God’s Election and Man’s Responsibility
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Sermon Title: God’s Election and Man’s Responsibility
Scripture: Romans 9:7-13
Occasion: The Lord’s Day
Date: November 19, 2023
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Scripture Transitions Sermon Title|Quotes |Emphasis
PRAY
Ephesians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Opening Remarks:
Thank Amir for preaching last week.
Introduction
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that Paul’s primary argument in this section of Romans is to prove to His jewish readers that the Word of God (the promises and covenants) have not failed.
As I mentioned on the first Sunday of this month, the reason why Jewish people in Paul’s day and in our day, reject the gospel, is because they believe that they are born into covenant blessing. (Because they are Abraham’s seed)
In other words, because they are Jewish, they believe that they are automatically redeemed, saved, and bound for heaven.
So this is why Paul’s opening words to His jewish friends about being “cut-off” was not only offensive and blasphemous, it was also non-sensical.
They dismissed Paul’s gospel because they truly believed that they were saved by birth, by their jewishness, not by any form of alien righteousness.
Let me make this clear- No one is saved by their ethnicity, tradition, or because you grew up on a christian home.
One is justified and saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Alone, apart from any works of our own, for the glory of God alone!
So Paul in this chapter is making a case, through showing us throughout biblical history why what He is saying is true and why and how God remains faithful throughout it all.
Paul is giving us a 101 biblical theology lesson here in this chapter.
Theology is vital.
Doctrine is essential.
If you don’t have biblical beliefs about God and about salvation, you can die and go to hell believing you where going to heaven.
Theology and doctrine is nothing to playing around with.
We must learn it, familiarize our self with it, learn and grow, by God’s grace, to unshakeable christians.
John Owen says...
“The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine is neglected, forsaken, or corrupted, true holiness and worship will also be neglected, forsaken, and corrupted.”-John Owen
“When a denomination begins to consider doctrine divisive, theology troublesome, and convictions inconvenient, consider that denomination on its way to a well-deserved death.” - Albert Mohler
Many christians are succumbing to every wave of doctrine, why? Because they have not firmly planted their feet in the Scriptures. They simply don’t know what they believe.
Without the anchor of theology going down to the ocean floor of our hearts, the boat of our lives will keep sailing in every which way and eventually sink into utter darkness and despair.
That is many of us this morning.
May the Lord help us with this - To grow in us a heart for the diligent study of God and His work throughout history, now, and the future.
With that said, this section is clearly about our assumption that their is an injustice on God’s part because of His sovereign election of the nation Israel and the selected salvation of individuals within corporate Israel.
In other words, this boils down to the doctrine of election.
Paul develops this doctrine quite thoroughly using the OT to make his case!
In other words, the doctrine of election is not novel or new.
It was not invented by a specific group of people or tradition or denomination.
This doctrine is here to provide weary saints with comfort and assurance.
But as we will see today, this is a consistent doctrine from Genesis to revelation as we will see today.
So my goal this morning is to not only show you that this doctrine is consistent throughout Biblical history, but to teach us why this is important for us to believe, and how this belief impacts how we love God and love others.
Quick Overview of Romans 9:6-8
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
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.
So not only does Paul show/proof that God’s covenants and Promises to Israel have not failed or fallen through explaining that Israel always had believing Jews and unbelieving Jews. (For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,)
God’s has always only ever credited people righteous by His grace through faith.
True Jews/True Israel/Spiritual Jews were not counted righteous by birth, but by God’s sheer Grace and Mercy through faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Grace and Mercy was, is, and will always be the only way anyone will be redeemed and credited righteousness before God. (You can’t attain salvation, and you can’t be born into it.)
Yes, God chose a nation to be a witness for Him to the world, but only those who were credited righteousness By grace through faith, were considered true children of Abraham/of Promise.
But then in vv8-9 Paul further explain this matter through provided a history lesson on the Abrahamic covenant (Which Amir helped us tremendously with last Sunday!).
