Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13

Through the years, many have struggled over those words. What Paul is teaching us is that God is sovereign. Salvation has always been about sovereign grace and always on His terms. Here are those terms: Salvation is never based on ancestry. Who you are by birth does not matter. Second, salvation is always based on the work of the Messiah, not ours. The third principle is that salvation never takes any notice of whether we are good or bad. Never! That is what was established here in this text. These children were neither good nor bad, yet God chose Jacob and passed over Esau. I know this can be challenging, but I pray that today’s lesson will help all of us come to understand and trust these words.