A Non-Calvinist Interpretation of Romans 9

Romans 9 is one of the most controversial chapters in the Bible, standing at the center of the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism.  Many Calvinists say that Rm 9 is the reason for their Calvinism.  If find it interesting that many Arminians say the opposite -- Rm 9 is the reason for their Arminianism.  Just this week I was listening to a podcast by a prominent non-Calvinist named Leighton Flowers.  He had been a Calvinist for ten years but then left Calvinism because of Rm 9-11.

Calvinists believe that Rm 9 is all about unconditional election -- one of the core tenets of Calvinism that asserts that before creation, God unconditionally chose some for salvation and the rest for damnation.  The key word is "unconditional," which means that election is not based on anything in the individual.  God did not choose the elect because He foresaw their faith in Christ.  There is no difference between the elect and non-elect other than God's choice.  

As an Arminian, I reject unconditional election -- not because it is hard to swallow, but because I don't think it harmonizes with the rest of Scripture.  There are at least six truths that make unconditional election impossible.

1. God loves all people (Jn 3:16).  
2. God sent Christ to die for all people (1 Jn 2:2).  
3. God desires to save all people (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pt 3:9).  
4. God offers salvation to all people (Rm 10:13).  
5. God enables all people to believe (Jn 12:32).  
6. God has made salvation conditional upon faith (Acts 16:31).  

If these statements are true, then unconditional election is not biblical, and if unconditional election is unbiblical, then whatever Rm 9 means, it can't be affirming unconditional election.  Thus, the challenge is to make sense of Rm 9 in a way that harmonizes with the rest of Scripture (e.g., the six truths above).  

Romans 9-11 is a unit.  In Rm 1-8, Paul has explained that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus (Rm 1:16-17).  God chooses or elects to save all who believe -- Jews and Gentiles.  This was a problem for the Jews, because most Jews rejected Jesus.  So, in Rm 9-11 Paul address the "Jewish Problem" -- if the gospel is true, then most Jews are not going to heaven.

The big idea of Rm 9 is that God has the right to determine the terms of salvation, and the terms are not ethnicity or effort, but faith in Jesus.  In other words, God is sovereign over election, and He has elected to save those who believe in Jesus.  

In Rm 9 Paul addresses four Jewish objections to the gospel.  

First, if all Jews are not saved, then God's word has failed (vs. 6-13).  After expressing his sorrow over the Jews' rejection of Christ in vs. 1-5, Paul addresses the first objection in 9:6.  He begins by saying that "not all who are descended from Israel are Israel (Rm 9:6)."  In other words, there is a difference between ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel.  Spiritual Israel are God's people, and not all ethnic Jews are God's people.  Why not?  Paul gives two reasons:

One, salvation is not based on ethnicity (Rm 9:7-9).  The popular view among the Jews at the time was that all Jews go to heaven.  The Jews believed that God's covenant to Abraham was not just the promise of land, but the promise of eternal life.  Paul uses the story of Abraham to point out that election is not based on ethnicity.  At this point it is important to understand that election does not always refer to salvation; sometimes it refers to election to service -- e.g., God chose Moses to be a prophet, Aaron to be a priest, and Saul to be a king.  In this passage Paul uses election to service to illustrate a point about election to salvation.  God chose Abraham and his seed for a special task -- to bring the Messiah into the world.  However, he didn't elect all of Abraham's children for this task.  Abraham had eight children, but God only chose Isaac.  Paul isn't saying that God chose Isaac for heaven and the rest of Abraham's children for hell, but that he chose Isaac along for service.  Just as God didn't elect all of Abraham's children to service, He doesn't elect all of Abraham's children for salvation.  Which one's does He elect?  Those who put their faith in Jesus (Rm 1:16-17).  

The second reason that not all ethnic Jews are God's people is that salvation is not based on effort(Rm 9:1-9).  Paul uses the story of Jacob and Esau to illustrate.  God chose Jacob for service and not Esau, but this was not because Jacob was morally superior.  In the same way, God's choice of who to save is not based on effort or works or moral superiority.  What is it based on?  Paul has already made it clear that God chooses to save those who believe.  

