https://youtu.be/Szcx9AW0BEY
In our verse by verse study of Romans last time we started on Rom 9:7; by reading it in the NASB and the Nestle- Aland Greek text.
Verse 7 starts with "oude" (not) that is translated as "nor" means not even, nor, or neither. Next is the conjunction "hoti" (that) used as a causal conjunction to introduce a subordinate causal clause. It can be translated "nor even because" or "neither because."
Next is the present active plural indicative of the verb "eimi" (they are). The present tense of duration of the verb "to be" describes something that began in the past and continues into the present.
The origin of the Jewish race began in the past with Abraham's circumcision and continues into the present time through the formation of the race through Isaac and Jacob, and his twelve sons that became the patriarchs.
The active voice: the racial Jew who possesses the biological genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob produced the action of the verb. The declarative indicative mood describes the historical reality of the existence of the biological Jewish race as a new racial species.
Next comes the predicate nominative singular from the noun "sperma" (seed or descendants) that is a reference to the physical descendants of Abraham. "Sperma" (descendants) refers to the Jews biologically.
So far we have "nor because they are descendants." Plus the proper noun "Abraam" (Abraham) in other words, being a biological descendent of Abraham is not good enough.
Next is the nominative plural from the adjective "pas" (all), referring to all biological racial Jews, plus the predicate nominative plural from "teknon" (children) referring to those who would inherit God's promises.
"Teknon" is used here for children in the sense of inheritance. In other words the phrase "nor because they are Abraham's descendants are they all children of the inheritance" tells us that "not all biological racial Jews are inheritors."
We see there that both Isaac and Ishmael through the function of their own free will had self-determination.
In eternity before the creation of anything God's omniscience knew that the firstborn, Ishmael, would use his free will to reject Jesus Christ and that the second-born Isaac would use his free will to believe in Jesus Christ.
To be a child of the inheritance one must possess both imputed judicial righteousness and eternal life from God. Gen 15:6. God's judicial righteousness that is imputed when a person believes in Jesus Christ becomes the home or the target for God's blessings to Israel.
God's judicial righteousness and eternal life are only imputed through faith in Jesus Christ because the predicate for them is salvation adjustment to God's justice by believing in Jesus Christ.
Since God's omniscience knew that Isaac would believe in Adonai Elohim and Ishmael would reject Him He put the facts of history into the divine decree before time began. Remember that God's decree only contains reality but the alternative potentials also exist.
Potentials are never fed into the decree so they are never reality but God may disclose them in eternity because God knows the alternatives but He never they never become reality because He doesn't enter them into the divine decree.
Election, foreknowledge and predestination only recognize and acknowledge what is in the divine decree.
For example foreknowledge is not the same as omniscience. God's foreknowledge makes nothing certain it only acknowledges what is in the decree because being in the decree is what makes it certain. Foreknowledge can recognize what is certain but foreknowledge does not make it certain.
Similarly, election and predestination only recognize what is in the divine decree. But neither election nor predestination establish anything because they are simply readouts of what is in the decree.
That means that election, foreknowledge and predestination are doctrinal categories that are used to describe what is in the decree, while God's omniscience knows beforehand what decisions would be made and what decisions would not be made in eternity past God's omniscience simultaneously entered every reality into the divine decree.
God's omniscience knows the free will of every person and every decision and every alternative that will occur in every moment of history and He put it is all in the decree. God's omniscience even knows what would have happened down to the last generation of history if people had made different decisions.
Isaac's decision to believe in Christ is fed into the divine decree, resulting in Isaac being the one who scripture describes as being elected. Gen 17:21; 21:12; Heb 11:18.
This is why Jesus Christ is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob not the God of Nahor, Ishmael and Esau.
Because they believed in Jesus Christ God the Father became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and every other person (Jew of Gentile) who believes in Jesus Christ. Gal 3:26; John 14:6; Satan remains the unbeliever's god. John 8:44;
Ishmael was the firstborn, the natural but not the spiritual seed of Abraham. Ishmael did not possess either God's imputed judicial righteousness or eternal life. While Ishmael and his half brothers through Keturah are the source of many Arab nations they are not the children of the inheritance.
