Verse By Verse Romans Archives

Romans 9:19-23 – The Potter and the Clay

Paul answers the objection, “Why does God still find fault? Who can resist His will?” He reminds the reader that God, like a potter, has the right to shape His creation as He chooses.

People are not in a position to argue with their Maker.
God may allow some to continue in stubbornness so that His wrath and power are seen. At the same time, He patiently endures them so that the riches of His mercy can be displayed toward those He has prepared for glory. The contrast between vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy shows both God’s justice and His grace.

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Romans 9:19-23 – The Potter and the Clay – Transcript

Let’s have a quick review of Romans nine and where we’ve been already.
Paul carries deep sorrow for his kinsmen as he tells us in the opening 3 verses of Romans 9 because they’re Israelites who possess every privilege God gave the nation—yet remain in unbelief and outside the salvation offered in Christ.
They were given the promises, covenants, the law, and the service of God. Yet Paul insists in verse 6 that it’s not God’s Word that has failed.
He proves this by showing that God’s Word was always a word of promise, not a guarantee to every person descended from Israel’s flesh.
Romans9:6-8 show that “not all Israel is Israel.” The promise was spoken to Abraham, then narrowed to Isaac, then to Jacob. God’s Word has been effectual because it was never aimed at the whole nation in the flesh, but only at those in the line of promise, the descendants of Jacob.

Paul’s second point, in verses 16 and 18, is that God’s Word operates by mercy, not human effort or will. Israel’s tradition made them think their fleshly identity or religious works made them special recipients of God’s favour. Paul corrects this. Israel was chosen because of God’s mercy, and He gives mercy according to His will. If He wills to harden, He can harden. Their status was never earned; it was given. That’s what mercy is.

A third reason God’s Word has not failed is that God Himself formed the nation. He honoured them, judged them, preserved them, and will ultimately save them.
Israel’s unbelief does not mean God failed somehow; it shows their failure, not His. Everything that’s happened to Israel follows what God already revealed in Scripture. God will finish what He began.

In verse 19 (Romans 9:19), Paul anticipates another objection:
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Why does God still find fault? Who has resisted His will?
This comes from someone reacting to verse 18, where Paul says God shows mercy to whom He wills and hardens whom He wills. These questions are not Paul’s own questions; they’re the objections of someone who misunderstands God’s dealings and tries to justify himself. Romans 3 shows similar objections from those who twist Paul’s teaching.

The question assumes that if God hardens someone, then God’s to blame for their failure. Paul rejects this. The fault is always their own sin. God judges because people are sinners, not because He randomly forces them into hardness. Romans 3:6 says God judges the world in righteousness. Romans 3:9 says Jews and Gentiles alike are “all under sin.” That’s why God finds fault.
Hardening is a response to existing sin and pride.
A hardened heart is a heart that resists God. If God Himself created hardness without any prior sin, He’d be creating sin. But Scripture shows the opposite: God hardens where sin already exists. When God reproves a proud sinner, the sinner reacts by becoming more resistant. That further hardness is also additional sin. God wills to harden only where people already oppose Him. He’s not guilty for reproving or judging wickedness.
The fault lies with man, not God. God remains righteous, and His Word remains true.
Sin is always against what’s true, so the sinner’s the one at fault. It’s not unfair for a judge to list a criminal’s sins and declare him guilty. The criminal may protest, but the judge is dealing with him, not someone else. This is Paul’s point: God finds fault because He’s the Judge, and we’re the sinners. In the next versRomans 9:2, Paul will say God is the Maker and Former; therefore, He has the right to judge.

When the objection is raised, “Why does He yet find fault?” we must ask, with whom is God finding fault? Not with believing Israel or saved individuals, who are justified by faith. The objection concerns unbelieving, hardened Israel—those who rejected God’s Word.
Why does God find fault with them? Because they sinned and they hardened their hearts. The same question could be asked of Pharaoh: if God said He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, why did He judge him? Because Pharaoh’s hardened heart was sin, not obedience. Hardening is not God switching off a person’s ability to believe; it’s the sinner’s proud resistance being exposed by God’s reproof.
God can show mercy and plead with sinners, but mercy doesn’t in itself guarantee salvation; it provides a way, a method, a solution through which to receive salvation, and it only comes to those who believe, who have faith in that solution. This present age proves that grace abounds, yet many still refuse to believe.
By the same token, God’s hard response doesn’t guarantee damnation. Even when God deals firmly, people can still respond in faith.
The context of Romans 9 to 11 remains Israel.
Romans 9:3 shows Paul grieving over them. Romans 11:11 says Israel’s fall brought salvation to the Gentiles, but why did Israel fall? Their unbelief and hardness, not God knocking them down.
Jesus Himself showed mercy to some in Israel and spoke hard words to others, yet their response was their own responsibility.
So why does God find fault?
Because of their sin and pride. They didn’t listen, and so they didn’t understand, and didn’t receive the Scriptures, but God gave them repeated opportunities.

So, these objections raised in Romans 9:19: Why doth he yet find fault? and Who has resisted His will? are not deep theological questions from Paul but the ignorant objections from a self‑justifying man.
Paul will rebuke this thinking in the next verse, verse 20. The question assumes that if God wills to show mercy or to harden, no one can resist Him. This is similar to the Calvinist idea of irresistible grace, where nothing can oppose God’s decree. But Paul’s not teaching that.
Scripture shows that people can resist God’s will. Ezekiel 33:11 says God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires them to turn and live. The wicked—here, it’s Israel—can repent and receive life. Not all Israel is the promised Israel; many were wicked and disobedient, yet God called them to turn. His sovereignty doesn’t mean He causes everything that happens. A sovereign ruler can have authority without causing every event.
People may be able to resist God’s will, but they can’t overcome it. Pharaoh resisted. Israel resisted. Humanity resists. God’s stated will is sometimes opposed by sinners, yet His ultimate purpose stands.

Jesus shows plainly that people can resist God’s will.
In Luke 13:34, He cries this deeply, moving lament over Jerusalem, revealing the very heart of God:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Jesus willed and longed to gather them, but they refused.
This alone answers the question, “Who has resisted His will?” Jerusalem resisted. God desires to give grace and glory, but He created people with the ability to respond freely. Some believe; others reject. Peter and John received Christ, but the city as a whole did not.

Romans 13:2 gives another example. God’s the one who gives authority its power, yet Paul says,
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

People can resist God’s ordained power, though it brings judgment. The real question is not whether someone can resist God’s will, but whether resisting it will ever be good for them. It never is.

Paul himself experienced that resistance. In 1 Thessalonians 2:18, he says he wanted to visit the believers, “but Satan hindered us.” Satan resists God’s will constantly, though he never overcomes it. Resisting and defeating are not the same. God’s will is ultimately fulfilled because He has the power and wisdom to accomplish His purpose, even while allowing human and angelic beings to exercise their will.

God’s stated will in 1 Timothy 2:4 is: “that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Yet many resist the gospel.
Universalism and strict determinism fail here: God desires salvation for all, but people refuse.
Universalism is the belief that everyone will eventually be saved, no matter what.
It teaches that no one will face final judgment, because God’s love guarantees salvation for all people.
Strict determinism is the belief that everything that happens is fixed by God’s decree, including every human choice.
In this view, no one can ever act differently than what God has already decided, and human will has no real freedom.

God’s larger purpose is the display of His manifold wisdom and glory in the restoration of all things, not merely the salvation of individuals. His glory stands with or without human response, though He graciously allows people to partake of it through Christ.

Scripture gives more examples of resisting God’s will. In 2 Timothy 3:8, Paul says that Janes and Jambres “withstood Moses,” resisting the truth.
Jannes and Jambres were two Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Exodus.
When Moses performed miracles by God’s power—like turning the rod into a serpent or turning water into blood—these magicians tried to copy the miracles to resist Moses and make Pharaoh ignore God’s command. Jannes and Jambres were exposed as frauds and became a lasting example of men who fight against God and lose.
God’s will is bigger than any individual, and His ultimate plan will be fulfilled. Those who resist His will receive judgment; those who align with His will—especially His will for salvation by grace—receive mercy.

This is why Paul insists God’s Word has not failed. His will is expressed in promise, in mercy, and in His sovereign right as Creator. Salvation offered through Christ is the effect of God’s Word to Israel, even through their fall.
If God fulfilled salvation through their unbelief, He’ll certainly fulfil His promises to them in the future.
Acts 7:51 also shows Israel resisting God directly.
Stephen rebukes them, saying,
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

“Stiff‑necked” is a biblical term for a hardened heart—unwilling to bow to God. They resisted Christ, resisted the Spirit, and rejected God’s repeated mercy.
Their uncircumcised hearts and ears showed resistance, not submission.
Stephen was preaching God’s message, urging repentance, yet they resisted the Holy Ghost, just as their fathers resisted the prophets. When they were “cut to the heart” in Acts 7:54, instead of repenting, they gnashed their teeth and killed Stephen. Gnashing their teeth means they showed fierce anger and hatred, like someone grinding their teeth in rage. This is hardened, unbelieving Israel resisting God’s will.
This’s why God found fault: their sin, their hardness, their refusal. They resisted His will, and they bore the consequences.

Returning to Romans 9, the question “Who hath resisted His will?” is in the context of God showing mercy or hardening. God’s “will” here is how He chooses to deal with sinners, whether He responds with mercy or hardness. It’s not about God deciding before creation how every person will respond.
God gave promises to Abraham, chose Jacob, and warned Pharaoh—all in time, within the dimension of time, not outside time in eternity before time existed. Hardening is God’s righteous stance toward a sinner who already resists Him. Mercy is His gracious stance toward a sinner He chooses to spare.

Every sinner resists God’s will.
God’s not determining their response; He is responding to their sin. Sometimes His hard response awakens a sinner to reality, like a criminal who finally repents after punishment. Other times hardness increases. All people resist God at times, which is why believers should constantly encourage one another to remain soft toward God’s Word. Even today, God dispenses grace, yet many still refuse to believe. God’s position—mercy or hardness—never guarantees a person’s response.

Hardening occurs when resistant man meets the immovable God. We can’t move God. He stands firm, and when a sinner resists, it produces hardness. To some, God moves with compassion; to others, He stands in righteous judgment. He owes no one mercy. He’s righteous, and sinners bear the consequences of resisting Him.

Paul answers the objections in Romans 9:19 with Romans 9:20-21:
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?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

God finds fault because He made them; they sinned, and they resisted Him.
Israel owed God gratitude for His covenants, promises, and glory, yet they sinned against Him. Stephen said, “You always resist the Holy Ghost,” and instead of repenting, they stoned Stephen to death.

Paul’s rebuke—“Who art thou, O man?”—reminds us of Job.
In Job 40:2, God confronts Job:
Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job immediately recognises his place in Job 40:4:
Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Job stops speaking because he realises he spoke without knowledge. God’s not obligated to explain Himself. He’s God; man is dust.

Today, believers have the privilege of knowing God’s revealed will through Scripture; we have the complete Word of God, something Job didn’t possess. But the lesson remains: God is righteous, man is sinful, and any objection that blames God for human hardness misunderstands both God’s nature and man’s responsibility.

Christians often try to figure out things God has not revealed. Sometimes God withholds knowledge because He doesn’t intend us to know it. Job shows the right response in suffering. In Job 13:15, he says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.”
Job had lost nearly everything, yet he remained a man of faith. He acknowledged God as Maker and himself as servant. Job spoke in ignorance because he had no Scripture, but his submission shows the right response toward God’s will. Today, unlike Job, believers have God’s revealed Word and can know His will.

Paul’s rebuke in Romans 9:20-21 echoes Job’s lesson:
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?”

Israel’s objection—“Why does He find fault?”—forgets their place. They sinned, resisted, and hardened their hearts. God had given them covenants, promises, and glory, yet they repaid Him with unbelief. Stephen said, “You always resist the Holy Ghost,” and instead of repenting, they killed him. God’s not at fault; they are.

Paul quotes prophecy from Isaiah 29 in the next part of the verse: “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?”
Isaiah 29 is a chapter about Israel’s blindness.
Isaiah addresses Jerusalem (Ariel) in Isaiah 29:13, describing people who honour God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him.
It shows God withdrawing wisdom from Israel because they’d already resisted Him.
Their blindness was not God randomly shutting their eyes; it was His righteous response to their unbelief. They’d turned things upside down, blaming God for their condition. Isaiah warns against saying, “He made me this way,” or accusing God of lacking understanding. God made things good; sin corrupted them. Israel’s blindness was the result of their own rebellion, not God’s injustice.
Isaiah 30:1-2 continues the theme, calling Israel “rebellious children” who don’t take counsel from God, add sin to sin, and trust in Egypt instead of the Lord. They even told prophets, in Isaiah 30:10,
…say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
This beggars belief, but they actually told the false seers and prophets not to tell them the truth. They wanted pleasant messages, not truth and then in the next verse they even speak against Christ: “Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
This is a prophecy of Israel rejecting and crucifying Jesus. Their hardness was foretold.
Isaiah 45:9 warns, “Woe unto him that striveth with his maker.” Israel was striving against God, questioning His actions, and blaming Him for their condition. The potter‑clay imagery appears again in this verse: clay cannot accuse the potter of ignorance. God made Israel, gave them covenants, and sent prophets, yet they resisted Him. Their blindness and judgment were the result of their own rebellion.

Paul uses this prophetic background to correct the objector in Romans 9.
The questioner is turning things upside down—blaming God for Israel’s hardness instead of acknowledging Israel’s sin. The issue’s not God’s fairness but man’s rebellion. God’s mercy is never owed, and His withholding of mercy is never unjust. Israel resisted God’s will repeatedly, and God responded righteously.

Jesus also quoted this same passage in Mark 7, rebuking Israel for replacing God’s commands with human traditions.
In Mark 7:13, Jesus says Israel made, quote, “the word of God of none effect through your tradition.”
Their worship was vain because their hearts weren’t submitted to God. These were Israelites who honoured God with their lips but whose hearts were far from Him. They followed religious traditions that they invented, not God’s commands. Because of this, the Word of God had no effect in them.
Jesus and Isaiah both separate believing Israel from unbelieving Israel.
This is exactly the issue Paul addresses in Romans 9: God’s Word has not failed, but it had no effect in unbelieving Israel, who replaced God’s truth with human commandments.
Paul draws directly from these passages in Romans 9:19–21. When the objector asks, “Why hast thou made me thus? Paul quotes Isaiah to show the foolishness of blaming God. God is the potter; Israel is the clay. He has the right to shape the nation, to honour or to judge, to show mercy or to harden. The context is Israel, not individual predestination. God can take the same lump of clay—Israel—and make vessels of honour (believing Israel) and vessels of dishonour (unbelieving Israel). He can destroy or restore. He is the Maker.

Isaiah 64:8 shows the right response:
But now, O LORD , thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Israel acknowledges their sin, asks God not to be exceedingly angry, and pleads for mercy. Their cities are desolate, their temple burned, and they cry out for God to remember His people. This is the posture Paul applauds: recognising God’s righteousness, confessing sin, and seeking mercy.

This prophetic background explains Paul’s argument.
Unbelieving Israel hardened their hearts, resisted God’s Word, rejected Christ, and made the Word of God of none effect.
God responded as the righteous potter.
God is the potter, and Israel is the clay. As the potter, He has full authority to save a vessel or to destroy it.
Believing Israel received mercy; unbelieving Israel received judgment. God remains just, and His Word remains true.

Jeremiah 18 illustrates this clearly.
God sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house, where a vessel becomes marred. The potter decides whether to remake it or discard it. God applies the lesson directly to Israel in Jeremiah 18:6:
O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD . Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Israel is the clay in His hand. When He formed Israel, it was in time—bringing them out of Egypt, giving them the law, nurturing them in the wilderness. He found flaws in the nation, and He had the right either to destroy or to show mercy. At times He spared them, as in Moses’ day; at other times He judged them, as when the unbelieving generation died in the wilderness.

Jeremiah 18:7–10 explains God’s dealings: if a nation repents, He’ll turn from the judgment He intended; if it does evil, He’ll withdraw the good He planned. This answers the Romans 9 question: Why have God’s promised benefits not come to Israel? Because Israel resisted, hardened, and refused to repent. God, the potter, can make a vessel of mercy or a vessel of destruction from the same lump.

Unbelieving Israel complained that Gentiles were receiving salvation and the remnant was receiving the kingdom. But Jesus, Paul, and the prophets all answer the same way: Israel rejected God’s Word. Their traditions were not the works God required. Salvation comes by promise, faith, and grace—not by fleshly identity or religious performance.

Then Jeremiah 18:11–12 shows Israel’s stubbornness: they chose their own devices and the imagination of their evil hearts. God responded by framing evil against them, sending Babylon to destroy Jerusalem. Yet even then, a remnant remained. Israel’s destruction was never total; God preserved a faithful few.

Romans 9:19-21 draws directly from this picture. Every Old Testament use of the potter‑clay picture refers to God and Israel, not individual predestination. The “same lump” is Israel. God can make from Israel a vessel of destruction (unbelieving Israel) and a vessel of mercy (believing Israel). Fleshly Israel does not automatically receive the promises. Believing Israel—the remnant—receives them.

Paul’s grief for his kinsmen shows his desire that broken Israel repent and believe, so the Word of God may have its intended effect in them through Christ.

Now to Romans 9:22-23, which asks:
What if God, willing to shew 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 afore prepared unto glory,

These vessels of wrath are the same broken, unbelieving Israel described in Jeremiah and Isaiah—Israel that repeatedly resisted God, rejected His commandments, and hardened their hearts.
God does not prepare vessels of wrath for destruction, but He does prepare vessels of mercy for glory.
Now, we need to see something important about the words, “which he had afore prepared unto glory” in this passage, so we’ll deal with this in the next episode.

God endured Israel’srebellion for centuries.
He sent prophets, pleaded with them, warned them, and showed both mercy and judgment. Hosea 8 describes this long history: Israel transgressed the covenant, but they cried, “My God, we know thee,” yet God said He didn’t know them because their worship was false.
They set up kings without Him, built idols, and sowed the wind. Hosea 8:8 says, “Israel is swallowed up… as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.” This is the vessel of wrath—Israel hardened and scattered among the Gentiles.

Could God make a vessel of pleasure and a vessel of no pleasure from the same lump? Scripture repeatedly says yes.
Israel had covenants and promises, but unbelieving Israel rejected them. Believing Israel receives glory; unbelieving Israel receives destruction. The Word of God has effect, but only in those who believe.

Isaiah 8:14 says Israel “forgot his maker.”
This is the same issue Paul addresses: Israel resisted God’s will, and now asks why God finds fault. Paul answers: because they forgot the Maker, resisted His Word, and hardened themselves.
Romans 9:22 shows God’s longsuffering toward these vessels of wrath. His final wrath hasn’t come yet, but it will. Revelation 6:17 speaks of the coming “day of His wrath,” still future. Meanwhile, God patiently endures unbelief.

Peter teaches the same truth. In 2 Peter 3:9, people ask why God’s promised kingdom hasn’t arrived. Peter answers: “The Lord is not slack… but is longsuffering… not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God delays judgment so sinners—including unbelieving Israel—may repent. Paul says the Word of God has not failed; Peter says God’s longsuffering is salvation.

Peter even connects his teaching to Paul’s in 2 Peter 3:15, saying: “Account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul hath written unto you.”
Paul’s Romans 9–11 explains Israel’s condition: God is longsuffering, offering salvation now, even though Israel once experienced hardness under Christ’s earthly ministry.

God’s default position is longsuffering. Though Scripture records moments of judgment, they occur within a vast history of patience. Peter reminds us that God was longsuffering even in Noah’s day—warning for a hundred years before the flood. Judgment came suddenly, but only after extended mercy.

Jesus taught the same thing in the parable of the tares in Matthew 13. The kingdom was preached, yet not immediately received. Two groups emerged: those who believed and those who resisted. God allowed both to grow until the time of separation.
In Matthew 13:24–30, Jesus explains that while the sower planted good seed, an enemy sowed tares among the wheat. A “tare” is a weed that grows among good plants and looks like the real thing, but isn’t.
God created Israel as His good field, but the corruption within the nation came from the enemy and from Israel’s own sin—not from God. When the servants ask whether they should remove the tares, the Lord says no, lest the wheat be harmed. Both must grow together until the harvest, when the tares will be burned and the wheat gathered into the barn. The barn is the kingdom; the burning is judgment. Until Christ returns, Israel contains both believing and unbelieving people—two vessels from the same lump.

Paul’s point in Romans 9 matches Jesus’ parable. God, the Maker, can form from Israel a vessel of honour and a vessel of dishonour. Faith is the difference. And though the parable uses plants, people can repent. A “tare” can become “wheat” if it turns to God, and God will repent of the judgment He intended.

Jesus showed this as well. To unbelieving Israel He spoke woe, warning of coming destruction. Yet He also prayed, “Father, forgive them,” and Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 that God was “not imputing their trespasses” during Christ’s earthly ministry. God endured their unbelief with longsuffering. Christ could have destroyed the nation instantly, yet He suffered on the cross instead. This is exactly what Paul means when he says, “What if God… endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath?”

Paul’s the greatest example of this mercy. In 1 Timothy 1:16, he says he obtained mercy so Christ might show “all longsuffering” as a pattern. Paul was an unbelieving Jew, a vessel of wrath, yet God saved him. This is why Paul can explain how God will save all who believe—including unbelieving Israel once they believe.

Romans 2 shows Paul applying Israel’s own covenants to them.
He warns that possessing the law doesn’t exempt them from judgment. God’s goodness and longsuffering should lead them to repentance, but their hardness stores up wrath for the day of judgment. These are the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.

Jesus spoke differently to believing Israel—the “wheat.” To the little flock He said, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see.” He promised the disciples, the believers, thrones in the kingdom in Matthew 19:28 and told them it was the Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom in Luke 12:32. But to the scribes and Pharisees, the unbelievers, He said, “Woe unto you… how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” They understood He spoke of them and sought to kill Him.

So, to summarise Romans 9:22–23, it describes two vessels from the same lump—Israel. Unbelieving Israel is the vessel of wrath, hardened through persistent rebellion. Believing Israel is the vessel of mercy, prepared for glory. Paul’s grief for his kinsmen reflects his desire that the vessels of wrath repent and become vessels of mercy.

Until the next episode, we’ll cover the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory, what that means and who it applies to. Until then, may God bless you richly.

Romans 9:14-18 – God’s Just and Righteous Will

In this episode, we open with Romans 9:14–18, which raises the next natural question in Paul’s argument.

He’s just shown that not all Israel receives the promise, and not all Abraham’s seed are counted as children. God chose Isaac, not Ishmael; He chose Jacob, not Esau. These choices were made in time, after conception but before birth, through God’s spoken word of promise—not through an eternal decree.

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Romans 9:14-18 – God’s Just and Righteous Will – Transcript

Paul explains what happened to Israel by walking through the Scriptures God gave them, showing that God’s not reversing His promises or abandoning His purpose.
Israel expected that simply being Abraham’s seed, a natural descendant of Abraham through genealogy, guaranteed the blessing God promised, and since they don’t have that blessing, Paul anticipates their objection in Romans 9:14. He asks,
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
If God promised Israel so much, yet many Israelites are not saved, is God unfair, is he unjust and unrighteous? Paul answers immediately: “God forbid.” No way!

God’s righteous in all He does. The problem’s not God’s promise but what Israel’s assuming.
God never said every physical descendant would receive the covenant blessing. He made specific promises to specific heirs—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—and then to the nation that came from Jacob.
Israel’s thinking was, as shown in John 8:39, that being Abraham’s offspring made them secure. Jesus corrected them, saying their true father was the devil because they rejected Him, the long-prophesied Messiah.
Paul’s reinforcing the same point Jesus made: that being a descendant of Abraham in the flesh doesn’t automatically guarantee the blessings of the covenant. God’s purpose was always known and clearly declared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Scripture shows repeatedly that God’s promise was never based on flesh or works.

So, Paul’s answering Israel’s complaint that “If we don’t receive what God promised, is God unjust and unrighteous?” and his answer is no.
God’s Word hasn’t failed. God’s promises stand. But God never promised salvation to Israel based on flesh or the law. He promised it based on His purpose and His mercy, but it could only ever be received by faith.
Just because Israel’s faith failed and that unbelief stopped the promised salvation from happening when it was offered at Christ’s coming, doesn’t make God unrighteous; it simply shows that they misunderstood how God gives His promises.
Romans 9:15 continues,
For he [God] saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

He quotes God’s word to Moses from Exodus 33:19. Who can say that the Most High, the Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t have the right to show mercy and compassion on whom He wills?
Paul also confronts the false idea that lingers behind Israel’s entitled thinking: that God creates people for damnation.
Some people think God decided ahead of time who would be saved and who would be lost, but Scripture never teaches that. God didn’t create anyone in sin; sin entered through Adam, as Romans 5:12 says. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and constantly calls sinners to repentance.
If God created people to sin and then judged them for that sin that He caused, that would be unrighteous—but Paul insists that wasn’t the case and God is righteous.
He’s made a way for sinners to be made righteous and then spent centuries showing them how to receive that righteousness. It’s man who either receives it or rejects it.

Romans 3 raised a similar issue: if human unrighteousness somehow increases God’s glory, then why judge sinners at all?
Surely that would just be mankind doing what they were created for, wouldn’t it? Paul rejects that reasoning.
God is righteous to take vengeance on sin because sin is always against His will. Sin is never part of God’s will or plan in the sense of being caused by Him. God judges sin because He’s holy, not because sin somehow helps Him.
All people are already condemned by their own sin.
If left to ourselves, we’d all perish.
God offers the gospel of His grace to everyone, but out of all the already condemned people, He chose a man, Abraham, and a nation, Israel, to both receive His grace and communicate it to all mankind. But He didn’t “choose” all the others to be condemned—they already stand condemned because of sin and, more specifically, their rejection of God’s solution for it.
Those who’re saved can thank God. Those who’re lost can’t blame anyone, least of all God, because it wasn’t their sin that condemned them to be lost forever; it was their rejection of what God offered to deal with that sin and save them.
God gives mercy to whom He wills—and He wills to give it through His grace and for it to be received by faith, not through the flesh and human works.

