Why is Paul so full of sorrow at the start of this passage?

Paul opens with very strong language to show that he is not cold toward his own people. He says he has great heaviness and constant sorrow because many Israelites, his own relatives by birth, have rejected Christ. They had been given so many gifts from God, yet were cut off from the salvation that is in Jesus. Paul even says he could wish himself cut off from Christ if it would help them, which shows deep, painful love for those who are far from the gospel.

What does it mean that they are not all Israel who are of Israel?

When Paul says that not all who are of Israel are Israel, he is saying that being born into the nation does not by itself make someone a true child of God. God’s promise was never about physical descent alone. He points to Isaac, not Ishmael, and to Jacob, not Esau, to show that God’s family is made up of those He calls by promise. True Israel is the people who belong to God by His choice and mercy, not merely by bloodline.

Why does Paul mention Jacob and Esau before they were born?

Paul uses Jacob and Esau as an example of God’s free choice. Before they were born or had done anything good or bad, God said, “The elder shall serve the younger.” This shows that His purpose in choosing does not rest on works or effort but on His own call. The words “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” are hard to read, but they show a real difference in how God set His favor on Jacob in a special way that He did not on Esau.

What does this passage teach about God having mercy and hardening?

Paul quotes God’s words to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” and then speaks of Pharaoh, whom God raised up to show His power. From this he concludes that it is God who shows mercy and that He also hardens whom He wills. Mercy here is God’s kind saving help that no one can demand. Hardening means leaving a person in their stubbornness so that God’s justice is seen. Paul’s point is that God is free in how He deals with sinners, and no one can claim a right over Him.

What is meant by the potter and the clay image in this chapter?

The picture of the potter and the clay is used to show God’s rights as Creator. Just as a potter can take one lump of clay and shape one vessel for honor and another for common use, God has authority over His creatures. Paul says that God patiently endures “vessels of wrath” that are heading for destruction, and also prepares “vessels of mercy” for glory. This is hard to grasp, but it reminds us that God is the maker, we are the clay, and His choices are wise and just, even when we do not fully understand them.

How are Gentiles included as God’s people in this passage?

Paul explains that God’s call is not only for Jews but also for Gentiles. He quotes from Hosea, where God says He will call “not my people” His people, and “not beloved” beloved. This shows that those who were once far away and had no share in Israel’s promises are now brought in by God’s mercy. They become children of the living God, not by law-keeping or heritage, but by His call and by faith in Christ. So the family of God now includes both Jews and Gentiles who believe.

Why does Paul say only a remnant of Israel will be saved?

By quoting Isaiah, Paul shows that even though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved. This means that within the nation, God keeps for Himself a smaller group who truly trust Him. It also shows that God has not completely cast off Israel. If the Lord had not left them a seed, they would have been wiped out like Sodom and Gomorrah. So there is both warning and mercy: many are hardened, yet God still preserves a people for Himself.

Why did Gentiles attain righteousness while Israel did not?

Paul says the Gentiles, who were not chasing after the law, have received righteousness by faith. Israel, on the other hand, chased after a law of righteousness but did not reach it because they sought it by works, not by faith. They stumbled over Christ, the stone God placed in Zion. Those who look to Christ in trust are not put to shame, but those who try to stand before God on their own effort miss the way of righteousness that God gives as a gift through faith.

What does this passage teach about God’s character?

This chapter shows that God is both merciful and just. He freely gives mercy to those He chooses, and no one earns it. At the same time, He is right to judge sin and to harden those who resist Him. He is patient with those who deserve wrath, and He prepares others for glory. We see His faithfulness to His promises, His freedom in how He saves, and His kindness in including people from every background in His family. All of this calls us to humility and trust before Him.

Rom.9.1

Romans 9:1

KJV Holy Spirit

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

Paul’s Concern for the Jews

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

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

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

4 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;

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

God’s Sovereign Choice

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

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

8 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.

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

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

11 (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;)

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

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

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

17 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.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 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?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 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:

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.