Long..but very good read by Kay Arthur: Romans III: Establishing God’s People in His Word Lesson 5 on Romans 9:1-23 Introduction: If God has mercy upon whom He will have mercy and compassion upon whom He will have compassion, and it’s not the man who runs nor the man who wills, but it’s God who has mercy in regard to salvation, then is God unjust or unfair? Some people when they hear the teaching about the election, the choosing, the predestination, the foreknowledge, of God, they say “That’s not the kind of God that I worship—that I believe in. Don’t give me that kind of God. That’s an unjust, unloving, unkind God and I don’t want any part of Him.” Romans 9 shows God’s work in salvation. It’s Kay’s prayer: That you would come to these Scriptures to be taught by God, not Kay. That you hear what God has to say, whether you can understand it or rationalize it, or not. That if God says it clearly in His Word then you can bow your knee and say, “Your ways are so much higher than our ways and your thoughts so much higher than our thoughts. I bow the knee and believe what You say.” That’s the attitude we need if we are really going to understand what God wants to show us in Romans 9-11. If we aren’t going to color what God says by our preconceived thoughts, our estimation of how God should behave, or our evaluation of love, justice and fairness, then we must remember: That one doctrine never outweighs another so that you choose one Scripture or one truth over another. Doctrinally, the Bible talks more about the responsibility of men than about predestination or election, therefore some might ignore predestination or election and just take the passages on the responsibility of men. You can’t do that with the Scriptures. There is perfect harmony between all the doctrines of the Word of God. Within your finite human mind you can carry doctrines to a logical human conclusion that the Scriptures do not take them to. When God drops the plumb bob you’ve got to let it hang where it hangs. Instead, some will say, “If God chooses whom He chooses and has mercy on whom He has mercy, then what He is saying is that He causes other people to go to hell—that He chooses some for salvation and others for hell.” The people who think like this have moved the plumb bob of God’s Word where it doesn’t belong. Predestination What do the Scriptures teach about the predestination of man? There are only three passages: Romans 8:29-30 – He predestines us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Ephesians 1:4 – God predestines us to adoption as sons. Ephesians 1:11 – We are predestined according to His purpose, thereby obtaining an inheritance. When you look at the context, it’s speaking strictly to children of God. So that’s where the plumb bob is dropped. But the human mind says, “If God predestines some to adoption as sons then he predestines others to condemnation.” Or “If God predestines some to obtain inheritance then He predestines others to miss that inheritance and go to hell.” But the Scripture doesn’t say that. It doesn’t say that God predestines anyone to hell. These are hyperdoctrines, which are off-base with their logic of “if A is true and B is true then it equals C.” We try to put it into our finite brains but we can’t do it. Therefore in interpreting Romans 9-11 we need to remember: Let Scripture speak for itself. Neither take it beyond what it says nor diminish what it says. Don’t think: “Surely God doesn’t mean that,” or “Well, I know it says that but it can’t be what God means.” Remember what God’s Word teaches about God—not what man teaches about God. Attributes that come into play when understanding Romans 9-11 (without getting off base.) God is transcendent: He is above all. He is “other than” man God is incomprehensible: He is beyond the understanding of man therefore you deal with God and please Him through faith, not by figuring Him out, but by believing what He says about Himself. His ways are not our ways; His thoughts are much higher than ours. He is not like man and therefore man is in no position to judge God or His sovereign ways with man. God is holy. God is morally excellent in all of His ways. He is total and absolute purity. There is no defilement in Him. God is just. God is absolutely fair in all of His dealings with man and with all of His actions in Creation. God is righteous. He always does what is right. God is loving. God is merciful. Keeping these in mind will help you in your interpretation of Romans 9-11. How does Romans 9-11 fit with the theme of Romans, which is “The gospel of God that reveals God’s righteousness”? Gospel Reveals God’s Righteousness Chapters 9-11 is a segment in and of itself. It opens in a distinctive way, abrupt in its change from Romans 8 into 9, and ends in a conclusion with a eulogy of trust and of praise with another distinct change for chapter 12. Some have said that chapters 9-11 are a parenthetical passage which could be taken out of Romans and done without—but no! It explains to us that God’s righteousness is based on faith—that God chooses, man believes and you have a balance. Chapter 11 shows that we are grafted in as Israel will be also. Chapters 12-16 will be covered later. God’s righteous is based on faith. We are elected by God. God chooses, man believes. Chapter 9 is about the sovereignty of God. Chapter 10 is about the responsibility of man, or the free will of man, then in chapter 11 it’s all put together as the Jew and the Gentile are brought sovereignly into the body of Christ. Romans 9-11 This segment begins with a cry of grief over Israel. It ends with a eulogy of trust: “Although we cannot reconcile or explain all of this in our finite human brains, we can trust You. From