What does it mean that God loves Jacob and hates Esau.  Only that God chose Jacob over Esau, and this might of felt like hatred to Esau.  But God did not choose Jacob for heaven and Esau for hell.  God chose Jacob and not Esau for the special assignment of bringing the Messiah into the world.  Again, the point of the illustration is simply that salvation is not by works.  God does not literally hate Esau.  If God commands you to love your neighbor and even to love your enemy, then surely He loves everyone.  Consider the words of Jesus who said that if you want to be His follower you must hate your family (Lk 14:26).  He doesn't literally want you to hate your family.  He wants you to choose Him over your family, and that might feel like hatred to your family.  In the same way, God doesn't literally hate Esau; He chose Jacob over Esau for service.  

The second Jewish objection to the gospel is that if all Jews are not saved, then God is unjust (Rm 9:14-18).  Calvinists and Arminians disagree about the objection in Rm 9:14.  Calvinists believe the Jews are objecting to the unconditional election referred to in Rm 9:6-13.  But Arminians don't believe in unconditional election.  Arminians believe that the Jews were objection to the assertion that salvation by faith and not by ethnicity or effort.  This fits better with the entire context of Romans, where Paul's main point thus far has been justification by faith.  Paul's answer to this second objection is in Rm 9:15-16.  God has the right to show mercy to whoever He wants, and He has already made it clear in Romans that He wants to show mercy to those who believe in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile.  God has the right to determine the terms of salvation.  He is sovereign over election.  

As an example, Paul points to Pharaoh (Rm 9:17-18).  God had the right to withhold mercy from Pharaoh and to harden his heart -- making him stubborn.  This does not mean that God created Pharaoh specifically to punish him and send him to hell.  God only hardened Pharaoh after he first hardened his heart against God.  

The third objection to Paul's gospel is that if God hardened the Jews, then how can He blame them for their unbelief (Rm 9:19-24).  In Rm 9:18, Paul  implied that just as God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He hardened the Jews to the gospel, making it harder for them to believe.  The objection is that if God hardened the Jews, how can he blame them for not believing?  It's important to remember that just as God didn't harden Pharaoh until after he hardened himself, God didn't harden the Jews until after they rejected Christ.  Paul's point is that God has the right to do this.  Just as a potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his pottery, God, as Creator, has the right to do whatever He wants with His creation.  He has the right to harden and withhold mercy from unbelieving Jews.  Again, God is sovereign over salvation.  He has the right to determine the terms of salvation -- not ethnicity or effort, but faith.

The fourth and final objection to the gospel is that the Bible does not support Paul's gospel.  In Rm 9:25-29, Paul presents three passages from the OT to provide biblical support for His gospel.  In Rm 9:25-26, Paul's point is that God has always planned to incorporate believing Gentiles into His covenant people.  If that is true, then it proves that salvation is not based on ethnicity or effort.  In Rm 9:27-28, Paul's point is that God hasn't promised to save all ethnic Jews, but only a remnant.  The remnant in Paul's day were the Jews who believed in Jesus.  In Rm 9:29 Paul's point is that it has always been the case that the majority of the Jewish people have rejected God.  That the majority of Jews have rejected Jesus should not come as a surprise. 

Rm 9:30-33 is Paul's conclusion.  This section is very important to a proper interpretation of Rm 9.  Paul summarizes why it is that all Jews are not saved.  It's not because of God's unconditional election, but because of faith.  Comparing the Jews the Gentiles, the Gentiles were not trying to keep God's law, and yet the obtained right status with God through faith.  But the Jews were trying to keep God's law, but they did not obtain right status with God because they insisted on earning it with works.  As a result, the Jews have stumbled over Christ, the cornerstone of God's new building (1 Pt 2:6, 8).  Paul's conclusion is that God is sovereign over salvation.  He has the right to determine the terms of salvation, and the terms are not ethnicity or effort, but faith in Jesus.