04 | Romans | Romans 9-11 | God's One Message of Salvation

Some of the references in this sermon are inaccurate. Look closely at these.

INTRODUCTION

The Gospel in Romans | the power of God for salvation

Our prayer for this series is that over the coming years the Lord would build for us a foundation for our faith in the power of God for salvation.

Four-part mini-series through the whole book.

Romans 1-4 — Coming Under Grace | Grace Alone Through Faith Alone

Romans 5-8 — Living Under Grace | From Death to Life

Romans 9-11 — The Overflow of Grace | God's One Message of Salvation

Romans 12-16 — A Church Shaped by Grace | An Appeal in Light of the Power of God

In Romans 1-8 the gospel has been preached!

We have this righteousness from God that can be obtained by wicked rebels by grace alone through faith alone.

The effect of this alien righteousness invading soul of wicked rebels …

… is nothing less than bring the dead to life.

Paul’s purpose in those first chapters was to make this gospel clear and known.

What follows now, in chapters 9-11, is a tracing of how this good news has been proclaimed in redemption history.

Specifically, this is the story of gospel proclamation among two ethnic people.

The promise, first made known through Abraham and the children of promise …

… has now come to the Gentiles.

How did it come?

Because, as a people, the Jews rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

But news of the work of the Messiah …

… his righteous life

… his sacrificial death

… his victorious resurrection

… and his glorious reign

… has now come to the Gentiles.

Paul is now going going to address two things:

1) He is going to answer the question of any Jewish believer:

Are my fellow Jews, my kinsmen according to the flesh, done for?

Is there any hope that remains for them? Or are they cut off forever?

2) He is going to head off the arrogance of the Gentile believer:

You might be tempted to think that you’re cool.

But remember, that the people through whom the gospel first came …

… when failed when the ceased to believe.

You too, Gentile believer, rather than turning inward to some self-righteousness …

… ought to join with the humility of your Jewish family

… and long for the salvation of Israel by means of the same gospel that has been proclaimed to among you.

Again, where Romans 1-8 make the gospel so clearly known.

Romans 9-11 now traces the movement and proclamation of those gospel among these two ethnic peoples: the Jew and the Gentile.

PRAY

5:00

Romans 9:1-5 — PAUL’S CONCERN FOR HIS KINSMEN

… according to the flesh

v2 - great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart

Let us remember that Paul was a fierce defender of the Jewish faith.

What Paul did not know at the time was that he was actually rejected the hope of the Jewish faith, who is the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ.

So, now he grieves over all of his family, according to the flesh, who continue in the error in which he once stood.

v4 - They are Israelites (8 benefits)

adoption, glory, covenants, law, worship, promises …

… the patriarchs, the Christ

The impression is that the list could go on and on.

But there is an interruption …

As concerned as Paul is for these great benefits, so long obtained by the Israelite people …

… he has even greater concern for the Word of God

… not fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

7:00

… Read v6

Romans 9:6-13 — PAUL’S CONCERN FOR GOD’S WORD

How could God’s word work in the giving of these many gifts to Israel …

… and still so many have failed to believe?

v6 - Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.

not all Israel in the flesh (the type) are Israel in the Spirit (the anti-type)

To demonstrate this, Paul gives two examples from biblical history.

v7 - Isaac is an example of one uniquely chosen as a child of Abraham, though he was not the only child of Abraham.

God gives a promise to Abraham that will be fulfilled by the offspring of Abraham.

Abraham believes God!

And yet, he wavers, and by his own will and plan produces a child through his maidservant, Hagar.

But it is not through this child, Ishmael, that the promise would come.

It would be through Sarah, through her son, Isaac, that the promise would be counted.

So, it the promise comes, not through the will of the flesh, but God fulfills his word of promise according to his own will and plan.

Paul then gives a second example…

v10 - Jacob and Esau are a second example

They were twins, and Esau was born first.

But God chooses Jacob, and not Esau, through whom to account the blessing.

What is Paul saying?

The word of God works not according to the will of the flesh …

… but according to God’s own purpose, his own will, by his own election.

election — We’ll look much closer at this word when we preach more slowly and carefully through this passage …

It means, to make a selection or choice or to pick out.

It comes from the word, lego - “speak”, and has the affix, ek - “out”

Election is God’s speaking out his will.

