17/07/2026
Esau or Jacob
This question must not be treated lightly. It is not merely, “Do I belong to a church?” but, “Has sovereign grace truly changed me?”
AM I A JACOB, OR AN ESAU?
A Solemn Examination of Election, Faith, Repentance, and Assurance
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Romans 9:11–13
There are questions that concern our comfort.
There are questions that concern our earthly future.
But there are also questions that concern our eternal destiny.
“Am I a Jacob, or am I an Esau?”
This is not a question to be answered casually.
It cannot be answered merely by saying:
“I attend church.”
“I was baptized.”
“I belong to a Christian family.”
“I believe there is a God.”
“I once prayed a prayer.”
“I accepted Jesus many years ago.”
“I am Reformed.”
“I know the doctrines of grace.”
None of these things, by themselves, prove that a person has been born of God.
Esau was born inside the covenant family.
Esau was circumcised.
Esau was a son of Isaac.
Esau was a grandson of Abraham.
Esau grew up hearing about the promises of God.
Esau lived near the altar.
Esau lived among the people of God.
Yet Esau despised the birthright.
He valued the satisfaction of his appetite above the blessing of God.
Therefore, the question is not merely:
“Am I close to the things of God?”
The deeper question is:
“Has God changed my heart toward Christ, sin, holiness, and eternity?”
1. Romans 9 Teaches That Salvation Begins With God
Paul deliberately takes us back to the time before Jacob and Esau were born.
They had not yet done good.
They had not yet done evil.
God’s choice of Jacob was not based upon Jacob’s superior character.
It was not because God looked down the corridors of time and saw that Jacob would make a better decision.
It was not because Jacob was more naturally spiritual.
It was not because Jacob deserved mercy.
The choice was made:
That the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.
Salvation begins in the eternal purpose of God.
Salvation does not begin with man seeking God.
It begins with God setting His love upon an undeserving sinner.
It does not begin with man opening his heart.
It begins with God opening the sinner’s heart.
It does not begin with man giving himself spiritual life.
It begins when God commands the spiritually dead sinner to live.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Romans 9:16
Jacob was not chosen because he was worthy.
Jacob was chosen because God is merciful.
This destroys all human boasting.
No Christian will enter Heaven saying:
“I was wiser than Esau.”
“I was more humble than Esau.”
“I made a better choice than Esau.”
“I used my free will correctly while others did not.”
Every redeemed sinner will confess:
“By the grace of God I am what I am.”
If you are saved, God must receive all the glory.
But if you remain unbelieving, you cannot blame God.
The sinner willingly rejects God.
The sinner willingly loves darkness.
The sinner willingly chooses sin.
The sinner willingly refuses to come to Christ.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
John 5:40
The sovereignty of God does not remove man’s responsibility.
It reveals the terrible depth of man’s inability and rebellion.
2. The Secret Decree of God Is Not Where You Must Begin
Many troubled people ask:
“What if I am not elect?”
“What if Christ did not die for me?”
“What if God has not chosen me?”
“What if I am an Esau?”
But God has not commanded you to climb into Heaven and read the secret book of His decrees.
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us.
Deuteronomy 29:29
Election is God’s secret until it is revealed through its fruits.
You do not begin by asking whether your name is written in Heaven.
You begin with what God has revealed:
Repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Acts 16:31
Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37
God does not command the sinner to discover election before coming to Christ.
He commands the sinner to come.
Do not sit in unbelief and say:
“I will not come until I know whether I am chosen.”
Come because Christ commands you to come.
Come because you are guilty.
Come because you are helpless.
Come because you have no righteousness.
Come because there is salvation in no other.
Come because Christ receives sinners.
The very person who sincerely comes to Christ will eventually understand that he came only because the Father first drew him.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
John 6:44
God’s drawing does not drag a sinner unwillingly to Christ while the sinner fights to remain away.
God changes the heart.
God makes the unwilling willing.
God gives the sinner eyes to see Christ’s beauty.
God gives the sinner hunger for the Bread of Life.
God gives the sinner thirst for Living Water.
The sinner then comes freely because grace has conquered his rebellion.
3. Jacob Was Not Chosen Because He Was Better Than Esau
We must not imagine Jacob as naturally righteous and Esau as the only wicked man.
Jacob was a sinner.
Jacob deceived.
Jacob manipulated.
Jacob feared man.
Jacob sometimes trusted his own schemes.
Jacob needed to be humbled, broken, corrected, and preserved by grace.
