Romans 09 Round Two: God's Heart Seeks the Lost

What kind of love says, “I’d be cut off if it saved them”? Paul’s confession in Romans 9 pulls us into a tender, complex space where God’s mercy, human choice, and Israel’s story collide. We open the text with fresh eyes, tracing how the promise to Abraham was never about pedigree alone but about a promise line that would bless the world. Along the way, we confront the stumbling stone that still trips us up today: trying to earn what can only be received.

We walk through Paul’s anguish for his people and the hard passages many avoid—Pharaoh’s hardened heart, the potter and the clay, and the remnant language from Isaiah and Hosea. Rather than flatten the tension, we let Scripture hold it: God is sovereign and patient; people are responsible and invited. Mercy isn’t a wage, and faith isn’t a loophole. It’s the doorway. That’s why Gentiles were welcomed by trust, while many in Israel stumbled by trying to climb to God on the rungs of rule-keeping. The result isn’t despair; it’s clarity and hope.

We also tackle the big why: if God is good, why doesn’t everyone believe? We explore thoughtful perspectives, including the idea that God orders the world to maximize real opportunities to respond, without pretending we can solve the mystery. Our takeaway is practical and urgent—never give up on people. Keep praying. Keep sharing your story. Trust that anyone who believes will never be put to shame. If you’re weary from striving, this conversation offers rest, courage, and a renewed vision of grace that actually saves.

If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the Bible Breakdown. What insight stood out to you most today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Setup
• 1:05 Community Shoutouts And CTAs
• 2:03 Romans Context And Big Theme
• 3:41 Paul’s Grief For Israel
• 5:02 Children Of Promise Explained
• 6:28 Mercy, Hardening, And God’s Sovereignty
• 8:03 Gentiles By Faith, Israel And The Law
• 9:28 Free Will, Molinism, And Trusting God
• 12:23 Never Give Up On People
• 13:53 Prayer And Final Encouragement

