“That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
9:8 That is, Not the children, &c. - As if he had said, This is a clear type of things to come; showing us, that in all succeeding generations, not the children of the flesh, the lineal descendants of Abraham, but the children of the promise, they to whom the promise is made, that is, believers, are the children of God. #Gen 21:12|
Ro 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, etc. Since Ishmael, born according to natural laws, was not of the chosen race, but Isaac, the child of promise, born contrary to natural law, because the chosen people, it follows that the children of God are not the children of the flesh, the mere fleshly descendants of Abraham, but the children of the promise; those who are of the seed according to the conditions of the promise. This argument is a reply to those who based all upon their fleshly relation to Abraham: "We have Abraham to our Father" (Mt 3:9). In order to show this more fully Paul recalls the incidents recorded in Ge 18:10-14.