The apostle emphasizes truth; it is the first word in the Greek sentence. The phrase in Christ and in the Holy Spirit speaks of the mystical union of the Savior, the Holy Spirit, and the believer. Of course this is a great and precious truth to the believer, although it in incomprehensible to the unbeliever. Possibly the writer is conveying to the recipients and to us who live in the twentieth century and even the twenty-first century that this doctrine is not normally believed.
The apostle had a heaviness of heart and a continual sorrow of heart for his kinsmen after the flesh. He identifies with his people, Israel, and he made a concerted effort to see his people saved. If there was ever a sincere evangelist, Paul was the epitome of that title. There was an intense longing to see his people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. He had an unceasing burden for his brethren after the flesh. There was a consuming grief and anguish for the lost condition of Israel on the part of Paul.
"For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen" (verses 3 - 5) Accursed means anathema; this is the same word in Acts 23:14 where the enemies of Paul had bound themselves with a curse or an anathema that they would eat nothing until Paul was killed. Paul's feeling for his kinsmen was such that the thought had crossed his mind that perhaps it would be better for him to be lost, if, in the exchange, his national brothers could be saved. Of course this is impossible, salvation is a personal thing, no one can be saved for another. No one can be saved for another, as much as we would like to. Doubtless Paul's concern for Israel was akin to Moses' concern referred to in Exodus 32:32 when he became so burdened for Israel he said, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin --; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."
Paul herein mentions several advantages in these verses that the Israelites had. They were (1) adopted of God, (2) they had seen God's glory, (3) God gave them the covenants, (4) He had given them the law, (5) they were given the service of God, (6) they were given the promises of God, (7) the great patriarchs of old were their ancestors, and (8) the Messiah came through Israel. To be adopted of God does not mean that all of Israel would be saved, but they were God's chosen people. Each had to be saved individually, but as a nation they were adopted by God. The name Israelites was not only a national name, it was a name of honor as well. Genesis 32:28 reads, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." See also Deuteronomy 14: 1, 2 and Exodus 4:22. No other nation had seen God's Shekinah glory. He had manifested His glory in the tabernacle and in the temple. He had manifested His presence with them in a special way (Exodus 40: 35; I Kings 8: 10,11). Israel was given the covenants - the Abrahamic (Genesis 26: 3 - 5), the Mosaic (Exodus 20, 21), and the Davidic covenants (II Samuel 7:16) as well as others. In Abraham, God had promised to magnify his seed, and in the Davidic covenant, God has promised the Messiah. Israel had been given the Decalogue - the Mosaic Law. They were given a special way in which to serve God and worship Him in the temple (ritual of worship associated with the law and given in Exodus and Leviticus). The promises of the Messiah and the millennial promises were given specifically to Israel. The patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were a special lineage from which the Messiah was to come. Last of all the incarnation of Christ, the Messiah, the Satan-bruiser was to come through the lineage of David and to bless Israel. So Israel has many advantages over all nations of the earth. Christ was the Incarnation of the Sovereign One over all. Then Paul bursts out with (may) God (be) blessed forever. Amen. What a blessed nation was Israel!! "Not as though the word of God hath taken no effect. For they are not all lsrael, who are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." (verses 6, 7) Now Paul emphasized that just because Israel was chosen of God and possessed many advantages over the other nations, they were also descended from Abraham, however, this did not mean that they did not require God's individual salvation. To be saved they must be the spiritual seed of Abraham and not just the physical seed. They must believe God and take Him at His word just like their father Abraham did. "Abraham believed God and it was (ac)counted unto him for righteousness." (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). Not all of Israel's flesh are of Israel's faith. The spiritual seed of Abraham came down through the descendants of Isaac, the promised child, and not through Ishmael, the child of the flesh. This is made clear in the following verses.
"That is, they 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." (verse 8) It was through the miracle baby, Isaac, that God would bless Israel. There was nothing miraculous about Ishmael's birth; Abraham fathered him through Hagar, Sarah's handmaid. Jehovah God quickened (made alive) Sarah's womb when she was past the age of child bearing to bring forth Isaac (Genesis 21:12). It was through Isaac and Jacob and his twelve sons, specifically Judah, that God would bring forth the promised One, the Messiah. Our God is able to do supernatural things. Yeager says, "When God calls a sinner to justification, it is in the sphere of supernatural faith in a supernatural God Who does superrational things solely because He wishes to do them" (Volume XII, p. 10).