You, to You and through You are all things. To You be the glory forever and ever.” That’s how Romans 11 ends. (Romans 11:33-36) It also explains why, although the gospel was to the Jew first, the Jews as a nation have not embraced salvation by faith in Christ’s finished work, whereby unrighteous men are made righteous. Paul covers this in two comprehensive ways as he outlines: God’s Relationship to the Jews 9:1-10:21 – The Word of God has not failed 11:1-32 – God has not rejected Israel. The Jews have not believed; they have not embraced Jesus Christ but: There is a remnant now and Israel’s rejection has been the Gentiles’ salvation and All Israel will be saved because (Rom 11:29) the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Throughout Romans, Paul has been careful to show the relationship of the gospel to the Jew. To understand Romans, watch carefully to whom he is speaking. Is he referring to Gentile or Jew? The church in Rome to whom Paul is speaking is primarily a Gentile church but there were Jews within its body who had fled from persecution. How the Gospel Affects the Jews Romans 1:1-2 The gospel was promised in the Scriptures. Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand (so He promised beforehand the gospel, which is the good news of salvation by faith in Messiah, ie, Christ) through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh… The gospel was promised beforehand in the Scriptures and concerns God’s Son. The first mention of the gospel is in: Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; (He’s talking to the serpent—Satan. The woman here is Eve—eventually to be seen in Israel because the messiah is going to come from Israel.) between your seed and her seed; (The serpent will have a seed and Eve will have a seed.) He (the woman’s seed) shall bruise you on the head, and you (the serpent) shall bruise him on the heel. So the woman’s seed will be male and when the woman’s seed dies at crucifixion the serpent will bruise the heel. Crucifixion is the only death that bruises the heel. He shall bruise you on the head, which is a mortal wound. Here is the promise of the woman having a seed which (Gal 3:16) is Christ because that seed is promised to Abraham. So here is the gospel promise in the Scriptures that were given to the Jews (Romans 9). Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? If circumcision is not going to profit me, or if keeping the law is not going to get me to heaven, then what advantage is there in being a Jew? Romans 3:2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Jews have had all these wonderful promises and all this wonderful light. Romans 3:3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? No. Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? What has Abraham found that pertains to faith? That he was saved by faith. Romans 4:13, 16 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. What about the promise to Abraham’s descendants? Paul has been showing the relationship of the gospel to the Jews. So now in Romans 9-11, Paul shows why most of the Jews have rejected the gospel—that it’s not the gospel that has failed, but the Jews who have failed. The Jews considered themselves the elect of God and everyone else a reprobate. Therefore they felt that God couldn’t reject them but He can, and will, if you don’t do what you are supposed to do. Romans 9-11 shows that: Regardless of their claim to be God’s elect, many have been rejected by God. God’s elective purposes include the Gentiles. God’s sovereignty does not obligate Him to anyone. God has set His way. The only way to be righteous is by faith. God has the sovereign right to do this. He chose Isaac, and He chose Jacob over Esau. Therefore when the Jews cannot disagree with His choosing Isaac or Jacob, then they cannot disagree on His election of Jew and Gentile. Man is responsible. God sovereignly chooses; He elects but man is responsible. God’s purpose for Israel will still be fulfilled. God’s will will never be thwarted. That’s what you have seen in your study of His sovereignty—that He does according to His will and His plan, therefore Israel will be saved. Romans 9 The chapter starts with a cry of grief. Although Paul has been called as an apostle for the Gentiles, his gospel is not just a Gentile gospel. He has a burden for his people, which is about to break his heart. If he could see Israel be saved right now he would be willing to be accursed from God. Now that’s a genuine burden. The Jews are liable to say that Paul’s gospel is strictly a Gentile gospel so no Jews should listen to it because it isn’t right. But Paul counters that it is right—that his heart is right toward Israel. Romans 9:1-5 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites… Someone else had that same grief—it was a Jew named Jesus and He was willing to be a curse, accursed of God, for the sake of Israel. He would stand and say, “Israel, Israel, how oft I would have gathered you,” or “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not come to me that you might have life” and yet He died on their behalf. Paul wishes simply the heart of Jesus Christ …to whom belongs the adoption as sons… Who was it that God chose out of all the Gentiles? There were no Jews until God looked at all the nations and he chose one man—a Gentile—and made him the father, not only of many nations, but the father of one specific nation—the Jews. From Abraham, God started a whole new race. That’s what belonged to them—adoption as sons, as well as the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law… The Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, as well as the giving of the Law, which has been a schoolmaster to