God's Sovereignty in Election (Romans 9:1–13)

Main Thrust: God’s sovereign election demonstrates his authority over salvation and his faithfulness to his promises.

Introduction

We'll be continuing our series in the Book of Romans. We'll be in Romans 9:1-13. Now we're going to discuss God's sovereignty and election.

And speaking of election, did anything happen this week? You know, this year we are going to elect a president. And in case you haven't been paying attention, Donald Trump was found guilty in the court case against him, and he was charged with 34 felonies.

Now, depending on your political affiliation, in general, you had one of two reactions to it. If you are a Democrat, he was found guilty by a jury of his peers in a court room like any other courtroom, and he was held accountable for his actions. If you're a Republican, you feel like it was an unfair trial and a set up from the beginning.

And people are passionate on both sides of this. If you are on one side, you can't understand the other side, and vice versa. And sometimes I wonder, particularly in election season, if Christians are as passionate about seeing lost people come to Christ as they are about their politicians.

Because as we're going to see in Romans 9, Paul was passionate for the lost, and especially the lost in his own community, his own flesh and blood. He struggled with the fact that the people in his own nation, the nation of Israel, were rejecting not a politician, not even just a king. They were rejecting the Son of God in the flesh. They were rejecting the promises of God. That was something to be in pain about.

We're gonna look at election today, but not by man's choosing. We're going to look at God's choosing. So open your Bible to Romans 9:1-13.

Scripture Reading

Romans 9:1–13 CSB

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen. 6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. 10 And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger. 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.

Pray

There's a lot to unpack here in this scripture. And there's a couple of big concepts to talk through before we get to the rest of this text.

The first issue is

God’s sovereignty

God's sovereignty refers to the authority of God.

The Lexham Theological Wordbook says,

Divine sovereignty refers to God’s all-encompassing rule over the entire universe.

God has ultimate authority, and any authority comes after his authority. All authority under God's authority is delegated authority. What that means is the one with ultimate authority has the power to give authority to others. But he also has the power to take authority away. An example of delegated authority is Genesis 1:28,

Genesis 1:28 CSB

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

Humans have the authority to rule because God delegates that authority to them. The one with ultimate authority can delegate authority to others to rule.

You can look at the way our government works to see an example of delegated authority. In our system of government, the people have the ultimate authority. The people then nominate a president and delegate authority to him. If they don't like that president, they can vote him out thus taking his authority away. The president can give others authority, such as a Secretary of State, further delegating authority. But in our system of government, the ultimate authority is in the people, and no one takes the people's authority away. This is why our Constitution starts off with, “We the people,” because ultimately authority exists within the people.

In a similar way, God has ultimate authority over all creation and everything else. There is no one who can take God's authority away.

What does that mean? That when God makes a decision, it's final. When God makes a choice, there is no one who can take his choice away.

That's going to bring us into our next big topic.

We talked about God's sovereignty and now we talk about

God’s election

God's election refers to his power to choose.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary describes God's election as,

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Election

God’s choice of a person or people group for a specific purpose, mission, or salvation.

Now, if God has ultimate authority, that includes the power to choose others. You see this in many places in the Bible. For instance, Jesus says this in John 15:16,

John 15:16 CSB

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

You also see this in the election of Israel in Deuteronomy 7:6-7,

Deuteronomy 7:6–7 CSB

6 For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 “The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

Now God's election, what we're describing as God's choosing, brings with it a whole set of questions. Why does God seem to choose some and not others? In verse 7 here, why does the Lord have his heart set on Israel? It says in verse 8 it's because God loved Israel, but doesn't God love the world? Election brings with it a sense of mystery.

Election requires that we trust in God's wisdom. If God is ultimate authority, and if he is perfect, and if he is all wise, then his choosing comes from someone who is pure, perfect, and having all wisdom. His choosing comes from his perfection. Since God is perfect, his choosing is perfect.

Now, the beginning of this text here finds Paul in a struggle.

Paul’s struggle

Paul has been battling in this text. He finds what has happened to Israel is odd. A people that God chose are rejecting the Messiah that was promised to them. And this is something that's more than strange to Paul. It is an issue of deep hurt and pain. In Romans 9:2, he has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” He is ripped apart. He is struggling to understand what is happening to the lost people in his community. He says this in Romans 9:3:

Romans 9:3 CSB

3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.

In fact, Paul sounds a lot like Moses in deep pain over the people of Israel in Exodus 32. There, the people of Israel were in the deep sin of idolatry against God. And Moses says this to God in Exodus 32:32,

Exodus 32:32 CSB

32 Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.”