Only Isaac was the natural and the spiritual seed of Abraham because he was qualified through regeneration to be the heir of the promises and of the Abrahamic covenant.
God's Word never fails so it has not failed the Jews but the Jews who had God's Word rejected God's Word by rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ who is God's Shekinah glory.
Rom 9:7; The next word in our verse is the adversative conjunction "alla" (but) that sets up a contrast between Isaac and all of the other children of Abraham. Because Isaac is unique all of true Israel becomes unique.
The idea is to introduce Gen 21:12; that is quoted in Heb 11:18; and Rom 9:7; The principle is that to be an heir of God's promises one must possess God's judicial righteousness and God's eternal life.
Next is the preposition "en" (in) with the noun "Isaak" (Isaac) and the future passive indicative of the verb "kaleo" (called or elected), used here for election with the nominative singular subject, "sperma" (seed) with the dative singular indirect object from the personal pronoun "su" (you).
This literally means, "to you" so we have "in Isaac will be called or elected your seed or descendants."
"Kaleo" (elected) is in the gnomic future tense that is a statement of absolute reality. The passive voice: Abraham's racial seed, the Jews or the descendants, produce the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for historical reality. Literally, "In Isaac shall be elected or designated your descendants."
Expanded Translation Rom 9:7; "Neither because they are Abraham's seed are all racial Jews the children of the inheritance: but, in Isaac shall be elected your descendants."
We see here that the Jewish race began with Abraham's attainment of spiritual maturity that is represented by his circumcision when he was about 100 years old.
This is illustrated by the fact that the Jewish race originated from those who believed in Jehovah Elohim who God's Word later reveals as Jesus Christ, God's Shekinah glory.
The believer Abraham is the first Jew while his unbelieving brother Nahor remained a Gentile. As a believer Abraham was under the doctrinal categories of election, foreknowledge and predestination
There is a printout for each of those categories in God's decree. God's omniscience knew all the knowable, whether actual or possible. God knows every decision every human being will ever make.
God also knows the result of every decision in history and also knows what would be the result had free will determined to select another alternative. Therefore God's omniscience knows what happens in history and what could have happened, or may have happened under different circumstances.
So God's omniscience fed all of this into the His decree and only what actually happens is contained in the decree. In turn, the content of the decree is revealed or printed out in certain categories including election, foreknowledge, and predestination.
These categories only acknowledge what is reality before reality historically occurs. Therefore in the decrees we have Abraham and Isaac as the origin of the Jewish race. Since Israel is an election of God it must originate with regeneration for the possession of eternal life and the potential for blessing from God.
The origin of the Jewish race is totally spiritual because it is based on regeneration; in contrast to the origin the Gentile races that are based upon biological birth. All Gentile races are the descendants of Noah through Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The Jewish race originated with Abraham after his salvation adjustment to God's justice that was followed by maturity adjustment to God's justice from maximum doctrine in the soul when Abraham the Gentile was circumcised and became Abraham the Jew.
Since the Gentiles originate from physical birth and the Jews originate from spiritual birth no racial Jew can be a true Jew until he personally believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shekinah glory, and the God of Israel.
At the moment of faith in Christ the real Jew receives the imputation of God's judicial righteousness and eternal life that is necessary for blessing in time and eternity.
Paul's burden is related to the fact that negative volition has blinded his contemporary Jews to their spiritual origin. Paul's contemporary Jews were suffering from terminal self-righteousness having failed to equate the Lord Jesus Christ with the invisible Shekinah glory.
So the true Jew can never be a true Jew by simply possessing the genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He can only be a true Jew by also possessing the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through faith in Jesus Christ.
There is no way for any biological only descendants of Abraham to inherit the promises of Israel. Only the spiritual descendants of Abraham are qualified to inherit through regeneration and resultant imputation of God's judicial righteousness and eternal life.