Romans 9:1-16 (Quoted from NLT)

 1-5 “With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness.  My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.  (2) My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief (3) for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.  I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ if that would save them.  (4) They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.  God revealed his glory to them.  He made covenants with them and gave them his law.  He gave them the privilege of worshipping him and receiving wonderful promises. (5) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned.  And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise!  Amen.”

 6-9 “Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel?  No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! (7) Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children.  For the Scripture’s say, ‘Isaac is the son through whom the descendants will be counted.’  though Abraham had other children too.  (8) This means that Abraham’s physical children are not necessarily children of God.  Only the children of promise are considered Abraham’s children. (9) For God had promised, ‘I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’”

 10-13 “This son was our ancestor Isaac.  When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. (11) But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God.  This message shows God chooses people according to his purposes; (12) he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works. She was told, ‘Your older son will serve your younger son.’ (13) In the words of the Scriptures, ‘I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.’”

 14-16   “Are we saying then that God was unfair? Of course not!  (15) For God said to Moses, ‘I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.’ (16) So it is  God who decides to show mercy.  We can neither choose it, nor work for it.”

My comments:  God’s chosen people are the Israelite’s or the descendants of Jacob/Israel.  Isaac was the child promised to Abraham, not Ishmael or the other children that Abraham had with Keturah, (his second wife after Sarah died) It was only Isaac’s descendants that were are counted as God’s children or chosen people, and not all of the other children that came from Abraham.  Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, but before they were even born or did anything good or bad, God chose Jacob for the blood line of Jesus, and he rejected Esau. This shows us that God has a plan for everyone even before they are born.  He doesn’t choose us based on our behavior, He chooses us according to His plans.  He can show mercy to whomever He chooses, we can’t choose it or work for it.

I want to note that later in this chapter, (tomorrow's reading),  it tells us that Hosea prophesied that the Gentiles (non-Israelites) that  were not originally called God's people would later be called His people.  So even though we are not Israelites that descended from Isaac, and Jacob, we are still considered to be God's people today.