Paul continues answering the charge that God’s unrighteous.
Some accused Paul of teaching, “Let us do evil that good may come,” as if sin somehow helps God. The accusation appears in Romans 3:8. Paul rejects that completely. Damnation is not “good,” and it’s not something God created for man. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. God made mankind to receive His grace, not destruction. People perish because they resist God, not because God made them sinful.
Israel has been in unbelief many times in their history.
Hosea shows God calling them “not my people” and even saying He “hated” them in judgment, yet later promising to love them freely and restore them. Israel’s unbelief does not contradict God’s Word. God’s dealings with Israel have always depended on His will and their response of faith.

Romans 9:15 is Paul’s proof.
God’s words to Moses were:
“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Four times in one verse, God says “I will.” When God wills something, He accomplishes it in His way and in His timing. Israel often misunderstood this. They read God’s “I will” statements and assumed the fulfilment must look exactly as they saw it and as they expected it. When it didn’t happen that way, they accused God of failing. But the problem was their misunderstanding of His will, not His faithfulness.
Paul uses this to expose another error, common even today, of thinking God’s will’s failed because not all are saved.
1 Timothy 2:4 says God “will have all men to be saved,” yet not all are saved. The issue is not God’s will failing; it’s our misunderstanding of how God carries out His will. God accomplishes His will in the way He chooses.

God’s mercy is always His choice.
Israel can’t claim God owes them anything. Every covenant, every promise, every blessing was mercy—something they didn’t deserve. God can show mercy to whom He wants, when He wants.
He can also withhold mercy when He wants. He can also give mercy later to those who once lacked it. Scripture shows this repeatedly.
God had mercy on Israel, then withdrew it, then restored it.
God blessed Ishmael, then judged his nation. God judged Israel, then promised to save them. Mercy is God’s sovereign right.
The who and how of that mercy is not a secret decree God made before time, a decree that determined who’d be saved and who’d be damned. It’s wrong and deceiving to fail to understand the difference between God’s foreknowledge- He knows everything- and His election or His decree as to who lives eternally and who dies eternally.
Paul’s quoting events in Israel’s history—times when God gave mercy, withheld mercy, and restored mercy.
God does not decree people to damnation.

Romans 1 teaches that “all men are without excuse” because God’s power and Godhead are clearly seen by every person.
People truly can perceive what God has revealed. Their condemnation’s not because God made them blind, but because, as Romans 1:28 says, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. So He gave them over to a reprobate mind because they rejected Him. He simply allowed them to think what they wanted to think.
This describes all humanity before God called Abraham out of an idolatrous world in Genesis 12.
Abraham was not chosen because he was righteous; he was shown mercy, just as believers today are saved by mercy, not works, as Titus 3:5 states.

Romans 5:12 explains how sin entered the world: by one man. God created Adam and Eve without sin. He warned them clearly. The tree existed to give a real choice.
Adam chose rebellion, and through him sin and death passed to all. So every act of grace God gives is mercy, not obligation. Israel can’t claim God owes them anything. Everything God promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel was mercy.
This is why Paul rejects the idea that God’s unrighteous.
The question in Romans 9 arises because Israel is fallen and in unbelief, and some assume that if Israel’s not receiving the promises, God must be failing.
But Scripture shows many times when Israel was not God’s people—Hosea 9 says God “hated” them in judgment—yet later God promised to love them freely and restore them. Their unbelief does not contradict God’s Word; it actually fulfils it.

People have similar objections today.
1 Timothy 2:4 says God “will have all men to be saved,” yet not all are saved. The issue’s not God’s will failing; it’s our misunderstanding of how God carries out His will. God accomplishes His will through His chosen means—grace, faith, and Christ—not through flesh or law. And just because we don’t take the time to learn about those chosen means, but instead expect some sort of blanket miraculous intervention by God, saving all mankind, we accuse and condemn Him.

Paul shows that mercy is not a one‑time decree before creation. In Scripture, God gives mercy at certain times, withdraws it at other times, and restores it later. He had mercy on Israel in Egypt, then withheld mercy at Sinai when they made the golden calf, then restored mercy again. Mercy is God’s choice in time, according to His purpose.
When Paul quotes the exchange between God and Moses in Romans 9:15, that God gives mercy to whom He wants, when He wants, He’s quoting Exodus 32 and using that as proof of the point he’s making. At Mount Sinai, while Moses received the law, Israel made the golden calf. God told Moses in Exodus 32:9-10
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee [Moses] a great nation.

That was not mercy.
Even so, God would still have been faithful to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if He had destroyed the lot of them and started again with Moses, because Moses was of their line; he was of Abraham, so the promise would not have been voided.
God would not have been unrighteous to destroy the idolaters; they were sinners who had already received mercy in Egypt.
But Moses interceded.
He appealed to God’s past mercy, referring to “Thy people, which thou broughtest out of Egypt”, and pointing out God’s reputation among the nations.
He also appealed to God’s promises to the fathers, saying, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel… Thou saidst, I will multiply your seed.”
Moses understood that Israel’s deliverance was mercy, not merit. He asked God to act according to His promise and grace, not Israel’s works. Scripture says in Exodus 32:14, “The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” God changed His course, not because He was wrong, but because He chose to show mercy.

Exodus 33 shows Moses understood God’s mind.
God told Israel He might consume them, and Moses warned them to wait for God’s decision. The people mourned and removed their ornaments of idolatry in fear. Moses set up the tabernacle outside the camp, and everyone watched as the pillar of cloud descended. Moses spoke with God “face to face,” and again appealed to His grace: “If I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way.” God answered, “My presence shall go with thee.”

Moses asked to see God’s glory in Exodus 3:18.
God responded in Exodus 3:19 by revealing His character: “I will make all my goodness pass before thee… and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
This is the very statement Paul quotes in Romans 9:15.
God first identifies Himself not as the giver of law, but as the God who freely shows grace and mercy.
Moses found grace, and through his mediation God extended mercy to Israel—though they were stiff‑necked sinners who deserved judgment.

This history proves Paul’s point. Mercy is God’s choice. He can give it, withhold it, or restore it according to His purpose. Mercy is never earned.
Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was mercy. God’s patience at Sinai was mercy. Their future restoration will also be mercy. None of this supports the idea of a timeless decree determining who’ll be damned.
Scripture shows God giving mercy in time, responding to intercession, and acting according to His promises.

Israel believed God owed them mercy because of their flesh and their works. Paul corrects this. God doesn’t owe mercy to anyone. If it were owed, it would be debt, not mercy.
If people don’t respond to God the way He requires, He’s still free to show mercy when He chooses. The right attitude is simply gratitude that we still breathe.
Israel should have remembered that God always keeps His word and that His word always has an effect.
Paul points back to Exodus, because Exodus is the very Word of God he’s explaining.
If God behaves toward Israel in Romans 9 the same way He behaved toward Israel in Exodus—mercifully and graciously toward sinners—then no one can say God’s failing His word.
God didn’t have to give mercy at Sinai. He could’ve destroyed the nation and started again with Moses and still have been righteous and would still have fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because Moses was of their line.
It would have produced a remnant, a small surviving group—exactly what Jesus later said would happen when He divided Israel between believers and unbelievers in Luke 12:51–53; Matthew 10:34–36 and other places.

Romans 9:16 also quotes Exodus 32.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Paul expects us to remember the whole scene, not just the verse. The point is not that God randomly chooses people. The point is that when men are sinners, God shows mercy according to His will. The Israelites standing at their tent doors couldn’t demand mercy. God alone decides whether He shows mercy or judgment.
When Paul says, “It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy,” he’s showing that the promise can’t be based on works; it must be by faith. But even faith doesn’t earn mercy. Mercy is always God’s gift.
Even if someone did right, salvation would still be mercy. God owes nothing to anyone. He gave Israel the law, but He could show mercy to those who broke it and judgment to those who tried to keep it without faith. This is how God’s always acted.

John 1 teaches the same truth.
Jesus came to His own, and they did not receive Him. But those who believed were born “not of blood… but of God.” God’s will, not man’s will, determines mercy. If people misunderstand God’s will, that’s their error, not God’s failure.
And who does God show mercy to?
Scripture always answers: those who believe His word. Hebrews 11 lists example after example—people who believed what God said and received mercy. Israel’s unbelief does not make God unrighteous. They simply did not believe.
Paul says later in Romans 11:32 that God “concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.”
Even in Israel’s fall, God’s showing mercy to all people today. Israel’s not getting what they want, but they’re not the ones who decide how God gives mercy.

Then Romans 9:17–18 adds another example: Pharaoh, and we read- Paul speaking,
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Scripture says God “raised” Pharaoh up to show His power and declare His name. Romans 9:17 quotes Exodus 9:16 word‑for‑word, and Romans 9:18 summarises the whole Exodus pattern of Pharaoh’s hardening — both Pharaoh hardening himself and God hardening him.
Pharaoh was not a believer, nor was he an example of obedience. Yet God used him to display His power. Paul concludes: God has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills, He hardens.
Now, this doesn’t mean God created Pharaoh for destruction.
Exodus shows how God raised him up in time, not before creation. God’s dealings with Pharaoh, Israel, and all nations demonstrate the same truth: God’s Word stands, His mercy is His choice, and His purpose is always fulfilled.
When people resist God, He has two righteous options: He may show mercy, or He may judge. Both reveal His character. Mercy displays His gracious desire to save; judgment warns others not to oppose Him. Pharaoh becomes Paul’s example.
God used Pharaoh’s stubbornness as a public display of His power, so future generations would say, “Don’t be like Pharaoh.” Scripture repeatedly looks back to Pharaoh as a warning.
This pattern appears throughout the Bible.
If God never judged, people would assume He never will. That’s why one of the earliest major events in Scripture is the flood—God showing He’s both Creator and Judge.
Pharaoh’s defeat is another early example.
God raised Pharaoh up in time, not before creation, so that His name would be declared through the plagues and Israel’s deliverance.

God’s purpose is always revealed in Scripture, not hidden in an unknown decree.
His purpose was to bless all families of the earth through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as Genesis 12 shows us. When people oppose that purpose, God may harden them to accomplish what He’s already declared.
Deuteronomy 2:30 shows this: Sihon, king of Heshbon, resisted Israel, so God hardened his spirit to deliver him into Israel’s hand. God intervened to fulfil His promise, just as He intervened when barren wives conceived so the promised line could continue.

Joshua 11:20 gives another example.
Many Canaanites attacked Israel because “it was of the Lord to harden their hearts,” so Israel would conquer the land as God promised. Their sins had built up over generations, and God used their hostility to complete His purpose.

In 1 Samuel 6, even pagan priests understood this principle.
When the Philistines suffered plagues for stealing the ark, the priests warned, “Do not harden your hearts as Pharaoh did.” They remembered how God judged Egypt and urged their people to return the ark immediately, which they did. They could have hardened their hearts, but they chose not to. Their warning shows that hardening is not an irresistible fate; it is a danger people should avoid.

Psalm 95 applies the same lesson to Israel.
David reminds the nation that they’re God’s flock, yet he warns them: “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation.” After God hardened Pharaoh and delivered Israel, Israel themselves hardened their hearts in the wilderness, provoking God—and that entire generation died without walking into the promised land. Hardening is not limited to Pharaoh; Israel experienced it too.

Israel’s unbelief doesn’t make God unrighteous. He’s shown mercy to Israel many times, and He’s also hardened them at times. Both actions serve His purpose. And even now, Romans 11:32 says God has “concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.” God remains righteous, merciful, and faithful to His Word.

When people resist and oppose God, he can either show mercy or bring judgment. Both responses reveal who he is—either his grace in saving sinners or his power in warning others not to rebel, as with Pharaoh.
God’s purpose is not a secret decree about who’ll be saved; it’s a revealed plan in Scripture: to bless all families of the earth through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ultimately through Christ. When people or nations stand against that purpose, God may harden them to carry out his will. Hardening is God using their stubbornness as part of his plan, not creating their sin.

Hebrews 2 explains that Christ’s sufferings and death brought “many sons unto glory.”
Israel’s hardened hearts led to the crucifixion, yet God’s will was perfectly fulfilled: Jesus died and rose, as planned, to save. Their unbelief did not cancel God’s Word; it became the means by which his saving purpose was carried out.

Exodus 14:17 shows God saying, “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians.”
This hardening happened in time, after repeated reproof and resistance. Hardened hearts in Scripture are a result of sin, pride, and repeated rejection of God’s correction, not something decreed before creation.
There’s a “recipe” for a hardened heart:
– Sin in the heart.
– Pride.
– Frequent exposure to reproof, correction, and instruction that’s resisted.
The same Word that softens the humble can harden the proud. When God confronts sinners with truth, their response either opens them to mercy or deepens their hardness.

So, God’s hardening is his wise use of already sinful, proud hearts to accomplish his revealed purpose.
He remains righteous, merciful, and just. His Word always has an effect—either in salvation for those who believe or in judgment and hardening for those who persist in unbelief.
Sometimes speaking God’s truth hardens a person’s heart—not because of the speaker, but because of what’s already inside the hearer.
When pride, sin, and resistance are present, God’s Word exposes it. Moses’ dealings with Pharaoh show this clearly. Before Moses ever approached Pharaoh, God told him exactly what would happen in Exodus 3.
God gave Moses the words to speak, knowing Pharaoh’s pride would resist those words. Pharaoh saw himself as a god; hearing that Israel’s God commanded him provoked his pride and resistance.
God told Moses in Exodus 3:19, “I am sure the king of Egypt will not let you go”. God knew Pharaoh’s heart and knew how Pharaoh would react.
God then used repeated reproof—ten plagues, each preceded by a warning—to harden Pharaoh further. Each plague was correction, instruction, and provocation: “Let my people go, or this will come.” Pharaoh resisted again and again, and his heart grew harder. God did not begin with the final plague; He hardened Pharaoh through a process, using Pharaoh’s own pride and unbelief to accomplish His purpose.

This pattern resembles parenting.
Constant discipline without mercy provokes a child to wrath, as Ephesians 6:4 says. God didn’t treat Pharaoh as a son; He treated him as an enemy. He repeatedly reproved him, provoking him to anger until Pharaoh sent his army after Israel—exactly what God said would happen in Exodus 14:17.
God hardened Pharaoh “in time,” not before creation, by confronting him with truth he refused to accept.
Hardened hearts in Scripture are always a result, never a starting condition.
They come from sin, pride, and repeated rejection of God’s correction. Proverbs 29:1 says that those who are often reproved but choose to harden the neck shall be destroyed without remedy.
The Word of God softens the humble but hardens the proud.

Jesus also spoke of Israel’s hardened hearts.
John 12:40 quotes Isaiah: “He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart.” Jesus’ sharp words to the Pharisees and His parables divided believers from unbelievers. He came to save, not condemn, but their rejection fulfilled God’s purpose. Their hardness led to the crucifixion, yet God’s will was perfectly accomplished—Christ died and rose exactly as foretold.
Hardening does not thwart God’s plan.
It becomes part of how His plan’s carried out. Some who hardened their hearts—like Paul—were later broken and saved.
Hardened hearts can be changed either by breaking (through suffering and collapse) or by melting (slow, patient love and truth). Both appear in Scripture.
A hardened heart can only truly be changed when a person responds to God in faith.
We can help by correcting their wrong ideas about God and replacing them with the truth of His love—Christ’s death, His resurrection, and the mercy God freely offers.
God’s not judging the world now, at this time; He’s showing mercy and waiting for people to believe. We point them to that mercy so their eyes can open.

Exodus and Pharaoh’s hardened heart is a critical lesson in our search for truth.
God said He would harden Pharaoh through repeated smiting when Pharaoh refused to let Israel go.
In Exodus 5, Moses obeyed God and told Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go.” Pharaoh’s pride immediately resisted: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” Pride is the first ingredient in a hardened heart, and Pharaoh surely showed that pride.
God continued the process in Exodus 7.
He told Moses, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders.”
God declared His purpose and then fulfilled it. Pharaoh saw the miracle of the rod changing into a serpent in Exodus 7:9-10, but when his magicians imitated it, his pride grew.
Aaron’s serpent swallowed theirs, yet Pharaoh still refused. God knew exactly how Pharaoh would react.
The same pattern appears with the plagues.
Moses turned the Nile to blood, and the magicians produced a similar sign. Pharaoh trusted them instead of God’s word, and his heart hardened in Exodus 7:22. This mirrors unbelievers today who dismiss Scripture because “science can explain things,” ignoring the God who created life.

In Exodus 8, after the plague of frogs, Pharaoh begged Moses to ask God to remove them and promised to let Israel go.
God removed the frogs, but when Pharaoh saw relief, he hardened his heart again. God allowed this so Pharaoh would think he still controlled the situation, deepening his resistance.
Exodus 14 explains God’s intention: “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians… and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh.”
God hardened Pharaoh by confronting him with truth that he refused, provoking his pride, and repeatedly reproving him. Hardened hearts in Scripture are always the result of sin, pride, and rejecting correction—not a condition decreed before creation.

The plague of lice came, and Pharaoh’s own magicians finally admitted, “This is the finger of God.”
They could imitate earlier signs, but not this one. Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart again, refusing to listen. Pride kept him from acknowledging what was obvious, so the plagues continued.
After the swarm of flies, Pharaoh told Moses, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
Several times Pharaoh told Israel to go, then changed his mind when the plague stopped.
It looks like backwards and forwards negotiation, but God had already declared His purpose: He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, smite Egypt with many plagues, make His name known, and ultimately drive Pharaoh to send his army after Israel so God could destroy them in the Red Sea.
God was not being “played” by Pharaoh; He was directing events in time, using Pharaoh’s pride and reactions to accomplish His will.

This is not the Calvinist idea of preset rules where Pharaoh had no choices.
God gave Pharaoh real opportunities to repent, and Pharaoh sometimes did.
In Exodus 9:4, God killed only Egypt’s cattle, sparing Israel’s. Pharaoh investigated and saw the distinction, yet hardened his heart.
Later, in Exodus 9:27, Pharaoh confessed, “I have sinned… the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.”
He begged Moses to stop the hail and promised to let Israel go. Moses prayed; God stopped the storm, but Pharaoh hardened his heart again. God knew Pharaoh’s pattern and used it to fulfil His purpose while all the time remaining righteous and just.

Exodus 10:1 shows God’s intent: “I have hardened his heart… that I might show these my signs before him.”
God wanted Israel delivered and wanted Egypt to witness His power. Jesus acted similarly with Israel. He could have spoken more gently, but He spoke sharply and in parables to divide belief from unbelief. He came to save, yet Israel rejected Him.
Their hardened hearts led to the crucifixion, fulfilling God’s will. God hardens and shows mercy according to His purpose, not by removing human responsibility.
God desires all Israel to repent, as Matthew 23:37 says, and all men everywhere to repent in Acts 17:30. They can repent, that is, change their mind, their way of thinking about things, but they don’t always do so. Not all Israel was delivered from Egypt; many died in the wilderness because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3 applies this directly.
The writer reminds Israel of their fathers in the wilderness: “Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Some who left Egypt provoked God and died in the wilderness. They could not enter God’s rest “because of unbelief.”
This matches Paul’s point in Romans 9. God’s Word has not failed. It always has its intended effect: He shows mercy to whom He wills and hardens whom He wills—and the dividing line is belief versus unbelief.
Israel’s unbelief does not make God unrighteous.
God will still bring the kingdom, but those who rejected His Word won’t enter it. This is exactly what happened in Moses’ day, and it’s exactly what Paul’s explaining in Romans 9.

Until the next episode, may your hearts be always softened enough to receive the truth of God’s infallible Word.

Romans 9:9-13 – God’s Word of Promise

In this episode of the WhyGod Verse by Verse study, we’re in Romans chapter nine, and we’re looking at Romans 9:9-13.
Before we read these verses, we need to understand how Paul has led us here.
Romans 9:9-13 continues Paul’s explanation of what happened to Israel.

“Speed Slider”

Romans 9:9-13 – God’s Word of Promise – Transcript

Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11 deal with this question because Paul’s already taught salvation by grace through faith, our identity in Christ, freedom from the law, and walking in the Spirit.

If we Gentiles now have these blessings, what about Israel? Didn’t they receive the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service, the promises, and even Christ according to the flesh in Romans 9:4–5? But now, they’re clearly not receiving what God said they would. So has God’s Word failed?

Paul says no.

Israel’s unbelief does not make God’s Word ineffective. These chapters explain how God’s promises to Israel still stand. And it matters that Paul, the apostle of grace and of the Gentiles, is the one explaining this.

His revelation of the mystery helps us understand how Israel will be saved. Without Romans 1–8, we would not know how God could save Israel after all their failures, but the same principles apply: Israel will be saved by promise, not flesh; by faith, not law; and by grace, not works. They stumbled at Christ because they tried to stand in their flesh.

Acts 15:11 says Israel will be saved “by grace,” just as we are, and of course it means individual Jews as well. Paul’s subject is the eventual salvation of national Israel. Any Israelite can be saved today the same way Gentiles are, by believing the Gospel of grace in 1 Corinthians 15:4.

In Romans 9:6–7, Paul makes two key statements showing the true effect of God’s Word toward Israel, and, although we covered that thoroughly in the last episode, its importance requires it to be continually emphasised.

First: “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” Not every fleshly Israelite receives the promise. Their unbelief does not prove God’s Word failed, but it does prove they’re not receiving the promise the right way. God’s Word itself identifies fallen Israel.

Second: “Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children.” Abraham had two sons—one by the flesh (Ishmael) and one by promise (Isaac). God said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Even Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau, show the same pattern: not all fleshly descendants receive the promise. Jacob receives it; Esau does not. And Jacob’s twelve sons became Israel, yet even among them, not all would believe.

Romans 9:8 explains it clearly: “They which are the children of the flesh… are not the children of God.”

This does not mean Israel will lose what God promised. It means only the children of promise receive it. There’s an Israel of the flesh, and an Israel of promise.

Jesus also divided Israel in his earthly ministry. In Luke 12:51–52, he separates those who believed from those who rejected him. Pentecost continued this dividing. Romans 11:12 calls it Israel’s “diminishing.”

Their fall brought riches to the world, but their fullness will come.

So Romans nine shows that God’s Word is still true. Israel’s promises were never guaranteed to every fleshly descendant. God always worked through promise, not flesh.

So has God’s Word failed?

Paul says no.

Israel’s unbelief does not make God’s Word ineffective.

Israel stumbled at Christ because they tried to stand in their flesh. Acts 15:11 says Israel will be saved “by grace,” and through faith, just as we are today.

So Romans nine shows that God’s Word is still true. God always worked through promise, not flesh.

Paul can see this clearly because of the mystery revealed to him. With that understanding, he can look back at the Old Testament and see God’s purpose all along.

This is why John chapter one helps explain Romans nine. John writes in John 1:10–11 that Jesus, the true light, came into the world He made, and came to “His own people”, Israel, but “His own received Him not”. Their rejection doesn’t mean God’s Word failed; the prophets said Israel would reject Him.

Yet John also says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.”

Peter and the apostles received Him. Paul did not at first—Christ came back for him. Those who believed on His name became sons of God.

John 1:13 explains how. They were born not of blood (not by being Israel in the flesh), nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Israel could not claim sonship simply because they were born Israelites. They had to believe on Jesus, receive the Spirit, and then they’d receive the promise.

John teaches the same truth Paul explains in Romans nine: not all Israel is Israel, and not all Abraham’s seed receives the promise.

Romans 9:9 calls this “the word of promise.” A promise means God will do something, and because it’s God’s work, the only right response is faith, believing that word. That’s why Paul uses the phrase “word of promise” four times in Romans 9–11. In Romans 9:6, it’s the Word of God. In Romans 9:9, it is the word of promise.

In Romans 10:8, Paul quotes the Old Testament: “The word is near you… in your mouth and in your heart.” He says this is the word of faith. If God promises something, we believe it. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Israel did not receive God’s Word by faith.

Paul warns that the word of promise is not an eternal, hidden decree.

Romans 9:9-13, which is the subject of this episode’s study, is one of those multi-verse passages that Paul most often uses in his writing. Although made of multiple verses, it’s one thought, one concept, and that’s how it should be read to get the point of what’s being taught and what’s being taught is what the “word of promise” was. That it was a promise that would form the basis of the whole Jewish nation, and the context the passage appears in is Paul’s main point that the nation was formed by a promise of God and man’s faith in that promise, not by natural physical works.

So Romans 9:9-13 reads,

For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

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.

The first verse of this passage, Romans 9:9, says,

For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

This “word of promise,” involves Genesis 18. The promise is not secret; it’s written in Scripture.

In Genesis 18:10–14, God tells Abraham, “I will return… and Sarah shall have a son.” Sarah laughs within herself, yet God knows it. This is a promise because God wanted it to happen, God spoke it, God set the time, and God said it would not come through Abraham’s flesh or the bondwoman, but through Sarah, who was both old and barren. Only God could perform it. Abraham and Sarah had to believe it.

Isaac was born because God kept His promise. Israel exists because Isaac was born. Their entire history began with a word of promise, not works of the flesh.

Romans 9:10 gives another example to show how God’s word of promise identifies true Israel.

Paul says Rebecca conceived by Isaac, and then quotes Genesis 25. This proves the promise is not an eternal, hidden decree.

Paul quotes the actual words God spoke at a real moment in time. Rebecca was barren as well; she couldn’t have children, same as Sarah.

Isaac prayed, God acted, and she conceived, producing twins. The children struggled inside her, and she asked the Lord why. God answered: “Two nations are in your womb… the elder shall serve the younger.”

Before the twins were born, God declared what would happen. They’d done nothing at this time; they were still in the womb. This shows the promise is not of works, not of flesh, but of God’s will.

God spoke of two nations in Rebecca’s womb, not just two boys. Abraham was called the father of many nations because Isaac’s sons would become two nations. God’s statement before their birth proves His purpose doesn’t rest on human performance. They were simply babies in the womb, yet God spoke of their future. His promise stands because He said it.

Paul teaches the same truth in Galatians 4.

