NOTES for Rom 9:1-18

Continuing the theme of the people of God, Paul again turns to the question of who belongs to it and where its boundaries run. The apostle recalls the age of the Patriarchs, when these boundaries were often defined by God in violation of traditional clan and tribal arrangements: brothers by blood turned out to be strangers in spirit, God's plans could be completely different even when the matter concerned closest relatives, and the most important role was by no means given to the eldest, as tradition prescribed (vv. 6-13). The ethno-religious boundaries of the people, which remain unchanged and unquestioned, may differ from its spiritual boundaries, and do in fact differ from them, which causes the apostle deep sorrow (vv. 1-5). But he understands that belonging or not belonging to the people of God does not depend on a human being or on human efforts (vv. 14-18).

This is not surprising: according to the commonly accepted view of that time, the creation of the people of God was already part of God's plans when He created the world. But when God conceived His people, He did not predetermine the fate of particular persons. He decided the question of who exactly would become part of His people, and how, on the basis only of His own considerations, known to Him alone. Now the apostle understands that something similar is happening with the birth of the Church as the new people of God: no human criteria, plans, or forecasts apply here. Even belonging to the Jewish people and to the Synagogue is not in itself a guarantee that a person will enter this new people. After all, the matter concerns the Kingdom and those who enter the Kingdom, and they are brought into it by the One who establishes His own deeply personal and absolutely unique relationship with each person who enters. One can seek an encounter with Christ, and one can await the Kingdom with trembling and hope, but whether the seeker will find what he seeks depends only on God's choice and will.