Romans: Part 5 - Ch. 9-10
Israel & Evangelism
As we continue to read Paul’s words in his defense of the gospel, we come across one of the most controversial chapters in all of Romans. There are many interpretations of this chapter, and it flows right into what the next chapter has to discuss. Chapter 9 kicks off by discussing how God used Israel as His chosen people, and Chapter 10 talks about how no one can have faith in the gospel unless they hear about the gospel. You’ll see how these go hand in hand as we continue our study in a bit. The controversy, however, comes in chapter 9 and is known most famously by its theological view called Calvinism. We’ll break down what this view is in a bit as well so that you can understand why this chapter is such a controversial one. For now, though, we must remember that whichever view we take, the gospel is still beautiful and powerful, and we can’t overlook this because of some theological disagreement. As Ray Comfort has beautifully said, “It can become easy for Christians to become complacent in the task of evangelism, but we must awaken from our stupor and do all we can to seek and save the lost.” I know it may be easy to be caught up in how you interpret parts of Romans 9, but let’s not miss out on everything else that God has to teach us in the rest of this chapter and chapter 10 as well. With this in mind, let’s dive in.
The Use Of Israel
To begin, Paul opens chapter 9 by discussing how Israel is God’s chosen people and what this means. In short, Paul breaks down how being chosen by God doesn’t mean that there was anything that was necessarily special about Israel, but rather that they were just the instruments that God wanted to use to show His power and glory. Paul defends this point by stating in Romans 9:16-17 “So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.” Paul quickly brings up past situations where God used people who were no better than anyone else to show His power and glory as well. The overall point that Paul is making is that anyone who repents and believes in Jesus Christ will be saved, not just the nation of Israel. Yes, this nation was chosen by God for a specific purpose, but this purpose was not that salvation would only be limited to them. This is why Paul says in the next verse that God can have mercy on whom He wants to have mercy on and harden whom He wants to harden.
Limited Atonement
This is what leads us right into the Calvinistic theological debate. The overall idea that is represented here and debated over is called ‘limited atonement’. This idea, according to the Calvinists, is that Jesus Christ did not die for everyone, but only for those whom God has chosen to show mercy towards. One of the strongest arguments for this idea comes from Romans 9:22-23, which states, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,” Now this does seem like a hypothetical question being raised by Paul, but he seems to raise it because it appears he agrees with the overall idea. What if God did indeed make people who He knew beforehand were destined for Hell, but He made them anyway in order to reveal His glory to the ones He willed to save? Now, if you’re anything like me, you immediately start thinking of a bunch of different ways you would reveal your glory to others if you were God in this scenario that didn’t include the damnation of so many people. However, as hard as this is to understand in our finite minds, the fact of the matter is that we are not God, and if this is what God says is best to show His glory, who are we to argue? I know this is a lot to take in, but I want to leave you with this one question before we move on to chapter 10. What does the rest of the Bible have to say about this? Does scripture support this overall claim, or does it deny it? If you were to ask me, while I still have my days where limited atonement just seems way too harsh, I still cannot argue that what I read throughout scripture more often than not backs up this idea. And this is what I hope your standard is as well. Study the scriptures yourself and find out whether or not Romans 9 supports limited atonement or if it is just an idea that seems to be taken out of context. Wherever you may fall, I pray that this idea does not cause a divide between your brothers and sisters in Christ who may disagree.
Beautiful Feet
Beyond this, however, we see the idea of evangelism in chapter 10. Paul hits the nail on the head when it comes to evangelism when he says in Romans 10:14-15 “How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” How can anyone believe in Jesus if they have not heard of Him? This is where you and I come into play. Regardless of how well we may think we can lead someone to Christ, the overall point is that we tell others what Jesus has done for us through the power of the gospel. Remember, God is the one who saves the sinner; it is simply our job to just tell the sinner who Jesus is and what He offers to the lost. How beautiful indeed are the feet that carried the good news of the gospel to you as well. May God graciously use your feet to do the same for others. I know we tackled a lot today in these two chapters, but I hope and pray that regardless of where you may fall on theological issues, you will know that Christ died for all nations, and because of this, we should be adamant about sharing the good news of the gospel.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] “Ray Comfort - It Can Become Easy for Christians to Become...” Facebook.com, 2023, www.facebook.com/official.Ray.comfort/posts/it-can-become-easy-for-christians-to-become-complacent-in-the-task-of-evangelism/1144793510339659/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
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