The Galatians thought they needed to become Israel—be circumcised and keep the law—to receive blessing. Paul shows from Scripture that neither Israel nor Gentiles receive anything by flesh, law, or works. It’s only by promise, faith, and grace. Israel will be saved that way, and Gentiles too.

So, Paul reminds them- those he’s writing to, Israelites, his brethren- that Abraham had two sons: Ishmael by Hagar, and Isaac by Sarah. Ishmael was “born after the flesh.” Isaac was “by promise.” If you remember, the account in Genesis 16:1–4 records the background:

Sarai has no children yet, and she’s getting even older. Her name has not been changed to Sarah yet. Neither has Abram’s name been changed to Abraham at this stage.

She believes the Lord’s promise but starts to think that maybe she and Abram need to do something to contribute, so she tells Abram to go in to Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian handmaid. Abram agrees, and Hagar conceives Ishmael.

This is the Bible’s clear description of Abraham and Sarah acting by the flesh, not by faith in God’s promise.

Romans 9 teaches the same: not all children of the flesh receive the promise. Ishmael was circumcised and blessed, yet he was not the promised seed; Isaac was, because God said he would be. God spoke before Isaac was born, making it clear the promise was not based on flesh.

Paul explains that these two women, Sarah and Hagar, picture two covenants, not the old and new covenants, but the two covenants God gave Abraham.

One was the covenant of circumcision in the flesh, given in Genesis 17. Ishmael was circumcised and blessed under that covenant. But the promise came through the earlier covenant God gave Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15, where God said He would give Abraham a seed and a nation by His own power.

Isaac belongs to that covenant of promise.

This explains Israel’s situation.

Being circumcised doesn’t guarantee the promise, and being Abraham’s physical seed doesn’t guarantee the promise either. The question Paul asks Israel is: Are you in the covenant of promise? Are you receiving what God said He would do?

Paul says Hagar represents Mount Sinai, the law, which produces bondage, while Sarah represents the covenant of promise. The point is simple: God’s purpose has never depended on human flesh or human works. It’s always dependent on His spoken promise, received by faith.

Paul continues his explanation in Galatians 4 by showing how Hagar represents Mount Sinai because, in Genesis, after she was cast out, she travelled toward that region. Ishmael and the Ishmaelites settled there too. So when Paul says, “Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,” he is describing her location. But what these two women stand for is this: Hagar corresponds to Jerusalem, which now is—Israel in the flesh, the earthly Jerusalem that rejected Christ. Hagar was a bondwoman, and her son was in bondage. Likewise, earthly Jerusalem is in bondage with her children.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, says Galatians 4:26. In the picture Paul gives, Sarah represents this free Jerusalem. The difference between Hagar and Sarah is flesh versus promise. The earthly Jerusalem is tied to flesh and law; the Jerusalem above is tied to promise and grace. This is how blessing comes—by God’s promise, received through faith. Israel will receive their promise the same way: not by flesh, not by law, but by grace through faith.

In Galatians 4:27, Paul quotes, “Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not.” This refers to Sarah, the barren woman who received more children through God’s promise than the one who had children by the flesh.

Then Paul says in the next verse, Galatians 4:28,

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

He’s teaching the Galatians that Scripture itself shows the difference between flesh and promise, and that salvation comes through promise, not through becoming Israel in the flesh.

He continues teaching in Galatians 4:29-31 that the child born after the flesh persecuted the child born after the Spirit and that, “Even so it is now,” meaning it’s still happening.

Then he says, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.” The son of the bondwoman will not inherit with the son of the free woman.

So Israel in the flesh will not receive what Israel of promise will receive.

Paul concludes with, “We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”

Salvation is by grace through faith, not by being Israel in the flesh, not by works, not by circumcision.

The Galatians needed this because they thought Israel in the flesh had an advantage. Paul says they do not.

Returning to Romans 9, Paul says Rebekah conceived “by our father Isaac.”

In Galatians, he says they’re like Isaac because they receive the promise, but Isaac is not our father unless we’re Israel.

We must remember that in Romans 9 Paul speaks as a Jew, addressing Israel about Israel.

He explains in Romans 9:11 here that the children were “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;”

Here’s where Calvinists add their ideas about election that are not in the text.

Paul’s not speaking about some eternal decree God made before the world began about who would and wouldn’t be saved.

The children were already conceived. God made His choice after conception but before birth, when the struggle was in Rebecca’s womb, as Genesis 25 points out. Babies in the womb can’t do good or evil. Yet God said, “The elder shall serve the younger.” Jacob became Israel. Israel was chosen before doing any works. So Israel can’t claim the promise by law or flesh.

Paul’s not inventing theology here; he’s quoting what God said. We know God’s choice because He told us.

The mystery revealed to Paul is not an eternal decree about who’ll be saved and who’ll be damned, but the Body of Christ, the new creature, Jew and Gentile made one. It explains how God saves all men by His grace received by faith, not who will be saved.

Jacob later tried to give the inheritance to Esau, but God’s choice stood. God chooses how He’ll fulfil His word.

Election means choice—God choosing how His purpose will be carried out, and to whom He gives promises. Scripture shows He gave promises to Israel, and through the mystery we learn how He gives promises in this dispensation, today.

Ephesians 1:9 says God has

…made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

In time past, people knew what God said but not always how He’d do it. Now He reveals it. In Ephesians 1:10-11 we see that in Christ He brings all things together, and we’re predestinated “according to His purpose,” which He works after “the counsel of His own will.” God performs the work because He made the promise.

As a sidebar here, just to save any confusion about “predestinate” here, who the predestinated are and what they’re predestined to is clearly stated in the next two verses, Ephesians 1:12-13.

We’re predestinated. “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise”

The predestinated ones are you and me who’ve already believed, and we’re predestinated to be the praise of His glory. So simple when we let Scripture explain itself, isn’t it?

So, Romans 9 asks: What about Israel? How will God keep His word to them? Paul answers: by God’s choice, not by human flesh or bloodlines or genealogy, and not by human works.

Israel stumbled because they didn’t receive Christ. Those who do receive Him will inherit the promise. God’s purpose is known; Paul’s explaining it.

If God’s promise came after good or evil works, then His choice could be based on works. But He chose before the twins were born, “not of works, but of Him that calls.”

Some people claim this means God secretly regenerates people before they believe. But Paul already explained the call of God in Romans 8 and repeats it here: God calls by speaking.

Romans 9:7 says, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

How did God call Isaac? By speaking. God called Abraham out of his land by speaking. God called Moses up the mountain by speaking. Jesus called His disciples, “Follow me.” That call was spoken. Without God speaking, there is no call.

Many theologians, teachers, and preachers often turn God’s call into something silent and hidden, but Scripture shows it’s verbal. God speaks, and people hear. Romans 1:5–6 says the believers in Rome were “the called of Jesus Christ.” How did Paul know that? Because he preached that call to them. The gospel is the call. When they heard and believed, they were called.

Romans 10:13–14 explains the same pattern: people call on the Lord because they first believe; they believe because they hear; they hear because someone speaks. Hearing is how God calls, then people respond by calling on Him.

The call of God is not a silent force. It’s God’s spoken word, received by faith.

Paul shows the same truth in 1 Corinthians 1.

The Corinthians were “called into the fellowship of His Son.” How? Paul preached the gospel to them. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Jews rejected it, Greeks rejected it, but those who believed were “the called.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says, “Ye see your calling.” Their calling was hearing and believing the preached word.

This is the same issue in Romans nine. God spoke to Rebekah. He made the promise, and He’ll do what He said. Jacob and Esau can’t change it. Israel can’t change it. God’s call is His spoken word, received by faith.

We’ve got a little written article in our Bible Bites section called “God Told Me… NOT” that may clear up confusion about those people who go around saying God told them this and that.

Scripture shows God gave promises to Israel, and through the mystery we learn how He gives promises today. Ephesians 1:9 says God has “made known unto us the mystery of His will.”

In the past, people knew what God said but not always how He’d do it. Now His purpose is revealed: in Christ He brings all things together (Ephesians 1:10). Romans 8:28-29 says we are predestinated “according to His purpose,” which He works after “the counsel of His own will.” God performs the work because He made the promise.

Romans 9:12 then goes on to say,

It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

God’s decision was that the older would serve the younger.

Esau place would be below Jacob. Jacob was chosen for earthly glory and privilege. Esau was the firstborn of the twin brothers and ordinarily would have had the honours and privileges associated with that position. But God’s selection passed him by and rested on Jacob.

Then in Romans 9:12 Paul quotes Malachi 1:3, saying,

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Paul quotes this to show God’s dealings with nations, not two individual men.

Malachi is written to Israel, long after Jacob and Esau were dead. God says to the nation, “I have loved you,” and Israel asks, “How?” God answers by pointing back to His choice of Jacob’s line and His rejection of Esau’s nation, Edom.

Malachi was written after Israel had been exiled and then restored. They’d broken God’s covenant, been punished, and brought back, all of which we saw in our 20-episode study of Hosea.

God even said at one point He “hated” Israel for their wickedness, yet He restored them because of His promise to the fathers. That’s why He says, “I have loved you,” and why Israel asks, “How have You loved us?” God’s answer is: “You are back because I promised your fathers I would save you.”

Malachi 3 shows this clearly.

Israel had rebuilt the temple and city, yet still failed. Even so, God promises restoration. In Malachi 3:1, He says He’ll send His messenger and the Lord will come to His temple. In Malachi 3:4, He promises their offerings will again be pleasant.

Then in Malachi 3:5, He promises judgment on wickedness, while in Malachi 3:6 He says, “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

They were not destroyed like Sodom because God promised He wouldn’t wipe them out.

Psalm 105 teaches the same pattern.

Israel fails, God punishes them according to the law, then blesses them again because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Psalm 105:6 calls Israel “His chosen.” God remembered His covenant forever in Psalm 105:8. He made it with Abraham, confirmed it to Isaac, and confirmed it again to Jacob, as Psalm 105:9–10 states. He promised them the land of Canaan (Psalm 105:11). Thats the word of promise.

Psalm 105 also shows how God protected Israel when they were few, reproved kings for their sake, and gave them a privileged position—law, prophets, kings, fathers, and the oracles of God. So when they rejected Him, He was right to say they would not receive the promise. He keeps His covenant, but He doesn’t give it to unbelief. Psalm 105:42 says He remembered His holy promise and brought His people out with joy.

So when Paul says, “Jacob have I loved,” in Romans 9:13, he’s pointing to God’s covenant love for the nation that came from Jacob. God loved Israel because He promised their fathers He would. He protected them, provided for them, and walked with them through the wilderness.

Hosea shows the same truth.

God said He hated Israel’s wickedness in Hosea 9:15, yet later said He would “love them freely” and bring them back. He punished them for breaking the covenant, then promised to woo them and restore them.

The phrase “Esau have I hated” refers to Edom, the nation that came from Esau, and was judged for its wickedness. God hates wickedness, and Scripture shows He hates what destroys what He loves. Proverbs 6 lists things God hates. Psalm 10:3 says He abhors the proud. Hosea 9 shows He hated Ephraim’s idolatry.

This is the difference between Israel and Gentile nations like Edom. When God hates a Gentile nation, they have no future promise. Israel does. So God always returns to them in love.

So Romans 9:13 is not about God eternally damning Esau the man. It’s about God’s covenant dealings with nations, His faithfulness to His promises, and His right to judge unbelief.

Scripture shows God blessed Esau personally. Deuteronomy 2 explains this. As Israel travelled toward the promised land, God told them they would pass through the land of Esau’s children, the Edomites.

In Deuteronomy 2:5 God said to them,

Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

God gave Esau’s descendants land, protected them, and even commanded Israel to buy food and water from them. Deuteronomy 23:7 even says,

“Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother.”

So “Esau have I hated” can’t refer to Esau the man. Malachi 1 explains it. God did not decree Esau to damnation before birth; He judged the nation that came from him, Edom, centuries later.

Why did God destroy Edom?

The prophets explain. Obadiah—the smallest book in the Old Testament—is written to the Edomites.

It says God will destroy them because they attacked Israel when Israel was weak. Amos 1:9–11 says Tyrus, meaning Tyre, the great city of the Phoenicians, handed Israel’s captives over to Edom, and Edom pursued Israel “with the sword,” kept wrath forever, and showed no pity. Because of this cruelty, God said He would burn Teman and Bozrah, major Edomite cities. Their ruins still exist today.

Meanwhile, Israel was also judged—Assyria and Babylon destroyed them—but God brought them back because of His promise. Malachi says, “I have loved you,” meaning the nation, not Jacob the man. God restored them because He “changes not” and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So when Paul says, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” he’s pointing to God’s covenant dealings with nations, not individuals. God loved Israel because He promised their fathers. God hated Edom because of their violence and betrayal. None of this is based on flesh or works. God fulfils His word by promise, and He chooses the line through which His purpose will stand.

Romans 9 uses these Old Testament examples to show that God’s word is effective and true. He fulfils His promises through whom He chooses, and ultimately through Christ, the One to whom all promises point.

In the next episode, we see God’s righteous will in Romans 9:14-18 and until then, may God give the assurance that He will do what He says He will do.

Romans 9:6-8 – Not All Israel is Israel

In this episode, we’re in Romans 9:6, and let’s read that passage, keeping in mind that it’s carrying on from Romans 9:5.

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

Romans 9:6 is a crucial verse to understand because many people use it to wrongly claim that the church is Israel, so we’ve got to understand exactly what Paul means before moving through the rest of the chapter.

“Speed Slider”

Romans 9:6-8 – Not All Israel is Israel – Transcript

Paul’s sorrow for Israel in Romans 9 continues themes that he began in Romans 1–3. This isn’t a sudden shift.

From the start of the letter, Paul’s dealt with Jews, the law, circumcision, and Israel’s response to the gospel. In Romans 1:16, for example, he said the gospel is “to the Jew first.” Jewish resistance to Christ was always a major issue. In Romans 2, he showed that having the law doesn’t make a person righteous and that true circumcision is inward. In Romans 3, he asked: What advantage has the Jew? and the answer was many advantages because they were given the oracles of God—the covenants, promises, prophets, and the Messiah.

But Romans 3:3 also raised the key question:

For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

Not all Jews have believed, but does this mean that God will go back on His promises? After all, He did choose Israel as His people, and He made definite covenants with them. Can the unbelief of some cause God to break His word?

If these advantages the Jew had didn’t serve the intended purpose, does it mean God’s faithfulness to His people is annulled? The Jew failed; doesn’t that mean God failed?

Paul answered in Romans 3:4,

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

In other words, certainly not!

Whenever there’s a question as to whether God’s right or man’s right, always act on the basis that God is right and every man is a liar. This is what David said to God, in effect, in Psalm 51:4: “The complete truthfulness of all You say must be defended, and You must be vindicated every time You are called into question by sinful man.” Our sins only serve to confirm the truthfulness of God’s words.

God’s promise to send Israel the Redeemer was not defeated by their willful disobedience and rejection. All His promises for the future of the nation will be fulfilled to His glory in spite of their unbelief.

Romans 9 picks up that same question again.

After listing Israel’s privileges in Romans 9:4–5, Paul asks whether Israel’s unbelief means God’s Word has failed.

His answer is No. God’s Word has not lost its effect. Israel’s unbelief does not cancel God’s promises.

This leads to the statement in 9:6: “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel.”

Now, Paul’s not redefining Israel as the church here.

He’s explaining why Israel’s unbelief doesn’t overturn God’s promises. God never promised that every Israelite in the flesh would receive the blessing. The Old Testament already taught this. John the Baptist taught it, and Jesus taught it. Paul’s simply applying it.

Romans 2 showed that being a Jew outwardly is not enough; true Jewishness involves the heart. Romans 9 shows the same principle at the national level: being Israel in the flesh doesn’t guarantee receiving Israel’s promises.

Romans 3:31 also helps:

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

See, faith doesn’t cancel the law; it establishes it. Likewise, Israel’s unbelief doesn’t cancel God’s promises; it confirms the need for faith.

Romans 4 adds another layer.

If inheritance came through the law, then faith would be void and the promise meaningless.

If those who seek God’s blessing, particularly the blessing of justification, can inherit it based on lawkeeping, then faith is made void and the promise made of no effect. Faith is set aside because faith is believing, while law is doing; therefore, the promise would be worthless because it would be based on conditions that no one would ever be able to meet.

Therefore, the promise must come by faith. This applies to Abraham, to Israel, and to us today. God’s Word is effective only when received by faith.

So Romans 9:6 must be read in this greater context.

Paul’s not saying Israel’s been replaced. He’s saying not all physical Israel receives the promise, because the promise is given through faith, not flesh, through the natural physical genes, or through the law.

Romans 9 explains Israel’s present unbelief.

Romans 10 explains how they stumbled at Christ. Romans 11 explains that they’re not cast away and will be restored by grace through faith.

Romans chapters 9 to 11 are not revisiting the church’s salvation. Romans 3–5 already settled that. Romans 5–8 explained who we are in Christ—and Paul never calls us Israel. Romans 9–11 explain Israel’s salvation: why they’re not saved now, how they will be saved, and how God’s promises remain intact.

Romans 9:6 simply states the foundational truth: that not all Israel receives the promise; only those who believe, but either way God’s Word stands firm.

At the end of Romans 3, Paul asks, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” He answers the same way again, “God forbid.”

We’re justified by faith without the law, but faith doesn’t make the law meaningless. The law still had a purpose. Romans 4:14 explains this as well, saying,

For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

If inheritance came by the law, faith would be pointless.

So faith doesn’t void the law—but if inheritance came by the law, that would void faith, you see. Paul’s establishing the necessity of faith, even for Israel.

So when we reach Romans 9, the question is: If Israel has all these blessings, what happened? Has God’s word failed? Paul says no. Israel lacked faith, stumbled at faith, and rejected Christ—but God will bring them back, and they will be saved by grace through faith.

Paul’s not in any way saying Israel’s promises now belong to Gentiles. He’s saying that being Israel in the flesh, of the bloodline, doesn’t guarantee receiving Israel’s promises, and works under the law don’t guarantee them or salvation either, and Romans 4 already taught this.

Romans chapters 9–11 deal with Israel’s salvation—New Covenant territory.

Paul shows that:

– God will not save Israel by their works

– God will not save Israel merely because they’re Israel in the flesh, descendants of Abraham

– God will save Israel by grace through faith

Romans 10 explains how Israel stumbled at Christ.

The Messiah came as prophesied for so long. They expected Him, yet rejected Him when He came in Jesus and died on the cross. They stumbled at the need for faith instead of law‑keeping.

Romans 11 explains that although not all Israel receives the promises now, Israel is not cast away. God will keep His covenants—adoption, glory, service, and kingdom blessing—but through grace and faith, within the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant offered no provision for grace; the New Covenant does.

Romans 3–4 explain how individuals are saved by grace through faith.

Romans 9–11 explain how Israel will be saved by grace through faith. They weren’t saved then. Paul’s knowledge of the mystery allows him to explain why Israel isn’t saved now, how they will be saved and when they’ll be saved.

By Romans 8, we know who we are in Christ—and Paul never uses the word Israel to describe us. So when someone claims they’re Israel, or spiritual Israel, we ask: Where does Scripture say that? Because Romans never does, and neither do any of Paul’s epistles.

In Romans chapters 5–8, Paul never mentions Jew or Gentile because there is no Jew or Gentile in the Body of Christ, as we see in Galatians 3:28,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

So when he begins speaking about Israel in Romans 9, the subject has clearly shifted.

He’s no longer talking about the Body of Christ. Many people jump into Romans chapter 9 without understanding chapters 1–8, and they end up trying to find their salvation here, usually by trying to make the church replace Israel. That always creates confusion.

Paul uses the word Israel here because he’s speaking about the nation—the people who came from Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Jacob’s twelve sons became the nation. So an Israelite is a member of that nation. Not every Jew today is an Israelite in the national sense.

Jews living in other countries may call themselves Israelites, but if they’re not citizens of the nation of Israel, they’re not Israelites. Yet those living in the land are Israelites in the national sense.

This matters because Romans chapters 9–11 deal with Israel’s national covenant promises, their kingdom, their land, their adoption, and their glory.

The New Covenant was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, as we see in Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 37, Hebrews 8:8 and other places. So Paul uses Israel intentionally.

Everywhere in Romans 9–11, Israel refers to the nation promised something they’ve not yet received.

If we try to make us, ourselves, we in the Body of Christ, Israel in these chapters, we end up placing ourselves among the unbelieving, fallen, not‑yet‑saved Israel Paul’s describing. It simply doesn’t work.

This is why Romans 9:6 is so important. It’s the hinge verse used by those who claim the church is Israel. Again, Romans 9:6 says,

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

Before explaining the phrase more deeply, notice the key point: Not all Israel is Israel. Yet Romans 11:26 says, “All Israel shall be saved.”

What’s going on?

Well, Romans 9 describes Israel’s unbelief; Romans 11 describes Israel’s future salvation. Same subject, different timing.

Romans 9 explains Israel’s present condition; Romans 11 explains Israel’s end.

In this phrase, “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel”, the wording is difficult, and many translations try to “clarify” it by adding their own interpretation and ideas that are not in the text. For example, some paraphrased Bible translations say, “Not all descendants of Israel are God’s people,” which is just not what Paul wrote.

We need to stick with the text.

When facing a hard passage, we should step back and remember the big picture.

Romans chapters 9–11 deal with Israel’s salvation, unbelief, promises, covenants, and future restoration. So when Paul says Israel, we need to ask: Which Israel?

You see, there are multiple “Israel” categories in Scripture. We have:

– Israel, the Northern Kingdom

– Believing Israel

– Unbelieving Israel

– Fallen Israel

– Standing Israel

– Jews in the Body of Christ (although no longer Jews spiritually)

– National Israel in the land

– Israel under the Old Covenant

– Israel under the New Covenant

So when Paul says Israel without qualifying which one, we’ve got to determine which group he means.

Even those who wrongly make the church Israel still acknowledge Paul’s distinction between the Israel that receives the promises and the Israel that does not receive the promises.

They call the first “spiritual Israel” (believing Israel) and the second “flesh Israel” (unbelieving, merely physical Israel). This distinction is real for sure—but it applies within Israel, not between Israel and the church.

Paul says that being Israel in the flesh doesn’t guarantee receiving Israel’s promises, and works under the law don’t either.

Only believing Israel—Israel with faith—receives the promises.

This is exactly what Romans 2 taught: you can be Israel in the flesh and still not be a “true Jew.” Romans 9 applies the same principle to Israel’s national promises.

Romans 9–11 show that Israel will be saved by grace through faith, just as Romans 3–5 explained how individuals are saved by grace through faith.

In Romans 5–8, Paul never mentions Jew or Gentile because there is no Jew or Gentile in the Body of Christ, as we saw a moment ago. So when Romans 9 suddenly begins speaking about Israel, the subject has clearly changed.

He’s no longer talking about the Body of Christ but about national Israel and their covenant promises.

We just can’t skip Romans 1–8 and jump straight into Romans 9 and try to find the church here, and certainly not by trying to make the church replace Israel, which creates utter confusion.

Just to make the point again, Romans 3–4 explained how individuals are saved by grace through faith.

Romans 9–11 explain how Israel will be saved by grace through faith, because they were not saved then when Paul wrote that. Paul’s knowledge of the mystery allows him to explain why Israel is not saved now, how they will be saved, and even when.

2 Corinthians 5:17 explains that the Body of Christ is a new creature. It’s not taken from Israel, and it’s not a remnant or a continuation of anything. It only contains saved people, and no one ever leaves it. We enter the Body of Christ only when the Spirit baptises us into Christ by faith in the gospel. 1 Corinthians 12:13 states,

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

A person can sit in a church building and call themselves Christian, but unless they’ve believed the gospel, they’re not in the Body. Because the Body is always a complete group of saved people, it can never be called a “remnant.” This alone shows why Romans 9:6 can’t be describing the church.

Those who claim Romans 9:6 makes the church “Israel” usually read the verse as:

“They are not all Israel in the flesh who belong to spiritual Israel.”

This creates a “spiritual Israel” made of Jews and Gentiles, which they then identify as the church. But this interpretation collapses when compared with Romans 11:26, which says,

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written…

It also collapses when placed against Romans 11:5,

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace, and the many prophecies promising Israel’s future restoration.

To make Romans 9:6 teach church‑replacement, they must reinterpret or deny those passages—making the Word of God “of none effect,” the very thing Paul preaches against.

Hard passages should be interpreted by clear passages, not the other way around. The New Covenant prophecies, Jesus’ kingdom teaching, Hebrews’ “city to come,” and Revelation’s restored Israel all speak plainly of a future national restoration. Romans 9–11 must fit that larger picture.

So what does Romans 9:6 mean when Paul says:

“They are not all Israel, which are of Israel.”

How can someone be “of Israel” and yet not “Israel”?

Paul gives three answers:

Firstly, lack of belief.

An Israelite in the flesh who doesn’t believe can’t receive the promises. Romans 9:8 explains:

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Jesus taught the same truth in John 8:39–44, where He debated with the scribes and Pharisees who claimed kinship to Abraham. They boasted in the fact that Abraham was their father and to them that was the path to salvation and the blessings promised to Abraham by God. However, the Lord Jesus pointed out that although they were Abraham’s descendants [his seed], they were not his children. Jesus even told them in verse 44, “Ye are of your father the devil”.

Being Abraham’s physical seed doesn’t guarantee receiving the promise.

Secondly, being in the body of Christ.

A person can be “of Israel” in the flesh yet belong to the Body of Christ. Paul himself is an Israelite, yet he’s part of the new creature, the Body of Christ. In that sense, he’s “of Israel” but not counted within Israel’s prophetic program.

Thirdly, the remnant of Israel.

Romans chapters 9–11 reveal a third group: the remnant—believing Israel. This remnant is not the Body of Christ and not unbelieving Israel. It’s the group that receives Israel’s promises after our present dispensation of grace is over and after enduring the great tribulation to come. This is true spiritual Israel, new‑covenant Israel.

Romans 9:7 continues the sentence from verse 6:

Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Abraham had more than one child, but only the child of promise received the inheritance. Likewise, not all physical Israel receives the promise—only the believing remnant.

