Passage
Not only this, but also when Rebecca has conceived out of
one man, Isaac our Father. For after not
yet being born and neither after doing right or wrong – in order that the
purpose of God according to a significant preference should remain, not out of
our works but out of the one who calls – it was being said to her that the
older will serve the younger. Just as it
has been written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Much of Paul’s
writing here is rather convoluted. I don’t
mean this to say that he is wrong.
Certainly not! I mean that to say
that he stacks clauses upon clauses and this makes it hard for us to keep track
of what he is saying. Let’s start with
his point about Jacob and Esau coming from one man: Isaac. If salvation and God’s love was based on
genealogy, then Jacob and Esau should share God’s love, because they both are biologically
the children of Isaac, who was the heir of Abraham. But we know that Jacob was accepted and Esau
was rejected. Thus, God must not base
His love and salvation upon genealogy.
If God does not base His love upon genealogy, what is left
for Him to use? How can you focus on
those areas of your life about which God genuinely cares?
Second Thought:
Next, Paul makes the argument that Rebecca was told the
older would serve the lesser before her twins were ever born. Before they ever had a chance to do right or
wrong God made the promise to Rebecca.
Here we see that it is not even our capacity for good or evil that is
the basis of God’s love for us. God does
not love us more when we accomplish tons of things for His kingdom. Similarly, He does not love us less when we
fail Him. That is how human love works,
but not how God’s love works. God’s love
is unconditional, based upon something besides our works.
If God does not use our works to be the basis of His love,
what does He use? What then is the point
of good works and obedience to Him as our Father?
Third Thought:
Paul does tell us, though, that God does have a significant
preference. We know that God loved Jacob
and hated Esau. From a human perspective
this statement seems cold and harsh. But
God does not love according to human perspective. God loves sinners. John 3:16 tells us as much. If God didn’t love sinners, none of us could
be saved! It was not Jacob’s perfection
that drew him into the camp of being loved.
It was his reception of the love and the relationship that grew out of
the love that allowed Jacob to dwell and remain in God’s love. While we were yet sinners, God sent us Jesus
to deal with our sin. What remains is
whether we truly want to be a people of the promise or not.
Do you want to be a person of the promise? How do you receive Christ? How do you receive God’s promise of
salvation? How does this point play into
the conversation about why we are obedient to God’s will while submitting to
Him?
Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:14-18
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