Romans 9 Part 2

Romans chapter 9

We live in an age of polarization

A) We live in a day and an age of polarization.

1) Political parties don't trust each other. The rhetoric is amped up way too high. And you will hear both sides of the political aisle accusing one another with words like liar, fraud, fake, untrue. You hear it on both sides.

2) Doesn't just reflect a political condition. It reflects the human condition.

A pole was taken about lying:

A) 91 percent of Americans admit to routinely lying about trivial matters. For EXAMPLE

1) That meal was delicious. You're thinking, I wouldn't feed that to my cat. But you don't say that, nor should you say that. But you're not being honest. I don't quite know how to get around that.

2) you look great. You don't need to lose any weight. You're perfect.

3) Or you say, no, I'm great. I'm good, when you may not be all that fine.

B) 36% of those say they tell big lies about important matters that hurt other people.

1) According to this research, men lie more than women

2) Young men lie more than older men

3) The unemployed will lie more than those with jobs

4) And the poor will lie more than the rich

5) liberals lie more than conservatives

B) God is not a man that He should lie. Numbers 23:19

Numbers 23:19 ESV

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

1) the good news is that we have in our hands a book filled with promises from a promise-giving and promise-keeping God.

a) Do you know that in your Bible, you have 31,173 verses in total. That is 23,000 in the Old Testament, about 8,000 verses in the New Testament. Of all those verses, it is estimated there are 7,487 promises that God made to us.

b) extremely confident in what God has given us in terms of his promises.

c) There is a story about when America was first being settled and a man wanted to cross the Mississippi River early in the wintertime. The water where he was crossing was frozen over. He didn't know how much the ice would hold his weight. So he decided he had to cross it. There was no bridge. He got on all fours to distribute his weight evenly, and he moved very, very slowly, very cautiously. But then he hears a noise. And he turns to look, and he sees a horse drawn carriage weighted down with all sorts of supplies driving over the ice. The man is sitting aboard with the horses, and he's singing and he's smiling, obviously very confident that that ice would hold him, which it did. So which are you like? Are you like the guy that is creeping on the promises, or are you standing firmly on the promises?

2) That is the background we come to Romans chapter 9. And the issue at stake in Romans chapter 9 is that the promises of God are under scrutiny, especially the promises that God made to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

a) Isreal as a nation rejected Jesus and the Gentiles embraced him. So the issue is since they have pushed Jesus aside, has God rejected them?

b) Chapter 9 is more a history of Isreal in the plan of God. 10 the current plan of God for Isreal. 11 the future plan of God for Isreal.

3)I mentioned 7,487 promises God made to us. Many of them were promises God gave to Isreal.

a)God promised them a land.

there is a town in the West Bank that was called in antiquity, Beth Al, Bethel. It is in the center of the land.

here is a sign at one of the intersections just outside of Bethel sponsored by a local grocer.

"Here in Bethel 3,800 years ago, the Creator of the world promised the land of Israel to the people of Israel. It is by virtue of this promise that we dwell today in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Shiloh, and Hebron."

another words we are here because God promised us this land.

b)God promised them and eternal kingdom.

c)And God promised them a messiah. Bible says salvation is of the Jews.

Against all odds, Isreal still exists. Today, there are 9 million people living in that small little state of Israel. 6.7 million are Jewish.

First of all, let me say I don't support everything Israel does politically, modern Israel. I really support God's covenant to Israel. Because of that, we support Israel. God made all of these promises, and he is keeping them. And we believe, especially according to Romans 9, 10, and 11, that God has future plans for this nation. God has plans for the future of Israel, as we'll see.

Romans 9:6 ESV

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

C)God's word-- God's promise didn't fail. Why not?

Romans 9:7–13 ESV

7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 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— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

A) Paul is saying this. Look, God's promise to Israel has not failed. Why not? Because some Jews did believe. And for those Jews who did believe, they are a part of God's elect remnant.

1)So the rejection of Christ by the majority does not negate the promise of God to the minority. He still has a covenant with them. In fact, God's choice to save is not based upon physical descent nor human merit.

2)So God doesn't operate on the basis of human connection, who you're related to. God's choice does not operate on the basis of human perfection, working really hard, earning your way to God. But God operates on the basis of divine election.

3)Abraham had Ishmael first, then Isaac. But the promise was not to the firstborn, though that was the culture, and that was what the cultural law demanded, that the firstborn would get the inheritance. But it skipped the firstborn, went to the second born, Isaac, son of promise. Same with Isaac and Rebecca. They had two kids, Esau and Jacob. Esau, the firstborn, should have gotten the inheritance. He didn't. It went to Jacob.

D) Esau I hated

Romans 9:13 ESV

13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

1) verse 13 is a quote out of Malachi-- that's the last book in the Bible, in the Old Testament-- Malachi chapter 1. When Malachi chapter 1 was written, it was 1,000 years after Jacob and Esau were born.

2) So 1,000 years after they were born, nations developed from Jacob and Esau. Jacob developed the nation of Israel. Esau developed the nation of Edom, which hated the worship of God, hated the Jewish people, were enemies, sworn enemies, to them.

So what Malachi is speaking of is not the person of Jacob and Esau, but the descendants of Jacob and Esau. It's a statement that has to do with national election, not individual. These two boys produced two nations.

a) There was once a seminary student who said to his professor-- it happened to be Griffith Thomas, the great eminent British/Welch scholar-- and the student said, Professor, I'm having a problem with Romans chapter 9 verse 13-- "Jacob I have loved. Esau, I have hated." What's up with that? And the professor looked down at the verse. And he said, you know, I have a problem with that verse too. But my problem is different from yours. I don't understand why God loved Jacob. No matter how you look at this doctrine of election, it's hard to get your mind around it. It's hard to figure out how God can predetermine and elect you before you are born but then demand that you make a choice to follow him after you are born. He chooses us. But then he says to you, you must choose him. But the Bible says both are true. God elects us, but then he tells us to select him. He predestines and he calls. But then you have to decide to believe.

How does that work?

b) let me give you an illustration. A flight is about to leave London and fly to New York. It's a Boeing 767 airline. The destination is determined. The route is already predetermined by the proper authority. The FAA has determined it as well as the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization. It's predetermined. But aboard that plane are passengers who have chosen to fly. They have chosen which airline to fly. They have chosen which day to depart. They have chosen where to sit-- do they want a window, do they want an aisle. Nobody wants the middle row. But up to a certain point, they have made a choice. Once they're on board and the flight takes off, they have the freedom to move around the cabin. Once that little light goes off, they can move around. They can talk to different people. They can use the restroom. They can eat a meal. They can play on their computer. There's a lot of freedom aboard that plane. But the airplane is carrying the passengers to a predetermined port. So you have two things at play. You have freedom, and you have sovereignty, or authority. And they do not contradict each other. They're happening at the same time on that flight. And so God makes a choice based on his sovereign will. It's called election, predestination. You were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And yet he says you must choose.