The difference between Jacob and Esau was not that Jacob had no sin.
The difference was that God determined to save Jacob in spite of his sin.
Jacob was not a trophy of human goodness.
He was a trophy of sovereign mercy.
This is essential for the doubting believer.
A true Christian is not someone who can say:
“I no longer struggle.”
“I never fall.”
“I never doubt.”
“I never feel the corruption of my heart.”
The true believer often sees more sin in himself than he saw before conversion.
Why?
Because the light has entered.
Before conversion, the sinner may live peacefully with sin.
After conversion, sin becomes a burden.
The believer does not merely fear the consequences of sin; he grieves because he has sinned against God.
Jacob wrestled.
Jacob limped.
Jacob suffered discipline.
Jacob was imperfect.
But God would not let him go.
The evidence of grace is not sinless perfection.
It is a new warfare against sin.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
Galatians 5:17
The dead man does not fight his corruption.
The living man does.
4. Esau’s Great Sin Was That He Despised Spiritual Blessing
Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 25:34
Esau exchanged his birthright for one meal.
He exchanged the lasting for the temporary.
He exchanged covenant privilege for bodily satisfaction.
He treated the blessing of God as though it were worth less than a bowl of food.
This is the spirit of Esau.
Esau asks:
What can satisfy me now?
Jacob, though deeply flawed, desired the blessing.
Esau lived for appetite.
Esau lived for the present world.
Esau lived by sight.
Esau wanted the gifts of God without wanting God Himself.
Many professing Christians are exactly like Esau.
They want Heaven, but they do not want holiness.
They want forgiveness, but they do not want repentance.
They want Christ as Saviour, but not Christ as King.
They want peace of conscience, but they do not want the mortification of sin.
They want God to bless their plans, but they do not want God to rule their lives.
They want a religion that comforts them but never confronts them.
They want preaching that encourages them but never wounds their pride.
They want a Christ who saves them from Hell, but not a Christ who saves them from their beloved sins.
This is Esaulike religion.
It values temporary comfort above eternal blessing.
Ask yourself:
What do I truly treasure?
Is Christ precious to me?
Is the forgiveness of sins precious?
Is communion with God precious?
Is holiness desirable?
Is the Word of God more valuable than the approval of men?
Or would I sell spiritual blessing for pleasure, money, reputation, entertainment, lust, comfort, or acceptance?
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21
Your mouth may claim Christ.
Your life reveals your treasure.
5. Esau Regretted His Loss, But He Did Not Truly Repent
Hebrews gives a frightening warning:
“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Hebrews 12:16–17
Esau cried.
Esau was emotional.
Esau was distressed.
But tears alone are not repentance.
A person can weep because he has lost a blessing without grieving that he has sinned against God.
A person can fear Hell without loving Christ.
A person can hate the consequences of sin while still loving the sin itself.
A person can be sorry that he was caught.
Sorry that his reputation was destroyed.
Sorry that his family was hurt.
Sorry that his health suffered.
Sorry that judgment is coming.
Yet he may still possess an unbroken heart toward God.
Judas regretted betraying Christ.
Pharaoh repeatedly asked for relief.
Saul admitted that he had sinned.
Esau wept over the lost blessing.
But godly sorrow is different.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
True repentance does not merely say:
“I hate what sin has done to me.”
It says:
“I hate what my sin is before God.”
True repentance does not negotiate with sin.
It turns from sin toward God.
True repentance does not purchase forgiveness.
It is the fruit of a heart made alive by grace.
Ask yourself:
Am I grieved because sin has injured my comfort, or because sin has dishonoured my God?
6. A Jacob Is Known by God Given Faith and Repentance
You cannot see the eternal decree.
But you may examine the fruits of grace.
Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.
2 Peter 1:10
Peter does not mean that we make God’s election more certain in Heaven.
God’s decree cannot fail.
He means that we seek confirmation of our calling and election through the fruits God produces in our lives.
Paul wrote:
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost.
1 Thessalonians 1:4–5
Their election became evident because the gospel came with transforming power.
Election produces calling.
Calling produces faith.
Faith produces justification.
Justification is followed by sanctification.
Sanctification produces perseverance.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified.
Romans 8:30
God’s election is never barren.
It produces fruit.
Not perfect fruit.
Not equal fruit in every believer.
But real fruit.
A Jacob is not someone who merely knows the doctrine of election.
A Jacob is someone who has been effectually called to Christ.
A Jacob does not trust that being elect saves him apart from Christ.
He trusts Christ because election has brought him to Christ.
