Romans 9:1-18 (Click scripture reference for audio access)
"A Nagging Question" • 5.20.12 •
Sunday Morning Service, Calvary Christian Fellowship
Intro.
- In our study
through the book of Romans, we have followed Paul as he has taken us through a
thorough treatment of the gospel message.
- It began in
earnest in chapter 1:18 with the
doctrine of Condemnation. At 3:21,
Paul brought us into his argument for Justification. Chapter 6 began his outline for the doctrine of
Sanctification.
- At the end of
chapter 8 in the middle of a
jubilant celebration of the believer's security in Christ, it must have
occurred to Paul that a nagging question still needed to be answered.
- "What
about the Jews?" We are secure, but what about them? Didn't they have some
of God's promises? Were they not God's elect before the Gentile inclusion into
the church?
- The laughter
turns to a pensive consideration, as Paul turns his attention to this new
section in Romans, the section that we will title "Vindication" for a
it is a defense of God's dealing with Israel.
- Today, we'll look
at the effect of God's sovereign hand in His dealings with men in 5 parts.
I. The Passion Of Paul (v.1-3)
II. The Privilege Of Israel (v.4,5)
III. The Perameters Of Election (v.6-9)
IV. The Priority Of Election (v.10-13)
V. The Prerogative Of Election (v.14-18)
Text
I. The Passion Of Paul (v.1-3)
• Romans 9:1,2 : "I tell the truth in Christ, I am
not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and
continual grief in my heart.'" : One
might look at Paul's treatise thus far and suppose that he was anti-Semitic.
Quite the opposite, Paul was the most pro-Israeli person in the world!
- When Paul talks about the nation of Israel,
he wants us to know that the honest truth in Christ is that he is continually
pained with consuming grief akin to mourning for his countrymen!
- He mourns for them because he can understand
them. He had been one of them!
- He knew what they thought and more
importantly, the joy of the difference that Christ made in His life! Isn't that
the case with you?
- Like any person who has lived in another
person's shoes to some degree, Paul had a level of compassion that was
unparraleled, which had to be God in Him, as he had reason to feel otherwise.
- In the book of Acts, we noted several
encounters with the Jews in their synagogues where Paul brought news of the
Messiah and they reciprocated by running him out of town!
- Instead of hating them for what they had done
against the gospel of Christ and him personally, Paul harbored no bitterness
and in fact, returned love for their hatred.
- In the same way that loving God is proof of a
surrendered heart, loving our enemies is the proof of God's Spirit residing in
us! Paul teaches us this with his example.
• Romans 9:3 : "For I could wish that I myself were
accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, " : "If it meant their salvation, I would gladly accept the
curse for them!"
- The word "accursed" comes from the
word "anathema" and it means "devoted to destruction" or
"under the ban!" What a statement! I am not sure that it is
hyperbole!
- Paul had sincere desire, though because of
Christ, this could never happen!
- The way this is written lays that out for us.
"I could wish" leaves it in the hypothetical.
- Even though he couldn't, if he could, he
would accept being banned, set aside for destruction. Can you say that you have
a similar feeling toward anyone in your life right now?
- Do you have a passion for people as Paul did?
Is that burning in your heart? It's sad that many of us cannot relate. May the
Lord speak to us on that issue.
- I would also have you notice something here.
Paul's passion for them is set up for us in the section on the vindication of
God's dealings in election!
- Sovereignty should not make you a sour
person. It should make you passionate for souls!
II. The Privilege Of Israel (v.4,5)
• Romans 9:4,5 : "to whom pertain the adoption, the
glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the
promises; of whom
are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over
all, the eternally blessed God. Amen." : Paul
lists eight great privileges that belong to Israel.
- They are the ones who received the promise of
adoption or sonship. God literally called them His firstborn! They are the ones
that God revealed His Shekinah glory to.
- While they wandered in the wilderness, they
saw His glory in the cloud by day and in the pillar of fire by night. When the
Tabernacle was erected, God's glory rested over the top of it!
- His glory was His very presence in their
midst, protecting, guiding, directing and correcting them! He was among them,
which is not something that any other nation on earth could boast of!
- They were given the covenants, speaking of
Noah, Abraham and David's covenant.
- God made promises to these men who set the
pace for what God required of men. Those covenants that God made were binding
contracts that God obligated Himself to perform for them!