And we know this about God’s speech, his voice, his word …

… what he speaks he does.

… his word works

… and so his election, his speaking out his will, is sure.

12:00

APPLY

Again, Paul is concerned for the trustworthiness of God’s word.

And he has demonstrated by example God has spoken his will in history, not according to the will of man, but according to his own plan to secure and work out his promise to redeem.

13:00

Read v14.

Romans 9:14-29 — PAUL’S CONCERN FOR GOD’S JUSTICE

Paul again gives two examples:

This time the two sides of the working out of God’s will.

v15 - Mercy

Mercy has not human condition.

Mercy is for God alone to decide.

not “human will or exertion”

v17 - Hardening

On the other hand, you have Pharoah.

Where mercy is an invasive force …

… the exertion of God’s will upon the nature, purpose, will and trajectory of man on his own.

Remember, mankind since Adam shakes his fist in the air and says, “On my own I can live!”

Mercy is the interruption of man’s willful rebellion.

It is God’s invasion of man’s will to say …

“No! On your own you will die. But I have spoken out my mercy so that your rebellion will cease and you will enter my rest.”

But hardening finds Pharoah in his willful rebellion and rage and withholds his mercy.

The Lord works so that the rebellion and wickedness of Pharoah, in which he already walks …

… hardens in his condition.

It is not as though Pharoah really wants to turn from his rebellion, but God’s cruel hand of election holds him back, hardening his heart against the will of Pharoah’s own flesh.

No! Hardening is the way of the flesh.

Mercy is the invasive interruption!

15:00

So, God is not only shown to be just, he is revealed to be merciful!

v19 - Why does he still find fault?

v29 - Who are you, O man …

We, as creatures, and rebellious creatures at that …

… do not understand our own hearts

… and much more do not know the mind of God.

But the gospel, revealed in God’s promise and fulfilled in Christ …

… speaks out God’s mind

… makes his purpose in election known

… and that purpose is mercy.

APPLY

Paul is building toward something.

He is first defending the purpose of God making salvation known to Israel through the promise.

Salvation does not come through the Gentile, but the promise passes through Israel.

And God is just, for salvation is mercy upon whom the Lord wills to have mercy.

But at the same time, he is building toward the reality that now, word God this gospel has come to the Gentiles.

Let’s remember the context into which Paul is speaking.

Jesus came to Israel.

And yet, was rejected by those to whom he came …

… and was crucified.

Jesus rose from the dead …

… securing not only forgiveness of sin by his death

… but also life by his resurrection

… for all who believe.

But still, so many in Israel, reject him.

On Pentecost, many of both Jews and Gentile proselytes gathered in Jerusalem from many nations and hear the gospel and believe.

They return to the nations from which they came and word of the gospel of Jesus Christ spreads among the nations.

So, where most of Israel hardens in their unbelief, in their rejection of the Christ …

… mercy begins to spread to the nations by the witness of the few from among Israel who carry the good news.

So, v24 is beautiful!

Paul says, “even us whom he has called”

Us! He means, Jew and Gentile!

They are not one, an “us”, according to the will of the flesh.

They are not the same nation, not the same family, not the same ethnicity, not the same history.

But they are now, together, those who have recieved mercy!

This is God’s purpose in election.

At this moment in history, the Lord has chosen a remnant from among Israel …

… and through these few

… he will choose many from among the nations.

20:00

Romans 9:30-10:4 — SUMMARY

Paul essentially gives this summary in these verses.

v30 is key. Read.

What is Paul’s conclusion? What does he say?

Where the gospel has spread, the Gentiles have obtained righteousness by faith.

Where Israel, by cling to the law, the work of their own flesh rather than the mercy of God, has failed to obtain the mercy of the gospel.

Read v3.

21:00

We’ll move quickly through chapter 10.

Romans 10:5-13 — RIGHTEOUSNESS BASED ON FAITH

v5-7 - righteousness out of reach

Who will ascend … who will descend?

These are images of the effort of man to strive for righteousness.

To go up to heaven or, perhaps, by some penance, descend …

… is to reject the reality of the gospel.

Jesus is the one who has come down from heaven.

And Jesus is the one who has triumphed over death.

Righteousness is the result of God’s work, not ours.

v8-9 - righteousness by faith, expressed by confession and belief

What remains for us?

Where the heights of heaven are too high for us to obtain.