keep the Jews from going into all the wretched depths of sin …and the temple service and the promises of the Word of God, whose are the fathers… So they claim to be from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the fathers. …and from whom is the Christ… Genesis 3:15 says that He will put enmity between Satan and the woman, who is a picture of Eve but also of Israel. When the woman is in the pain of childbirth, travailing to deliver a child, Satan comes along (Rev 12:1-4) through Herod seeking to devour the woman’s child by sending an edict through the land to kill all the Jewish babies under three years (Mt 2:16). …according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Paul is saying, “Don’t think I have a one-sided narrow gospel that neglects the Jews. I love the Jews. I know what belongs to the Jews; I am a Jew.” Romans 9:6-8 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. ¶For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, People were saying, “Listen, I have Abraham as my father.” In John 8:33-34, Jesus says, “You’re slaves.” Their response: “We’ve never been slaves to anyone. We have Abraham as our father.” Wait a minute—Abraham had two sons: One by Hagar (Ishmael), and one by Sarah (Isaac). Abraham said to God before Isaac was ever born, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before you.” God answered, “No. In your seed Isaac, in Isaac your seed shall be called.” Therefore not everyone descended from Abraham is Abraham’s seed. The Jews think, “Of course, Ishmael’s an Arab.” But Isaac had two sons. Esau was the firstborn. The birthright belongs to the firstborn, and Esau was born before Jacob. Although Esau naturally, according to the flesh, should have been the receiver of the promise and the birthright, God said, “Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated.” God explains, “It’s not according to the flesh the way you Jews are looking at it, thinking you have it made because you have Abraham’s blood in you, but it’s according to the promise not the flesh. Before Esau and Jacob were ever born God’s Word said, “The younger shall serve the elder.” God’s Word has not failed. The Jews have not understood that it’s not because of the flesh, it’s because of the promise. A lot of church people today think it’s because of the flesh. They think that they are saved because their father is the preacher, or because their grandmother is a pillar of the church, or because their grandfather is an elder. Being members of the church forever and ever does not answer the question “Are you saved?” The Jews are saying, “We are members of Abraham.” …but: “Through Isaac your descendants will be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants (or seeds, or children of God). The construction of the sentence is important. It is not “children of the flesh” who are children of God but “children of the promise” who are descendants. Descendants is parallel to “children of God.” Romans 9:9-11 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man… It didn’t work between Isaac and Ishmael because of who their mother was, but no, it’s through Sarah and Rebekah. …our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice (“ekloge” means “an act of picking out”) would stand, not because of works—of anything man has done in himself—but because of Him who calls… (See Rom 8 for how Paul uses “called” or “chosen”.) Romans 8:29-30 For those whom He foreknew (“proginosko” means “knew beforehand”), He also predestined (“proorizo” means “marked out beforehand”) to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called (“kaleo”); and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.) Romans 9:11b-13 ...so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, (calls to salvation) it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” “God, if You loved Jacob but hated Esau, then You are unjust.” Paul anticipates that reaction, which is a human evaluation of God’s choosing—a man judging God with the reasoning: “If God loves Jacob and hates Esau then God is unjust.” Paul is a master lawyer. The gospel, which is by faith in Jesus Christ, is on trial with Paul defending it by showing every aspect of the gospel and anticipating the objections. Romans 9:14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! God is just and righteous in all His ways so no matter what you think about the statement, “Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated,” you can not say that it’s unrighteous or unjust of God because that goes against the teaching about God in the Bible. Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” This is where we pick up the word “mercy”, and mercy is so important. All mankind, according to our analysis of Romans (Rom 3:9), shows that “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understands or seeks after God.” So Paul shows the total unrighteousness of all mankind; all of mankind is under sin. Their fate for the wages of sin is death and eternal separation from God. Eventually the wrath of God is poured out on them from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth of God in their ungodliness and unrighteousness. So the wrath of God is upon all men because all men have sinned. Therefore all men deserve hell and all men are headed for hell. But God, who is rich in mercy, comes along and has mercy on some and compassion on some. This should cause you to fall on your face and prostrate yourself before Him, crying out to God in astonishment that He has bestowed His mercy on you when you deserve hell. It is strictly mercy, which implies that there is nothing about you by which you can commend yourself to God. There is nothing about you that can help