God never promised that every Israelite in the flesh would receive the blessing. He promised that Israel—the believing remnant—would.

And Romans 11 declares that this remnant will one day be all Israel, all restored and all saved by grace through faith. There’ll be no unbelieving Israel at that time.

Romans 4 already showed that Abraham did not receive the inheritance through circumcision. He was uncircumcised when God counted him righteous. So circumcision doesn’t give the promise. All of Abraham’s seed were circumcised, but not all were children of the promise.

Romans 2:28-29 declares that circumcision is of the flesh, and we read,

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Circumcision is of the flesh, and Genesis 17 shows this clearly. God required Abraham’s whole household to be circumcised, including Ishmael, Abraham’s son through the bondwoman Hagar.

Abraham pleaded with God in Genesis 17:18,

And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

But God answered that the everlasting covenant would be established with Isaac, the son Sarah would bear, the son of promise. Ishmael would be blessed and become a great nation, but he would not receive the covenant. Both sons were circumcised, yet only one was the child of promise. Paul uses this to show that fleshly descent doesn’t guarantee covenant blessing.

Romans 9:7 quotes Genesis 21:12, where Isaac is already born, and Ishmael mocks him. Sarah demands that Ishmael be cast out, and God confirms her words: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” God instructs Abraham to send out the bondwoman and her son. Ishmael will be blessed, but Isaac is the covenant heir. Paul uses this history to teach Israel that the promise is not after the flesh because Ishmael is also of Abraham after the flesh but doesn’t receive the promise.

Genesis 21 also shows that Isaac himself is the key to Israel’s promises.

Paul’s not talking about Abraham’s one‑seed teaching in Galatians, nor about the Body of Christ; he’s talking about Isaac—the literal covenant heir. That means Romans 9 simply can’t be about the church, and it can’t be about Islam. The Ishmael/Isaac divide still defines Judaism and Islam today.

The point is simple: the promise is not of the flesh. Abraham produced Ishmael by his own effort, not by faith.

Israel later tried to obtain righteousness by the law and by their flesh. But the fathers teach otherwise. God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was always based on promise, faith, and grace, never by the works of the flesh.

Now to Romans 9:8, which explains verse 6:

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

“Children of the flesh” are physical Israel—like Ishmael. “Children of the promise” are believing Israel—like Isaac.

This is Paul’s interpretation of the Old Testament story. Not all Israel receives the promise. Not all Abraham’s seed receives the promise. Only those who receive it by faith.

This is the same truth Jesus taught.

Many claimed Abraham as their father, but Jesus said in John 8:39-40,

If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

The Lord gave a very clear example of the difference between them and Abraham. Jesus had come into the world, the long-prophesied Messiah, speaking nothing but the easily verified truth. They were offended and stumbled over His teaching, and so they tried to kill Him. Jesus points out that Abraham did not do this. He took his place on the side of truth and righteousness.

He told unbelieving Israel they would die in their sins if they rejected Him.

So to summarise, Romans 9 is not making Gentiles into Israel. It’s explaining how God’s Word to Israel still stands even though many Israelites are in unbelief. God never promised that every Israelite in the flesh would receive the blessing. He promised that Israel—the believing remnant—would. And He’ll fulfil that promise by grace through faith when Christ returns.

Romans 9 shows Israel’s present unbelief.

Romans 10 shows how they stumbled at Christ.

Romans 11 shows their future restoration.

Isaac—the child of promise—teaches Israel how God will save them: not by flesh, not by works, but by promise, through faith, and grace.

Until the next episode, where we move to Romans 9:9-13, may God bless you in the knowledge of Him.

Romans 9:1-5 – Paul’s Heart for Israel

In this episode, we introduce Romans 9–11, but first we’ll review what we’ve learned from our study of Hosea.
We broke off our study of Romans when we got to the end of Romans 8 because Paul has this massive shift in focus from Romans 9 to Romans eleven and moves from the mystery of the Body of Christ to Israel. What about Israel?
Romans establishes truth for the Body of Christ, but we also know from 2 Timothy 3:16 that:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

“Speed Slider”

Romans 9:1-5 – Paul’s Heart for Israel – Transcript

Without knowing the Old Testament, we can’t properly understand why Paul devotes so much of the epistle to the Romans to Israel’s past, present and future. Once we do gain that understanding, we see that it’s a crucial piece in the puzzle of God’s overall plan for the universe, you and I included.

In the book of Hosea, we find the foundation of all Paul is preaching about in Romans chapters 9 to 11.

We studied Hosea for 20 episodes, which showed God’s judgment against the northern tribes of Israel — His cutting them off politically and spiritually through the Assyrian invasion.

In Hosea 1:5–9, Hosea’s children symbolise Israel’s fall:

– Jezreel — the dynasty of Israel’s kings cut off.

– Lo‑ruhamah — “no more mercy.”

– Lo‑ammi — “not my people.”

God’s judgment meant Israel’s separation with no mercy and no covenant fellowship. Centuries before Christ, Israel was expelled and was no longer God’s people.

Yet Hosea also reveals God’s enduring love and promise to restore Israel. In chapters 1–3 and 14, God vows to regather them: “In the place where it was said, ‘You are not my people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Hosea 14 shows Israel’s future repentance — crying, “Receive us graciously.” God replies, “I will heal their backsliding, love them freely,” blessing them with prosperity and reuniting Israel and Judah as one nation.

Hosea presents both judgment and mercy, and Romans 9–11 continues Hosea’s theme.

Paul explains Israel’s present fall and future restoration. Though Israel is now cut off and blinded, God’s promises remain. Paul quotes Hosea and other prophets to show that Israel’s rejection and eventual salvation align perfectly with Scripture.

In this dispensation of grace, Israel is fallen — they’re not God’s people, and Hosea shows this clearly, yet God will bring them back through mercy. When Israel returns, they’ll receive grace and their kingdom blessings.

Our last Hosea lesson described Israel’s cedar and olive trees and vineyards, symbols of future fruitfulness and glory.

Romans 9–11 reveals Paul’s heart for Israel.

In Romans 9:1–3, Paul expresses “great heaviness and continual sorrow” for his kinsmen, the Israelites. Paul’s a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin.

His compassion mirrors God’s own heart — the apostle of Christ reflecting divine love for Israel. Paul’s teaching flows from that love, explaining God’s plan for their eventual restoration.

Before we paused our Romans study for our dive into Hosea, we’d completed eight chapters of Romans, and those first eight chapters are the doctrinal foundation for grace:

Romans 1–2 shows humanity’s fall and man’s guilt before God.

Romans 3 is the gospel — righteousness freely given through Christ’s death.

Romans 4 is justification by faith alone — without works, circumcision, or the law. This truth defines the mystery gospel: salvation apart from Israel’s covenants.

Romans 5 is our new position in Christ — justified, reconciled, possessing atonement, and no longer in Adam.

Romans 6 is living free from sin under grace.

Romans 7 is freedom from the condemnation of the law.

And Romans 8 is freedom from the flesh — walking after the Spirit.

By the end of Romans 8, we learned that believers, saved by grace through Christ’s death and resurrection, are free from sin’s bondage, free from the law’s condemnation, and free to walk in the Spirit.

We learned that believers are complete in Christ, possessing free access to all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Among these is the Spirit of adoption, meaning we become sons of God simply because we’re in Christ, the Son of God. Nothing we did earned this position; it’s given freely.

Romans 5 to 8 taught us about our assurance, that salvation is secure, and nothing can separate us from Christ’s love.

We learned about hope, and how hope functions in our walk under grace in a present evil world filled with suffering.

We learned we’re delivered from condemnation and that there’s no condemnation for us in Christ.

Romans 8 describes our justification, glorification, and hope of glory — blessings freely given and impossible to remove, and it ends with the question: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? No!

Romans 8:37 says,

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

We’re more than conquerors through Him that loved us — even though we’ve done nothing to conquer.

Under the Old Testament, suffering often meant God’s displeasure. But under grace, God’s love is shown in Christ’s death and the blessings given freely in Him, and Romans 8 teaches that we can endure famine, nakedness, distress, persecution, and tribulation while still united to God’s love, because His love is rooted in Christ’s finished work, not in removing our challenging circumstances.

Paul concludes in Romans 8:38–39 that neither death nor life, angels nor principalities, powers, things present or things to come, height nor depth, nor any creature can separate us from God’s love in Christ.

It’s not merely that they won’t — they can’t. Separation is impossible because of who we are in Christ.

Romans 8 ends with our inseparable unity with Christ and with one another.

Even though we may offend each other or sin against God, we remain united in Christ. Paul calls this the fellowship of the mystery in Ephesians 3:9.

We have an inseparable love — not because we always love perfectly, but because God has committed His love toward us, and nothing can sever it.

This inseparable love is why we studied Hosea.

Hosea ends on the same theme: God’s love for Israel is ultimately inseparable according to their covenants. But our inseparable love is not covenant‑based; it’s rooted in Christ’s finished work, making it absolutely secure.

Romans 8 lists every possible threat and declares none of it can separate us from God’s love in Christ. But under Israel’s covenant, separation was possible and, really, also inevitable. Hosea repeatedly says, Israel is “No more my people”, and “No more mercy.” Their covenant relationship could be and would be revoked if they didn’t turn from their idolatry and their reliance on other nations while rejecting God.

This contrast raises the question Paul addresses in Romans 9: How is it that we, Gentile sinners with no covenants, no promises, no earthly kingdom, receive this inseparable love — while Israel, who had promises of glory, is now blind and fallen?

Romans 9 begins with that issue.

Hosea 8:3–4 shows Israel rejected God, built idols, and were cut off — “no more my people.”

That’s not our relationship.

We’re joined to the risen, glorified Christ, the Head of a Body from which no member is ever cut off.

Hebrews 6 (written to Israel under the New Covenant) describes the same people Hosea addressed.

Hebrews 10:26 warns: If they, Israel, sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. There’s no “third covenant.” What remains is fearful judgment and fiery indignation for adversaries.

Until their covenant is fulfilled, they can fall away and be rejected. Hebrews 6:4–6 says it’s impossible to renew them again to repentance if they fall away. Their covenant relationship can be broken until the kingdom comes.

Hebrews 6:7–8 uses the imagery of fruit: the earth that bears herbs receives blessing, but that which bears thorns and briars is rejected. Jesus taught the same in Matthew 7:16 — “You will know them by their fruits.”

In John 15, those who don’t abide and bear fruit are cut off and cast into the fire. This is the same Israel Hosea and Hebrews speak about.

This is not about losing fellowship and confessing sins to regain standing. It teaches that stepping outside the covenant leaves only judgment.

Under Moses, violators died without mercy. Hebrews says the punishment is sorer for those who tread underfoot the Son of God and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing.

Israel’s ultimate need is for God to graciously receive them and love them freely — exactly what Hosea promised. This will occur when Christ returns and establishes Israel’s kingdom.

Thank God we believers today are freely justified by grace through Christ’s redemption, not under Israel’s New Covenant.

Our boast is in Christ’s finished work, which provides an inseparable love and fellowship that can’t be broken.

Romans 6 explains why our standing is unbreakable, because we’re judicially dead with Christ. His death becomes ours — “I am crucified with Christ.” This is not New Covenant teaching; it’s unique to the Body of Christ.

So, we see this contrast between the Body of Christ in Romans 8, Israel under the New Covenant in Hebrews and Israel under judgment and restoration in Hosea.

This sets the stage for Romans 9, where Paul explains what happened to Israel and why their covenant standing contrasts so sharply with our inseparable position in Christ.

Understanding God’s promises to Israel helps us grasp why Paul turns to Israel in Romans 9.

Now, up to this point in Romans, Paul hasn’t yet addressed our service (that comes in Romans 12). He’s only described who we are in Christ and what we possess by grace.

So these last 70-something episodes of our verse-by-verse study bring us back to Romans 9–11, where Paul resumes the story Hosea began — God’s judgment and mercy toward Israel, and His unchanging purpose to restore them through grace.

Paul’s finished explaining our blessings in Christ — our gospel, our identity, and our spiritual riches. The question is now: What happened to Israel?

Before Paul, Scripture spoke continually of Israel’s judgment and the glory that would follow that judgment.

Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true.” And if God is true, what about His promises in Hosea 1–3 and 14 — Israel’s salvation, kingdom, and earthly glory? These need to be addressed.

Many Christians claim God’s “done” with Israel and that Romans 8 fulfils Israel’s promises. But Hosea’s promises involved land, a people in that land, physical healing, and earthly prosperity — none of which Romans 8 gives us. Romans 8 teaches the opposite regarding our circumstances. We have spiritual blessings, not Israel’s earthly kingdom.

Our fellowship with Christ exists only because of the cross — and the cross was Israel’s rejection of Jesus. Prophecy said the world would be blessed through Israel’s rise, not through their fall and yet Paul now says salvation comes through Israel’s fall, and Jew and Gentile stand together in Christ.

But this raises the question: Why is Israel’s rejection bringing salvation today, instead of Israel’s salvation bringing salvation?

Romans 9–11 answers this.

Romans chapters 5–8 reveal rich grace, blessings before any earthly kingdom. Israel, however, was promised kingdom glory after obedience and endurance.

Now Gentiles receive grace freely, and Israel asks: Where’s our promised blessing? This is the covenant issue Romans 9 addresses.

Paul must explain Israel’s fall and future restoration because God had spoken about them since the world began.

Romans 9–11 deal entirely with Israel.

Each chapter begins and ends with Israel:

Romans 9 opens with Paul’s sorrow for Israel and ends with Israel stumbling.

Romans 10 begins with Paul’s prayer for Israel’s salvation and ends with God stretching out His hands to them.

Romans 11 begins with the question, “Has God cast away Israel?” and ends with Israel’s future return and salvation.

These chapters explain where Israel is today, what happened, and how God’s promises still stand.

The word Israel appears for the first time in Romans chapter 9. Paul has spoken of “Jews,” but now he speaks of Israel as a covenant nation — a people tied to land, law, and promises. He never calls you and me “Israel,” nor does he say we’re “spiritual Israel.”

Romans 4–8 spoke only of who we are in Christ.

So, why does Israel suddenly appear in Romans 9–11?

Up to Romans 8, Paul never mentioned Israel as a nation. But in Romans 9, Israel appears “out of the blue” so to speak. After studying Hosea, we now understand why. Romans 9–11 forms a distinct section dealing with Israel’s salvation, following Romans 1–8, which dealt with our salvation.

Romans 9–11 can be summarised like this:

Romans 9 — Israel’s election: why God chose them and how that choosing occurred.

Romans 10 — Israel’s rejection: why they fell and what they missed.

Romans 11 — Israel’s remnant and return: how God will restore them.

This section of Scripture explains how God remains true to His promises to Israel while offering salvation directly to Gentiles, even though Israel is currently fallen. Salvation for the Gentiles was supposed to come through Israel. That was God’s plan.

Paul shows that Israel will return and God will fulfil His covenants — simply not now. This is why many call Romans 9–11 the dispensational section of Romans.

Romans 9 explains how God chose Israel.

Calvinists misuse this chapter because they misunderstand election. Calvinists are people who believe God sovereignly chooses who’ll be saved and who won’t be.

Romans 1–8 already covered our salvation.

Election is biblical, but much of what’s taught about it isn’t. God elected Israel, and Romans 9 explains how Israel’s election worked.

Paul shows that being born an Israelite doesn’t automatically grant the kingdom.

Romans 10 explains why Israel was rejected.

Though God will keep His covenants, Israel as a nation is currently fallen. Paul shows what they missed — namely faith. They pursued righteousness by the works of the law, not by believing God’s word.

This matches Hosea and Isaiah: Israel had works, rituals, and knowledge, but no heart, no faith, no spiritual sight.

Romans 11 identifies the remnant and explains Israel’s future return. Paul’s purpose in Romans 9–11 is to show that God is true. Even though Israel is currently set aside, God has not failed; Israel has failed Israel, but their kingdom will come in the future, according to God’s timing.

Romans 9–11 contains 31 questions.

Paul answers objections about Israel. He quotes prophecy 30+ times, showing that his answers come from prophetic Scripture, not mystery truth.

There’s very little mystery doctrine here because Israel’s story is not a mystery. Their fall was prophesied. Their rejection of Christ was prophesied. Their future restoration was prophesied. The results of their fall (the Body of Christ, Jew/Gentile equality) were a mystery — but Israel’s fall itself was not.

Paul answers questions in Romans 9-11 such as:

– What about Israel now?

– If we today are inseparable from God’s love, why is Israel separated?

– What happened to their covenants and promises?

– Did God fail Israel?

– Is God unrighteous to cut Israel off?

– How did Israel miss God’s righteousness?

– Does Paul oppose Israel or the law?

Romans 9–11 is not about our salvation.

Romans 9–11 cover Israel’s covenant standing.

Paul’s answer is simple:

God does not fail. He will do for Israel exactly what He promised — just not now.

Hosea shows God telling Israel, “You are no more my people.” Later in the same book, He says, “You will be my people again.” God’s already cut Israel off once before. So when Paul says Israel is fallen today, it’s not new. God’s not unrighteous; Israel is.

Romans 10 shows how Israel missed righteousness — by pursuing works instead of faith. Hosea taught the same: Israel needed grace and faith, not mere ritual.

Some people accused Paul of teaching against Israel and the law — claiming he told people to ignore the law or commit sin. But Romans 7 already taught that the law is holy, just, and good; it simply can’t save.

Paul was slandered by unbelieving Jews who said he opposed Israel and God’s covenants. Acts 21:28 shows this clearly.

Paul visited synagogues and even took a vow, and Romans 9–11 explains why Paul interacted with Israel in Acts. His actions — circumcising Timothy, taking vows, entering synagogues — were not attempts to keep the law for salvation. They were expressions of his heart for Israel.

He knew these acts didn’t save, nor was he required to perform them. But he hoped they might open a door for Israel to listen, that some might be saved.

In Acts 21:27-28, Paul goes to Jerusalem and takes a vow.

While doing so, his enemies — his kinsmen according to the flesh, the same group he mourns for in Romans 9 — attack him.

The Jews from Asia, who’d chased Paul across the empire, saw him in the temple and stirred up the crowd by preaching, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place.”

They accuse him of bringing Greeks into the temple and polluting it.

To them, Paul was a blasphemer, a polluter of the holy place, a teacher against the law.

According to Jesus’ words, those who teach against the law are least in the kingdom. According to the Abrahamic promise, those who curse Israel are cursed. This is how Paul’s enemies viewed him.

This explains why Paul repeatedly says in Romans: “The law is holy, just, and good.” “We do not destroy the law by faith; we establish the law.”

He says these things because he’s being accused of teaching against the law. But Paul’s not against the law; he’s explaining that no man can be justified by the law (Romans 3). He’s putting the law in its proper place.

Romans 11:26 proves Paul’s not anti‑Israel when he says, “So all Israel shall be saved.”

He writes Romans 9–11 not only to explain Israel’s present condition, but also to answer accusations that he opposes Israel, the law, and God’s covenants.

Even some who understand the right divisions of the Bible sometimes fall into the error of thinking Paul’s against anything Jewish. But Paul never teaches that.

We’re not Israel, and we’re not under the law, but the law remains holy, and Israel’s covenants remain intact, and Romans 9–11 clarifies this.

The book of Acts is the historical bridge between Jesus’ earthly ministry to Israel in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Paul’s Gentile ministry in Romans.

Without Acts, the New Testament jumps from Jesus preaching the kingdom to Israel, straight to Romans — a letter to Gentiles saying they’re not Israel.

Acts explains the events that occurred. Israel rejected the apostles’ preaching at Pentecost. They stoned Spirit‑filled Stephen. The Holy Spirit departed Jerusalem. God saved Paul by grace and made him apostle of the Gentiles.

Acts bridges Jerusalem to Rome, you might say.

Romans 9–11 is Paul’s doctrinal bridge explaining what happened to Israel and where they stand today. Romans was written around Acts 20–21, so Paul’s describing Israel’s present dispensational condition.

Romans 9–11 is a crucial section of the Bible.

Many misunderstand it because they ask questions Paul never asks. For example, Paul never asks, “Who is the wild graft?” Yet that question is often debated more than anything else in these chapters, and it’s simply not Paul’s point.

Paul’s point is Israel’s fall, Israel’s failure, Israel’s future return, God’s faithfulness and righteousness and God’s covenant integrity.

The olive tree analogy clearly identifies the fallen branches as Israel and their future grafting back in. The identity of the wild graft is secondary; Paul’s lesson is simply: don’t boast in what you received by grace.

So, now, with Hosea fresh in mind and Romans 8 behind us, Paul begins Romans 9:1-3,

I SAY the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Why sorrow? Because Israel had a glorious covenant — and they rejected the covenant maker and mediator. Paul’s conscience, confirmed by the Holy Ghost, bears witness to his grief.

Paul emphasises his honesty because he’s being slandered.

Unlike Peter or James, Paul was accused of teaching against Israel and the law, as we’ve already pointed out.

The twelve apostles ministered to Israel and preached the kingdom, which is consistent with Scripture. Paul preached a mystery fellowship with God apart from Israel, something not found in prophecy. Because of that, unbelieving Israel viewed him as an enemy.

Unbelieving Jews viewed his ministry as blasphemy — not only because he preached the resurrection of Christ, but because he proclaimed the riches of grace given to Gentiles. This is why Paul repeatedly says, “I lie not.” He’s swearing that the truth Christ revealed to him is genuine.

Whenever Paul makes such strong affirmations, it concerns his apostleship.

In 2 Corinthians 11:30–31, he says he’ll glory in his infirmities, not in earthly kingdom glory. Israel gloried in their kingdom; Paul walked around weak, beaten, and suffering. He learned that when he’s weak, Christ is strong — the very principle that makes believers “more than conquerors” by grace.

He declares:

“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… knows that I lie not.”

He calls God as witness that his message of grace is true.

People questioned Paul’s authority because he suffered, was imprisoned, and lacked visible success.

Paul insists: “I’m not lying — this is the revelation Christ gave me.” The same challenge faces grace believers today: people measure success by attendance numbers, miracles, or outward signs. But Paul says, “Let God be true.” Our certainty comes from Scripture, not appearances.

In Galatians 1:11–12, Paul defends His apostleship and certifies that the gospel he preached is not after man. He didn’t receive it from Peter, James, John, or any other apostle. He received it by revelation of Jesus Christ.

He writes: “Before God, I lie not.”

He insists he didn’t go to Jerusalem to learn from the twelve; he didn’t even visit them until fifteen years into his ministry.

1 Timothy 2:4–7 is Paul explaining God’s will: all men saved and all men coming to the knowledge of the truth. That truth is: One God, and One mediator, Christ Jesus, who is a ransom for all.

Then he says: “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle — I speak the truth in Christ and lie not.”

People questioned how Paul could be an apostle when he once persecuted believers and never followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. Paul answers: Christ appeared to him, taught him, and made him a chosen vessel, and we see this in the all-important Acts 9.

From the moment of his salvation, he was appointed an apostle — not self‑chosen, but God‑chosen.

Paul would eventually die for this truth that he knew so completely, because Christ appeared and gave it to him personally.

Paul is the final authority on Israel’s present standing — not Peter, James, or John. Even Jesus in His earthly ministry could not speak of Israel today; His purpose was to offer the prophesied kingdom and to bring in the times that Hosea and the other prophets spoke so much about.

Peter himself admits Paul speaks of things “hard to understand” in 2 Peter 3:15-16, referring to Paul’s teaching about Israel’s delay and God’s longsuffering.

Let’s go to Romans 9:2, and we’ll read it as it should be read as part of verse 1,

I SAY the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

The sorrow he’s referring to is, of course, for Israel, his kinsmen.

Why would he sorrow for people who chased him all over the country and beyond, slandered him, tried to kill him, lied about him and imprisoned him?

Because Paul was once one of them.

He persecuted Peter, James, and John before Christ saved him by grace. He knows Israel’s blindness firsthand.

Paul’s heart reflects Christ’s grace: Christ saved Paul — an enemy — and Paul now longs for his enemies to be saved.

Every believer saved by grace should share this heart. We were all sinners that Christ had to save; therefore, we should desire salvation for other sinners.

When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:3,

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”, it includes unbelieving Israel.

In the first century, Israel was suffering under Rome, soon to be destroyed.

Their kingdom was not given, and their fall was obvious.

Yet Paul still goes from synagogue to synagogue because he has this continual sorrow for Israel and desires their salvation.

One example of Paul’s ministry to Israel is Acts 13.

He enters a synagogue and preaches that Jesus is the fulfilment of Israel’s prophecies. After gaining their attention, he declares that salvation comes by trusting Christ, being justified without the law of Moses.

When the Jews saw the multitudes listening — including Gentiles — they were filled with envy, as Acts 13:45 states.

Paul had preached to them first, but they rejected the message. Then he preached to Gentiles, and that enraged them.

Envy destroys.

Jealousy says, “They have something, and I want it too.” But Envy says, “They have something and if I can’t have it, they shouldn’t either.”

Envy destroys.

The Jews saw Gentiles receiving what they themselves rejected, and they opposed Paul, speaking against him and blaspheming his message — which meant speaking against Christ.

Paul and Barnabas responded boldly in Acts 13:46,

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

He’d preached Scripture, history, and Christ’s fulfilment, but when they hardened themselves, rejecting the message, he turned to the Gentiles.

Acts 18 shows the same pattern.

Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived, Paul testified that Jesus was the Christ — again addressing unbelieving Jews, his kinsmen for whom he had continual sorrow.

But Acts 18:6 says:

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

“Shook his raiment” was a symbolic act of saying, I’m done with you”!

He’d offered them salvation; they rejected it and opposed the truth, so he turned to the Gentiles — exactly what Christ had commanded him to do.

He went to Jews first, as he said he had to in Romans 1:2, because they were God’s people and his own kinsmen. If they’d believed, they could have blessed the Gentiles with him. But they rejected the message just as they’d rejected all the prophets of old like Hosea.

Romans 11:28 says:

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

Unbelieving Israel opposes the gospel, yet they remain beloved for the fathers’ sakes: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David’s sakes.