And we could never triumph over death.

There is a word that is near our mouth and our heart.

What remains for us is to believe.

Read v9-10.

And this confession is for everyone.

There is not one way for the Jew and another for the Gentile.

There is one way and one Lord.

It is the way of faith in his name.

23:00

Romans 10:14-21 — FAITH ENCOUNTERING JESUS IN GOSPEL PROCLAMATION

So much of these chapters are about the proclamation of God’s will for mercy.

Read v14-15

If, as we saw in the previous section …

… the believer takes hold of salvation by confession of faith

… how is he to believe if the news of mercy never comes to his soul?

APPLY

Paul holds up the importance and beauty of gospel proclamation.

25:00

News of salvation has come to the Gentiles by the proclamation of the gospel!

But there is a question that is quite natural to ask.

Romans 11:1-10 — HAS GOD’S REJECTED ISRAEL?

Paul can’t say it fast enough:

No way! By no means!

v1 - Paul is Israelite

Not only is Paul an Israelite who is saved …

… he is an Israelite who radically rejected Christ and still is saved by grace through faith.

Even more, he is an Israelite how not only believed, but who brought the gospel to the nations.

Has God rejected Israel?

No! It is through the faith of these few Jewish believers that the gospel has not come to the world.

v3ff - ILL: Elijah

The apostasy IS radical.

And yet there is not a final rejection, but a remnant.

Elijah: They’ve killed the prophets, and now me!

Elijah’s perspective is that it’s all over.

The rejection is complete.

God: No! God has kept some.

Again, this his his election, his selection of the few, his choosing to show mercy.

v7 - The elect obtained righteousness by faith

Yes, so many, just as in the day of Elijah, have been hardened in unbelief …

… but God’s mercy remains.

v8-10 - negative examples

Yes, there is a spirit of stupor (of rebellion and unbelief) …

… but the fact that the prophet is still speaking is evidence that there remains an elect.

Yes, there is a snare and a trap …

… there is darkness and crookedness

… but the fact that David writes this Psalm (69) is evidence that God’s work of mercy remains.

APPLY

Back to the original question:

Has God rejected Israel?

No!

He has not rejected them, not because they are great, or of some value that ought not be left behind.

At every moment in redemption history, even when rebellion is at its height …

… God has kept a few by his mercy for his mercy.

It is by this grace and through these beautiful feet that word of the Gospel is preserved even unto our hearing today.

31:00

Romans 11:11-24 — THROUGH ANOTHER’S TRESPASS SALVATION HAS COME

Another Question: Read v1a

A stumble is a moment of failure.

A fall, is something from which one may never recover.

It’s much the same question as v1.

Where in chapters 9-10 Paul is mostly addressing the Jewish believers in the church in Rome.

By the time we get to v13, Paul turns to speak directly to the Gentiles.

He has been offering clarity and comfort to the Jews …

… even as he defends the word and justice of God.

He now offers a warning and a compelling vision for the Gentiles.

A warning against pride and a vision for gospel proclamation.

v11b - Israel’s rejection of their Messiah has caused the gospel to be proclaimed among the Gentiles with the result that Israel themselves have become jealous.

Imagine in a synagogue in Rome hearing the gospel preached in a nearby square.

You hear some gentile Christian talking about a man named Jesus ...

… who is Messiah, anointed King

… bringing a long promises salvation

… originally given to the patriarchs of Israel

… and now proclaimed among the nations.

What is your response?

“Hey, you can’t talk about a Messiah!”

“The Messiah is OUR Messiah, even if we don’t believe Jesus is he.”

But you see the Gentiles believe and grow …

… pouring over the scriptures given to your ancestors

… and experiencing life and joy in the mercy God has made known to them.

Jealousy is what Paul aims for.

He longs that his kinsmen, according to the flesh, would become jealous of the joy now being received by the Gentiles.

v12 - If, by rejection of the Messiah, news of righteousness by faith has been proclaimed among the Gentiles …

… how greatly will the gospel be proclaimed when the world hears of Messiah’s power to save Israel too!

… that is, when a great inclusion of the elect of those formerly in rebellion turn to their Messiah!

How great are his mercies and how deep are the riches of his grace?

The Lord saves even those who have rejected him.

The gospel is of mercy through and through.

