Romans 9 is often cited as one of the strongest defenses of a deterministic view of salvation—where God unilaterally elects some individuals to salvation and leaves the rest in reprobation. On this reading, the human will is entirely inert in the process. There is no place for a genuine free response to God’s call; rather, salvation is seen as belonging wholly to God’s sovereign and selective choosing.
But what if that’s not what Romans 9 is actually saying?
What if Paul’s intent is not to narrow the scope of salvation to a predetermined elect, but to broaden it beyond ethnic and religious boundaries, to underscore the freedom of God to extend mercy to anyone—Jew or Gentile—who believes?
The Real Issue Paul is Addressing
To understand Romans 9, we need to grasp the actual problem Paul is addressing. The question isn’t “Why doesn’t God save everyone?” or even “Why doesn’t God save more people?” The real dilemma Paul is confronting is this: Why are so many ethnic Israelites—God’s own covenant people—rejecting the gospel, while Gentiles are entering the Kingdom?
This is deeply troubling to Paul, who begins the chapter in anguish:
“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
—Romans 9:1–3
These “kinsmen according to the flesh” are Israelites—those who had received the covenants, the promises, the law, and the patriarchs. And yet, many of them are rejecting the Messiah. Has God’s word failed?
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.”
—Romans 9:6–7a
Not All Who Are of Israel Are Truly Israel
Paul introduces a distinction here between ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel. Simply being physically descended from Abraham doesn’t guarantee your inclusion in God’s covenant people. This becomes clear in Paul’s use of Old Testament examples: Isaac was chosen over Ishmael, and Jacob was chosen over Esau—not because of their deeds, but because of God's sovereign freedom.
“Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’”
—Romans 9:11–13
This passage isn’t about God arbitrarily condemning individuals; it’s about God’s right to define who His covenant people are—not by ethnicity or law, but by His own gracious terms.
God’s Freedom to Show Mercy
So, if the Jewish people assumed they had exclusive access to God’s promises because of their heritage, Paul shows that God is not obligated to operate according to their expectations.
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
—Romans 9:16
And again:
“He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”
—Romans 9:18
But this mercy is not randomly assigned; it is extended to those who believe.
Later in the chapter, Paul poses the question directly: If God is so sovereign, who can find fault? Who can resist His will? His response is humbling:
“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’”
—Romans 9:20
God has the right to shape His people as He sees fit. And what He has chosen to do is extend mercy to the unexpected—to the Gentiles who were once considered outside the covenant.
Gentiles Attain Righteousness
So who, in the end, are the true heirs of God’s promise?
“What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.”
—Romans 9:30–32
This is the great reversal. Gentiles—who had no law, no prophets, and no historical claim to God's covenant—have attained righteousness, not by effort or heritage, but by faith. Meanwhile, Israel, seeking righteousness through law-keeping, stumbled because they refused to receive it by faith.
Paul's message in Romans 9 is not an isolated line of reasoning—it’s the same truth he emphasizes powerfully in the book of Galatians. There, too, Paul confronts the false idea that physical descent from Abraham or adherence to the law grants someone special status before God.
In fact, Paul makes it crystal clear that the true heirs of Abraham, the ones who inherit the promise, are those who believe, not those who rely on the works of the law or their ethnic lineage.
“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
—Galatians 3:7–9
This is a direct contradiction of the belief that being Jewish by birth guaranteed one's standing before God. Instead, Paul insists that Abraham’s true descendants are defined spiritually, not physically. They are those who, like Abraham, trust in the promise of God.
He continues:
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse... Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
—Galatians 3:10–11
And ultimately, Paul draws the same conclusion as in Romans:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
—Galatians 3:28–29
The promise made to Abraham was never about national privilege or biological descent—it was always about the coming of Christ and the inclusion of all who would believe in Him. Paul’s message in Galatians strengthens and reaffirms what he teaches in Romans: God’s sovereign plan was always to create one people from all nations, united by faith in Jesus, the true Seed of Abraham.
Paul continues this thread throughout Romans 10 and 11, showing that salvation is open to all who call on the name of the Lord:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
—Romans 10:12–13
The Consistent Theme of Faith
This reading of Romans 9 fits seamlessly with the broader argument Paul develops earlier in Romans 3 and 4. Righteousness before God comes not through works, not through the law, not through birthright—but through faith in Jesus Christ.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law… the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
—Romans 3:21–24
And again:
“Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
—Romans 3:27–28
So who are the true children of Abraham? Not those who are simply born into the lineage—but those who, like Abraham, place their faith in God’s promise.
“Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”
—Romans 3:29–30
Romans 9 does indeed affirm God's sovereign freedom to save whomever He wills. But His will is not arbitrary or mysterious—it has been revealed in the gospel. His purpose of election is not based on lineage or law, but on faith in Christ. Jew and Gentile alike are invited to receive the righteousness of God through faith. And no one—not even those with centuries of religious heritage—can demand favoritism from God.
Rather than being a passage that limits salvation to a mysterious few, Romans 9 is an anthem of divine freedom and grace, showing that the door of salvation has been flung wide open to all who believe in Christ Jesus.
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
—Romans 9:16, ESV
And He has chosen to show mercy on all who trust in His Son.