In Romans 9:6-13 Paul begins to provide evidence that God’s promises for Israel have not failed. He begins by asserting that God never promised salvation for every single ethnic descendant of Abraham. Instead, Paul argues that God had ordained salvation for an elect portion of Israel only. Paul provides the examples of Isaac and Jacob as those who God sovereignly chose for salvation and blessing while Ishmael and Esau were rejected. This line of reasoning would serve as a powerful refutation to many Jewish contemporaries in Paul’s day who would have insisted that their salvation was assured because of their racial pedigree which descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paul’s refutation proves that salvation has everything to do with God’s grace and nothing to do with a person’s race!

Handout and sermon slides available under Downloads tab.