- God gave them the Mosaic law, the 10
commandments and the 613 expositions and applications of the law.
- We have a tendency to look down upon the law,
but remember that it is the law that is good. It is good in showing what a
righteous life looks like and defining sin. That's a good function.
- God gave them the Levitical priesthood by
which they could express worship to Him.
- You think about the promises, the prophecies
that Israel received through their prophets, which spoke of the Messiah and
ultimately His ascendancy to the eternal throne.
- Their Fathers were legendary men whose renown
was great in their generations. Abraham especially is venerated still today by
both Jews and Muslims.
- Above all, Jesus came and was Jewish
according to the flesh speaking of His humanity! Notice what Paul says next:
Jesus the one who is above all, the eternally blessed God! His divinity!
- I like the NLT's translation of verse 5:
"And he is God, the one who rules
over everything and is worthy of eternal praise!" To that, let every
one say in agreement, "Amen!"
- What privileges belonged to the nation of
Israel. But Paul, "What happened?"
III. The Perameters Of Election (v.6-9)
• Romans
9:6-9 : "But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they
are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham;
but, 'In Isaac
your seed shall be called.' That
is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;
but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: 'At this time I will come and Sarah
shall have a son.'" : Did God's word fail? Did it
fall powerlessly from heaven to the ground because Israel didn't receive their
Messiah?
- Paul begins his defense by saying that not everyone
who is nationally or ethnically Israel are of Israel. Blood relation is not
faith relation!
- Not all who attend synagogue are seed! Not
all who attend church are children!
- Abraham brought other sons into the world,
most notably Ishmael through Hagar. This was Abraham's fleshly attempt to
fulfill God's promise, which is always a tragic mistake!
- When Sarah has her little Isaac, Abraham is
very attached to but Ishmael. He loves Ishmael and Hagar uses that to jockey for
a position that was not hers. Sarah says, "Kick em out!"
- This obviously disturbed Abraham. In Genesis 21:12, God speaks to Abraham
and tells him, listen to your wife, for in Isaac your seed shall be called!
- From the miraculous, not the natural. From
the freewoman, not the bondwoman. From faith in God's power to perform, not in
the works of man!
- God did not make a promise to a people of
ethnic or fleshly origin, but of spiritual origin!
- Those who have aligned themselves by faith to
God in Christ are children of the promise and are true Israel! This was Paul's
case in Romans 4:13-18.
- The perameters are as true today as they were
then. Those who call themselves Christians, but are not truly relating
themselves to Christ in faith, are not part of God's elect! Faith is required!
IV. The Priority Of Election (v.10-13)
• Romans 9:10-13 : "And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (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.'" : God made a decision to make
Abraham's seed one from faith and then, He chose Jacob over Esau!
- In both cases, God's choice was against
cultural norm. In that ancient culture, the firstborn was given the prominent
position of the family. In both of these cases, God ignores that!
- Prior to ultrasound technology, Rebecca had
known that something was different with her pregnancy and God let her in on the
issue. Rebecca was to have twins, who would be two nations!
- No wonder she was having problems! The two
nations were Jacob, later named Israel, and Esau, later synonymous with Edom.
- in Genesis
25:23, God revealed to Rebecca that the younger one would be the greater of
the two. Esau being the firstborn, would serve Jacob, the heel catcher!
- When did God make that choice? Before either
of them were out of the womb! Why did He make that choice? What is His
priority? Simply so that His purpose would stand!
- God did not choose on the basis of works or
on that which was deserved, but neither was His choice capricious. There is a
plan that God knew about even if He did not relate that to us!
- Later, in the history of the two nations,
Jacob had become a nation representing the Lord, while Esau, Edom, steadily
became more of an enemy against God and His people.
- At the end of the Old Testament, Malachi
wrote in Malachi 1:2,3 that God had
loved the nation of Israel, Jacob and hated the nation of Edom, Esau!
- Two things need to be understood at this
point. First, God did not hate Esau and thus he turned out this way. Both men
lived a life that reflected poor choices.
- Charles Spurgeon once remarked that the
problem wasn't that Esau was hated, but rather that Jacob was loved! I agree
with him!
- Second, understand that Paul is using a form
of language that Jesus used, that any Hebrew would understand. Jesus instructed
people in Luke 14:24 to hate their
own family to be His disciple.