God made it clear in the Abrahamic covenant that Abraham was justified by faith:
Genesis 15:1–6 (ESV)
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
So we see from the covenant that God makes with Abraham two things:
God decides who will be heir (receive the covenant blessing/redemption). (Selection/Election)
Eliezer of Damascus. To Abram, God’s promise had stalled; so adoption of a servant as the male heir—a well known contemporary Mesopotamian custom—was the best officially recognizable arrangement to make it come to pass, humanly speaking.
Those who will be counted among Abraham’s offspring will be people who believe in God alone for righteousness.
Paul then proceeds, deriving from the covenant, to make his case for sovereign election with Abrahams sons.
If you know the story in Genesis 15-17, God clearly selected who would be Abrams heir, Isaac would receive God’s covenant blessing, before he was ever born!
It would not be Ismael who was born from his servant Hagar, but it would be Isaac, who God set his love on by His own good pleasure and sovereign will before Isaac was ever born, before the foundation of the world.
He says to Abraham in Genesis 17:15-16
Genesis 17:15–16 (ESV)
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Abraham laughed at God because he was 100 and his his wife was 90 years old, and he though he knew better than God by presupposing he was talking about Ismael, to which God responds in Genesis 17:18-21
Genesis 17:18–21 (ESV)
God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes , and I will make him into a great nation.
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
(12 princes, Ishmael’s sons-Genesis 25:12-18, God’s enemies)
Clearly, God, not because of anything Ismael or Isaac has done, the Lord chooses to bless Sarah and not Hagar, He chooses to covenant with Isaac and not Ishmael.
Now the point here is this:
He chooses.
He elects.
And to the jewish audience in Paul’s day, and many of us here today, we see this choosing and election as an injustice of God.
Romans 9:14 “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!”
But God’s selective hand and sovereign blessing continues to show up with Isaac’s children.
This is Paul’s point in verse 8-11,
Romans 9:8–11 (ESV)
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. (His Point!)
For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
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—
No matter how we feel about this doctrine, we must wrestle, by God’s Spirit, with what Paul says here, and for our greatest good, we need help to believe it and seek to understand it more.
so Paul defends the integrity of God (and providing great hope and assurance for us along the way) with the...
The Impenetrable Doctrine of Election
You thought Abraham and Isaacs story was a great proof text for the Consistency of God’s faithful election, Paul, basically says “you haven’t seen nothing yet folks”!
Now he lays out the impenetrable doctrine of election with the account of Isaac and Rebecca.
It really starts with Rebecca. She has an incredible story that you can check out in Genesis 24.
But what you need to know is that God’s providentially orchestrated that Rebecca be Isaac’s wife. And in Genesis 25 she gives birth to two very important twins: Jacob and Esua.
And from those twins, God chose one through whom would come the line of promise, and who was that one? JACOB!
God’s unconditional election finds its most unequivocal expression in the choice of the younger twin born to Rebecca.
Esau was first born and he should have had the right of primogenitor, which meant a double blessing and double respect.
But God chose Jacob, and what it means is- God is selective and God is just in doing so.
And He's not only selective but He chooses in such a way that is polar opposite to the worlds way of selecting. (1 Corinthians 1).
He ALONE has that sovereign right.
And again Paul is saying here that Romans 9:8
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.
So when Rebecca had conceived by one, that's one man, that is by our father Isaac, jump to Romans 9:12
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
Who said that? Who said that?
Genesis 25 says God said it.
Genesis 25:23 (ESV)
And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
God says I choose Jacob.
I choose the younger to be set over the elder.
And that was against the normal course of life.
But that was God's choice.
But please allow me for just a second to show you that God’s choice is not in conflict with man’s responsibility to respond to God by faith!
There are plenty of fascinating things about Jacob and Esua that you can read about in Genesis 25.
Esua the older son, should have recieved the special blessing from God and also the double inheritance as 1 Chronicles 5:1 promised.
He should have also had the double respect mentioned in 2 Chronicles 21:3.
But Esua is also described as a wild man.
As he grew and developed he definitely was not concerned with things of God.
In fact he married one of the Canaanites. And then he married another Canaanite wife.
And he brought nothing but grief to his parents.
So he was wild, and indifferent to the things of God, married a pagan, had forbidden wives out of the Canaanites.
