Sermon Resources - Dr. Toby Holt
Before Jacob and Esau were born — before either had done anything good or evil — God made a choice, and it was not the obvious one. The older would serve the younger. In this sermon on Genesis 25, Dr. Toby Holt examines what the birth of Jacob and Esau reveals about divine election and sovereign grace, how this passage became the centerpiece of Paul's argument in Romans 9 about God's freedom to act according to His own purpose, and why the doctrine of election — rightly understood — is not a cold theological abstraction but one of the most humbling and assuring truths in all of Scripture.
0:00 — Introduction the doctrine of sovereign election embedded in Genesis's narrative
3:30 — Jacob and Esau two sons from one mother, one divine promise, one sovereign choice
7:45 — "Before they were born, before either had done anything good or evil, it was said"
12:00 — Paul's decisive and extended theological interpretation of the choice
16:30 — Election and God's absolute freedom to act entirely according to His own purpose
21:00 — "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated" what this phrase actually and precisely means
25:15 — Election and the deep assurance it provides for every believing and struggling soul
28:30 — Conclusion chosen in Christ before the very foundation of the world was laid
Questions This Sermon Answers:
1. What does the choice of Jacob over Esau teach about election?
Genesis 25:23 records God's pre-birth declaration: "the older shall serve the younger." Paul interprets this in Romans 9:11 as the paradigm case of unconditional election: "though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls." The choice was made before either son existed, on no basis within either son, demonstrating that God's election is unconditional and sovereign.
2. What does "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated" mean in Romans 9:13?
Paul quotes Malachi 1:2-3, where God speaks of two nations, not merely two individuals. "Hated" in this context means "loved less" or "set aside" — a Semitic idiom for comparative preference (compare Luke 14:26 where Jesus says disciples must "hate" their families). The statement concerns God's sovereign choice of Israel as the covenant nation through Jacob's line, not a statement about Esau's eternal destiny. However, Paul does use it to establish the broader principle that God's mercy is not owed to all.
3. Is God's election based on foreseen faith?
The Arminian view holds that God elected those whom He foresaw would believe. Reformed theology argues this contradicts Paul's point in Romans 9:11: the election was made "not because of works" — which includes future works, including the future work of faith. Westminster Confession 3.5 states that God's election is "of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, as conditions or causes moving Him thereunto." Foreknowledge in Romans 8:29 means fore-loved, not fore-predicted.
4. How did Calvin understand predestination?
Calvin defined predestination as "the eternal decree of God, by which He determined in himself what He wished to happen with regard to every man." He distinguished between election (choice for salvation) and reprobation (passing over others), while insisting God is not the author of sin. Calvin argued that the doctrine, though mysterious, is taught plainly in Scripture and should be neither denied nor over-speculated upon: "Let us not be ashamed to be ignorant in a matter in which ignorance is learning."
5. How does R.C. Sproul explain election?
Sproul, following Calvin and the Westminster Standards, argued that God's election is monergistic — God alone causes salvation, without any contributing merit from the sinner. In his book Chosen by God, he addresses the common objection that election is unfair: "The question is not why God saves some and not all — the real question is why God saves any at all." Since all sinners deserve condemnation, the election of any is grace; the non-election of others is justice. Neither is unfair.
6. What is the pastoral significance of election for believers?
The doctrine of election is one of the most stabilizing truths in Christian experience. If salvation originates in God's choice rather than human decision, then it cannot be lost by human failure. Romans 8:29-30 forms the "golden chain" — foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified — in which no link breaks. Spurgeon said: "I am glad that the eternal purposes of God are not dependent on the whims and fancies of weak human beings." Election grounds the assurance of salvation in God's unchanging will rather than the believer's fluctuating feelings.
7. How did Jacob's character complicate the doctrine?
Jacob was a deceiver — his name means "supplanter." He deceived his father, stole his brother's blessing, and manipulated his uncle's flocks. Yet he was the chosen one. This is not an embarrassment to the doctrine of election — it is its illustration. God did not choose Jacob because of his superior character. He chose Jacob to display His sovereign freedom and to demonstrate that His covenant purposes are not thwarted by the failures of His chosen instruments. The same pattern continues throughout Scripture and in the church.
8. How does election relate to human responsibility?
Romans 9 does not resolve the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility — it asserts both. After establishing God's sovereign election (9:6-18), Paul immediately addresses human responsibility in the remaining chapters: "whoever believes in him will not be put to shame" (10:11). Westminster Confession 3.1 affirms both: "God from all eternity did ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away." Both are true; neither cancels the other.
Key Theological Points:
1. Unconditional Election
Westminster Confession 3.5 states that God predestined certain persons to life "not because of any foreseen faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, but of his mere free grace and love." This is what the Jacob-Esau narrative establishes: two sons, equal in every way, one chosen and one not, on no basis within either of them. The doctrine is not a philosophical speculation — it is the exegesis of Genesis 25 and Romans 9. Calvin, Sproul, and Spurgeon all held it for the same reason: Paul says it plainly.
2. The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The Reformed tradition's consistent witness is that God's sovereignty in salvation is total, not partial. Monergism — the view that God alone causes regeneration, and human faith follows rather than precedes it — is grounded in texts like John 6:44 ("No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him") and Ephesians 2:1 ("you were dead in trespasses and sins"). The dead cannot choose life; they must be made alive. Jacob and Esau illustrate this at the level of redemptive history: the covenant people exists because of God's choice, not human initiative.
3. Election and Assurance
The practical benefit of the doctrine of election, as Calvin taught in the Institutes, is that it grounds assurance in God's unchanging will rather than the believer's changeable feelings. "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3) — everlasting means it predates time and survives all human failure. The Christian's security is not based on the firmness of their grip on God but on the firmness of God's grip on them. Romans 8:35-39: nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
4. The Text: Romans 9:11-13 (NKJV)
"For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her, The older shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
Continue studying: explore the full Book of Genesis sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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