Romans 9:22-25

Rachel Workman: 22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[i]

Verse 23 really stands out to me. We are the objects of his mercy. We were prepared in advance for his glory. I can't even really wrap my mind around that. We can make whatever choice we want when it comes to Christ. It all points to His glory.  We were either created for wrath or for glory. I'm grateful that I was not created for his wrath.

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John Burnett:  ²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”^[a]

Verse 22 rings truer today than it did back then.  God has shown great patience towards the world and its sin.   Those of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior are the objects of His mercy and Paul was making it known here that it was not just for the Jews but also for us Gentiles.   Thank you Lord for making a way for us as well and letting us be called your people.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Romans 9:26-29

²⁶ 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.’”^[j]

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
    only the remnant will be saved.
²⁸ For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”^[k]

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”^[l]