthew 10:37 CSB
    37 The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
    Again, I am indebted to the wisdom of Robert Mounce:
    “Paul was not building a case for salvation that in no way involves the consent of the individual. Nor was he teaching double predestination. Rather he was arguing that the exclusion of so many Jews from the family of God did not constitute a failure on God’s part to maintain his covenant relationship with Israel. He had not broken his promise to the descendants of Abraham.”
    THAT was the answer to QUESTION #1 of whether or not God’s Word had failed!

    NEXT WEEK: QUESTIONS 2, 3 & 4

    (9:14) - “…Is there injustice with God?”

    (9:19) - “…Why then does he still find fault?”

    (9:30) - “What should we say then?…”

      • Romans 2:28–29CSB

      • Genesis 12:7CSB

      • Genesis 15:5–6CSB

      • Romans 9:8CSB

      • Galatians 4:28CSB

      • Romans 9:9CSB

      • Genesis 18:10–15CSB

      • Genesis 17:19CSB

      • Romans 9:11–12CSB

      • Acts 9:15CSB

      • 1 Thessalonians 1:4CSB

      • 2 Peter 1:10CSB

      • Romans 9:30CSB

      • Romans 9:32–33CSB

      • Romans 9:12CSB

      • Genesis 25:23CSB

      • 2 Samuel 8:14CSB

      • Romans 9:13CSB

      • Malachi 1:2–3CSB

      • Luke 14:26CSB

      • John 12:25CSB

      • Matthew 10:37CSB

SPRINGCREEK FELLOWSHIP
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