"For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son." (verse 9) This quotation 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." Isaac's birth was miraculous, so was our Savior's, and so is man's if he ever expects to see Jehovah God as our heavenly Father. Our God is a miracle-working God. It is interesting that God's ways are higher than man's ways. Israel was accustomed to giving the first-born the advantage - the science of primogeniture. But when God desired to do a special thing He can choose those who are born the second in line. God did not chose Cain but Abel (Seth after Abel's death), He chose Isaac over Ishmael, He chose Jacob over Esau, He chooses as His own those who have the second birth, the birth from above - not the fleshly birth but the spiritual birth. Instead of primogeniture God chooses secundogeniture.
"And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth), it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." (verses 10 - 13) These verses show the sovereignty of God; He chose the second-born of twins born to Isaac and Rebecca who was Jacob. God elected to use Jacob, who was the second-born, for the godly line rather than Esau. These verses show the divine purpose and the divine result; furthermore, it shows God's sovereign will. Although Esau and Jacob were twins and unable to do any good or bad things, God chose the one and failed to choose the other. Paul quotes Malachi 1:2, 3, "I have loved you (Israel) saith the Lord. Yet ye say, In what way (Wherefore) hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord; yet I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau..." See also the book of Obadiah where God blessed the descendants of Jacob and not the descendants of Esau. God's creation is not to show discrimination of race, creed, or color; however, we are to show discrimination in regard the good and the evil. God can chose whomever He desires. God can do as He pleases. He asks no one! He is accountable to no one! He is Sovereign!
Perhaps it would be well to look more closely at the word hate as it is used in the passage. The word can also mean to love less in this passage and in Luke 14:26 which reads, "If any man come to me, and hate (love less) his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, ye, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." God loved Esau less than He did Jacob; we are to love our family less than we do the Lord Jesus if we are going to be His true disciples.
"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid." (verse 14) The apostle begins this section with at least ten questions; most of them are rhetorical questions which are merely asked for effect with no answer expected. The first, however, is a deliberative question. Paul asks first, "What then can we conclude?" Conclude from what? - from the sovereignty of God. What can created being say to the choices that God makes? Can we conclude that God is unrighteous? Then he answers with the some of the strongest word in the Greek language - (me genoito), "God forbid" (KJV); "by no means" (RSV); an emphatic, "No," "not at all," or "perish the thought." Don't let it even enter your mind that God is unrighteous. Since when does the creature call the Creator into court to make Him defend Himself? God does what He does for reasons unknown to man unless God wants man to know His reasons. Incidently, election is not just a Pauline doctrine; Jesus said, "...I know those I have chosen..." (John 13: 18). Compare John 15:16; 17:6.
"For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (verse 15) In this verse Paul quotes from Exodus 33:19, "...(I) will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." God is not promising Moses that He will have mercy on anyone. If He does, He will show mercy without specifying upon whom, when, where, how, or why. Israel had sinned a great sin; Moses had pled with God to spare Israel if it meant that he will be accursed. Moses had 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) . To rhetoricians this is an ellipse; that is, Moses is so overcome with emotion, he breaks off his sentence and fails to finish it. In this passage in Romans God can have mercy or compassion (pity) on whom He will. Jehovah God seeks no man's advice.
"So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." (verse 16) Paul is asking in this verse, "Who originates salvation and how is it originated." It is not the one who wills (decides) to be saved; nor is it the one who works for it. Man does not get into God's kingdom by striving (rushing) to enter in. The basis upon which God deals with sinners is not justice but mercy; if God wants to show mercy He is at liberty to do so.
"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." (verse 17) Paul uses another Old Testament Scripture; in God's dealing with Pharaoh (Amenhotep II). "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth" (Exodus 9:16). Pharaoh may not have realized it, but God had elevated him to leadership (brought up on the stage of history) to demonstrate His power. Pharaoh had been given great power and the responsibility of leadership in Egypt, but Jehovah God was much more powerful. The plagues were directed at Egypt's gods; Moses said of God's demonstration of His power, "...that thou (Pharaoh) mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God" (Exodus 8:10).