you; you are utterly and totally destitute. But God, out of compassion and mercy, looks down upon you with the means by which to meet your needs and does. Romans 9:16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills, or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Did you come to God because you wanted to come to God? No, because you were in such a state of sin that your soul wouldn’t even want God if God had not changed it. It’s not because you have willed to come to God, or that you are wounded, or because you have worked for it or because you are a sinner—none of it would be enough. John 1:11-13 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (power, authority) to become children (sons) of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood (not because they were of Abraham’s seed or Jewish blood) nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. They were born again because it was God’s will for them to be born again. Romans 9:17-18 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Did He harden Pharaoh’s heart? Did He purposely choose Pharaoh to be an evil man? No. Scripture says “For this very purpose, I raised you up.” It does not say, “For this very purpose I created you.” Here was a mass of unregenerate mankind—men who, when they knew God, refused to believe in God or retain that knowledge of God. They became vain in their imaginations. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Pharaoh is a man who, according to God, is absolutely without excuse, having rejected the knowledge of God in his heart so God has called him forth on the stage of events to say, “I need someone through whom to demonstrate my power.” God brings extras, like in a play, forward on the stage of events. Pharaoh doesn’t cry out to God to be saved because he doesn’t want that, so when God brings him forward (on the stage of events) and lets him see His great power in delivering the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, Pharaoh is faced with what he sees but won’t bow to it. Pharaoh is hardened. Thus Pharaoh is used for God’s purposes in delivering many people from bondage. The Word of God has not failed. “I chose you. I do the choosing. Not the will of flesh or the will of man but I who have done the choosing. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, compassion on whom I will have compassion, and if I want to harden someone I will harden someone. Put butter in the sun and it will melt but put clay in the sun and it will harden. However, God is not comparing butter with clay. All mankind is lost. All mankind is established as being under sin but God in His mercy reaches down and on some sinners He has compassion. What is the response to that? “If that is true, then God can’t find fault with me because it’s not my fault that I am the way I am. If God hardens whom He wants to harden and has mercy on whom He has mercy then it’s not my fault. Who’s resisting His will? I didn’t have any choice in the matter at all.” How can you answer back that way to God? Paul is taking you through finite human reasoning and beyond that. Romans 9:19-22 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The contrast is between man and the transcendent, incomprehensible God, who is perfect love and perfect justice. Men are calling God’s justice and His sovereign ways into account, saying, “Okay, You’re sovereign, then ‘que sera sera’—what will be, will be. So who’s resisting Your will? Hey, don’t answer back to God! The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable us and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience (the longsuffering of God) vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? (“fitted: an adjustment of the parts” for destruction) It does not say they are “vessels of wrath created for destruction.” God didn’t create man for destruction but man, through his sinfulness, fitted himself for destruction. All men are headed for destruction. Romans 9:23 And He did so… God endured these vessels of wrath. He didn’t snuff them out immediately; He didn’t stomp them out, or take away their breath immediately—He endured them. Why? In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, When God looks at man, he sees all of mankind under sin. In His justice and righteousness, He has the right to condemn them all to hell because this is what they’ve chosen. They are sinners and they love their sin. Remember Romans 1 “when they knew God they glorified Him not as God.” So man is without excuse. God says, “You are all sinners but in My mercy, in My love, in My sovereignty, I have chosen some of you and prepared you beforehand for glory.” But you say, “If He has chosen some of us for salvation then He’s chosen others for hell.” Does the Word say that? No. So don’t say what God’s Word does not say. Simply bow the knee and know that He is God. He is the potter, we are the clay. We ought to fall on our knees and thank God that He has made us a vessel of mercy, not a vessel for destruction but for glorification. Jewish believers should thank God for letting them be a part of the remnant at this present time despite their people as a whole rejecting Him. We should thank God and take the gospel which is “the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” and offer it to God’s people. Then in His sovereignty He will bring forth His vessels of mercy. If you disagree or are hurting inside, remember that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are so much higher and we, the clay, need to just bow the knee, not try to explain it but just accept it in faith.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 17:43:18 +0000
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