A Jacob does not say:
“I can live in sin because God chose me.”
That is the language of presumption, not grace.
The purpose of election includes holiness.
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.
Ephesians 1:4
God does not choose people so that they may remain comfortably enslaved to sin.
He chooses them unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13
Therefore ask:
Has the gospel remained only information in my mind?
Or has it become power in my soul?
Have I merely learned Reformed language?
Or have I been brought to the feet of Christ?
Do I merely defend sovereign grace?
Or has sovereign grace humbled me?
Do I boast that I am chosen?
Or do I wonder that God would have mercy upon someone like me?
7. The True Question Is: What Is My Relationship to Jesus Christ?
Many people want to know whether they are elect while avoiding the clearest question:
Do I truly believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ?
Not:
Do I believe facts about Jesus?
The devils believe facts.
Not:
Did I once repeat a prayer?
Not:
Did I walk to the front of a church?
Not:
Did I invite Jesus into my heart?
The biblical question is:
Have I seen myself as a guilty, helpless, condemned sinner?
Have I abandoned confidence in my own righteousness?
Am I resting upon Christ alone His obedience, His blood, His death, His resurrection, and His intercession?
Is Christ my only hope before the judgment seat of God?
True faith does not say:
“Christ has done most of it, and I will complete the rest.”
True faith says:
Nothing in my hand I bring; I have no righteousness, no merit, no payment, no excuse. Christ alone is my salvation.
Paul desired to:
Be found in him, not having mine own righteousness.
Philippians 3:9
A true believer may have weak faith.
He may tremble.
He may struggle with assurance.
He may cry:
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:24
But weak faith may still lay hold of a strong Christ.
The question is not whether your faith is always strong.
The question is whether Christ is the object of your faith.
A trembling hand can receive a perfect gift.
8. Do Not Confuse Doubt With Unbelief
Some true believers fear that their doubts prove they are Esaus.
But there is a difference between unbelief that rejects Christ and weakness that clings to Christ while trembling.
The hypocrite may possess great confidence.
The true believer may possess many fears.
False assurance says:
“I am saved, although I love my sin, neglect Christ, despise holiness, and refuse correction.”
True spiritual concern says:
I fear deceiving myself. I hate my remaining sin. I long to know Christ. I do not want a false peace.
The fact that a person asks, “Am I truly saved?” does not automatically prove salvation.
But neither does the presence of doubt automatically prove condemnation.
The important question is:
What do your doubts cause you to do?
Do they drive you away from Christ?
Or do they cause you to seek Him more earnestly?
Do you use doubt as an excuse to remain in sin?
Or do you cry to God for mercy?
The bruised reed may fear it will be broken.
But Christ says:
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.
Isaiah 42:3
A smoking flax gives little light.
Its flame may appear almost extinguished.
Yet Christ does not despise the weakest work of His Spirit.
9. Examine Yourself Honestly
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Self-examination is biblical.
But self-examination must not become endless looking inward without looking to Christ.
Do not search your heart as though your heart were your saviour.
Search your heart to expose false confidence, and then look to Christ, who alone saves.
Ask yourself these questions seriously.
Do I see the seriousness of my sin?
Not merely the mistakes I have made, but the corruption of my nature?
Do I understand that I have sinned against a holy God?
Do I excuse my sin, defend it, rename it, and blame others?
Or do I confess:
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.
Psalm 51:4
Do I desire Christ Himself?
Not merely His gifts.
Not merely Heaven.
Not merely relief from fear.
Do I desire to know Him, belong to Him, obey Him, and be with Him?
Am I trusting Christ alone?
Or am I secretly trusting my baptism, church membership, knowledge, morality, ministry, family, feelings, or past religious experience?
Is there genuine repentance?
Do I make peace with sin?
Do I carefully protect a secret sin?
Do I become angry whenever Scripture exposes me?
Or do I desire to be delivered from every sin, even those that are costly to forsake?
Do I love God’s Word?
Not merely quotations.
Not merely doctrinal arguments.
Do I desire to hear God speak through Scripture?
Do I submit when the Word contradicts me?
Do I love holiness?
Not perfectly.
But truly.
Do I want Christ to save me from the power of sin, or only from its punishment?
Do I persevere?
Have I followed Christ only during emotional seasons?
Do I abandon Him when obedience becomes costly?
True believers may stumble terribly, but God restores them and keeps them.
Do I love Christ’s people?
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
1 John 3:14
Not merely those who flatter me.