"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." (verse 18) Jehovah God hardens hearts that have already been hardened by the individual. Exodus 7:14 reads, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go." When an individual hardens his heart against God; God may in turn harden that person's heart. After a number of the plagues Pharaoh is said to have hardened his heart. The word translated harden means "to be obstinate; to make stubborn, to make obstinate." The same word is found in Acts 19:9; Hebrews 3:8, 13, 15; 4:7.
"Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?" (verse 19) Stott writes of this verse, "Paul has made it clear that God does what he wills in both showing mercy and hardening. To human ways of thinking, however, that presents some problems. Paul proceeds to look at them, and he advances his argument by showing that what God has done has been to extend his mercy to the Gentiles" (p. 919). Who is the creature to blame (find fault with) God, the Creator, for His will and ways?
"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?" (verse 20) Here Paul uses the illustration of the potter and the clay. It may be an imperfect illustration, but his readers can get the point. Can man reply (refute, argue against) what God is doing? If man cannot understand, he should ask himself the question, "Why did (God) make me at all? In other words, is it fair of God to hold us accountable to Him, when He makes the decisions? Paul responds in the following verses.
"Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" (verse 21) The village potter at his wheel was a familiar figure in Palestine. Go down to the potter's house, observe the potter. He takes a lump of clay; he may divide the clay and make two vessels from that one lump of clay. One of the vessels is a vase of high value, the other an insignificant crock pot. Does the clay talk back to the potter? If the clay does not please him, or if he finds a flaw in it, the potter may smash the clay and begin again. Cannot God the Divine Potter do as He pleases? Does He show partiality, "Yes," but who am I to criticize and attempt to judge God. "What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before (afore) prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" (verses 22 - 24) Whether the theologian fully understands this verse or not, we are sure that the Judge of all the earth will always do right (Genesis 18:25). By visiting His wrath upon sinners, God prominently displays His glory and grace to the elect, since both saints and sinners are molded from the same lump of clay. If God wanted to show his mercy and the riches of His glory upon some and not others, so be it. He determined beforehand to whom He would show His grace. When the Jews rejected Him, He turned to the Gentiles in order to make the Jew jealous. He wanted in His Divine Purpose to save some from among both Jews and Gentiles. After all God has great patience with the objects of His wrath, instead of visiting it upon evildoers immediately. God has never 'prepared' anybody for destruction; is it not that by their own evil-doing they prepare themselves for it? He 'prepares' people unto glory.
"As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people; and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the sons (children) of the living God." (verses 25, 26) Paul here uses other Old Testament passages from Hosea to show that Israel's unbelief and rejection of Messiah and His gospel fit what the prophets had predicted. Gomer's moral unfaithfulness to Hosea matches Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness to God. Paul cites two passages each from Hosea and Isaiah. In this verse he quotes from Hosea 2:23 and 1:10, "...I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them who were not my people. Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God...in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." Hosea married Gomer and they became parents of a baby daughter, Lo-ruhamah. Her name means "no mercy," or "unpitied," because God said in Hosea 1:6, "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away." The daughter was a reminder to Hosea and the ten northern tribes that God would no longer have mercy on Israel. God said of Judah, the two southern tribes, in Hosea 1:7, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord, their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."
Some time later Hosea and Gomer became parents of a baby boy, Lo-ammi. His name means "not my people." Later the daughter was renamed Ruhamah meaning "having obtained pity or mercy," and the son was renamed Ammi meaning "my people." In God's own time He not only will treat Israel as not being His children but will treat Gentiles, who were not His people, as His people. Drawing from this same passage in Hosea and referring to that same divine graciousness, the Lord says through Peter, "Who in time past were not a people but are now the people of God; who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (I Peter 2:10). Paul's focus, however, is on Israel showing that God's promise has a further and gospel fulfillment in the inclusion of the Gentiles. When the Jews rejected God and became scattered, unpitied, and not His people, He turned to the Gentiles. The Gentiles had been excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. Now when Israel rejected God, He began calling out a people for His name from among the Gentiles.