Now I want to stop there and just point out to us, When was the last time we were in deep pain and anguish over the lost people in our community? When was the last time we were in deep pain and anguish over the lost people in our family?

Paul is struggling.

Israel’s benefits

He's especially struggling because of all the deep spiritual benefits that Israel has had from God. Look at Romans 9:4-5,

Romans 9:4–5 CSB

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.

And I have to stop and point out that this is a clear declaration from Paul about the divinity of Christ. Christ is God in the flesh. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. Jesus is “God over all”; he is the God of Israel.

And the fact that Jesus is the God of Israel makes his rejection all the more tragic. God led the people of Israel through the desert to the promised land. God gave his covenants to them. He gave his law to them. They worshiped the God of Israel. God gave his promises to Israel. And here is the Son of God, the promise of God to Israel, and they are rejecting him.

I have always been curious about the modern Jewish people. You know, when I read the New Testament, it is such a Jewish book. And I've been curious to know how modern Jews view Christians. So in preparing for this message today, I actually got in contact with a local rabbi. We had a great conversation. I really enjoyed talking to him. A big thing on his mind is the current war happening in Israel and what's happening on the Gaza Strip. And he said something very interesting to me. He said he wishes that Christians would send in thousands of missionaries to Gaza. He says because Judaism doesn't have the power to convert, but Christianity does. And I don't think he realized how profound a thing he just said. Even he, a Jew and not a Christian, realizes that there is power in faith in Jesus.

And here is the problem. How could you be so close and miss the most important part? I mean, from Romans 9:5, “The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ.” How could you be so close and miss Jesus? Take a look at Romans 9:6, “It is not as though the word of God has failed.”

Romans 9:6 CSB

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

It's not as though the word of God has failed. God's promises haven't failed. His promises are still true. See when the community around you, when your family members, when they are so close and they're hearing Jesus, but they miss him. It's not as though the promise of the gospel has failed. God's word is true. We fail to put our faith in him. The problem is that people fail to believe God's promise. They fail to believe the gospel.

And Paul is gonna list out for us that God's promises were never owed to anyone. Heaven is not owed to you because of who your parents are or where you came from.

He describes this as,

The children by physical descent and the children of the promise

Paul is going to say something profound in Romans 9:8. He says this,

Romans 9:8 CSB

8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.

Now here he's separating two ideas. On the one hand, you have all the people that have ever come through the lineage of Abraham, children by physical descent. On the other hand, you have what he describes as children of the promise.

Now, first off, what is this promise? The promise that he is referring to goes back to the Abrahamic covenant. We can see this in Genesis 15:4-6,

Genesis 15:4–6 CSB

4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Now what Paul is going to describe in Romans 9:6-13 about this Abrahamic covenant is God's sovereign election, his choosing. Remember that Abram had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. But in Genesis 15:4, “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” God's sovereignly chose Isaac over Ishmael, even though Ishmael was a descendant of Abraham. That's the argument that Paul makes in Romans 9:7.

He furthers this argument by looking at Isaac and Rebecca. Now, Isaac is the son of Abraham. And Isaac and Rebecca have two sons, Jacob and Esau. Yet God sovereignly chose Jacob over Esau. Look at how he describes this in Romans 9:11-12,

Romans 9:11–12 CSB

11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.

And there are some huge things that Paul says here. First, God has a purpose in his election. And second, his election is based solely on who God is. He is, "the one who calls.”

And it's important to note that. God's election always stands. What was his purpose in electing Jacob? It was through Jacob, later to become called Israel, out of him will come Judah. And out of Judah’s lineage will come David. And out of the line of David will come the Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world. God's election always wins.

And there are a couple of key things that we can learn about God's sovereign election from this passage.

First,

God’s sovereign election demonstrates his authority over salvation.

Paul says an interesting thing at the end of Romans 9:6. He says,

Romans 9:6 CSB

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Romans 9:6 “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” Now he's separating two ideas. You can be a person who is descended from Israel. But that does not mean that you are someone who has the spiritual faith in the promises of God to Israel.

He said a similar thing earlier in the book of Romans, in Romans 2:28-29. He says,

Romans 2:28–29 CSB

28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Here's the main core of what that says. Faith in God is not cultural. You are not a believer in the promises of God, simply because you hang around people of faith. You could reword that to say a person is not a Christian who is one who goes to church and sings the songs and does all the visible things on the outside.

