Gods Elect?

What have you been taught on God's Elect?  Paul is clear in the book of Romans!

When Romans 5:16–21 is contrasted with Romans 9, the difference in subject and purpose becomes clear. Romans 5 is addressing the scope of the gospel through the Adam–Christ contrast. Paul’s language is universal: polloi (“many”) used symmetrically, and pantas anthrōpous (“all men”) used explicitly. His point is that just as Adam’s single act brought death to humanity, Christ’s single righteous act made justification available to humanity. The issue in Romans 5 is provision and power — grace reigning over sin — not selection.

Romans 9, however, is not a discussion about who the gospel is for but about how God has remained faithful to His covenant promises despite widespread Jewish unbelief. Paul is explaining why many ethnic Israelites rejected Christ while Gentiles were coming to faith. The chapter deals with corporate roles, historical purpose, and covenant lineage, not individual salvation limits. When Paul speaks of Jacob and Esau, Pharaoh, or the potter and the clay, he is addressing God’s sovereign right to choose instruments, nations, and purposes in redemptive history — not declaring that God offers salvation only to a predetermined few while excluding the rest of humanity.

This is why Romans 9 must be read with Romans 10 and 11. Paul immediately moves from sovereignty to responsibility: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (10:13). The gospel is preached, faith comes by hearing, and Israel’s hardening is described as partial and temporary, not absolute or eternal. Paul even concludes that God has “consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all” (11:32), reinforcing that mercy, not exclusion, is the end goal.

Romans 5 answers the question, How far does grace reach? Romans 9 answers a different question, How is God faithful to His promises while working through human history? When Romans 9 is forced to override Romans 5, the result is a narrowed gospel Paul never preached. But when each chapter is allowed to speak in its own context, the message is consistent: humanity fell universally in Adam, salvation is provided universally in Christ, and God sovereignly works through history so that mercy may be proclaimed to the world.