"Isaiah also crieth out concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved; for he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." (Verse 27, 28) Paul quotes from Isaiah 10:22 which reads, "For though thy people, Israel, be like the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the full end (consumption) decreed shall overflow with righteousness." Though Israel was great in number, God will save only a remnant (a part of the whole). God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 13:16) refers to his physical descendants, while Genesis 15:5 refer to the spiritual seed of Abraham. Not all descendants of Israel will become spiritual seed. A remnant of those physically circumcised have been and will be spiritually circumcised. They are spiritual Israel.
What is meant by the latter part of this verse? When God used the Babylonians to judge Israel for her unbelief and unfaithfulness, His justice was thorough and fast, and only a few, the remnant of true believers, escaped. At the end of the grace age, the rigorous and swift work of God in closing the age of grace and ushering in the kingdom age described in Revelation will take place. The degeneration of world society at the end of the age will be so great that the Lord will be forced to intervene in order to rescue His experiment on this planet.
"And as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of hosts) had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah." (verse 29) Again Paul quotes from Isaiah (1:9), "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been like Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." The Lord of Sabaoth means the "Commander of the Army;" or "God's all encompassing lordship of the universe." God did leave for Israel succeeding generations, and it was for their sake God did not wipe out the nation and leave them like Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord's destruction of those two morally perverted cities became a byword for total annihilation without a trace remaining. Only God's grace has prevented such ultimate and total destruction of the entire world.
"What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith; but Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness." (verse 30, 31) What can be the conclusion? Paul asks. Although the Gentiles did not pursue righteousness as did the Jew by endeavoring to keep the law, God in His mercy saved some of them. The Gentiles were saved by faith precisely because they were not given the law and all of the other advantages listed in Romans 9:1 - 5. The implication for the Jews was that they did not pursue (run swiftly after something) after righteousness by faith, but instead they relied on their birthright as Jews or on their supposed good works in obedience to God's law. Yeager says of verse 30, "Sinful man will never attain to righteousness as long as he entertains his exalted opinion of his own merit, an opinion which is enhanced by his supposed adherence to God's rule of ethics. People who think that they are "good" are not like little children (Matthew 18:3; 11:25 - 27). It is ironic. To gain righteousness (dikaiosuna) one must refuse to pursue it. He who gains it does so, not by diligent pursuit, and what he gains is the righteousness which has faith as its source. This is why the Jews, for the salvation of whom Paul prayed so earnestly, were not yet saved as he says in verses 31, 32" (Volume XII, p. 40).
"Why (Wherefore)? Because they sought it not by faith but, as it were, by the works of the
law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a
stumbling stone and rock of offense; and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
(verses 32, 33) "Why," Paul asks, "why did the Jews not attain to righteousness?" It was not a
faith adventure for them; they sought the wrong source. They stumbled over the stone that God
had set up. Due to Israel's misconception of Messiah's role, His life, teaching and death became
a stumbling block which gave to them what they thought to be a legitimate reason for rejecting
Him (See I Peter 2:8). Here Paul quotes from Isaiah (28:16 and 8:14) which reads, "...Behold I
lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested (tried) stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste...for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of
offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap (gin) and for a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem" It was in Zion (Jerusalem, the capital city of David) that the Messiah appeared in
triumphal presentation (Luke 19:29 - 40). Had Israel been Bible scholars as they were expected
to be, they would have interpreted how Jesus would present Himself; they needed to hear the
prophets. Just as Isaiah had prophesied, the Jews tripped over the stone of stumbling, refusing to
receive the Savior and Lord, because He did not fit their understanding of the Messiah. The
good news of the gospel is, however, unlike those who reject Him, He who believes in Him - the
one who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the divine stumbling stone and rock of offense - will
not be disappointed. Paul calls the proclamation of Christ crucified 'a stumbling-block to Jews,'
and refers also to 'the offence of the cross.' Why did the Jews stumble over the cross? Because
it undermined their self-righteousness. For 'if righteousness could be gained through the law,
Christ died for nothing,' so writes Paul in Galatians 2:21.