Romans 9:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

NIV: and, 'In the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.''

NASB: 'AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING God.'

CSB: And it will be in the place where they were told,you are not my people,there they will be called sons of the living God.

NLT: And, 'Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

The Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote about God's commitment to restore the northern ten tribes of Israel that had been cut off. Paul, quoting Hosea in this and the previous verse, appears to apply Hosea 2:23 and now Hosea 1:10 to the Gentiles.

Paul's larger point in this passage is that God retains His right to show mercy to whomever He wants and to withhold mercy from whomever He wants. God exercises His privilege as Creator by showing mercy to all who come to Him through faith in Christ. Israel's pride might have insisted that only they—the original "chosen people"—could legitimately be redeemed by God. Paul argues the opposite; that nobody anywhere deserves mercy (Romans 3:10; 3:23) and that a sovereign Creator has the right to use His creations as He sees fit (Romans 9:20–21).

Paul shows that this includes God's right to save those "called out" from the Gentiles, as well as from the Jewish people. Israel had always been known as God's people. Now Gentiles, too, through faith in Christ, will be called the sons of the living God (Romans 8:16–17).

Romans 9:19–29 deals with the issue of whether or not God's sovereign choice to bless some, and not others, is ''fair,'' in the way we often use that term. Paul's essential argument is that God is God, and as the Creator, He has the right to do as He wishes with His own creation. A potter can choose how to use clay, and that clay has no cause to complain that it was chosen for one purpose or another. In the same way, God has the absolute right to choose whom He will save. Quotations from Hosea and Isaiah are used to show that this sovereignty extends to God's plan to include Gentiles in the plan of salvation.

Romans 9 begins with Paul describing his anguish for his people Israel in their rejection of Christ. After describing all the privileges God has given to the Jewish people as a nation, Paul insists that God will keep those promises. However, not every person born to Israel belongs to Israel, he writes. God reserves the right to show mercy to some and not others, as Paul demonstrates from Scripture. God is like a potter who creates some vessels for destruction and others for glory. God has called out His people from both the Gentiles and the Jews to faith in Christ, the stumbling stone.

Romans 8 ended with Paul's grand declaration that nothing can separate those who are in Christ Jesus from the love of God. Romans 9 turns a sharp corner and finds Paul heartbroken that his people, the Jews, have rejected Christ. He insists that God will keep His promises to Israel, but that not everyone born to Israel is truly Israel. God will show mercy to whomever He wishes, calling out His people from both the Jews and the Gentiles to faith in Christ. Romans 10 will find Paul discussing how Jewish people can be saved.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.

Accessed 5/19/2024 10:12:40 PM