And then to make matters worse, he married his cousin.
His cousin was Ishmael's daughter, Genesis 28 tells about that.
So, he is pagan.
He is incestuous.
And then to make things worse he sold his birthright.
It didn't even mean anything to him to be the first-born, so he sold it for a meal.
He disdained it.
I mean, it was useless to him, it was meaningless to him.
He had no thought for things like that.
He was indifferent to the things of God.
He was indifferent to the Covenant.
He was indifferent to being a child of promise.
That meant absolutely nothing to him.
In fact, in Hebrews 12:16 it says, Hebrews 12:16
that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
He was a fornicator and a profane person who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.
For you know how afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected and then it says he found no place of repentance though he sought it with tears.
He was so corrupt and so evil, so profane that even when he intellectually wanted to repent, he couldn't find a place for repentance.
He couldn't even bring himself to repent he was so evil.
Application/Exhortation:
we as sinners have the ability to look at something precious to God and think very little of it, and it can effect us forever.
Jess and I walking by the mona lisa in the louvre thinking nothing of it. (it’s worth 100 million dollar)
Unlike thinking nothing of the Leonardo da Vinci's Mona lisa, we do this with God’s offer of salvation in Christ, BUT the rejection or indifference of this precious gift, has devastating eternal consequences.
So Esua was the one who was first born.
He was not chosen of God.
And his life confirmed that, didn't it?
You see, when God chooses that's only part of it.
God rejected Esau as the line of promise.
Very Important Point:
But Esau also rejected God.
And you can be sure that God only rejects those who reject Him and only chooses those who choose Him.
That's the divine mystery.
But we must not forget about Jacob!
What about him?
He was the younger twin.
Jacob bought Esau’s birth right.
Jacob recieved the blessing from Isaac.
Jacob received it by deception ,didn't he? He pretended to be Esau.
His mother put him up to it.
Why would Rebecca do that for?
She knew God said the elder will serve the younger.
She knew God said Jacob is the one I choose.
Why would she do that?
Why don't you trust God if He says it's going to be that way that He'll make it happen without being a deceiver?
Isn't it sad the way we take things into our own hands?
(Short Application)
His mother put him up to it in spite of the Word of the Lord.
All they had to do was wait and God would have worked it out that he receive the blessing, but they tried to deceive and get it on their own.
And consequently poor Jacob had a life of pain and sorrow and trouble.
(Application)
Jacob did seek God.
He's the one who wrestled with an angel and out of that wrestling God changed his name from Jacob to what? To Israel.
And he did seek God.
He had a heart for God.
But he suffered because of his sin.
He was chastened by the Lord. He was hated by his brother.
His life was full of pain and sorrow.
BUT he did seek God and there was a righteousness in him.
Why? Because he was God's chosen child.
So the point that Paul is making is the same point only he's using a different illustration.
When it came to Jacob and Esau, God made a choice, too.
So it shouldn't be surprising to us that all of the Jews don't believe.
Why all of Abraham's sons weren't chosen as children of promise nor all of Isaac's either.
Let me take this a step further, fascinating truth:
When it says the older shall serve the younger, I don't think it's talking simply about Jacob and Esau.
I think it's talking about what's going to come out of their loins, the nations.
Out of the loins of Jacob came the nation what? Israel.
Do you know who came out of Esau?
In Genesis 25:23 when the prophecy came to Rebecca, God said to her, "You're going to have two sons. The older shall serve the younger." And then God said, "You bear in your womb two nations.”
Two nations.
And I think that's the essence of what it's saying here.
Two nations; because we know of no account in the life of Jacob and Esau where Esau actually served Jacob.
We don't know of any incident.
But what is in view here are TWO NATIONS!
Esau never personally served Jacob.
But Edom was the nation that came from Esau, and Edom was put in servitude under Israel.
Now Edom means red, that's from the pottage that Jacob gave him in chapter 25 of Genesis.
Esau lived in Mount Seir.
Mount Seir is east of the Dead Sea.
Genesis 36 verse 8 says it came to be called Edom.
So Esau went to Mount Seir and gave birth to the Edomites, later known as the Idumaeans.