God will keep His covenant with Israel, but if they reject Him, He rejects them — just as Hosea and the law taught.

Philippians 3:18 describes those who oppose the gospel as enemies of the cross of Christ.

In context, Paul’s speaking of his brethren, the circumcision, the same unbelieving Jews who chased him, stoned him, and tried to silence him.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16, Paul explains that the Thessalonians suffered persecution from their own countrymen, just as believers in Judea suffered from the Jews. These Jews killed the Lord Jesus, killed their own prophets, persecuted Paul, displeased God and were, quote, “contrary to all men”, forbidding Paul to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved.

It was never contrary to Scripture for Gentiles to be saved, and this’s why Paul says in Romans 16:26 that the mystery is now made known to all nations by the Scriptures of the prophets and the commandment of God. The mystery was how and when — that Gentiles would be saved without Israel, while Israel was blind.

The mystery concerns Israel’s failure, not the idea of Gentile salvation itself.

Prophecy said Gentiles would be blessed through Israel’s rise; the mystery reveals Gentiles blessed while Israel’s fallen.

So, when Jews claimed Gentiles couldn’t be saved, they were rejecting their own Scriptures — and Paul explains this fully in Romans 9–11.

Paul often reminds Israel of their own history: Abraham was not a Jew, neither was Noah, yet they had salvation, and this’s Paul’s point — salvation is not limited to Israel.

Paul repeatedly says: “Going to Gentiles should not be your stumbling block.

Your concern should be believing the gospel yourselves so you can bless the Gentiles, as Scripture promised.” But Israel refused, so Paul had to go to Gentiles without Israel.

Paul understands their mindset because he was once just like them as the chief enemy of Christ’s disciples.

He calls himself the chief of sinners in 1 Timothy 1 because he led the persecution and slaughter of believers, as Acts 8:1–4 shows. His violence scattered the believing remnant of Israel — ironically fulfilling prophecy about Israel rejecting Christ and being scattered among the nations.

Paul was on the wrong side of prophecy, destined for wrath.

That’s why his salvation in Acts 9 is so miraculous: the very man marked for destruction is saved by grace. This is so similar to Israel itself in Hosea, and it becomes the backdrop of Romans 9.

When Paul says in Romans 9:3 — “I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren,” it reveals his astonishing love — the kind of love that would willingly die for another. It mirrors the love God commended in Christ.

He’s saying: “If it were possible, I would trade my place in Christ for Israel’s salvation.

But Romans 8 has already established that separation’s impossible. Nothing can sever Paul from Christ. His statement expresses the depth of his love, but not something that has any possibility.

This sacrificial love explains why Paul kept entering synagogues, why he rose after being stoned, why he repeatedly returned to hostile crowds and why he endured persecution from his own people.

His ministry was driven by love and by the grace that saved him — the same grace that’s still offered to Israel today.

God’s grace is not for Gentiles only, just as it’s not for Jews only. It’s for everyone — Jew and Gentile alike. Israel killed Christ and opposed Paul, yet they can still be saved by grace.

Even violent persecutors can be saved. Paul’s ministry is testimony to that truth.

Knowing who we are in Christ shapes how we minister to those who reject God. Many of the questions Paul answers in Romans 9–11 are the same questions atheists and sceptics ask today — because unbelief produces similar objections.

Paul’s heart echoes Moses’ plea in Exodus 32. When Israel worshipped the golden calf, God threatened to destroy the nation and start over with Moses. Moses interceded and offered himself in place of Israel — a type of Christ.

God spared Israel for Moses’ sake. We see that account in Exodus 32:30-34.

Paul’s longing to be accursed for Israel follows the same pattern: a mediator pleading for a sinful people.

Let’s move to Romans 9:4, and he’s talking about his brethren and kinsmen, Israel, from the last verse.

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;

Paul lists Israel’s privileges — Adoption, glory, covenants, giving of the law, service of God, promises.

These belong to Israel, not to the Body of Christ.

Some spiritual blessings that Israel possessed we now have through Christ, but not through Israel’s covenants or national promises. Those we Gentiles can’t claim.

Romans 3:2 says Israel had the advantage of receiving the oracles of God. We read them, and we learn a great deal from them, but we didn’t live that history. Israel’s national story includes miracles, prophets, angels, covenants, and divine revelation — privileges given uniquely to them.

Romans 4:13 says God promised Abraham he would be heir of the world. That promise belongs to Israel’s earthly kingdom program. We share Abraham’s faith, but not his earthly inheritance. We’re justified by faith without works — but we don’t inherit the earth. That promise was given to him and his nation.

Romans 11 teaches that Israel’s fall has brought riches to the world and riches to the Gentiles. But adds: “How much more their fullness?” Israel’s future fullness — the fruitfulness of Isaiah 14, the flourishing of Song of Solomon and the restoration of Hosea— belongs to Zion and Jerusalem, not to the Body of Christ.

The first privilege Paul lists is the adoption.

In Scripture, adoption’s not our modern legal adoption; it means becoming a full-grown son able to receive an inheritance. A child may be an heir, but can’t receive the inheritance until maturity. Adoption is the moment the father declares: “You are a son; all this is yours.”

Israel was given this adoption. They were called sons of God and promised an earthly inheritance.

Romans 8 says believers today have the Spirit of adoption, but not according to bondage, law, or covenant. We’re sons of God in Christ, not because we’re Israel, and our inheritance is heavenly, not earthly. This is why Israel was provoked: Gentiles — “pork‑eating Gentiles,” in their view — were suddenly claiming sonship and inheritance in Christ, and their envy drove them to oppose Paul.

Paul then lists the glory as one of their privileges. Israel was destined to be God’s glory on the earth when they were saved. Through Isaiah 46:13, God says:

…I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

When Israel is saved, the world will recognise the God of Israel as the true God. This isn’t happening today, far from it. The church can’t fulfil this prophecy. Even magnificent church buildings or impressive ministries can’t substitute for Israel’s promised earthly glory.

Our glory is heavenly; Israel’s glory is both earthly and future.

The next privilege Paul lists is the covenants, plural.

Ephesians 2:12 says Gentiles were once “strangers from the covenants of promise.” Every covenant in Scripture was made with Israel, not Gentiles: the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, the New covenant, the Covenant of salt, and others, all Israel’s.

Covenant theology believes that God always works through covenants, including in the dispensation of grace today, but Paul says the covenants belong to Israel, not to us. This is why when we study the bible with a commitment to rightly dividing its dispensations, we can only come to the realisation that we’re not in Israel’s covenants, including the New Covenant, which runs in opposition to most of Christianity today. The mystery revealed to Paul and the dispensation of grace we live in today is completely separate from any of the covenants God made with Israel.

The next privilege Israel received was the law — not only its curses, but its blessings. All of it belonged to Israel.

Psalm 105:10–11 says God confirmed His covenant to Jacob “for a law,” promising them the land of Canaan as their inheritance.

The law is not just moral commands; it’s tied to land, nation, history, and deliverance from Egypt. Psalm 147:19–20 says,

He [God] sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them.

So this makes any other nation, Australia or America, totally unable to claim to be “God’s country.” God dealt uniquely with Israel through the law.

Another one of Israel’s privileges was the service of God, meaning the entire temple system, including the priesthood, sacrifices, holy days, the tabernacle and temple and national worship.

They were God’s ministers on earth.

Today, believers are ministers of grace, but we mustn’t steal Israel’s temple service. Their ministry was earthly; ours is spiritual.

Israel also received many promises — mercy, blessing, forgiveness, salvation and resurrection. These weren’t just covenant obligations; they were promises that God must fulfil.

Abraham believed God would resurrect Isaac because God had promised him a seed. Jeremiah 33:14 says God will perform the good thing He promised to Israel and Judah.

These promises, and many more, belong to Israel and guarantee their future restoration.

Romans 9:5 reads,

Whose [the promises] are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

In addition to the list, he adds the promises made to Israel’s fathers, promises that resulted in the Christ coming in the flesh, the Christ who would bring them into their everlasting kingdom.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are Israel’s fathers, not ours. Romans 15:8 says,

Christ came as a minister of the circumcision to confirm the promises made to Israel’s fathers.

Jacob’s name was changed to Israel; Abraham and Isaac were fathers of the nation. These fathers belong to Israel’s story, not the Body of Christ.

This part of Romans 9:5: “of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came,” is one of the most neglected statements in Paul’s epistles. Most Christians overlook it, but Paul states plainly that Christ came to Israel, that He came in the flesh as a Jew, that He came as Israel’s Messiah, that He preached Israel’s kingdom, and He instructed His disciples in Matthew 10:5-6 and Matthew 15:24: “Go not to the Gentiles… I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

John 1:11 says,

He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

His “own” was Israel.

Christ came to Israel because prophecy required it. If He had come to the world in general, He wouldn’t have fulfilled the prophets. Paul acknowledges Christ is Israel’s.

This’s why Paul grieves — Christ came to them, fulfilled their Scriptures, and they rejected Him.

Paul notes Christ came “concerning the flesh.”

Jesus was born of a Jewish woman, an Israelite, the promised Messiah. But Paul later writes in 2 Corinthians 5:

We knew Christ after the flesh; yet now know we Him no more.

Christ after the flesh is Israel’s Messiah. Christ beyond the flesh is: the Lord of glory, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the Head of the Body of Christ and the Creator over all things.

In this new creature — the Body of Christ — there’s no Jew or Gentile, says Galatians 3:28, because Christ is not only Israel’s Messiah; He’s God over all.

Romans 9:5 ends with,

Who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Paul proclaims Christ’s deity and His universal lordship — a truth that bought him great persecution. To say that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified and risen, is God over all was incredibly radical in Paul’s day.

Paul’s “Amen” seals this truth: Christ is Israel’s Messiah and the Lord of all creation.

These privileges belong to Israel — not originally to us.

We receive spiritual blessings through Christ, not through Israel’s covenants. Israel’s earthly blessings remain intact for their future restoration.

In Jeremiah 33:14–16, God promises this,

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

That Branch of righteousness who executes judgment and righteousness in the land is Christ. Judah will be saved, Jerusalem will dwell safely, Israel as one nation again, being called “The LORD our righteousness.” Because that’s exactly what their position will be: saved by the Lord’s righteousness, not their own.

This is not a conditional covenant; it’s a promise made directly and unconditionally by God Himself. If it doesn’t happen, God would be a liar. Hosea 14 spoke of this future restoration, and Romans 11 will speak of it again.

Christ will be King of Israel, finally their righteous King, and He’ll be the Judge of all the earth in Jerusalem.

God repeatedly restrained judgment because of His promises.

Gentiles, however, have no promises. God didn’t make a covenant with them. A Jew could appeal to God’s covenant; a Gentile can’t. God gave Gentiles life, but not covenant rights.

Psalm 77:8–9 asks:

Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

Selah means: stop, breathe, and take in what God just said.

Israel knew God had promised grace, even if they didn’t understand how it would come.

So when Paul preached grace to Gentiles, Israel was provoked to envy. They were given the promises, adoption, covenants, and kingdom.

Jesus told the little flock in Luke 12:32,

It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Peter said in 2 Peter 3:13, again speaking to the “little flock”, the remnant of believing Israel,

According to His promise, we look for a new heaven and a new earth.

Although these promises have not been fulfilled as of today, they belong to Israel.

This section between Romans 9:1-5 closes Paul’s introduction to Romans 9.

He’s shown that Israel’s promises remain intact, Israel’s fathers belong to them, Christ came to Israel according to prophecy, Christ is now over all, blessing Jew and Gentile alike and that Israel’s rejection does not nullify God’s promises.

In the next episode, Paul explains why Israel’s present condition doesn’t mean the end of God’s faithfulness. Until then, may God bless you all with the richness of the knowledge of Him.

Romans and the Book of Hosea

We’re now at a major turning point in our verse-by-verse study of the book of Romans.
Romans chapters 9 – 11 turn the focus of God’s plan to Israel.
The church, the Body of Christ, receives its doctrine from Paul’s epistles, revealed by Christ according to the mystery. Hosea is not part of that revelation, yet 2 Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is profitable, for our doctrine, for our learning and for reproof and correction and instruction in righteousness.
Hosea’s audience are the northern tribes (Israel, Ephraim) before their fall into captivity. God uses the personal marriage of Hosea to illustrate Israel’s adultery with God, God’s response, and the love He displayed by their return to Him.

The study of Hosea is extremely helpful for understanding the failure of Israel and how God will bring them back, which is the subject of Romans chapters 9–11.
Why does Paul care about Israel so much?
Paul’s concern for Israel in Romans is not just personal, although he is a Jew and an Israelite but it wasn’t simply because of his personal history in the nation, even though that was part of it. It had to do with God’s covenant with Israel. That’s important because if that covenant was broken the entire Word of God can’t be trusted.
Hosea describes Israel’s unfaithfulness, judgment, and promised return. Paul quotes Hosea in Romans 9, especially Hosea 1:10 where Israel, once called “not my people” by God, was then later called “sons of the living God.” Understanding Hosea helps us see why Paul uses these prophecies and how they relate to Israel’s fall and future restoration and also to see how important that is for us to know in order to understand our standing with God and our own salvation.

Click or Press here to go to the Veses by Verse study of Hosea

Romans 8:35-39 – Who Can Separate Us

We’ve made it to a major turning point with this episode of our verse-by-verse study of the book of Romans.

We’re covering the last 4 verses of Romans chapter 9 before both Paul and ourselves take a new direction, which we’ll discuss as we go along.

“Speed Slider”

Romans 8:35-39 – Who Can Separate Us – Transcript

Paul’s letter to the Romans begins by showing that all humanity is guilty.

From creation onward, men were sinners and without excuse. In Romans 2, God formed Israel to be judges by giving them His law, yet they failed. The law only revealed their sin. Romans 3 explains Israel’s advantage in having the law, but still concludes that none are righteous. Then Paul presents the gospel: we are “freely justified” by God’s grace through Christ’s shed blood (Romans 3:25), and salvation is received by faith.

Paul spends the next section proving salvation is by faith without works. It’s not the deeds of the law or human effort. In Romans 5, he completes the explanation of salvation and lists the grace‑benefits believers receive: peace with God, access to grace, and the standing we have in Christ. Romans 6 teaches that believers are identified with Christ’s death and resurrection, becoming new creatures with new life. Romans 7 shows that although we are saved by grace, sin is still present, and the law can’t help us overcome it. We’re not glorified yet, so the struggle remains.

Romans 8 explains how to live as justified people in a world filled with suffering, pain, and the presence of sin. The answer is to walk “after the Spirit,” relying on what God has revealed and what the Spirit teaches. To “walk after the Spirit” is a complete change in our mind, the way we think, moment by moment. We must “know” something if we’re to “walk after the Spirit”! We must know exactly who we are and what we have in Christ, and what He has done. If this knowledge doesn’t renew our mind and become second nature to our thinking, we’ll struggle with the challenges of this life.

Near the end of Romans 8, Paul describes the consequences of Christ’s work. He asks rhetorical questions to strengthen believers. “What shall we then say to these things?” If God is for us, no one can be against us.

God has already shown He’s for us through Christ’s death and the Spirit’s indwelling. Romans 8:32 says that if God did not spare His own Son, He will “freely give us all things.”

Believers don’t receive the crumbs, as Jesus told the Gentile woman in Matthew 15:27 when He explained how he came to the circumcision, not the Gentiles. He said, it’s not right to cast the meat of the children to the dogs. And she said, well, I get the crumbs, don’t I? Well, Romans eight is not the crumbs, friends. We get all things through Christ, everything God gives in Christ.

That’s a very different thing.

Romans 8:33 asks, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”

Believers are elect because we’re in Christ. Christ is the elect. He’s the Chosen One. That’s what “Christ” means: the Anointed, the Chosen One, and we’re in him. We’re in the beloved, in the Chosen One. Being in Him means being in the place of God’s blessing. No charge can stand against us because God Himself has justified us by faith, not by works.

Romans 8:34 asks, “Who is he that condemneth?” Even when accusations or self‑condemnation arise, Christ removes all condemnation. He died, rose again, and now intercedes for us at the right hand of God. Condemnation says we haven’t done enough, but the gospel says Christ did everything.

Romans 8:35 asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Separation would have to mean that we were once united, and believers truly are united with Christ. This is the fellowship of the mystery: one body, one Lord, one union. No one can break this unity. Charges can’t stick, condemnation can’t stand, and separation can’t occur because God is for us and we’re in Christ.

Paul highlights this unity because, in other times, God related to people through covenants. Before Christ came, no one could be united with Him. Even in Jesus’ earthly ministry, Israel was told to “abide in me,” pointing to a future covenant relationship. Hebrews 6 shows that covenant Israel had a different standing: they tasted the heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come, but their relationship was through a covenant, not the full communion in Christ that believers have today.

Romans 8 declares the secure, unbreakable position of those in Christ: justified, united, loved, and inseparable from Him.

Hebrews 6:4 is often twisted to mean believers cannot fall away, but the text says if they fall away- meaning they actually can fall away- it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. This warning belongs to Israel’s covenant relationship, not Paul’s teaching to the Body of Christ.

Under the covenant, falling away is possible because covenant blessings depend on walking in its terms. Hebrews 6:7 uses the earth receiving rain and producing herbs as a picture: when the seed bears fruit, it’s blessed; when it bears thorns, it’s rejected and near to cursing. This echoes the parable of the sower. It’s a metaphor for Israel’s covenant standing—fruit brings blessing, failure brings judgment. Yet the Hebrews writer says in verse 9 he’s persuaded of “better things” for them that accompany salvation.

Hebrews 10:26 continues the warning. If Israel sins willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there is no more sacrifice for sins. Christ is the final sacrifice, so rejecting Him leaves only “a fearful looking for of judgment.” Their relationship to God is through a covenant, not union with Christ.

They touch Christ’s blood through covenant terms, not through the fellowship of the mystery. If they break the covenant—rejecting the Spirit, refusing to endure—they face judgment when Christ returns. Hebrews 10:27 says fiery indignation will devour the adversaries. The writer argues that if people were punished under the old covenant, breaking the new covenant brings even greater consequences. Hebrews 10:29 warns against counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing or despising the Spirit of grace. The answer in Hebrews 10:30 is vengeance.

Hebrews ends by urging Israel to endure so they may receive what Christ purchased for them when the kingdom comes.

This is not Romans.

Romans teaches that Christ died for us and we’re in Him, not in a covenant.

We receive grace blessings now, in this dispensation of grace. We’re sealed by the Spirit, identified with Christ, made heirs of God, and given a sure hope. Our position is secure because it’s in union with Christ, not a covenant that can be revoked.

Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The answer is: nothing can. Our position is eternal because it began with our death in Christ (Romans 6).

The love of Christ in Romans 8 is not our love for Him but His love for us. Some think Paul means their strong love keeps them faithful, but our love is not the basis of our standing. Christ’s love is. Making our love the foundation diminishes His work. Paul speaks of Christ’s love—His death, resurrection, and intercession. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “the love of Christ constrains us,” meaning His love toward us. The verse continues with,

we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

His death is the starting point.

Galatians 2:20 says Christ “loved me and gave himself for me.”

That love existed before we believed. Christ died for us two thousand years ago.

Romans 8 teaches that nothing can separate us from His love—displayed in His death for sins, His resurrection, and the eternal life He gives. His love is the reason our position in Him is unbreakable.

The cross of Christ accomplished salvation, but this dispensation of the grace of God reveals that salvation.

No one could understand the meaning of Christ’s death until the risen Lord returned to Paul and explained that He was saving the world through His finished work.

Grace teaches us what love truly is. Love is not a contract; it’s freely given. Grace is a gift received by faith, and the love of Christ is seen in His grace, freely offered and freely received.

God purposed to show His love through Christ’s death and resurrection. That work was done for us, and when we believe the gospel, we’re placed in Christ, inside the very place where God displays His love. This is the doctrine of Romans 5–8. If God’s love is shown in Christ’s finished work, and we’re in Him, then nothing can separate us from God’s purpose or His performance accomplished through Christ. There’s victory in this abundant grace.

Romans 5:21 says grace reigns over sin “unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Grace reigns because Christ’s work reigns. God’s love is not vague kindness; it’s the atoning work of Christ. That’s why Paul speaks of victory in Christ—He, Christ, did the work.

So when Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” he lists tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. These things can’t undo Christ’s work. People often think love means peace, provision, and protection. If someone says they love their family but brings trouble instead of care, we call that a lack of love. This is why suffering confuses people. They think suffering means God’s not loving.

But Romans 8 teaches that present sufferings cannot compare to the glory Christ purchased. God’s love is not found in circumstances; it’s found in the cross.

That’s why these things Paul lists- tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword cannot separate us from Christ’s love because His love was displayed in His death and resurrection. He already gave us the Spirit, already made us sons of God, already secured our hope.

We very much need to learn this from Scripture.

We cannot know the love of Christ by looking at life’s circumstances. Good events don’t prove God loves us, and suffering doesn’t prove He doesn’t. We must look at Scripture, or we’ll invent a God of our own imagination.

Trouble, poverty, and danger may seem to contradict love, but they can’t overturn what we now know. Christ died for our sins, gave us His Spirit, made us complete in Him, and promised glory. This’s how we know God’s love. The world debates whether God’s loving, but Christians point to the cross. God saved sinners when He didn’t have to. Christ suffered, died, and rose when He didn’t have to. That’s love.

2 Corinthians 11 shows Paul’s response to suffering.

Knowing what Christ had done for him, Paul could endure hardship without doubting God’s love. Others boasted in outward blessings, but Paul pointed to labour, suffering, and weakness—not to show God’s absence, but to show where Christ’s love sustains him.

This is the mindset Romans 8 teaches: Christ’s love is certain because His work is finished, and nothing in this present evil world can separate us from it.

Paul says he’s a minister of Christ because he labours more, yet his “resume” is stripes, prisons, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, hunger, cold, and danger. People might naturally think God’s chosen vessel would be protected from such things, but Paul boasts in them to expose a wrong idea of ministry. God’s not displaying His glory through worldly success but through Christ’s work and the grace that sustains Paul in and through suffering. Paul knows God’s love is not found in the peril itself but in the cross.

He lists weariness, painfulness, hunger, thirst, fastings, cold, nakedness, and the daily care of the churches. He glories in infirmities because, as he explains in the next chapter, when he’s weak, Christ is strong. Ministry is not about what Christ gives us materially but what He did for us at the cross.

When Romans 8:36 asks who can separate us from the love of Christ, Paul quotes Psalm 44:

For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Sheep are helpless, fearful, and easily destroyed. They need a shepherd, or they perish. Paul’s not saying believers are sheep; he quotes the Psalm to show a contrast. The next verse begins with “Nay”—meaning “No.” We are not sheep for slaughter.

Many believers fall back into a “sheep mindset,” thinking God’s love means constant protection and comfort.

When suffering comes, they cry out like sheep, forgetting what Christ has done.

Psalm 44 describes faithful Israel suffering while God is silent. Israel expected covenant intervention—physical deliverance from enemies—but God had not yet acted. The Psalm is a cry for help: “Awake… arise… redeem us.”

Israel is confused and ashamed because God has not intervened, even though they have not forsaken Him.

Israel’s covenant relationship depended on obedience and God’s physical intervention. They were sheep needing rescue.

Paul quotes Psalm 44 to show that believers today are not in that position.

The Body of Christ is not a flock waiting for deliverance; believers are united with Christ, complete in Him, and secure in His finished work. We know things David didn’t know. The mystery had not been revealed in Psalm 44. Israel did not yet know the love of God displayed at the cross.

Psalm 44 shows Israel saying, “We have not forgotten you,” yet they are suffering and waiting for God to act. They are reproached, mocked, and shamed because God has not intervened. They plead for help, saying their soul is bowed to the dust and their belly clings to the earth. They cry, “Arise for our help.”

Paul quotes this to show the difference.

Israel suffered while waiting for covenant rescue. Believers suffer knowing Christ has already accomplished everything. We don’t cry out as sheep; we stand as people united with Christ, inseparable from His love. Our suffering doesn’t mean God’s absent. That suffering can’t separate us from Christ’s love because His love was proven at the cross, not in our circumstances.

Paul asks believers if they truly know they are saved.

Would they still know it if threatened, persecuted, or even killed? Salvation today in the dispensation of grace in which we live doesn’t rest on physical circumstances but on Christ’s finished work.

Psalm 44 shows Israel didn’t know this.

Their covenant relationship expected God to intervene physically, and when He didn’t, they felt ashamed.

Many Christians think God works the same way today, expecting visible intervention and feeling defeated when it doesn’t come. But Christ has already done the greatest work. If believers understood what He accomplished and freely gave by grace, they wouldn’t cry out for more signs.

Psalm 44 describes Israel as sheep led to slaughter, crying for rescue. Sheep exist to be shorn and killed; they’re helpless and dependent. Israel was ashamed because they claimed God’s defence yet were being defeated.

But Paul says in Romans 8:37,

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors.”

Believers are not sheep. God has already shown up—Christ died, rose, and now intercedes for us. He dwells in us by the Spirit and has given us blessings we so often overlook.

Christians may feel like sheep because God doesn’t intervene physically and give them all they ask for as He did under Israel’s covenant.

But we’re not in a covenant; we’re in Christ. Strength comes through grace.

Paul learned that God’s grace is sufficient, as he says in 2 Corinthians 12. We’re not simply dying for the Lord’s sake; Christ died for ours. He saved us to the praise of the glory of His grace. Preaching God’s glory begins with Christ’s work, not our circumstances.

Being “more than conquerors” doesn’t mean claiming wealth or earthly success. It means Christ conquered sin, death, and condemnation for us.

We conquer circumstances by walking in what we know—our identity in Christ. If we forget what He’s done, circumstances defeat us. If we walk after the Spirit, we stand in victory. It’s not about the circumstances; it’s about how we live through them, no matter what they may be.

Believers are complete in Christ.

This completeness is not earned by Christian performance; it’s given at salvation. Learning this truth strengthens us. What we know—revealed by Christ—is our weapon. We have access to all spiritual blessings, deliverance from condemnation, justification, glorification, and predestination to Christ’s image. These are the truths that make us conquerors.