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, everybody. Hope you're having a wonderful day today. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon, today, Romans chapter 9. And if I could give this one a title, it would be God's Heart Seeks the Lost. God's Heart Seeks the Lost. We're going to see here in just a moment is how Paul just, I mean, he loves the Jewish people. He he is Jewish and he understands what's up. And so it's like nobody can talk bad about somebody like family. You know what it's like, you can talk about my family, uh, or rather, I can talk about my family, but you can't, right? So he's gonna go in and just talk about how his heart breaks for the stubbornness of the nation of Israel. We're gonna get into that in just a moment because we can talk about that because we just got through surviving, you know, the whole first part of the New Testament, right? But we'll get into that just a moment. As always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to this on the YouTubes. Thank you guys so much for doing that. Man, it's really, really starting to beef up as we're on our way to 1,000 subscribers. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you are listening to this on the podcast, you're still my favorites. And thank you so very much. We have really had more people giving us those five-star reviews, and it really helps us become findable in all of the different apps and the different things. So please make sure you are taking just a moment to do that. It really does help us out a lot. And for everybody who is going and reading and even more participating at the Facebook discussion group, man, you're awesome. I love reading those devotions every day because it really gives us just a different spin, a different thought on what we're reading together. So make sure you go there, man. The more we dig, the more we find. And I just I love this idea of building this tribe of people that were rallied around just reading God's word, knowing him more every day. And it's absolutely awesome. And so if you want to get your Bibles out with me, we're gonna be reading out of the New Living Translation again. Go ahead and top your coffee off today, get you get your cream or your sugar, whatever you got. Let me catch us up with where we are. And that is, remember that Paul would have written this to the church at Rome and he would have sent it on ahead of himself. Normally, what he would do is he would go into a synagogue, that's a Jewish church, and he would begin sharing with them the gospel. But he hasn't been to Rome yet, so he sends on that introductory message ahead of himself. And that's what this is. This is the most systematic example explained gospel presentation that we're gonna see throughout the entire Bible. And he just builds one thing after another. Chapter one was all about how we all sinned, we've all gone our own way, and and the more we go our own way, the more crazy it gets, right? Chapter two, he said it doesn't matter if you're Jewish or gentile, all have fallen. And that that's important because for the Gentiles, they would look down at the Jewish people and go, ugh, what are y'all doing? You know? Well, the Jewish people, they looked down at the Gentiles and said, Ugh, what are y'all doing? And so he's saying, No, no, it doesn't matter what ugly you got. Everybody is guilty. And then chapter three, it was like, gee, thanks, God showed us the law to see how all of us had failed. Appreciate that, right? But then enter Jesus. Chapter four and chapter five is all about the goodness and the grace of God and how that brings joy. Then he said, Okay, well, once we find God, chapter six, we're no longer slaves. Chapter seven, the battle for freedom continues. And then, man, wasn't chapter eight amazing? Where he's just, but God, even though the battle continues, man, my heart is always full because I know whose I am in Christ. And so now, chapter nine, he says, as God is doing in this in our heart, as God begins to grow in us, our heart will slowly start to hurt for those around us. Because God is gonna put within us that passion and that desire to then share the theme of this entire book. Remember, the whole theme of this book was that the most beautiful thing in all creation is that the creator came for us. And that's not just us who know God, but those who don't know God yet. And that's what Paul is gonna talk about in this. And he's gonna talk about the idea that way back in the Old Testament, God told Abraham, I'm going to bless all of your descendants. And through those descendants, I'm gonna bless the whole world. In other words, the whole world is gonna get to know me by what I do in your family. That's why Paul is just so just ugh, you know what I mean, just want to scream out loud to say, man, when you realize what God's wanting to do, man, you want to get in on it. And that's why his heart is breaking for those lost people. And we're gonna read this and see if maybe God will put a little bit of this in us as well, because just as God reached out for us, he wants to reach out to others as well. So let's read this together. Romans chapter 9, verse 1 says this. Here we go. With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief. For my people, the Jewish brothers and sisters, I would be willing to be forever cursed, cut off from Christ, if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God's adopted children. God revealed his glory to them, and he made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all his ancestors, and Christ Himself was an Israelite as far as this human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise. Amen. Well, then has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who were born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God's family. Being descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children, for Scripture says Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. Though Abraham had other children too, this means that Abraham's physical descendants are not always necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham's children. For God had promised, I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Now, what he's saying is that Abraham actually ended up having more kids. He had Ishmael through uh Hagar, and then he had Isaac through Sarah. And it was through that promise, because see, Sarah was too old. She wasn't able to have kids anymore. But God did a miracle, and he said, Through this miracle, it's through those people that I'm going to bless all of the world. And so he's saying through that specific lineage that God said, I want to bless the whole world through them. So, verse 10, this son was our ancestor, Isaac. When he was married to Rebecca, he gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. This message shows that God had chosen his people according to his purposes, for he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works. She she was told, Your older son will serve your younger son. And in these words of the scripture, it says, I have loved Jacob, and I have rejected Esau. Are we saying then that God was unfair? Of course not. For God said to Moses, I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. It is God who decides who to show mercy to, and we can neither choose it nor work for it. Now notice that he said, You cannot choose to receive the mercy of God. God gives it, and because he gives it, our job is