Not merely those who agree with everything I say.
Is there genuine love for those who belong to Christ?
Can I receive correction?
The heart ruled by pride refuses rebuke.
The regenerate heart may initially struggle, but it desires truth more than self-protection.
10. Beware of a False Jacob Confidence
Some people may read Romans 9 and immediately declare:
“I am Jacob. Those others are Esau.”
But what evidence do they possess?
They may know election but remain proud.
They may speak of grace but show no graciousness.
They may defend predestination while living without prayer.
They may condemn false religion while tolerating secret corruption.
They may possess correct doctrine without a broken heart.
This is dangerous.
The doctrine of election was not revealed to produce arrogance.
It was revealed to destroy arrogance.
If you truly understand election, you will never say:
“God chose me because I was better.”
You will ask:
“Why would God choose me at all?”
Election should lead to worship, humility, holiness, gratitude, and fear.
A person who uses election to excuse negligence has not understood election.
A person who uses assurance to protect sin possesses a false assurance.
Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
2 Timothy 2:19
11. Beware of Living Like Esau While Claiming Jacob’s Blessing
This is the condition of many professing Christians.
They want Jacob’s blessing while living for Esau’s appetite.
They want the promises of Heaven but the pleasures of the world.
They call Jesus Lord but refuse His commandments.
They sing about grace but despise obedience.
They attend Bible studies but never study the Bible.
They hear sermons but refuse to examine themselves.
They claim to love Christ but have time for everything except Christ.
They spend hours entertaining the flesh but say they have no time to pray.
They are deeply concerned about money, health, success, family, reputation, and comfort—but hardly concerned about eternity.
They fear losing earthly things more than losing their souls.
Do you call yourself Jacob while continually choosing Esau’s bowl?
Do you exchange prayer for entertainment?
Scripture for social media?
Holiness for lust?
Truth for human approval?
The Sabbath for profit?
Biblical worship for human invention?
Christ’s honour for personal comfort?
Then do not comfort yourself merely because you possess a Christian name.
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.
Titus 1:16
A profession without transformation is not salvation.
12. What About the Person Who Truly Wants Christ but Fears Rejection?
Hear the promise of Christ:
Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37
Christ has never rejected a sinner who came to Him in genuine repentance and faith.
No one will stand before God and truthfully say:
“I wanted Christ.
I hated my sin.
I came depending upon His mercy.
I pleaded His blood.
I desired His righteousness.
But He cast me away because I was not elect.”
Such a person does not exist.
Those whom the Father gives to Christ come to Christ.
And those who come are received.
You may say:
“My sin is too great.”
Christ saves the chief of sinners.
“My faith is too weak.”
Christ saves by His strength, not yours.
“My repentance is imperfect.”
True repentance is always imperfect in this life, but it is sincere.
“My heart is troubled.”
Bring the troubled heart to Christ.
“I do not know whether I am elect.”
Come to Christ, and in coming you will discover the fruit of God’s gracious drawing.
Do not wait until you feel worthy.
You will never be worthy.
Do not wait until you understand every mystery.
Come as a guilty sinner.
Come empty.
Come ruined.
Come with nothing but your need.
13. Assurance Grows Through Looking to Christ and Walking With Him
Assurance is not ordinarily strengthened by repeatedly asking:
Am I elect? Am I elect? Am I elect?
Assurance grows through the appointed means of grace.
Look to Christ in the gospel.
Search the Scriptures.
Pray.
Attend faithfully upon biblical preaching.
Receive the sacraments rightly.
Observe the Lord’s Day.
Mortify sin.
Walk in obedience.
Seek fellowship with godly believers.
The Holy Spirit bears witness through the Word and produces His fruit in the believer.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
Romans 8:16
This witness is not a mysterious voice saying, “You are elect,” while your life contradicts Scripture.
The Spirit bears witness through the truth He inspired and through the fruits He produces.
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1 John 2:3
Obedience does not purchase salvation.
But a complete absence of obedience exposes an empty profession.
We are not saved by good works.
We are saved unto good works.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Ephesians 2:10
14. The Greatest Evidence Is Persevering Faith in Christ
The final evidence of election is not that you once began.
It is that God preserves you to the end.
He that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 24:13
Some receive the Word with temporary joy.
Some appear religious for a season.
Some become enthusiastic.
Some speak confidently.
Some even serve publicly.
But when trials, temptations, offences, persecutions, or worldly desires arise, they fall away.
Their temporary profession does not prove that salvation was lost.
It reveals that their faith had no saving root.