Romans 8:38–39 shows Paul’s persuasion. He’s persuaded. He’s convinced. Let’s read,

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This persuasion comes from understanding what God has done. Confidence is not blind enthusiasm; it’s conviction built on truth.

Under covenants, people relied on God’s obligation under the contract. But now, understanding Christ’s work gives even greater assurance.

Colossians 2:2-3 speaks of the “full assurance of understanding.”

It says this,

That their hearts [our hearts] might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Believers are knit together in Christ’s love—His love toward us—and united by shared understanding of the mystery. Unity comes from knowing what Christ has done. Without this understanding, believers fall back into a sheep mindset. But in Christ, we are conquerors, standing in the strength of His finished work.

Romans 4:21 says Abraham was “fully persuaded” that what God promised, He was able to perform, but Christ did more than promise—He performed the work, finished it, and rose from the dead. This is the heart of the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:11-12 shows Paul’s confidence. He says,

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

He suffers, yet he’s not ashamed, because he knows whom he has believed and is persuaded that Christ can keep what Paul committed to Him.

Paul’s boldness comes from understanding Christ’s work and identity. Understanding doesn’t come in the form of a supernatural blast from heaven; it comes from God’s Word and God’s Word divided rightly. Believers must grow in this understanding. Teaching, study, and mutual encouragement strengthen weak faith. Conviction produces the conquering life God intends.

If we’re not persuaded, our faith is weak. We may feel separated from Christ’s love, but feelings are not facts. Feelings have nothing to do with it.

Scripture says nothing can separate believers from the love of God in Christ. Romans 8 teaches us to trust God’s Word, not our emotions. Faith comes by hearing the Word, not by feelings and emotions.

Paul lists ten things that might seem able to separate us.

He begins with death.

Death separates body and soul, separates us from loved ones, and seems final, yet believers are united with Christ, who is in heaven. Even when saints die, they remain united in Him.

Life also can’t separate us.

Life in this sinful world distracts, tempts, and burdens, but mortality can’t break our union with Christ. We will put on immortality because we’re conformed to His image.

Principalities and powers cannot separate us.

Ephesians 6 says we wrestle against spiritual powers, but none of them can break our union with Christ.

No authority, ruler, or law can undo what Christ has done.

Colossians 1:16 says all principalities and powers were created by Christ and for Christ—and believers are in Him. Therefore, no created power can remove us from His love.

Colossians 2:9–10 teaches that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and believers are complete in Him.

If Christ were anything less than fully God, there would still be separation between God and us. But because Christ is fully God, and we’re in Him, nothing remains above Him that could separate us. God’s attributes—His holiness, power, and perfection—no longer condemn us; they secure us.

Before the mystery was revealed, God’s holiness highlighted our separation. But now, by grace, we’re placed into the Holy One Himself.

This is why nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. His fullness becomes our security.

His perfection becomes our assurance.

His power becomes our protection.

His righteousness becomes our standing.

We’re united with the One who’s above all things. Nothing beneath Him can break that union.

This is the glory of the mystery: Christ in you, and you in Christ.

Paul uses marriage as a comparison in Ephesians, but our union with Christ is greater than marriage. Marriage is a contract between two sinners; union with Christ is a grace‑given, unbreakable relationship. Christ did all the work, and we’re placed in Him by faith.

Colossians 2:15 says Christ “spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them”.

Because He defeated every authority, no one can judge believers by laws, holy days, or rituals. Those things were shadows; the substance of those things is Christ. Being in Christ according to the mystery is different from being connected to Him through a covenant. The Body of Christ is a new creature, not a covenant nation.

Paul says neither principalities nor powers nor “things present” can separate us from Christ’s love.

“Things present” refers to the sufferings of this present time—sin, evil, and the fallen world. None of these can break our union with Christ. Many people think they must keep themselves pure enough for God to accept them, but God already sees everything and has already declared us sinners. In Christ, sin cannot separate us because He paid for it. Sin troubles us because of pride, but it can’t undo Christ’s work.

Paul wrote Romans during the book of Acts period, when unbelieving Israel still opposed him. Roman believers might have feared Israel’s law or authority, but Paul says nothing present can separate them. Galatians proves the law is not greater than Christ. “Things present” include all evil days, all pressures, all spiritual attacks—none can remove us from Christ.

Nor can “things to come.”

There is a world to come, a future kingdom, and a time of judgment. God will remove the corruption of this world. Salvation rescues us from that judgment.

Ephesians 1:21 says Christ is seated far above all principality and power, not only in this world but also in the world to come.

Romans 8:34 says He makes intercession for us. His intercession is the dispensation of grace itself—God offering grace to a condemned world because Christ died. If He intercedes for the world, He intercedes for us.

Future ages will reveal even more of God’s grace, as Ephesians 2:7 says.

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Nothing in the future can separate believers from Christ’s love. Ephesians 3:21 says God will be glorified in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. Believers are in Him forever.

Paul adds, “nor height nor depth.” Height and depth refer to the hierarchy of heaven and earth. Nothing above or below can separate us. Christ is above all things, and believers are in Him. It doesn’t matter how low or high we are in earthly terms; our position in Christ is secure.

This is the glory of the mystery: Christ is the head of all principality and power, and believers are complete in Him, according to Colossians 2:9–10, which says believers are complete in Christ, who is the head of all principality and power.

Nothing present, nothing future, nothing above, nothing below can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can’t name all the powers in heaven and earth, yet we’re united to the One who rules over them.

Colossians 2:15 says Christ “spoiled principalities and powers,” triumphing over them.

Because He defeated every authority, no one can judge believers by laws, holy days, or rituals. Those things were shadows; the substance is Christ. Being in Christ according to the mystery is different from being connected to Him through a covenant. The Body of Christ is a new creature, not a covenant nation.

Paul says neither principalities nor powers nor “things present” can separate us from Christ’s love. “Things present” refers to the sufferings of this present time—sin, evil, and the fallen world. None of these can break our union with Christ. Many people think they must keep themselves pure enough for God to accept them, but God already sees everything and has already declared us sinners. In Christ, sin cannot separate us because He paid for it. Sin troubles us because of pride, but it cannot undo Christ’s work.

Paul wrote Romans during the Acts period, when unbelieving Israel still opposed him. Roman believers might have feared Israel’s law or authority, but Paul says nothing present can separate them. Galatians proves the law is not greater than Christ. “Things present” include all evil days, all pressures, all spiritual attacks—none can remove us from Christ.

Nor can “things to come.” There is a world to come, a future kingdom, and a time of judgment. God will remove the corruption of this world. Salvation rescues us from that judgment. Ephesians 1:21 says Christ is seated far above all principality and power, not only in this world but also in the world to come. Romans 8:34 says He makes intercession for us. His intercession is the dispensation of grace itself—God offering grace to a condemned world because Christ died. If He intercedes for the world, He intercedes for you and me.

Future ages will reveal even more of God’s grace, so says Ephesians 2:7. Nothing in the future can separate believers from Christ’s love. Ephesians 3:21 says God will be glorified in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. Believers are in Him forever.

Job 11:7–8 says God’s ways are higher than heaven and deeper than hell, beyond human understanding. But through the mystery revealed to Paul, believers now know truths that surpass height and depth—the love of Christ as stated in Ephesians 3:18–19. We can comprehend what Job could not.

Paul concludes that no creature or created thing can separate us from Christ’s love. Not the devil, not fallen angels, not any created thing. Believers are new creatures in Christ, and old things—including Israel’s former standing—can’t remove us from Him. Every creature will bow to Christ, Philippians 2:10 says, and we’re in Him.

Romans 8:39 says none of these things “shall be able” to separate us. They may try, but they’re unable. Christ’s work makes separation impossible. God has joined us to Christ, and no power can put us asunder.

Paul ends each major section of Romans by pointing back to Christ. Without Christ, we have no assurance, hope, faith, or glory. Romans 6:23 says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 7:25 says deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 8 ends by declaring nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord. From Romans 3 onward, every chapter closes with Christ because everything we have is in Him.

Christ is God manifest in the flesh, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the Anointed One, the Redeemer, the Lord of lords.

Believers are united to Him forever, which makes the gospel glorious. Romans 8 ends with this secure position: sinners—Jew or Gentile—once in the Body of Christ and sealed by the Spirit, cannot be separated from Christ because of God’s grace and Christ’s finished work.

Paul then turns to Israel in Romans chapters 9–11.

Why?

Because everything the Body of Christ now enjoys—righteousness, blessing, sonship, hope—Israel was promised through covenants but does not yet possess. It’s like us receiving dessert at breakfast while Israel was promised dessert after dinner. Their promises will be fulfilled, but the Body of Christ already enjoys many of those blessings now in Christ.

Romans chapters 9 to 11 explain how we came into Christ by the mystery of God’s grace, and how Israel will receive their promised blessings through God’s covenant faithfulness.

Before studying those chapters, Paul looks to Hosea, a prophetic book about Israel’s unfaithfulness, judgment, and promised restoration. Hosea prepares the ground for understanding Israel’s future reunion with God and their fruit in the coming kingdom.

Without this background in Hosea, it’s very hard to clearly see Israel’s place in prophecy against the Body of Christ’s place nowhere in prophecy. The mystery was never revealed in prophecy; that’s why it’s called the mystery, whereas prophecy concerning God’s chosen nation, Israel, and the promises He gave their fathers relating to a land and a kingdom on that land has been set aside for the last 2000 years. Why? How come?

Romans chapters 9 to 11 will show us, but to see that clearly, we need this grounding in Hosea. So, from the next episode, we’ll take a detour from Romans into Hosea so we can be properly prepared and have that good background knowledge.

Until then, may God bless us all with the knowledge and understanding, through His Word, to live in peace and joy despite the things of this world and our circumstances.

Romans 8:29-34 – Shaped by Christ, Shielded by God

In this episode, we move on to Romans 8:29-34, and straight into a great theological controversy, Romans 8:29-30, including the last part of Romans 8:28.
There’s confusion and controversy surrounding this passage of Scripture that’s been there almost since Paul first wrote the lines.
It’s caused by the fact that many people miss Paul’s actual point of the passage, and they usually do so for two reasons.
Firstly, because they read these verses through the lens of religious systems like Reformed theology and Calvinism, and secondly because they don’t do what it’s vital to always do when studying God’s Word: look at the whole context!

“Speed Slider”

Romans 8:29-34 – Shaped by Christ, Shielded by God – Transcript

The last episode finished off in Romans 8:28.

Verses 26 to 27 showed how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God with groanings that cannot be uttered because we “know not what we should pray for as we ought”, and then we finished with the famous verse, Romans 8:28, that’s given so much comfort to believers down through the last 2000 years,

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

In this episode, we move on to Romans 8:29-34, and straight into a great theological controversy, Romans 8:29-30, including the last part of Romans 8:28.

Let’s read that passage, but again, because of Paul’s opening word “For”, which ties the verse into the last verse, we’ll read from Romans 8:28,

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

There’s confusion and controversy surrounding this passage of Scripture that’s been there almost since Paul first wrote the lines.

It’s caused by the fact that many people miss Paul’s actual point of the passage, and they usually do so for two reasons.

Firstly, because they read these verses through the lens of religious systems like Reformed theology and Calvinism, and secondly because they don’t do what it’s vital to always do when studying God’s Word: look at the whole context!

When people see words in this verse like “called”, “foreknow”, “predestinate”, “justified” and “glorified”, and look at them through these religious systems, they assume this “golden chain of salvation,” known in Latin as Ordo Salutis, the Order of Salvation, which is a supposed timeline of how God saves a soul. The Golden Chain of salvation is:

Calling: God invites a person to turn to Him.
Regeneration: God gives the person a new spiritual heart (being born again).
Faith and Repentance: The person turns away from sin and trusts in Christ.
Justification: God declares the person forgiven and righteous.
Sanctification: The person grows to become more holy over time.
Glorification: The final state of perfection with God in heaven

Regeneration is put before faith.

Paul’s epistles for the church today are firm but simple: we’re saved by grace through faith. Faith comes from hearing God’s word. We believe it, and at that moment, we’re saved, and the Holy Spirit indwells us and seals us, all in accordance with Ephesians 1:12-14.

With the man-inspired religious system, confusion and complexity pour in.

Do you believe after that regeneration, or do you have to believe to be regenerated? If so, at what point do you believe, and is that belief a predetermined moment set by God to trigger at His perfect timing, but only for those who are called?

In passages like Romans 8:28-30, people see words like “predestination” and “calling” before the word “justification” and conclude these must be steps God’s going through to save you before you actually believe. This is the Calvinist/Reformed religious system.

The simple crux of Calvinistic teaching is that God has already chosen who’ll be saved before the foundation of the world, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, and His choice is not based on anything but on His own will. If you’re one of the chosen, you’ve won the eternal lottery, but if you’re not one of the chosen, you’re predestined to an eternity in hell, whether you believe the gospel of Christ dying for your sins or not.

Dispensational Bible study helps clear this up by taking Scripture literally and in context.

John Calvin didn’t understand the revelation of the mystery and misread passages about Israel, believing they were about the Body of Christ, but if we let the Bible say what it says in the correct context, the confusion fades.

The hardest part of Romans 8:29–30 is reading the words without assuming this Calvinistic view.

Predestination here in these verses does not mean God chose individuals for salvation before the world began.

We need to follow Paul’s flow in Romans, not the flow of the religious system’s “Golden Chain of Salvation”.

Romans 1–5 shows our sin and justification by faith;

Romans 6–7 shows our identity in Christ;

Romans 8 teaches walking after the Spirit.

The real passage is that believers, already in Christ, are being shaped into His likeness, as we see in Romans 6:5 and 7:4. That’s Paul’s focus—not a salvation timeline, but the new creature God forms in Christ.

Biblical election and predestination are always about God’s purpose for saved people, not people chosen to be saved. Failing to rightly divide the Word of Truth, as per 2 Timothy 2:15, leads to a wrong conclusion about election.

Romans 8:9–10 teaches that believers are not in the flesh but in the Spirit because the Spirit of Christ dwells in them. If we have the Spirit, we belong to Christ and share His likeness. Paul connects Christ’s death and resurrection to our own: Christ’s body died for sin and rose again, and you and I, being in Him, are counted dead to sin and alive through His righteousness. This is the mystery fellowship Paul explains in Ephesians 3—we’re members of Christ’s body, not Israel’s covenant people.

Romans 8:16–17 says the Spirit bears witness that we’re children of God and joint‑heirs with Christ. We became a child of God not by Israel’s covenants but by being in Christ, who is Abraham’s seed. Paul then introduces the “creature” in Romans 8:19–21, the new creation formed in Christ. Though we look the same outwardly, we belong to this new creature that’ll be delivered into glorious liberty.

Romans 8 also teaches the theme of suffering now and glory later. Verse 17 says we suffer with Christ now so we may be glorified with Him later. Verse 18 contrasts present sufferings with future glory. Creation groans in verse 22, and we groan too, waiting for the adoption—the redemption of our bodies in verse 23. We already have the position of sons, but we wait to live in that glory.

Hope is central and all-important. We patiently wait for what we don’t see yet in Romans7:25. Even with the Spirit in us, suffering remains a reality, and the Spirit helps our infirmities.

Romans 8:28 comforts us, showing that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. This good is often unseen by others because it’s an inner‑man work, not a change of circumstances or appearance. Romans 8’s message is the new creature in Christ, suffering now, glory later, just as Christ suffered and then rose in glory.

Hope gives unbeatable strength in our inner man, and Paul says we’re saved by hope and Romans 8:28 assures believers that all things work together for good, the good of God’s purpose.

Romans 8:29 continues by showing God’s purpose: for us to be in Christ, sharing the likeness of His death and resurrection. Because Christ rose, we will too, and God intends believers to be conformed to the image of Christ.

Romans 8:30 adds that beyond resurrection there’s glory, which is our inheritance, and the riches of God’s grace, which is something above and beyond simply being raised.

Paul’s point is to comfort suffering believers by pointing to the fact that we’re in the right place if we’re in Christ. God wants us shaped by Christ’s suffering so we’ll share His resurrection glory.

But many Christians turn verses 29–30 into this “order of salvation” that we’ve already mentioned.

But we need to see the context of this passage within the whole context of the whole of Romans chapter 8, and even including the context of Romans 7 and before.

Paul’s not discussing salvation here.

Romans 8 is about walking after the Spirit, how to think and walk through our daily lives after we’re saved.

Salvation was settled back in Romans 3–5; now Paul’s teaching how to think and live as someone already in Christ.

So we must separate terms like “foreknow” and “predestinate” from this religious confusion. “Foreknow” in Scripture simply means “to know beforehand,” as seen in 2 Peter 3:17.

Paul’s not discussing God’s omniscience or His eternal decrees. He’s explaining what God already knew and what we can know because God revealed it.

Romans 11:2 shows God foreknew Israel through His promises to Abraham and Jacob. Foreknowledge here is not this mysterious philosophy; it’s simply God knowing beforehand what He Himself purposed to do. Paul uses the term to strengthen believers, not to introduce a new doctrine about how God sees the future.

In Acts 2:22-23, we have Peter talking at Pentecost. He says, and here’s what we need to see in the context of our study,

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Do you see that?

Being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

Why does Peter put that in there? Is he trying to teach that God is omniscient, all-knowing, and all-seeing? Well, the Jews knew that already. No, Peter’s saying, “When you killed him, God knew you were going to do it”.

Now, Peter didn’t know that God foreknew Israel would kill Christ until after the resurrection, when Jesus opened the Scriptures to him. Before that, Peter tried to stop Jesus’ arrest with a sword because he didn’t understand why Christ had to die. After the resurrection, Jesus explained that it behoved Him to suffer, die, and rise again. Then Peter realised God had planned Christ’s death and resurrection all along. So when Peter preached in Acts 2, he told unbelieving Israel, “You killed Him—and God knew you would.” It was both a rebuke and a comfort: a comfort because their actions did not sway God’s purpose.

God’s foreknowledge is not about an eternal decree before the world began, even though God did purpose Christ’s death. Peter speaks of God knowing beforehand what these people would do. Scripture uses foreknow, foreordain, and similar terms this way. Calvinism and other religious systems often link foreknowledge to free will, but Paul’s not discussing that here.

When he says “for whom he did foreknow,” he means the same people in Romans 8:28—those who love God, the called according to His purpose. God foreknows sons of God, those with the Spirit of adoption, the saints for whom the Spirit intercedes in Romans 8:27. These are believers waiting for the redemption of their bodies. God knows them before they manifest as glorified sons because He purposed their hope, their inheritance, and their future glory in Christ.

So foreknowledge here is God knowing the new creature, the body of Christ, and what they’ll be in resurrection—not an explanation of how individuals were saved before the world began.

Romans 8 teaches how believers should think and live in this present evil world while glory’s still future. Paul gives assurance to saints, sons of God, who’re adopted and waiting for the redemption of their bodies. These believers suffer infirmities. They need the Spirit’s intercession, and they live by hope, hope in what’s not yet seen. These are the people God foreknew and predestinated.

Calvinist predestination refers to an unknown group. They claim God decreed certain individuals, but no one can actually know who they are. This creates confusion in evangelism and makes the predestination idea unknowable. But Scripture reveals what God predestined. Just as God predestined Israel’s earthly kingdom and described it plainly, He’s revealed the destiny of the body of Christ.

Romans 8:29 states the predestined purpose directly: to be conformed to the image of His Son. This is not our daily choices; it’s not every event in life, but our future likeness to Christ in resurrection glory. Calvinism expands predestination into God determining every thought, action, and tragedy, but Paul’s simply teaching that God wants believers in Christ, once they are believers, to be shaped into Christ’s image.

Rightly dividing the Word of truth shows that Romans 1–8 is about the mystery fellowship and who we are in Christ. Predestination is always tied to God’s revealed purpose—His will for the saints in Romans 8:27, His calling according to His purpose in Romans 8:28, and the destiny He’s openly declared.

It is not an eternal decree about every detail of life. It’s God’s stated plan for the body of Christ.

Romans 8:28–30 is still Paul teaching how believers should think and live in Christ while glory is still in the future. Ephesians 1 helps clarify this. In Ephesians 1:9, God made known the mystery of His will—so it’s no longer hidden. Ephesians 1:11 says we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to His purpose. We see here that clearly that predestination concerns God’s revealed purpose for those of us who’ve already obtained the inheritance, those of us already saved. It’s not a decree about who gets saved. It’s God’s revealed plan for His body after we become His body!

The “All things” in Romans 8:28 and Ephesians 1:11 refers to the sufferings and hardships of this life that God uses for good because He has a purpose for believers: to be in Christ, to share His sufferings, and to receive future glory.

Ephesians 1:4–7 parallels Romans chapters 3–8: redemption through Christ’s blood, acceptance in the beloved in Romans 5, being in Christ’s likeness in Romans 6, and the adoption and future redemption of our bodies in Romans 8. God predestined believers to this adoption and glory.

Paul emphasises God’s purpose because the mystery revealed to him shows that Gentiles now share in Christ apart from Israel’s covenants. Predestination is always tied to this purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says believers are God’s workmanship, created in Christ for good works “which God hath before ordained.” See, the good works are what God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. It’s not the “before ordaining” of the salvation of particular believers.

1 Corinthians 2:7 says God ordained the hidden wisdom—the cross—“before the world unto our glory,” now revealed by the Spirit. The predestined, preordained thing is God’s purpose in Christ, not an unknowable decree about hand-picked individuals.

God revealed the mystery of His purpose for the body of Christ, and Romans 8:28–30 fits inside that revelation. Believers suffer now, but Romans 8:18 says the glory to be revealed in us is certain because it is predestinated. If Christ is in us, and He is according to Colossians 1:27, then the hope of glory is guaranteed.

2 Timothy 1:8–10 shows the same truth: God saved us and called us according to His purpose and grace, given in Christ before the world began, but only revealed when Christ appeared. What existed before time was God’s purpose— salvation already completed, not his choosing one person over another to be saved.

So Romans 8:29 means the “whom He foreknew” are the same people as in verse 28: sons of God, saints, those with the Spirit’s intercession, waiting for the redemption of their bodies. God foreknew them because He knows them in Christ, not in their flesh. If God knows us now, He knows our destiny, which is conformity to Christ’s image.

Predestination is not an unknown decree or a demand to prove perseverance; it’s God’s revealed purpose for all who’re in Christ. Our position in Christ—not our career, where we live, or our changing circumstances—is what God predestined. The destination is stated plainly: to be conformed to the image of His Son. We begin that conformity when we trust the gospel and share His death and resurrection.

Paul later explains this fellowship of the mystery in Ephesians 3:6: believers are fellow heirs, of the same body, partakers of His promise. Predestination is God’s purpose for the body of Christ, shaping us into Christ’s image until glory.

Most Christians know the phrase “fellowship of the mystery”, but they don’t understand it. Paul’s explaining it in Romans 8: being in Christ in such a way that we share His blessings, His Spirit’s help, and even His sufferings in this present world.

Philippians 1:21 shows this mindset: “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Living now means sharing Christ’s earthly sufferings; dying brings the gain of glory. Christ left heavenly glory, took on suffering, and died. Paul says he fills up what is lacking in Christ’s sufferings for the sake of His body. That is “to live is Christ.”

Philippians 3:10–11 shows the same pattern. Paul wants to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death. That’s exactly Romans 8:29. This life is where conformity to Christ begins. Now we share His sufferings; later we share His glory.

Christ is the firstborn from the dead, and believers are the “many brethren” who will follow Him in resurrection as described in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23. Until then, suffering, waiting, and faithfulness conform us to Christ. Romans 8:30 then adds “moreover”—showing glorification is even beyond resurrection: the rich, eternal kindness of God toward those in Christ.

Calvinists say believers were “in Christ” before the world began by decree, but Romans 8 shows we become Christ’s when we receive the Spirit.

Romans 8:9 says if you don’t have the Spirit of Christ, you’re “none of His.”

We received the Spirit not at birth, but when we heard and trusted the gospel (Ephesians 1:13). That’s when God knew us, adopted us, and gave us the hope of glory. Predestination is simply God’s revealed purpose for all who are in Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 says God called us by our [Paul’s] gospel. Calling is not a secret inner voice or a hidden decree—it’s the preached gospel that brings faith, as Romans 10:14–17 tells us. When we believe, we’re called, justified, and placed into Christ. Romans 1:5–6 calls believers “the called of Jesus Christ” because they heard and trusted the gospel. The gospel did the calling!

So Romans 8:30 is not an order of salvation. It’s the necessary consequences of being in Christ. If God foreknew us in Christ, He predestined us to glory. If He predestined us, He called us by the gospel. If He called us, He justified us by faith. And if we’re justified, we’ll be glorified. God purposed this through the cross—not through an unknowable eternal decree.

God purposed salvation before the world began. Before Adam sinned, God had already planned to save sinners through Christ. Adam’s fall was tragic for man, but not for God—He knew!

He’d already purposed Christ’s death and victory (Genesis 3:15). Christ then came in history to accomplish that purpose, and the Spirit later revealed the meaning of that work to Paul for the Gentiles. Romans 8 sits in that revelation: the Spirit gives believers help and hope, and God does everything by grace through Christ’s cross, not through an eternal decree.

Romans 8 explains what it means to be justified in Christ—our position, inheritance, and the Spirit we now have. Verses 29–30 are not a religious “golden chain,” but Paul’s summary of God’s purpose. God foreknew believers because He knows them in Christ, by grace through faith. If He knows us as His, He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. That explains why believers suffer: Christ suffered, and we’re in Him. Philippians 3 says believers share the fellowship of His sufferings before sharing His resurrection glory.

Romans 8:30 adds, “moreover,” showing Paul is expanding the point, not listing a salvation timeline.

Predestination, calling, justification, and glorification all attach to the same purpose—being conformed to Christ.

We were called by the gospel, we are justified by faith, and we will be glorified because we’re in Christ. These terms are the logical consequences of our union with Christ, not chronological steps to salvation like step 1, step 2, etc. Paul’s summarising the believer’s sanctified position: foreknown in Christ, predestined to His image, called by the gospel, justified by faith, and destined for glory.