The people were idol worshipers.
You read 2 Chronicles chapter 25 and you'll find that they were idol worshipers.
You read Numbers chapter 20 verses 18 and following and you'll find that they were the enemies of Israel.
So Esau went down to Mount Seir, out of the promised land, and produced a race of Edomites, who were pagan, idolatrous anti-Israelites.
And God gave some very strong messages to those people.
In Amos 1, "Thus says the Lord," verse 11,
Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.
So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
Bozrah is the ancient name of the capital of Edom.
So Edom had set itself against Israel. But God moved in judgment.
In fact you can read the whole book of Obadiah to get the picture of God's judgment on Edom.
Chapter 10 starts out with...
"The vision of Obadiah, thus saith the Lord God,
Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
And Edom was made a vessel in servitude to Israel by the judgment of God.
So Israel, coming from the loins of Jacob, was the chosen nation.
Edom, from the loins of Esau, the object of wrath.
And what it's saying again is God is selective.
Point:
Two sons born of Isaac, and Jacob was the child of promise, but even again God chose.
This was God's choice.
And This is confirmed in Romans 9:13
As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
This is a direct quote from Malachi 1:2-3
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob
but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”
He hated Esau.
Verse 2, I love Jacob. Jacob I loved, Esau I hated.
Now listen carefully, folks:
I do not believe that this is a primary reference to the individual Jacob and the individual Esau.
I don't think that's the point. Because that's never said in the Old Testament.
That is never uttered in the book of Genesis.
God never says when those young men are born, "I hate Esau."
He never says it during the life of Jacob and He never says it during the life of Esau. There's no such statement made.
In fact, it is probably nearly a thousand years later when the prophet says, "Esau have I hated."
So how should we understand this?
Overarching Point:
The Esau of God’s hatred is the idolatrous, pagan kingdom of Edom that's come from the loins of Esau.
And the Jacob He loves is the Israel, the Israel of God, His people, His nation, the people of blessing.
Now some have tried to say in that verse what it means is,
"Jacob have I loved and Esau have I loved less."
It doesn't say that.
It says He hated Esua.
We must have a theology that lets God hate if He wants to hate- AND He hates evil and He hates idolatry and He hates paganism and so He hates Esau. He hates.
You can read about God's hate in Psalm 5:5, Psalm 11:5, Psalm 26:5, you can read it in Proverbs 6:16 where it says six things the Lord hates, yea seven are an abomination to Him.
In Jeremiah 44 verse 4, the abominable thing I hate,says God.
You can read it in Hosea 9:15, Amos 5:21, Zechariah 8:17 and Malachi 2:16 and many other places.
God hates.
The questions is what does He hate?
Answer: He hates evil, He hates wickedness, He hates idolatry.
And He hated what He saw in the seed of Esau.
It says at the end of verse 4 of Malachi 1 that against Edom the Lord is angry forever.
Malachi 1:4 (ESV)
If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’ ”
So the Lord's selective, and out of the birth of twins Esau chose against God, God chose against Esau.
Jacob chose even in spite of his sin for God,God chose Jacob.
Both were born of Abraham, both were born of Isaac, both were not children of promise.
And out of their loins came two nations, one the people of promise, one the people of eternal indignation, judgment and wrath.
Conclusion
Let’s head back to verse 11 to start wrapping up here.
Now that we have unpacked Paul’s two illustrations, let read it in context to understand what He is communicating:
Romans 9:11 (ESV)
though they were not yet born (Jacob & Esua) 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—
What are we to make of this, and learn from this, and grow from this, and respond to this?
It’s simply saying that whatever you have come to learn about the doctrine of election, Paul is instructing us that God chose between Jacob and Esua before they were ever born, before they ever did anything good and evil.
What is that called? Election.
You might say this morning, "Pastor Arthur That's a hard thing for me to understand."
To which I will answer you: Join the club!
Of course it is hard to understand, but here is my question:
Does this passage this morning help you to see that when they lived their life the one that God had chosen demonstrated that he too chose God?
And the one that God had rejected demonstrated that he too rejected God? Does that bring some balance?