They went out from us, but they were not of us.
1 John 2:19
The true believer perseveres because Christ preserves him.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.
John 10:27–28
Notice Christ’s description:
“My sheep hear.”
“I know them.”
“They follow me.”
He does not say they follow perfectly.
But they follow.
They hear His voice.
They do not permanently abandon the Shepherd.
15. The Question Every Professing Christian Must Ask
Do not merely ask:
“Am I a Jacob, or an Esau?”
Ask:
Do I treasure Christ, or do I treasure the world?
Do I grieve over sin, or merely over its consequences?
Am I resting in Christ, or in my religion?
Has grace humbled me, or has doctrine made me proud?
Do I desire holiness, or do I want salvation while keeping my idols?
Do I obey God when obedience costs me something?
Do I love the truth when the truth rebukes me?
Am I following Christ today, or merely remembering a religious experience from years ago?
Would I still want Christ if He removed every earthly blessing from me?
That last question exposes much.
Many want Christ because they hope He will repair their marriage, improve their health, bless their business, protect their family, or remove their problems.
But is Christ Himself enough?
Job said:
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.
Job 13:15
The true believer does not merely use Christ to obtain another treasure.
Christ is his treasure.
16. A Warning to the Careless
You may say:
“I do not worry about these things.”
That is not necessarily peace.
It may be spiritual death.
The person most in danger is often the person least concerned.
A dead man does not feel his wounds.
A sleeping man does not see the fire surrounding his house.
If you possess no concern about your soul, no sorrow for sin, no desire for Christ, no hunger for Scripture, and no fear of God, do not call that assurance.
It is presumption.
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.
Amos 6:1
Wake up.
You are moving toward eternity.
Death is approaching.
Judgment is certain.
Hell is real.
Your religious name will not save you.
Your pastor cannot save you.
Your parents’ faith cannot save you.
Your baptism cannot save you.
Your church membership cannot save you.
Only Christ saves.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
Hebrews 2:3
Do not sell your soul for Esau’s bowl.
No pleasure is worth eternal destruction.
No relationship is worth losing Christ.
No money is worth losing your soul.
No secret sin is worth Hell.
17. A Comfort to the Broken Believer
Perhaps you are not careless.
Perhaps you are deeply troubled.
You see your sin.
You fear hypocrisy.
You grieve over your coldness.
You mourn your weak faith.
You long to love Christ more.
You fear that your struggles prove you are rejected.
Do not look for comfort in your own perfection.
You have none.
Look to the perfection of Christ.
Do not ask whether your repentance is strong enough to save you.
Repentance is not your saviour.
Do not ask whether your faith is large enough to justify you.
Christ justifies.
Ask:
Is my hope resting upon Christ alone?
The believer’s assurance is not:
“I am good enough.”
It is:
“Christ is sufficient.”
It is not:
“I have held Him strongly.”
It is:
“He has held me.”
It is not:
“I chose Him before He chose me.”
It is:
We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
The true Jacob often walks with a limp.
But he walks away from the encounter blessed.
Conclusion: Look to Christ
Am I a Jacob, or an Esau?
Do not answer merely by examining your family, denomination, knowledge, baptism, reputation, or religious activity.
Do not attempt to break into the secret counsel of God.
Look to Christ.
Are you trusting Him alone?
Are you repenting of your sin?
Do you desire to belong entirely to Him?
Do you grieve when you offend Him?
Do you hunger for His Word?
Do you desire holiness?
Do you continue following Him, even weakly and imperfectly?
Then do not praise yourself.
Praise sovereign grace.
God began the work.
God called you.
God gave you faith.
God granted repentance.
God preserves you.
God will complete what He began.
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it.
A Philippians 1:6
But if you remain indifferent, worldly, prayerless, impenitent, and satisfied without Christ, do not hide behind election.
Do not say:
If God has chosen me, I will be saved.
God commands you now:
Repent.
Believe.
Flee to Christ.
Forsake your idols.
Do not harden your heart.
Today you hear His voice.
Today the gospel is proclaimed to you.
Today Christ is set before you.
Do not exchange eternal life for one more bowl of the world’s passing pleasure.
Come to Christ.
And everyone who truly comes will discover that beneath his coming were the everlasting arms of sovereign mercy.
The blame for unbelief belongs entirely to the sinner.
The glory of salvation belongs entirely to God.
Therefore, stop boasting.
Stop presuming.
Stop delaying.
Stop staring into the secret decree.
Look unto Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinners.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:22
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