It has never been God’s final purpose to include one ethnic people and exclude another.

It has always been his purpose, whether in a period of rejection or repentance …

… that the gospel would be preached first to the Jew and also to the Gentile

… even to the ends of the earth

… that one people from every tribe, tongue and nation would gather at the throne in redeemed worship and glory forever.

(Essential) Look at history: Israel is chosen by God as the conduit of of promise.

Abraham is called out from the nations, and the world is left in their sin.

Many among Israel throughout history believe God and it is counted to them as righteousness …

… but in this moment, much as the moment in which Elijah lives, almost all have rejected God’s word.

And at this same moment, many among the Gentiles, to whom the word of promise has not come, have believed.

What Paul longs for is a moment in the future in which many among Israel would again hear and believe.

That the effect of the spread of he gospel would ultimately lead to the gospel coming home to the people by whom it was first recieved.

While in Christ, there is one righteousness obtained by grace through faith, there remains an ethnic distinction that has a powerful effect for the spread of the proclamation of Christ (nod ahead to Romans 11:33).

This is important for us even today.

While the gospel makes one redeemed people, it does not erase ethnic distinction for the sake of gospel proclamation.

So, ethnic distinction is made a servant of the proclamation that all are one in Christ.

36:00

Read v12.

This idea of inclusion is what is unpacked in the remaining portion of chapter 11.

“full inclusion” or “fullness”

We’ll look at this in MUCH more detail in the future

For now, let us note that the complement in the passage to the idea of Israel’s inclusion is the idea of their trespass.

However full was their trespass (rejection of the messiah), so too is their inclusion.

In neither case is it a numerical completeness.

Fulness does not mean every single one.

But as a body, it is accurate to generalize for the purpose of evidence for gospel proclamation that both trespass and inclusion is full or thorough.

Paul is suggesting that this end of full inclusion is a valuable and fruitful labor ...

… to again proclaim the gospel among Israel.

APPLY

In v17-24 Paul gives a number of illustration from horticulture.

Branches being broken off a vine and other, wild branches grafted in.

The picture is clear and consistent.

God’s work is mercy to us.

But it still his work, not ours.

If he wills to harden the unbelieving and break off their branch.

Who will argue with him.

If he wills to soften a branch that is separated from the vine …

… who will argue with him?

God alone is the one who “speaks out” his purpose of both mercy and hardening.

40:00

Romans 11:25-32 — THE MYSTERY

v25 - A clear warning.

v26 - Again, the inclusion of Israel that is saved is complementary to the rejection of Israel by their trespass in v11.

The point is this:

The mercy of God is sufficient to include both the Jew and the Gentile.

And, as Romans 10:18 says, even the ends of the earth.

There is a season of disobedience in which the hearts of the people harden.

And there is a season of mercy, in which God will interrupts the trajectory of rebellious history with news of his grace.

APPLY

This is the mystery of grace.

And we have seen it more fully revealed with the coming of Christ and his gospel.

43:00

Romans 11:33-36 — THE DOXOLOGY

So, Paul can no longer contain himself.

He must worship.

Remember, we have death in sin and we have life in Christ.

But, in Christ, we have more than life …

… we have rejoicing.

Romans 5:2 we rejoice in hope of the glory of God

APPLY

test

45:00

APPLY

I pray that this morning the good news of Romans 1-8 have crept their way into this message and has been heard by your souls.

In Romans 9 you have heard of God’s sovereign reign over all of salvation.

Both in mercy and in hardening.

All of redemption belongs to him.

In Romans 10 you have heard that while so much of Israel has failed to receive the promise by faith.

So many have rejected the Messiah …

… yet there is hope that God will again make his mercy known Israel.

In Romans 11 you have heard the warning to the Gentiles.

It is mercy that the gospel has been made known to the Gentiles.

Where the gospel brings us to rejoicing …

… the hardening of Israel can still bring us to tears.

The church in Rome includes believers from Israel.

And all the church ought to join in a longing for the gospel to be proclaimed in Israel …

… so that "mercy on all”

… would cause all of the church to break into doxology!

Oh!

Let me suggest that there is no greater word in worship than “Oh!”

Depth, unsearchable, inscrutable.

Oh, may this glorious gospel that has come to our ears …

… make its way to our mouth

… and spread to the ends of the earth by our feet.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever, Amen.

50:00