- What Jesus said was understood as
communicating priority and preference.
- If one simply takes the words here and divorces
them from their historical and grammatical context, they are prone to
superimpose a meaning that is not intended.
- God's choice of Jacob signaled a preferential
treatment that Esau did not receive.
V. The Prerogative Of Election (v.14-18)
• Romans 9:14-16 : "What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I
will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.' So then it is not of him who wills,
nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." Can God act in a way that is inconsistent with His own character?
God forbid!
- Is God just? Listen, justice for both boys
would have been to condemn them both! Remember, Paul has already told us that
there is none that is good!
- Can God just predetermine who He loves
without any regard to the choice of any individual? It's is God's prerogative
to be merciful and compassionate toward anyone!
- That God is merciful to anyone and
compassionate toward anyone is beyond our belief! He is holy and righteous!
Paul refers here to God's speech to Moses that He gave in Exodus 33:19.
- Moses had been told by God that He would not
accompany Israel through the wilderness, lest He consume them, a point which Moses
begged Him to reconsider.
- When God does, Moses asks God to show him His
glory and that is when God speaks of His character. He will be merciful and
compassion and it will be His prerogative!
- I like the ESV's rendering on verse 16:
"So then it depends not on human
will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."
- What is Paul saying? The Jews balked at the
inclusion of the Gentiles, but they were included in the exact same way! God
was merciful to the Gentiles, as He had been with the Jews!
• Romans 9:17,18 : "For the Scripture says to the
Pharaoh, 'For this
very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My
name may be declared in all the earth.' Therefore
He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." : In the same way that God shows mercy and compassion, it's also
in His providence to harden! Pharaoh is a classic example of a hardened man.
- Paul assumes you know the entire story.
Pharaoh was not simply fated to disbelieve.
- We find a fairly simple understanding of what
happened here when we consider the story.
- God tells Moses the end from the beginning in
Exodus 4:21 when He tells Moses that
He will harden the Pharaoh's heart and keep Him from letting Israel go.
- We lack the time to go through the whole
story here, but suffice it to say that Pharaoh hardened his heart 6 times and
the Lord confirmed it be hardening His heart 6 times!
- We would do well to take a look at some of
this passage together. Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 9.
• Exodus
9:13-17 : "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning and present
yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, 'Let my
people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,
and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none
like me in all the earth. For by now I could
have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you
would have been cut off from the earth. But
for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name
may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are
still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go." : Please note God's words to Pharaoh: I could have wiped you out
with one crushing blow!
- God did not need to go through all of these
plagues. He allowed them to increase in severity over time, progressively
bringing judgment on all of their gods. Why?
- To show a difference. To reveal His power. To
make them understand the nature of His name! What did Pharaoh do? What every
other unregenerate sinner does!
- They harden their hearts at God's effort to
bring them into submission! They tirelessly fight a losing battle against God,
refusing to let their heart believe what their mind knows is true!
- In a word, they exalt themselves as their own
gods, against the knowledge of the true God!
- God wills to have mercy on those who respond
to who He is by faith. He wills to harden those who refuse and refuse again His
grace! What is Paul saying here?
- We cannot go through this section in one
sitting, but I believe that he means to make Pharaoh a type that prefigures
their response to the gospel.
- The nation of Israel, privileged people,
stumbled at Jesus Christ and balked at the mercy that God showed in bringing
Gentiles into the elect.
- Now, like Pharaoh, they stand in obstinance
against God's plan and purpose. They have rejected and rejected, their
hardening becoming more and more of an issue.
- As a result, Israel is set aside, so that God
can show His power in saving Gentile dogs that they would have nothing to do
with, and like Pharaoh, would attempt to thwart!
- I believe that this will bear out over the
next several weeks, but suffice it to say, don't harden your hearts against the
Lord and refuse what He wants to do in your life either!
- Don't let your heart be hardened!
Conclusion
- As we close
this section, I challenge you to check your passion for lost souls. Is it
waning or is it burning? What has changed and what needs to change? Check your
heart today.
- Like Israel,
there are many privlieged people. Those who respond by faith in Christ are His,
His purpose to show mercy, is His prerogative.
- Let us not
stand in the way. Let us be partners with Him and rejoice together in this
glorious sovereignty that brings Him glory and honor.
- Anything less
would be a tragic mistake on our part!
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