No, a Christian is one who is one inwardly, who the Holy Spirit has done a work in your heart through faith, through faith in the promises of God. You are not a Christian because your parents were Christians, or because you grew up in the church. You are a Christian because you have been changed through faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God.

And listen, now that change in your life, that faith that you received, came under the authority of God's sovereign choosing. You can see this in Ephesians 1:3-4,

Ephesians 1:3–4 CSB

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

Friend, God chose you for his purposes and for his glory. He chose you to be holy and blameless before him. We also see this in 1 Peter 2:9,

1 Peter 2:9 CSB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I want you to see that God always chooses for his divine purpose. He chose you to be holy and blameless. He chose you to proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. He chose you to reach the world for him.

Have you ever been on a schoolyard and the group of friends that you are with all decide that they're going to play a game? And so what they do is they pick two captains, and the captains pick their team. And what do the two captains do when they pick? They always pick the most athletic kids.

They want to pick a winning team. And unfortunately, I wasn't one of those athletic kids. We'd get to the end. And I was always me and some other kid. And one of the two captains would say, “Fine, I'll choose him.” Now, sure, I wanted to be picked earlier. I didn't want the captain to have to just settle. But at the end of the day, I played because I just wanted to be in the game. It didn't really matter how I got into the game. I just wanted to be there.

Friends, God has chosen you for his divine purpose. And if you or a son or daughter of God today, if there's a work of faith in your life, a work of the spirit of God, moving within you, it’s proof that God has sovereign authority over salvation. It’s proof that God has set his grace upon you, and his election will always win. No one will take it away.

God’s sovereign election demonstrates his authority over salvation.

Second,

God’s sovereign election demonstrates his faithfulness to his promises.

I bring you back to verse 6 which I think is a core verse for this text. In all of his struggles in trying to understand what's happening to his community, as he sits and thinks about how Israel has had all the benefits, of being a chosen nation, he holds on to a fact. and this fact is what comforts him, according to Romans 9:6, God’s Word has not failed.

In fact, the entire argument that he's making from verses 6 to 13 is the fact is that God's sovereign election demonstrates its faithfulness to his promises. If you fail to believe him, that's on you. Because what God has said, he will do. God is faithful to his promises. God’s Word has not failed.

We reminded in Scripture that God is faithful to his promises. It says in 2 Timothy 2:13,

2 Timothy 2:13 CSB

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

God is faithful to his promises. The Lord said this in Matthew 24;35,

Matthew 24:35 CSB

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

God's word has not failed, and God's word will never fail.

And what are God's promises to you?

God promises forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7 “7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”

God promises the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Romans 8:14 “14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.”

God promises peace and rest. Matthew 11:28 “28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

God promises to provide for your needs. Philippians 4:19 “19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God promises answered prayer. John 15:7 “7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.”

God promises salvation and eternal life John 3:16.

And we could go on. The point is this: God's sovereign election demonstrates his faithfulness to his promises because God's word will never fail.

I remember struggling early on, trying to understand God's sovereign election, because my heart in Christ is one of an evangelist. There's nothing I love more than talking to someone who doesn't believe in Jesus and telling them the good news of Christ. It’s annoying to some, but I love it.

Some would argue if God really draws people to himself. then why evangelize? God is going to save those he will save. But I learned early on that evangelism is not about me saving any one. Because, if you listen closely, we are not the Savior.

Do you know what evangelism is? Evangelism is an overflow of what God is doing in your life and an obedience to his call. I don’t evangelize to people because I'm trying to save them. I evangelize to people because I am genuinely excited about what God has done in my life. and I want to obey him and everything.

Remember my phone call with the rabbi this week? The rabbi told me that he wishes Christians would not blame the Jews for the death of Jesus. He says we shouldn't blame a whole group of people because of what some people did.

And it gave me an opportunity. Now listen, I didn't call to share the gospel with him. It just came out. I was able to say, “Rabbi, you have to understand that we don't blame the Jews for killing Jesus. You know, because we believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, and no one took his life from him. Instead, all of us killed Jesus because Jesus willingly gave up his life for the sins of everyone. Yours and mine.

We moved on and had a great conversation. I hope to connect with him again. Honestly, I don't know if he will ever put his faith in Christ. I would love that. It would be incredible.

But what I do know is that, no matter what, God is faithful to his promise that anyone who'd believe in him will never perish, but only in Jesus Christ, is their eternal life.

God sovereign election demonstrates its faithfulness to his promises. Let's pray.

Apply

In closing (musicians)

Conclusion

Point 1

Point 2

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!