Romans 15:16 shows Paul’s unique ministry: Christ sent him to preach the gospel to Gentiles so they might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

In Romans 8, that same Spirit indwells believers, making them foreknown, called, justified, and destined for glory; all describing the believer’s sanctified position in Christ, our union with Him and the purpose God set for us.

It’s a summary of sanctification, if you like. Each term attaches to the purpose of verse 29: being predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image, called to Christ’s image, justified to stand in Christ’s image, and glorified because Christ is glorified. Everything God gives us—position, inheritance, righteousness, and the benefits of Christ’s work—flows from being in Christ.

Before we dive into Romans 8:31, what about this question of God’s foreknowledge?

Did God know who would become members of His body, the Body of Christ, before the foundation of the world? Of course He did. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t be God.

As we already pointed out with Peter’s speech at Pentecost, God foreknew. This is totally different from God mechanically causing salvation to come to selected people.

It’s like the image we’ve added below this recording. Salvation is depicted in the image as a door over which there’s a sign reading “Whosoever will may come”. A person chooses to walk through that door, turns to look back to where he just entered, and sees another sign which reads, “Chosen In Him Before The World Was Created”.

Throughout Scripture, there seems to be what man can easily understand through study, then there’s this underlying theme that almost seems like God saying, Here’s my glory: don’t think you’re so great that you can understand everything about me!

We can easily run into the same mistake as the unbeliever, where we try to see God as “one of us” instead of realising His omnipotence and His existence outside of His created time and space realm.

Because He doesn’t fit into our human understanding, we place Him and His works into the impossible category.

But how can we possibly explain in human terms the triune nature of God Himself, three persons but One God? We can’t; we trust it by faith because He said it.

How can we explain in human terms the creation of our universe from nothing but God’s Word, or how the Spirit indwells us? Where does He indwell: our spirit, our mind, our soul? How can we begin to explain even those?

We know Paul wrote 13 epistles, and in fact, that men wrote all the 66 books of the bible. We know they wrote from their own ability and personality, and yet we also know that every line of every book was inspired by God! How can we begin to explain that?

Love, Justice, and human emotion are all unexplainable in human terms.

The reality is that the vast and unexplainable realms of God only make us more in awe of Him and more in love with Him.

We come to Romans 8:31,

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

After laying out our complete sanctification—our calling, purpose, predestination, justification, and future glory—Paul concludes: If God be for us, who can be against us?

This is not a doubting “if.” Romans 5–8 has already proven God is for us: Christ died for us, the Spirit dwells in us, and the Father justifies us, so yes, God is for us.

Romans 8:32 carries on the thought,

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up “for us all,” meaning Jew and Gentile, all sinners alike. If He gave His Son, nothing can keep us from the “all things” He freely gives in Christ.

Romans 7 ended with the cry of defeat—“Who shall deliver me?”—but Romans 8 ends with the cry of victory: No one can stand against those whom God has saved, placed in Christ, and destined for glory all by His grace.

Paul asks, How shall God not with Christ freely give us all things? Israel once had special access to God through covenants, promises, and Christ’s earthly ministry, as we’ll see soon in Romans 9. Gentiles had none of those. But now, through Christ’s death for sinners, anyone justified by faith has full access to God’s grace. If God gave His Son for us when we were sinners, why would He withhold anything else? Salvation was the hardest part—everything after flows from grace.

The key phrase here in this verse is “with Him also.” Every blessing comes because we’re in Christ. We’re a child of God because Christ is the Son. We are an heir because we’re a joint‑heir with Him. Christ was given to Israel in the Gospels, but Paul reveals additional riches that Christ purchased that were never spoken of in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. These are the “all things” freely given in this dispensation of grace.

Romans 3:24 says we’re “justified freely by His grace,” and Paul unpacks that in chapters 5–8. The Spirit now helps those believers understand what God has freely given, as 1 Corinthians 2:12 says,

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Paul’s ministry itself is the “dispensation of the grace of God given to us”, as Ephesians 3:2 says. And Ephesians 3:8,

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

This “freely” theme appears again only in Revelation 21–22, when the water of life is offered freely in the eternal kingdom.

Some of the blessings that Israel will receive then, believers already enjoy now. Romans 8 shows that because we’re united with Christ according to the mystery, no one can be against us, and nothing can remove what God freely gives in Christ.

The promises of Isaiah 54 for Israel are still future, but Paul shows that everything believers receive now comes from Christ. Every blessing—forgiveness, resurrection life, a place in heavenly places—is Christ’s, and because we’re in Him, they belong to us. This is the mystery of Ephesians 3:6:

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

The fellowship of the mystery is simply fellowship with Christ.

Romans 8:33 continues Paul’s questions:

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

Since God is for us and has freely given us all things in Christ, who can successfully accuse us? Many may try, but none can make the charge stick, because justification is God’s work, not ours.

“Elect” means chosen, and in Scripture it always refers to those chosen to fulfil God’s purpose.

We were not God’s elect when we were born—we were sinners. But once we believed the gospel and were placed in Christ, we became part of God’s chosen people in this dispensation. God’s purpose, revealed in Ephesians 1:9–10, is that “all things in heaven and earth be gathered together in Christ.“

That purpose is fulfilled in two ways: through Israel’s covenants and through the new creature, the body of Christ.

Before Christ came, people could only approach God through covenants and the Jewish priesthood. After Christ’s death and resurrection, God revealed a new way—union with Christ apart from Israel and the law. Romans shows how we receive justification and inheritance without covenants, because we have Christ Himself. That’s why no accusation can remove our standing: we’re in Christ, God’s chosen vessel for His heavenly purpose.

In this dispensation of grace, believers don’t need Israel’s covenants. If we have Christ, we already have everything those covenants pointed to.

Covenants were necessary before Christ came, but once Christ finished the work, we don’t need a covenant to secure what He’s already accomplished.

So who are the elect?

Scripture shows two main “elect.”

First, Christ Himself is the elect—chosen before the world began. 1 Peter 2:6 says,

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

And Isaiah 42:1 shows us this,

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

Second, Israel is the elect nation chosen to fulfil God’s covenant purpose. Isaiah 45:4 reads;

For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

Isaiah 65:9 reads,

And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

The elect are never random individuals; it’s always those chosen to carry out God’s purpose.

Matthew 24:31 speaks of Christ gathering Israel’s elect at His return, after the tribulation, not the body of Christ gathered at the rapture.

Romans 11:5 speaks of a remnant according to the election of grace, again referring to believing Israel.

Peter calls his audience a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood” in 1 Peter 2:9. That’s the believing remnant of Israel, not the Gentile body of Christ.

The body of Christ is elect only in the sense that God chose that all things be gathered together in Christ, as Ephesians 1:9–10 says, and believers today are placed in Christ apart from covenants, law, or Israel. We are elect because we’re in Christ, the true Elect, and part of God’s revealed purpose for heaven.

John Calvin mistakenly applied these passages to the church, ignoring the mystery revealed to Paul. He assumed “the elect” meant individual Christians chosen before the world began. Scripture shows something different: the elect are those through whom God fulfils His purpose.

God first chose Christ, the true Elect of 1 Peter 2:6 and Isaiah 42:1. Before Christ came, God used covenants to guarantee His purpose until Christ could fulfil them. After Christ finished the work, He revealed the mystery, where believers are placed in Christ without covenants. So election is always about God’s purpose in Christ, not individuals chosen in eternity.

Romans 8:33 fits this perfectly:

“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.”

Paul has not mentioned “elect” anywhere else in Romans.

He’s been talking about saints, justified sinners, sons of God, all people walking after the Spirit.

Here he simply says: the elect are the justified. If God justified you, you are His elect because you’re in Christ, the Elect One. Charges against us can’t stick because justification is God’s work, not ours, as Romans 3:24–26 and Romans 5:1 tell us.

Ephesians 1:4 confirms this: God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.”

Christ was chosen before the world began; we become chosen only when we’re placed in Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:7 says God ordained the hidden wisdom—the cross—before the world unto our glory. 2 Timothy 1:9 says salvation and calling are according to God’s own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, now revealed.

We become elect when we hear the gospel, believe it, are sealed with the Spirit, and are made accepted in the Beloved, as Ephesians 1:12–13 says.

Election is not our works, it’s not our perseverance, and it’s not an unknown decree—it’s God placing us in Christ, the true Elect, by grace.

Romans chapters 3–8 show that we were sinners until we believed Christ, and then God justified us by faith.

So now Paul asks in Romans 8:34,

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

When Paul asks, “Who is he that condemneth?” he’s returning to the issue that opened the chapter—condemnation. In Romans 7, the justified man still struggled with sin and felt wretched. But Romans 8 teaches that no one can truly condemn those in Christ.

Voices try to condemn us: our own flesh, religious people demanding works, or Satan, the accuser, as Revelation 12 points out. But none of those voices can make condemnation stick, because Christ did the work. Paul answers the question with: “It is Christ that died.” We’re not condemned for our failures because Christ died for our sins. Paul adds, “Yea rather, that is risen again”. His resurrection is;

our justification (Romans 4:25),
our eternal life (Romans 5:21),
our new walk (Romans 6),
our freedom from the law (Romans 7),
and our hope of glory (Romans 8).

Christ’s risen life declares us righteous. He intercedes for us at God’s right hand, just as the Spirit intercedes with our infirmities. We’re crucified with Christ and now live by faith in Him (Galatians 2:20).

If Christ is at God’s right hand, and We’re in Christ, then our seat is there too (Ephesians 2:6). We’re complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).

This is why Paul can say nothing can condemn us or separate us from Christ’s love. Our position, inheritance, and justification were given, not earned. Christ died, Christ rose, Christ intercedes—and because of that, nothing can stand against our salvation. This is the grace Paul preaches: everything freely given because we’re in Christ.

We have all grace abounding unto us if we’re trusting the gospel of the grace of God.

The next episode is the final one in Romans eight, where Paul asks one more question: Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ?

Until then, may God bless you richly.

Romans 8:23-28 – The Spirit and Hope

This episode of our verse-by-verse study of Romans brings us to Romans 8:23–28, which again continues Paul’s teaching on hope and the Spirit’s work.
As we saw last episode, creation groans under the curse that began in Genesis 3, and Revelation 21–22 promises a future day when the curse, death, sorrow, and pain are removed.
That restoration is still future.

“Speed Slider”

Romans 8:23-28 – The Spirit and Hope – Transcript

Between those bookends of Genesis and Revelation stands the mystery revealed through Paul: God can save and restore through Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). We possess eternal life now, but not immortality in our bodies yet.

Romans chapters 1-3 show that sin entered the world, and Romans chapter 5 shows that death followed, yet believers receive the gift of eternal life. Romans 7 shows how sin is still present, even in the believer, but there is hope in the knowledge that our mortal bodies will one day be free of the stain of the presence of sin. Romans 8 explains how this hope works.

Creation groans, and we also groan, even though we have “the firstfruits of the Spirit.” The believer’s bodies remain mortal and corruptible like everyone else’s. This truth destroys false ideas that physical conditions prove a person’s spirituality. Christians suffer and die because our bodies are still part of the fallen creation.

The difference is that believers have the Holy Spirit as a seal, a sure and certain guarantee from God, of the redemption of our bodies, which we learn of in Ephesians 1:13-14. Romans 8:23 teaches that we groan while waiting for the adoption—the redemption of our body.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t remove physical suffering; He guarantees future glory, not just spiritually but for our body. Many Christians misunderstand this, thinking the Spirit’s power should eliminate pain and suffering, but Paul’s simple conclusion is: we have the Spirit, and we still groan while looking forward to glory.

So, hope is essential. It is the fuel for life here in this world. We wait for the promised change when our corruptible body will be raised in incorruption and immortality. Until then, the Spirit teaches us to walk by faith, not sight, and to endure suffering with the sure expectation of the glory that will one day be revealed in us.

In Israel’s prophetic program, salvation included physical healing and the removal of pain—Christ healed because the kingdom was near, and in that kingdom death and sickness disappear. That was a true hope. But today, in the dispensation of grace in which we live, God gives a different hope: a hope we can have even while sick and suffering.

The Spirit doesn’t remove physical suffering. He guarantees the future redemption of our body, and we wait for the day that our mortal flesh is changed into immortality. Our soul is already redeemed, as Ephesians 1:7 tells us, but our body’s not yet. Ephesians 4:30 says we’re “sealed unto that day of redemption”, guaranteeing our preservation until Christ returns for us and our salvation is completed with the redemption of our bodies.

This is the hope explained through Romans 8.

1 Corinthians 15:51–57 reveals the mystery: at Christ’s coming our corruptible body will “put on incorruption” and “immortality.” Philippians 3:21 says our vile body will be changed to be like His glorious body.

In this life, our body, through the effect of sin, is a body of humiliation. It’s subject to wrinkles, scars, age, suffering, sickness, and death. It limits and cramps us!

The Lord will transform it into a body of glory. We don’t know, and can’t know, now the fullness of what this will look like, but we do know it’ll no longer be subject to decay or death, or to the limitations of time or natural barriers. It’ll be a real body, yet perfectly suited for eternity. It’ll be like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus.

This is the hope of the body of Christ—we are already saved, but we wait for that promised glory.

Hope is not a wish; it’s truth informed by the Spirit and fulfilled in the redemption of our body. Romans 8:24 says, “we are saved by hope.” This hope sustains us here and now, teaches us to walk by faith, and keeps us looking for the glory that will one day be revealed in us.

1 Timothy 1:1 says that Jesus Christ is our hope. Titus 2:13 calls His return “the blessed hope.” Our hope is not only Christ Himself and His existence, but what He accomplished.

When His resurrection is preached, it has the power to save and to make us risen with Him forever. So when Romans 8 says we’re “saved by hope,” it means we’re saved by Christ, who is our hope.

Hope is a major theme of the apostle Paul.

Out of about 115 uses of the word in Scripture, more than forty appear in Paul’s epistles. The Old Testament mentions hope mostly as longing or despair; for example, Job repeatedly says hope is lost. The Psalms use hope as a verb, an action. But Paul describes hope as a possession, a sure expectation grounded in Christ’s finished work. Even in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the word hope never appears except for once in a different context in Luke 6:34. In Christ’s earthly ministry, He didn’t yet reveal the mystery explaining what His cross and resurrection would mean for the believer’s future glory.

Romans 8 shows why hope is essential.

Paul has already taught our soul’s salvation in Romans chapters 3–5, but here he addresses the sufferings of this present time and the question, “If I’m saved, why do I still suffer?”

God has subjected us to vanity and given us hope. We wait for “the redemption of our body” in Romans 8:23, and his hope saves us—not from pain or suffering, but from despair, misery, and confusion in a fallen world.

“Saved” here refers to deliverance from the distress that suffering brings. Scripture uses “saved” this way in other places like 1 Timothy 2:15 and Acts 27:20,31. Our hope is certain because Christ rose from the dead. His immortal, glorified body guarantees our immortal, glorified body. Hope that is seen is not hope; we wait for what’s promised but not yet revealed. This is the believer’s strength in a present evil world.

Hope belongs to this present life. Once we’re glorified, hope ends because we’ll already possess what we hoped for. Now we hope because our bodies are mortal. God’s healing program for the body is glory, either when we die or when Christ returns, if we’re still alive then. Until then, nothing guarantees our physical preservation. No matter how much we care for our bodies, they still decay.

Paul explains that the mystery reveals how to live in a corrupt world: hope and walking after the Spirit. If we expect glory now, we’ll be disappointed. If we don’t understand hope, we’ll think the Christian life is only misery. Hope is God’s provision for suffering.

2 Corinthians 5:6–8 teaches that we are “absent from the Lord” while in this body, so we “walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith is “the substance of things hoped for”, says Hebrews 11:1.

When glory comes, faith of that kind ends because we’ll see Christ. For now, we live confidently because of what Scripture tells us what God will do, and we trust the Word of God more than anything we see, feel or touch in this life.

Hope shines in suffering, not in glory. It’s God’s help for distress and weakness, and we saw one example of that previously in the story of Horatio Spafford and his hymn It Is Well. We also recorded an article called It Is Well, based on this hymn.

We saw in Romans 5 that tribulation works patience, experience, and hope. Hope lets believers live in peace even in an evil world.

Without hope, Christians become miserable.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 says that if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are “most miserable.” We see sin clearly, feel the conflict of flesh and Spirit. Without hope, even Christian service becomes crushing. Hope is the Spirit’s work that sustains us until glory.

We’re not saved from pain and suffering, but from the despair that comes from living in corrupt, mortal flesh. Hope gives purpose in suffering. Many Christians miss this because they don’t understand how the Spirit works in this dispensation.

Philippians 4:13 says,

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Christ strengthens us through the hope of glory, as Colossians 1:27 tells us, not by removing suffering.

Romans 8:25 says,

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Paul’s teaching us how to think about life now: we walk by faith, not sight. We possess unseen spiritual blessings—redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation and we wait for unseen future blessings like glorification and immortality.

2 Corinthians 4:18 says,

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Our soul and spirit, grace, love, forgiveness—these unseen things matter more than what we see, feel or touch in the physical. God Himself is Spirit, and we worship Him in spirit and truth.

So, we wait with patience for the redemption of our body. This is the Christian walk: not proving ourselves by works, but patiently trusting God’s promise of future glory. Waiting is hard, especially in suffering, but God uses patience to strengthen the inner man.

Galatians 5:5 connects hope and the Spirit:

For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Many Christians know the words “hope” and “Holy Spirit,” but don’t understand what the Spirit is doing or how He works in us today. Romans 8 teaches that the Spirit produces hope—certain, unseen, eternal hope that sustains us until glory.

By faith we already have Christ’s righteousness as we saw in Romans 4–5, but the glory that belongs to that righteousness obviously hasn’t appeared yet. So we wait for it through the Spirit. Romans 8 says we wait “with patience.” Galatians 5 says we wait “through the Spirit.” Patience comes from the Spirit’s work in us.

Hope and patience are not natural; they’re produced by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word.

This is the fruit of the Spirit—long‑suffering, joy, peace—so believers can live in suffering with hope. Christians who live in misery are not walking after the Spirit, because the Spirit teaches us to face pain with confidence in that future glory. Even on the deathbed, the Spirit enables a believer to say, “glory’s almost here.”

Lack of hope, Hopelessness, is failing to walk after the Spirit, which is simply disregarding the words God has given us to strengthen us. It’s walking according to the course of this world rather than walking according to the course of the knowledge of God’s Word and His sure and certain promises.

Paul shows this in 2 Corinthians 6.

A true minister is approved “in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.” Ministry is proven in suffering, not comfort. The question is: when trouble comes, do we respond with patience, knowledge, love, and the Holy Ghost as in 2 Corinthians 6:6–7, or do we give up?

Romans 8:6 calls this being “spiritually minded,” which is life and peace,

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Carnally minded is thinking according to the flesh and this natural world, and it leads only to misery. Sure, this world gives times of excitement and happiness, but they’re temporary, and hanging over the shoulder of life in this world is the awful spectre of suffering and death. We need to know how to deal with that reality.

God gives power today, but not the power people want—He doesn’t remove pain. Instead, He gives inner strength so that we can be as 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 describes,

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Hope saves us from despair. Stress comes when we trust temporal things, but hope rests in eternal things.

With hope, even if we lose everything, our confidence in Christ remains.

This hope changes how we face sickness and suffering. We may desire healing, but even when healing is impossible, the believer’s hope brings comfort.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says,

… though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

The body decays, but the inner man can be strengthened continually. Unlike the flesh, the inner man has no limit—“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

So the Christian’s daily challenge is to renew the inner man. Ephesians 3:16 shows the Spirit strengthens the inner man with hope. Romans 15:4 says Scripture gives “patience and comfort… that we might have hope.” The Word teaches us God’s long‑suffering, His faithfulness, and His promises, so we can endure.

Hope requires faith—the substance ot the foundation or the structure of the things hoped for—and faith comes by hearing God’s Word.

Hope also requires confidence, gained through experience as we apply truth in real suffering. We learn that prayer works, the Spirit works, and God works—not to remove pain, but to strengthen the inner man with patience, peace, joy, and love. This produces a different response to life’s pressures. Even if we lose everything, our hope in Christ remains.

When we apply God’s Word as He intended, it works. That produces confidence—an assurance gained through experience.

Romans 15:13 says,

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

When Scripture gives us peace, patience, and hope in suffering, that’s the Spirit’s power working in us. God purposed salvation, Christ accomplished it, and the Spirit enables us to partake of it.

Paul praises the Thessalonians for this.

Their “work of faith,” “labour of love,” and “patience of hope” in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-5 showed that the Word was working in them. They endured persecution with hope. Paul says the gospel came to them “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance”. This was not miracles—it was the Spirit producing hope, patience, and steadfastness through the Word. In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says the Word “works effectually in you that believe.”

Romans 8:26 continues:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

After describing hope, Paul shows the Spirit’s role in sustaining us. The Spirit makes hope “not ashamed,” says Romans 5:5, by shedding abroad the love of God—explained through Christ’s death for sinners.

The Spirit gives life, frees us from the law, assures us we are accepted with God, and changes our mind from fleshly thinking to spiritual thinking; we saw all this in Romans 8:2–9.

All of this is the Spirit’s work: producing hope, strengthening the inner man, and enabling believers to endure suffering with patience, confidence, and peace.

The Holy Spirit not only teaches us—He dwells in us (Romans 8:9). That means our future glory is certain. The same Spirit who raised Christ will also quicken our mortal body (Romans 8:11). He leads us (Romans 8:13–14), teaches us how to mortify the flesh, and identifies us as a son of God through the Spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15). He’s our seal and witness, confirming our identity and our inheritance (Romans 8:16).

Romans 8:26 says the Spirit “helpeth our infirmities.” These infirmities are the weaknesses of our mortal flesh.

The Spirit doesn’t remove them; He helps by giving hope, changing our inner man, and teaching us how to think spiritually. We can’t jump to verse 26 without understanding the earlier truths: the Spirit’s help is not physical healing but inward strengthening.

The Spirit teaches us that we’re not under the law, removes fear, corrects flawed thinking, and shows us what God has freely given us in1 Corinthians 2. He bears fruit in us—love, joy, peace, long‑suffering—when the Word works effectually in our heart. The Spirit sheds abroad the love of God, says Romans 5:5, by pointing us to Christ’s death for sinners.

Romans 8 is not about doing more works; it is about trusting the Spirit’s work. He helps our infirmities by renewing our mind, our thinking, and producing hope, and strengthening our inner man. Prayer is part of this help: though we often don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit intercedes, as Romans 8:26 says. Our ignorance shows why we need to grow in these truths. The Spirit’s ministry is to sustain us in weakness by teaching us hope and anchoring us in the certainty of future glory.

Romans 8:26–28 are often misunderstood.

Paul’s still teaching how to walk after the Spirit and what the Spirit actually does in this dispensation. Many Christians want the Spirit to remove suffering, fix circumstances, or give visible signs, but Romans 8 explains what God is actually doing, not what we wish He would do.

Romans 8:25 tells us that we “with patience wait” for what we hope for. Hope doesn’t remove bodily suffering; it helps us endure it, and then verse 26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.”

Just as hope doesn’t eliminate pain, the Spirit doesn’t remove infirmities; He helps us through them. The Spirit’s ministry is inward strength, not outward healing.

Prayer appears here because suffering naturally drives us to pray. Philippians 4:6–7 says we may make requests to God, but the promise is peace, not the removal of trouble.

Romans 8:26 says, “we know not what we should pray for as we ought.”

Our instinct is to pray for suffering to end, but we often don’t know what aligns with God’s will. The Spirit helps us in this ignorance, and His help is twofold: He reduces our ignorance by teaching us through Scripture, and He sustains us even when we don’t know what to ask. He dwells in us whether we understand perfectly or not, sealing us and identifying us with Christ. His help is not the removal of pain but the strengthening of the inner man so we can patiently wait for glory.

This is the context needed before reaching Romans 8:28. The Spirit’s help is inward, doctrinal, and hopeful—preparing us to understand how “all things work together for good.”

When Romans 8:26 says we know not what we should pray for as we ought, yet the Spirit helps our infirmities, it means that there is something we should know, because God has given us His Word and the Spirit dwelling in us.

Romans 8 is not urging us to work harder or perform more, or better; it’s teaching us to simply trust the Spirit’s work in us. Before Paul ever describes Christian service, he first shows how the Spirit equips our inner man.

Even when we don’t know what we need, the Spirit works according to what God knows we need. Galatians 5 shows this clearly: the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, long‑suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. None of these removes suffering; they strengthen the inner man. This is the Spirit’s real ministry.

Our problem is that we often don’t recognise the fact that God knows more about us and what we need than we do.

Day-to-day life and the things of this world are powerful magnets that pull us away from the recognition of the spiritual world and tend to make the spiritual things, and God, seem somehow secondary or not that important up against those daily challenges of life. However, living that way only ensures that our pain and suffering, when it inevitably comes, has no remedy.

Galatians 5 warns that relying on keeping the law or fleshly effort profits nothing.

The Spirit dwells in us, seals us, and bears fruit freely by grace. So when Romans 8 says we don’t pray as we ought, it means our natural prayers—usually asking for suffering to be removed—miss what God’s doing. Praying for the Spirit’s fruit aligns with His will: “Lord, give me love, peace, patience, joy and temperance in this trial.”

Philippians 1:19–20 shows Paul living this out. Even in prison, he says Christ can be magnified in his body “whether by life or by death.” He needed the Spirit’s supply, not a change in circumstances. God’s will is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, so says 1 Timothy 2:3–4, and the Spirit equips us for that work.

Romans 8:26 reminds us that the Spirit helps our infirmities by teaching, strengthening, and interceding—giving us what we truly need, even when we don’t know what we truly need.

Galatians 5:16–17 shows the conflict between flesh and Spirit.

We tend to pray for what the flesh wants—relief, escape or comfort—without seeing the bigger picture of God’s will. Under grace, God’s not obligated to grant our requests. He’s not a genie, a vending machine, or a covenant partner. Israel prayed under covenants; we pray under grace. That means God answers according to His purpose, not our demands.

Many Christians misunderstand prayer because they mix covenant promises like Matthew 7:7 (“ask and it shall be given”) with this dispensation.