to then receive it, right? Verse 17 says this for the scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, I have appointed you for this very purpose of displaying my power in you and to then spread my fame throughout the earth. So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, but he chooses to harden the hearts of others, so they refuse to listen. Now pause. Now it's not saying that he purposely causes people to reject him. What he's saying is he keeps his hand open and he offers the opportunity, but yet he doesn't stop the hardening of the hearts of those who harden against him. He's not going to force his way into anyone. So he keeps it open. So if they harden their heart, that's that's up to them. But if they receive him, that's up to them as well. Verse 19 says, You may say then, why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do? In other words, he's saying, Why, if they chose to do that, then why does God get mad at them? That that was that was what they did, and he gave them the free choice. Verse 20 says, No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one that created it, Why have you made me like this? When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have the right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and the other to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. Concerning the Gentiles, God says in this prophecy to Hosea, those who are not my people, I will now call my people, and I will love those whom I did not love before. And then at the place where they were told, You are not you are not my people, they will be called children of the living God. And concerning Isaiah, Isaiah the prophet cried out, Though the people of Israel are numerous as the sands of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality. And Isaiah said the same thing in another place. If the Lord of heaven's armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom and destroyed like Gomorrah. What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles are not trying to follow God's standards, they had an opportunity or they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. With the people of Israel who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over a great rock in their path. And God warned them of this in the scriptures when he said, I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Did you catch that last part? When it said the reason why they failed wasn't because they weren't passionate about the law. They failed because they thought they would get to God by being perfect, not by trusting in him. And that's one of the things we have to grapple with even today. You know, the theology behind this is very deep and it's very rich because what Paul is grappling with is what a lot of us grapple with, and that is that God, if you're good, then why doesn't everybody get saved? Why do you give us a choice in the matter? Why why don't you just make sure that everybody gets saved? Because unfortunately, not everybody's going to trust you. And the reality is, is that we have to trust in the Lord. There is a particular type of theological idea called uh Molinism. And I don't necessarily completely subscribe to this, but the guy who first came up with it said, What if we're living in a universe that God created, that from the very first time when he spoke the worlds into existence, he spoke it in such a way so that people would give have the optimal opportunity to hear the gospel. They would have the most amount of opportunities, the most amount of choices, so that if they turn their back on God, it was because they had been given every single chance to hear the gospel. It makes a lot of sense to me, but I don't know at the end of the day. Why do some people choose God? Why do some people not? I think it comes down to the fact that love can never be obligated. If you force someone to love you, then it's not really love, because love must be freely given. And in that world, God had to wager on the reality that if he gave us free choice, he knew because he's God, some people would ultimately choose to not follow him. It was a statistical certainty. But he wanted everyone to have the choice. And what Paul is grappling with here is he's saying, I don't get it, I don't understand it, but I trust the Lord. And I trust that God is doing the right thing for the right people at the right time. And at the end of the day, we trust the Lord. We trust that God is moving in this. But you see how he's saying, even though some are not going to choose him, that doesn't stop me from wanting it to be so. It doesn't stop me from hoping for it to be so, for cheering them on as much as possible and my heart breaking for them. And so, what do we do with this today? And that is this never give up on people around you. Maybe you've been sharing your story and sharing, you know, your testimony with people all around you for weeks, months, years, and they've never turned to the Lord. Maybe they've just been hostile toward God. Never give up. We have no idea in the sovereignty of God if they're going to ultimately choose the Lord or not. It's not our job. As you can see with Paul grappling with this, he's saying, I don't understand it. And you know what? Look further back and realize that the Holy Spirit inspired the scripture. So he gives us a glimpse into the idea that it is something that we have to grapple with. Is everything determined or is there free choice? And to realize that the Holy Spirit is okay with us grappling with us as long as we trust the Lord and we continue to allow God's heart to push us to reach out for others, to never give up. Because I'm so very glad that no one ever gave up on me, but always reached out for me. And just as God's heart loves you, be sure that you are reaching out and you're loving others as well. It's a lot here, a lot to digest. We're gonna pray, and I look forward to seeing you over at the Bible Breakdown Facebook page as we continue to break this down together. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much. That your word is deep, it is wide, it is rich, and we'll never get to the end of it, but we can take that journey together. God, I have no idea in the fullness of time if all of this is predetermined or if it's all about choice. I lean toward all about choice, but I trust you. I trust God that you have made this good earth in such a way, you've made all of us in such a way, to give us the optimal opportunities to choose you. And I'm thankful for that free choice, God, that you chose to take the chance, that in giving us that freely given choice, some would turn away. I pray, God, that I'll never lose sight and I'll never lose the joy of the opportunity to turn my heart toward you. But then it'll also compel me to one more time tell somebody else about the gospel so they can experience that joy themselves as well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. This is kind of heavy, heady stuff. But man, it's good and it is it's like eating vegetables, man, but it's gonna work out great. And so as we get ready to end this time together, my prayer for you is Romans 1:16 will be your reality, and that is I am not ashamed of the good news about Christ. Why? For it is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes. Puts our trust in the Lord. Let's think on it for just a little while. And I love I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for Romans chapter 10.