It does for me!
But the point here is this, that before either one of them were born God chose and He did it before they were born in order that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not through their works but of Him that calls.
What's the point?
The point is this, if God chose you because of what you did, then who gets the glory?
Answer: You do.
But the purpose of God is to glorify Himself.
Mark that down (pause)- that the purpose of God, what is that? To glorify Himself.
And the way that He glorifies Himself is to be the sovereign over who chooses, not because of what you do but because of His own sovereign calling.
The purpose of God is to exalt His sovereign purpose.
And so this means we are abundantly secure in our salvation, we can safely go to God with our fears, run to Him with our sin, and run to Him for comfort!
And so He chooses before we've done anything good or bad.
Before Jacob and Esua were born He chose,.
Before they had done anything good or evil He chose.
Why? that the choice might redound to His glory.
Every person chosen to salvation whether in Israel or in the church is chosen by God before the person is born.
The Bible says your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world.
And you will in life confirm that choice by believing.
That's a mystery.(repeat)
But, you see, now listen to this, I'm going to close- the reality is that we are so used to man-centered theology that if it doesn't start with us, we can't understand it.
If it’s not rational we reject it.
We're introduced to the fact here today, from scripture NOT from tradition, that God chooses between Jacob and Esau before they were born, and many of us are thinking to ourselves “that's unfair”.
Why?
Because we are so proud, we are so self-centered, we are so man-centered even in our theology that if it doesn't start with our choice we can't handle it.
And the root of this is that we don't want a God who is totally in control.
What we want in the flesh is a God who follows our own preferences or who meets our expectations.
But what we should want, friends, is a God who is truly King and makes people afraid.
Why?
Because that's actually what we need.
Proverbs 9:10 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning (the starting place) of wisdom.
The fear of the Lord begins with submission to Christ.
Many of us here today want salvation to start with us and and we then try to work our way back to God and hope He makes sense from our view. (rationalizing salvation!)
You will never get their friend, not this way.
But today we learned, that it is God ALONE who does the choosing.
Salvation from start to finish is of God.
This is Paul’s point:
God does the choosing.
He does the calling.
It's Him that calls.
It's an effectual, saving call.
It’s the kind of call mentioned in Ephesians 1
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
It's the saving and effectual call of a sovereign God.
And God has proven today in this text that He is absolutely just in his dealings.
And so God's Word stands, as it always will stand.
How will you respond to God’s Word today?
Will reject it or accept it?
Will you be indifferent to God and His word today or will you submit to the Lordship of Christ and go all in with him, and follow him to the ends of the earth?
Will you repent and believe in Jesus or rebel and reject Him as Lord and Savior?
PRAY
"Gracious and Sovereign Lord,
As we have delved into the depths of Your Word today, we are reminded of Your unfathomable grace and your sovereign plan. We see in Romans 9:9-13 the example of Isaac and Jacob, chosen not by their works but according to Your divine purpose. We are humbled, Lord, by the depths of Your wisdom and the marvel of Your sovereign will.
We come before You, our hearts in awe of Your perfect plan of salvation. We recognize that it is not by our own efforts but by Your irresistible grace that we have been called into the glorious light of the gospel. As we consider Your sovereignty, we are drawn to trust in Your promises with a deep sense of gratitude.
We thank You for the gift of faith, for it is not of our own making, but a gracious gift from You. We pray for those among us, Lord, who may be wrestling with their faith and their understanding of Your divine plan. May Your Holy Spirit work in their hearts to reveal the beauty of Your sovereignty, and may they be drawn to trust in the gospel with all their hearts.
We recognize, O Lord, that our salvation is entirely in Your hands. We cannot boast in our own works, but only in the finished work of Christ on the cross. We pray that those who have not yet put their trust in the gospel would have their hearts opened to receive this precious gift.
In Your infinite mercy, we ask that You call those whom You have chosen, and draw them to Yourself. We place our faith and trust in Your unchanging and sovereign will. It is by Your grace alone that we are saved, and it is to Your glory that we dedicate our lives.
In the name of Jesus, our Savior, we pray. Amen."