Those promises belonged to Spirit‑filled Israel under the New Covenant, where the Spirit literally gave them words, as Matthew 10:19 says. In contrast, Romans 8 teaches that we often don’t know what to ask, and the Spirit helps our ignorance.

Prayer is not controlling God; it’s letting God control us. The Spirit intercedes, aligning our weak, confused prayers with God’s will. Philippians 4:6–7 shows the real promise: not that God removes suffering, but that He gives peace. Prayer activates the spiritual understanding that the Spirit has taught us.

Romans 8:26 reminds us that prayer and the Spirit go together. We pray imperfectly; the Spirit intercedes perfectly. We don’t always know what we ought to ask, but the Spirit helps our infirmities and keeps us anchored in God’s will.

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10:19–20 not to worry about what to say, because under Israel’s New Covenant the Spirit would give them the words. At Pentecost, Peter spoke by the Spirit’s direct utterance.

That’s not how prayer works in this dispensation.

Romans 8:26 says we “know not what we should pray for as we ought,” the exact opposite of Matthew 10. Today the Spirit doesn’t speak through our mouths; He works in our inner man as we trust His Word.

This means prayer now requires faith, not sight. We don’t feel the Spirit dwelling in us, but Scripture says He does, so we know it by faith. We don’t hear His intercession, but Romans 8 says He makes it. We just need to trust what God says the Spirit is doing.

Israel had what we might call “ask and receive” promises, as Matthew 21:22 shows, because the Spirit supplied their words. We must learn what to pray for through Scripture and spiritual understanding.

Ephesians 3:20 gives our prayer promise: God is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” according to the Spirit’s power in us. He answers beyond our requests, according to His will.

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 shows what we truly need: inner strength by the Spirit, Christ dwelling comfortably in our hearts by faith, being rooted in love, comprehending the breadth and depth of Christ, and being filled with God’s fullness. These requests align with God’s purpose and surpass our usual prayers for changed circumstances.

When we pray half‑ignorant prayers, the Spirit stands between our weakness and God’s perfect knowledge. God knows the Spirit’s mind, and the Spirit knows our groanings because He dwells in us. What a great comfort! Even when we can’t speak, God knows.

“Groanings which cannot be uttered” are our groanings—our physical pain, confusion, and our inward distress. They’re not Spirit‑uttered sounds or tongues. They’re the silent groanings of a suffering believer who often can’t express what’s wrong or what to ask. The Spirit intercedes in those moments, not by producing words through us, but by representing our need before God.

This removes the pressure of trying to be eloquent in prayer and using flowery words. Prayer under grace doesn’t depend on our perfect utterance. The Spirit supplies what we can’t.

Now Romans 8:27 adds,

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

The Holy Spirit intercedes according to the will of God. God searches the hearts, and the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God—and He dwells in us.

So when we pray, we’re not speaking to a distant God; the God who searches hearts is present; He’s within us by His Spirit.

This is the promise of Romans 8: the Spirit helps, teaches, intercedes, and carries our weakness before God. Our part is to learn! Learn from His Word!

It also means God knows our intentions, our ignorance, and our needs before we ask.

The Spirit’s indwelling is a comfort: He knows our pain, our confusion, and our unspoken groanings. Even when we can’t utter a prayer, He intercedes.

God’s already provided what we need in Scripture—truths written long before we understood them. As we grow, verses we’ve carried for years suddenly give hope or clarity. God knew our need before we did.

We just trust what the Spirit has inspired. Though the Bible is ancient, it contains exactly what God prepared for us. Romans 8:26–27 teaches that God hears us because He’s in us by His Spirit, and the Spirit intercedes according to God’s will, giving us spiritual understanding, fruit of the Spirit, and inward strength—not always what we think we need.

To benefit from this intercession, we must know God’s will that Scripture reveals.

1Corinthians 2 says the Spirit searches all things and reveals what God has prepared. We have the Spirit so we “might know” the things freely given to us. We ought to grow in spiritual understanding, as Paul prays in Colossians 1:9.

Prayer connects us to what we know and to the Spirit within, but even when we don’t know, God knows—and the Spirit intercedes.

Romans 8:28 follows Paul’s point that the Spirit intercedes “according to the will of God.” Because of that, we know something: Let’s read,

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

As usual, the context matters. Verse 26 showed we know not what to pray for; verse 27 showed God knows the mind of the Spirit; verse 28 shows we know certain truths already taught in Romans.

What do we know?

Romans 5:5—our hope will not be ashamed because the Spirit is given.

Romans 5:9—we shall be saved from wrath.

Romans 5:11—we have now received the atonement.

Romans 8:11—the Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies.

Romans 8:17—we are children and heirs, waiting for glory.

Romans 8:18—the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come.

Romans 8:19–23—we wait with earnest expectation for the manifestation of the sons of God and the redemption of our body.

These are the “good” things. The good is God’s purpose, not our personal plans. “All things” refers to every condition—suffering or ease, life or death, as Philippians 1:20 shows. Like Philippians 4:12–13, Paul learned to be content in all states because Christ strengthens him.

Romans 8:28 is not a promise that earthly circumstances will turn out the way we want. It’s the assurance that every circumstance—good or bad—moves us toward God’s purpose: our future glory, our inheritance, and the Spirit’s work in us.

This is why the verse comforts believers. We know the outcome God has already promised, and all things serve that purpose.

Ephesians 1:9–11 says God made known “the mystery of His will” according to His good pleasure, not ours.

His purpose is in Himself, and His plan is to gather all things in Christ in the fulness of times.

That’s “the good” Romans 8:28 speaks of. All things work together for good because we’re in Christ, sealed by the Spirit, and destined for glory. Even if life ends in poverty, sickness, or death, everything still works toward that good because our hope is eternal.

Romans 8:28 is not about earthly success or God fixing every problem in life. If our hope is “in this life only,” we are “most miserable” according to 1 Corinthians 15:19.

Many Christians reduce Romans 8:28 to “God is good all the time,” but Paul’s talking about God’s good purpose, not simply His attribute of goodness.

The verse only comforts us when we know God’s will, already taught in Romans: salvation by grace, the Spirit’s indwelling, our future glorification, and the redemption of our body.

This verse does not teach that every bad event has a divine reason. Sin and corruption entered through Adam, as described in Romans 5:12 and hurricanes, earthquakes, and tragedies are not God’s plan. His purpose is to save souls, strengthen saints, and give inner peace and hope through the Spirit. The “good” is what God glories in, which is the hope of glory in Romans 5:2, a good walk redeeming the time in Ephesians 5:16–17, and the certainty that all things—good or bad—move us toward our promised inheritance in Christ.

Thank God that even in evil days we can know His will.

We’re redeemed from a wasted life, and now every breath is a redeemed moment to learn God’s Word and serve others. The light’s been turned on. Ephesians says, don’t walk as Gentiles in darkness—redeem the time, or make time count, because the days are evil.

If we don’t know God’s will, which we learn only from His Word rightly divided, we won’t see the good, and we’ll sit in misery.

2 Corinthians 4:9–10 shows us persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, carrying in our body the dying of Jesus so His life is shown in us.

We live for Jesus’ sake. In 2 Corinthians 6:9–10, Paul describes ministry: dying yet living, sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing yet possessing all things in Christ. That’s the witness of a redeemed person.

2 Corinthians 12 shows Paul learning this. He prayed three times for his thorn to be removed, not knowing what to pray for. Christ answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee… my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul stopped asking for removal and instead gloried in his infirmities so Christ’s power could rest on him.

So when Romans 8:28 feels disappointing, it means we don’t know something that we ought to yet, or we’re not loving God as we think, which means knowing His will.

Only then can we see how all things truly work together for His good purpose.

If we don’t know His purpose, we can’t understand how things work for good.

So Romans 8:28 is not about earthly success. It is about God’s eternal purpose in Christ, the hope of immortality, and the Spirit’s work in us. When we love God and know His purpose, we can live with patience and peace in this present evil world.

God bless you richly.

Romans Reflection – It Is Well

In this article, we’re going to look behind the scenes of the amazing hymn “It Is Well” and the extraordinary contentment that the writer, Horatio Spafford, displayed in the hymn.

We used this hymn and a brief background story of the writer in our verse-by-verse study of Romans as an example of trusting what God has revealed through the apostle Paul, even in the face of great personal distress.

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Romans Reflection – It Is Well – Transcript

After an in-depth study of Romans, we can’t help but see how each of us, as believers, live in a twofold spiritual state. On the one hand, we live according to the sin that’s still present in us and will be until we reach glory. This state Paul calls the “old man”.

And then we have the inner man, where the Holy Spirit indwells us and has done so since the moment we believed. There’s a perpetual war going on between these two natures, as Romans 7:22-23 shows,

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The first step to victory in that inward war is knowledge.

To conquer something, we must first know what we’re fighting against.

In World War 2, the United States won the Battle of Midway against Japan, not because they had more ships or better weapons than the Japanese, but because they knew their enemy very well, because they studied that enemy in great detail.

To be ignorant of our enemy is to be vulnerable, but knowledge is strength.

All through our study of Romans, we see that this inward war is taking place continually, and the battleground is the mind. Victory depends almost entirely on knowledge; how well we know what’s happening in our spirit and how well we understand the deception of the things of this world.

That knowledge can only be found one way, through the study of the Word of Truth, divided rightly.

2 Timothy 2:15 says,

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

That’s why the hymn “It Is Well” is so inspiring, because it shows a believer armed with the sure and certain knowledge of who he is in Christ.

That knowledge was absolutely real, and he was so certain of it that he was able to have a perspective in the midst of tragedy that settled him and brought him contentment.

He could see through that tragedy to the truth of who he was because of what Jesus Christ had done on his behalf and how his eternal glory was guaranteed. God never supernaturally intervened to stop the tragedy from happening; He gave Spafford the strength, through knowledge, to be content in the face of it.

That knowledge didn’t come as some sort of lightning bolt from God; it came from a thirst to know truth and a willingness to study God’s Word to find it.

No other path would have afforded him the ability to see the truth of who and what he was so clearly as to bring contentment in the face of such awful pain and sorrow.

In November 1873, after losing his real estate wealth in the Chicago fires, Spafford decided to take his entire family to Europe for a vacation. He was also going to assist the evangelist, DL Moody, in his work once he arrived there.

However, Spafford was unexpectedly held up in Chicago, but decided to send his family on ahead aboard the S.S. Ville du Havre as scheduled.

Midway through the trans-Atlantic voyage, the ship was struck by the English vessel Loch Earn and sank. Spafford’s four daughters—Anna, 11; Maggie, 9; Bessie, 7; and Tanetta, 2—were among the 226 who perished. Mrs Spafford, who was one of the few who were spared, sent her husband the heartbreaking telegram: “Saved alone.”

Spafford immediately sailed for England to join his grief-stricken wife. As his ship passed the approximate location where his daughters had drowned, his deep sorrow, mingled with his unwavering faith in God’s goodness, caused him to pen the words of this hymn and those words have comforted countless souls suffering personal tragedy through the last century and a half.

Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, on the way to persecute Peter and his group of believers. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and saved him by his grace and gave him salvation and a commission. He told Paul He was going to send him to the Gentiles, to kings, to the children of Israel, in fact, to everybody, with this message that we today know as the Mystery of Christ.

It’s the revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to Paul of there being a one-body church, a church made up of Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free, who can benefit from what Christ did and the riches he made available to us through His finished work on the cross.

It’s this message that’s now made known through the mystery of Paul. That’s what we’re studying in our verse-by-verse journey through Romans.

The hymn “It Is Well” displays true Christian contentment.

Many think contentment means to “stop buying things,” or “never desire anything,” or “always keep smiling, even in the midst of tragedy.”

1 Timothy 6:8 says,

And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

But contentment is not simply owning very little. It’s not pretending to be happy, nor is it stoicism or emotionlessness- the state of having no outward emotional response. Paul wept, suffered, hungered, and still learned contentment.

Contentment doesn’t mean refusing to improve our life. We work because we’ve got to provide for our home. We grow spiritually because we shouldn’t stay where we are and become stagnant.

Even Jesus was not “happy” going to the cross, yet He was content in the Father’s will.

So contentment’s not pretending to be pleased with every circumstance that befalls us; it’s something much deeper.

Contentment means a satisfied, settled mind—a mind at rest because it’s grounded in God’s truth. That’s why Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6,

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Contentment alone’s not enough.

The world seeks personal satisfaction, but biblical contentment is joined to godliness. It’s the inner stability that comes from knowing who we are in Christ and what God has promised.

The word “content” carries the idea of something held together, undisturbed and complete. Our life may change, our circumstances may rise or fall, but our inner man remains steady because it’s filled with Christ.

That’s why Paul could say in Philippians 4:11,

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

He wasn’t always comfortable, but he was always grounded.

Philippians 4:9–11 shows how. He tells believers to do the things they’ve learned and seen in him, and “the God of peace shall be with you.”

Contentment’s tied to peace—peace that comes from knowing God’s will, trusting His purpose, and letting His Word settle our mind. It’s not passive; Paul learned it through suffering, hunger, imprisonment, and abundance.

Biblical contentment means our mind is anchored in Christ, not in changing circumstances. We may desire improvement, we may feel sorrow, we may face hardship, but our inner man remains satisfied because God’s grace is sufficient. Contentment is the fruit of knowing God’s will, trusting His purpose, and walking in godliness. That’s why godliness with contentment is great gain.

To understand why Paul tells believers to follow what they’ve “learned and received and heard and seen” in him, we look at Paul’s life.

In 2 Corinthians 11:24–27, he lists beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, hunger, danger, imprisonment and many more afflictions that he suffered. These are not situations anyone would naturally feel “content” in, yet Paul says he learned to be content in every state. Contentment’s not pretending suffering’s pleasant; it’s a settled mind grounded in Christ.

When Horatio Spafford wrote this hymn, “It Is Well”, he’d lost his children and his wealth, yet he could still say “it is well with my soul.” He wasn’t denying grief; the words of the song clearly show that his grief was very real, but he had learned the same truth Paul learned: contentment is an inner rest that doesn’t depend on outward circumstances.

Paul also knew abundance.

He had wealthy friends, received gifts, and he was raised in Tarsus and educated under the great Jewish scholar Gamaliel. Galatians 1:14 shows he advanced in the Jews’ religion and enjoyed privilege. He also worked with his own hands to provide for others. He knew both comfort and hardship. His lesson was not that poverty is holy or wealth is sinful, but that neither condition determines the peace of his mind.

Again, Philippians 4:11–12 explains it:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Contentment is the ability to live with a satisfied, stable mind whether we have little or a lot, whether life is easy or painful. It’s not the removal of desire for something better in life, or the denial of suffering, or a forced smile. It’s the inner strength to remain at rest because our satisfaction comes from Christ.

Paul’s secret is in Philippians 4:13:

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

His contentment came from Christ’s strengthening, not from circumstances.

His mind was gratified and settled because Christ was enough. That’s why he could endure suffering without despair and enjoy abundance without pride. He’d learned to anchor his peace in Christ alone.

Many people never learn contentment because they chase satisfaction in changing conditions and circumstances—more money, better health, or an improved lifestyle- but even when they reach those goals, they want more.

Biblical contentment is different: it’s the learned ability to be at peace before circumstances change, because Christ is the source of rest.

Some believers have never faced deep poverty, sickness, or hardship, while others have never known abundance. Paul did, which taught him how to be content in all states. Contentment is not escaping difficulty but learning, through Christ, how to live with a steady mind in every condition and in every circumstance.

This is godliness with contentment, the “great gain” of 1 Timothy 6:6. It’s the result, the fruit of trusting Christ, knowing His will, and letting His strength settle our inner man no matter what happens outwardly.

When Paul says in Philippians 4:13,

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,” his point is that contentment comes from inner strength, not outward comfort. Being content is not about how much we own or about smiling through pain. It’s about being strengthened in the inner man so we can endure any circumstance with a mind settled in Christ.

Ephesians 3 shows Paul praying that believers would be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.”

Contentment is this inner stability. A raise at work, a loss of either material possessions or a loved one, sickness, wealth—none of these makes us stronger or weaker spiritually.

Christ dwelling in our heart by faith is the source of strength.

When our deepest joy and satisfaction come from knowing Christ, we can be rooted and grounded in love, able to comprehend the breadth and depth of His grace, and filled with the fullness of God. That’s true contentment.

Contentment is not guilt over having money, or pride in lacking it; it’s knowing that our identity’s not defined by our paycheck, our bank account, our material “stuff”, our health, or our status.

Ephesians 3:19 describes contentment as being “filled with all the fullness of God.” It’s stability that comes from knowledge—knowing Christ’s love, knowing our position in Him, knowing the hope of resurrection.

When 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “godliness with contentment is great gain,” the gain is not the contentment itself; the gain is godliness, which makes contentment possible.

Godliness is living with a heart and mind shaped by God’s truth so that our character, conduct, and purpose reflect Him rather than ourselves.

Without godliness, contentment is fragile and temporary. With godliness, contentment is anchored in Christ.

Philippians 4:6-7 says,

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Be careful for nothing!

In our modern world today, we use the word careful differently from what’s intended here in Philippians. The word “careful” is often translated as anxious: be anxious for nothing or be full of care about nothing. It’s the same word Jesus used when He spoke to Martha in Luke 10:41.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

Be careful for nothing! How can we do that? We bring everything to God in prayer.

The promise is not that we’ll receive everything we ask, but that “the peace of God… shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

In Philippians 4, before Paul even mentions prayer, he gives four instructions.

First, stand fast in the Lord (Philippians 4:1).

Second, be of the same mind in the Lord (Philippians 4:2). Believers share one faith and one Lord, so our thinking must be shaped by sound doctrine.

Third, rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). Before asking God for anything, believers should thank Him and rejoice in what He’s already done. This guards us from years of confusion and discontent, especially when making life decisions. God’s already given every believer a purpose: to be in Christ, to edify His body, and to help see souls saved and saints strengthened. Whatever job or path we choose should serve that larger calling.

Fourth, Paul says, let your moderation be known unto all men (Philippians 4:5). Moderation means stability—being able to walk the “tightrope” of life without being thrown off by extreme highs or lows.

When our contentment is tied to wealth, health, or circumstances, we’ll be unstable. When our contentment is in Christ, nothing can move us.

Romans 8 says nothing—life, death, angels, or anything else—can separate us from His love. That’s true contentment: being content, immovable, unshakable because our inner man is strengthened in Him.

As in Galatians 5:1, our identity is in Christ, and our hope of glory is in Him. Knowing that is contentment: a strengthened inner man, a settled mind, and a life anchored in Christ regardless of circumstances.

We can stand fast in Christ because His finished work, not our performance, gives liberty and strength.

Many religious people live in discontent because they try to please God through their own effort. Grace frees us from that burden. So Paul says, “hold fast the form of sound words” and stand firm in what Christ has done.

This is why Paul prays that believers be strengthened in their inner man.

If something in our life disrupts our peace with God, that’s where we’re not yet content. True contentment means no circumstance can shake our standing in Christ. Many Christians misuse the word “content” as if it means dullness or lack of joy. But biblical contentment is strength, being firmly grounded in Christ so that whether we abound or suffer loss, we remain steady.

Paul learned to be rich and to be poor, to abound and to be abased, and to be at peace in all states.

Contentment is not about refusing joy or refusing desire; it’s about refusing to let anything replace Christ as our foundation. When believers rejoice in the Lord, share the same mind, stand fast in doctrine, and live moderately, they become stable, useful, and able to endure whatever comes.

This is why ministry matters: believers strengthen one another so they can stand fast, rejoice, and remain content in Christ. Contentment’s not a burden—it’s the strength of the inner man, built on the doctrines of Jesus Christ, enabling believers to live confidently and peacefully in every circumstance.

The world doesn’t understand contentment because it doesn’t know what it means to be strengthened in Christ. People look for satisfaction in small pleasures—sports, entertainment, fun, comfort—and their joy rises or falls with the circumstances associated with those things, such as the joy when our favourite football team wins and the depression when it loses.

But Paul, even while in prison, said he had learned to be content. Contentment is not natural; it must be learned through Christ.

Ephesians 3 shows Paul praying that believers would be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man,” and that “Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith,” and that they would “know His love and be filled with the fullness of God.”

This’s the foundation of contentment. Only Christ can strengthen the inner man. That’s why Horatio Spafford could write “It is well with my soul” through the tragedy of his grief. That grief was real, but his inner man was anchored in Christ’s resurrection.

Contentment must be learned in both abundance and poverty. Paul had wealth, education, and privilege, but he also suffered hunger, beatings, and imprisonment. He learned how to abound without pride and how to be abased without despair.

Many of us never learn either lesson. Some people feed every dissatisfaction with material goods or holidays or some other distraction because they have the means to do so. Others feel trapped in dissatisfaction because they don’t have the means to “buy their way out of it”. Few people from these groups ever learn to rest in Christ. Contentment is learning to be stable in Christ before circumstances change.

Rich believers should learn how to be rich.

1Timothy 6:17 says they should not be high‑minded or trust in uncertain riches, but trust in the living God who gives richly all things to enjoy.

Riches are not evil, but they should be used in the right way, for good works, generosity, and ministry. Riches are a tool, not a source of identity. Paul learned to abound by giving, not by indulging himself.

Poor believers should learn how to be poor. Poverty doesn’t make someone spiritual; many people suffer from greed and don’t have a dollar, but poverty can teach dependence on Christ.

Paul counted all his former gains as loss for the excellency of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8).

If we can’t be at rest until we reach a certain level of income, we’ve not learned contentment.

Paul lost everything when he followed Christ.

He left his status under Gamaliel, and he says in Philippians 3:8 that he “suffered the loss of all things” for the excellency of knowing Christ.

In Philippians 3:10, he adds that he learned the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Christ willingly left heavenly glory, took on human weakness, and endured pain for us. So when Paul suffered loss, he learned—on a small scale—what Christ gave up, and learned to trust Christ as his strength.

Being poor doesn’t mean we’ve got to stay poor, but we can be content in poverty because Christ became poor for us.

Paul also learned how to suffer physical weakness.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, he describes the thorn in his flesh. He prayed three times for its removal, but Christ answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul learned that weakness is not a failure; it’s an opportunity for Christ’s strength to be seen. He didn’t pretend to be strong. He admitted his infirmity and gloried in it so that the power of Christ might rest upon him.

When he was weak, he preached Christ more clearly, and people listened because they saw Christ’s strength, not Paul’s.

Weakness also equips believers to comfort others.

In 2 Corinthians 1:4–6, Paul says that when he suffers, he receives comfort from Christ so he can comfort others who suffer.

If we’ve never been weak, we can’t minister well to the weak. If we’ve never been strong, we can’t bear the infirmities of the weak. Ephesians 6:10 says, “Be strong in the Lord.”

Strong believers—whether strong in health, wealth, or knowledge—should use their strength for others. Galatians 6 says the spiritual should restore the weak. The body of Christ needs both strong and weak members as well as rich and poor, each learning how to live in Christ.

Believers should also learn how to be busy.

Ephesians 5:16 talks about “redeeming the time,” or making time count. Many people are so busy today, but they haven’t learned how to use their time for the Lord. Others are bored because their minds are inactive. Boredom is not a lack of activity; it’s a lack of thought. Philippians 4:8 commands believers to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy. Some need to learn to slow down and think. Others need to learn to fill their minds with godly things instead of drifting along in apathy.

Contentment touches every condition—rich or poor, strong or weak, busy or still. It is not pretending, or forcing a smile, or denying reality; it’s learning Christ in every circumstance. Paul learned to rejoice when he both abounded and was abased, when both full and hungry. His strength was Christ. His stability was Christ. His contentment was Christ, and that same strength is available to every believer who learns to rest in Him.

Philippians 4 teaches believers to make their requests known to God, 1 Thessalonians 5 says to pray without ceasing, and Ephesians 6 says to pray for others.

Prayer is not inactivity; it’s learning to watch, to think, and to see where others need help.

Some are too busy to stop to notice the needs of the body of Christ. Others have nothing to do from day to day and yet still never look around them.

Paul says to pray and watch so we can help wisely.

The common thread in every condition—busy or still, strong or weak, rich or poor—is that all believers are in Christ.

Contentment means our mind is at rest because Christ has given us all spiritual blessings.

Horatio Spafford understood this. Before tragedy struck, he was wealthy and blessed. After the Chicago fire destroyed his fortune and after his four daughters drowned, he wrote “It Is Well With My Soul”, but he didn’t write it to deny his grief. He wrote it because he’d learned contentment in Christ long before the tragedy. Whether in peace “like a river” or when sorrow rolls in “like sea billows,” he had learned to say, “It is well with my soul.”

Spafford’s contentment rested on doctrine. He knew his sin—not in part but the whole of his sin—was nailed to the cross. He knew Christ bore it all. His praise was not for the tragedy but for Christ’s finished work.

That’s true biblical contentment: knowing that what Christ has done for us is greater than anything we can gain or lose in this life.

True contentment is stability of the inner man. It’s being strengthened by Christ, not by circumstances. It’s the godliness with contentment that is the great gain of 1 Timothy 6:6.

Whether in comfort or in loss, believers can say, “It is well with my soul,” because Christ strengthens us, secures us, and teaches us to be content in Him.

We’ve placed a YouTube version of “It Is Well” with the lyrics of the hymn below this recording.

May God be your centre in every circumstance you face in life, good or bad.

Romans 9:19-23 – The Potter and the Clay

Romans 9:14-18 – God’s Just and Righteous Will

Romans 9:9-13 – God’s Word of Promise

Romans 9:6-8 – Not All Israel is Israel

Romans 9:1-5 – Paul’s Heart for Israel

Romans and the Book of Hosea

Romans 8:35-39 – Who Can Separate Us

Romans 8:29-34 – Shaped by Christ, Shielded by God

Romans 8:29-34 – Shaped by Christ, Shielded by God – Transcript

Romans 8:23-28 – The Spirit and Hope

Romans 8:23-28 – The Spirit and Hope – Transcript

Romans Reflection – It Is Well

Romans Reflection – It Is Well – Transcript

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