Sovereignty & Salvation

Sovereignty & Salvation

Romans 9:14-24

Tonight, I am going to preface our teaching with some thoughts on the sovereignty of God.

This is a hot subject. People argue over these doctrines. Sometimes churches split over them. It is a doctrine that must be discussed with humility and maturity.

It is the duty of the preacher to deal with every verse in the bible. The truth is, most ignore these verses because they are so difficult.

Here is our issue: We want everything simplified. We want everything to fit into our little box. That is not always going to happen. God is infinite. Fully comprehending Him and His ways is impossible for us to do.

These two truths are clearly stated over and over in the Bible:

1) God is absolutely sovereign over all of His creation.

2) Man is responsible for his own decisions.

Our problem is we think we need to reconcile those two truth. Listen closely to these words by Spurgeon:

That God predestines, and yet that man is responsible, are two facts that few can see clearly. They are believed to be inconsistent or contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find, in another Scripture, that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other. I do not believe they can be welded into one upon any earthly anvil, but they certainly shall be in eternity. They are two lines that are so neatly parallel, that the human mind which pursues them farthest will never discover that they converge, but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.

Now let me make it plain for you.

If two truths in the Bible appear to me to be contradictory the problem is with my understanding, not Scripture.

It is my job to say Amen to all of Scripture.

Romans 10:13 is true- Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 6:44 is true- No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Romans 9:13 is true- Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated.

2 Peter 3:9 is true-

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Rev. 13:8 is true- Our names were written in the Lambs book of Life before the foundation of the world.

John 3:3 says you must be born again.

These are things we know.

No one is born saved.

Repentance and faith must be exercised to be saved.

The gospel is to be preached to every person.

We are to pray for the salvation of everyone.

I have wrestled with these doctrines and these Scriptures for almost 30 years. The best advice I could give is to say Amen to everything Scripture teaches.

Let’s be hones, there are many things we don’t fully comprehend in Scripture.

The eternality of God- how was He always there?

The Trinity of God- How can three be one?

Hell- forever!

The resurrection- how will we receive a new body?

The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is simply one thing in a list of things that are beyond my comprehension.

If you don’t wrestle with this it is because you haven’t sat down and tried to work through the passages. It is deep, it is humbling, and it is truth.

v. 14 Is God unjust for saving Jacob and not Esau?

Remember that Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edomites) represented two nations. Yet both were descendants of the same mother and father. Esau, under the traditions of the day, would have been chosen because he was first born.

Paul’s point was that all of Abraham’s descendants were not elect. Paul’s preaching of the gospel revealed that all of Israel was not elect. The Jews didn’t like this. They based their salvation on a false view of election. The Jews thought they were saved because of their relationship to Abraham and the Law. Paul was saying if they didn’t have faith in Christ they were lost.

The point- God is not obligated to save anyone. It would be perfectly just if He allowed everyone to perish.

Justice means God punishes sin. We are all sinners!

v. 15 Paul moves from nations to individuals. This quote comes from Exodus 33:19. God grants mercy to whom He will.

v. 16. God’s mercy is not the result of human will or effort. We don’t move God’s heart toward us with our own will or our own effort. We want to think it is that way. We want to believe God saw something good in us and that’s why He saved us.

If God saves us because of something, we do we are not saved by grace. Therefore, we get some of the credit for our salvation. We have a reason to brag.

v. 17 He mentions Pharaoh by name.

God used a lost man to accomplish His will. He blessed Pharaoh. He gave him great power. He lived in luxury. Some might wonder why God would an evil man like Pharoah to prosper. God says He raised up Pharaoh to:

Show His own power

Make His own name great in the earth.

God’s victory over Egypt was a warning to pagan nations. In fact, it was even used to bring people to salvation. Rahab was saved because she heard what God di to Pharaoh (Joshua 2:9-13).

v. 18 Three times we are told Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

Seven times we are told “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened”.

Six times God hardens his heart.

We can harden our heart and God can as well. God could have saved Pharaoh, but he didn’t. There was nothing unjust about that. Pharaoh did not want to be saved. The hardening of his heart was the result of mercy that was withheld.

Paul had a hardened heart. He was an enemy of God. God had mercy on him.

v. 19 Paul anticipates what people are thinking. He knows what people are thinking.

“Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”

The interesting thing is Paul doesn’t answer this question. His response is to rebuke those who would question God at all in verses 20-21.

v. 20-21 “Who are you?” We are fallen humans. We are finite beings. Our knowledge is limited.

“to answer back to God” be careful making assumptions about God based on your limited understanding.

“Will what is molded” humans

“say to its molder” (God)

“Why have you made me like this?”

Anyone who wants to be saved can be. It’s not like people are saying to God “Why won’t you save me?” Those who argue “God made me this way” do so from a point of rebellion to truth and rejection of the revelation of God.

God is the potter. We are clay. He can do with us as He will.

“honorable” use in verse 21 is saved people. Dishonorable people would be lost. God made all people and He uses all people just as He used Pharaoh.

v. 22-24 Some might ask why God would create people that He knows are going to go to hell. Paul answers that in the form of a rhetorical question that extends from verses 22-24. Let’s break down what Paul says:

1) God shows His wrath through the lost. The punishment of the wicked reveal to us that God is holy. The truth is we would not understand His love and mercy without understanding His wrath.

2) God makes known His power through the wicked. He will ultimately destroy Satan and all who follow Him. Much of heavens worship will focus on God defeating evil (Rev. 19:1-5).

3) God makes known His mercy through the wicked. God is not unmoved by the state of the wicked. It says He has much patience toward them. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Whatever you think about the sovereignty of God it should not include a compassionless God toward the wicked.

Look at that phrase “prepared for destruction”. That does not mean God created them to send them to hell. The verb is passive. It was their rejection of Christ that prepared them for their judgment.

4) The lost and the saved create a contrast. God’s judgment highlights His mercy. “in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy”.

Interestingly the word “prepared” is not in the passive here. It is in the active. God prepared these people for His mercy.

“even us of whom He called” God calls people to Himself through the preaching of the gospel. All of us at one time were vessels of wrath. We moved from being a vessel of wrath to a vessel of mercy by faith in Christ.

Remember the context of chapter 9. The Jews believed they were saved because they were the elect of God. The point of chapter 9 is to show that one’s salvation should not rest on election. It should rest on Christ. The Jews who did not have faith in Christ were not the elect of God.

It is not our job to sweat over who is elect and who is not elect. Nowhere in the Bible do we see that. It is our responsibility to:

Come to Jesus

Preach Jesus

Pray for souls

Love everyone

Anyone who wants to be saved can be saved.

Salvation is completely of the Lord.

Those two truths are clear in Scripture. The mind of God in election is not. We should not try and comprehend such a deep doctrine. We should simply give an Amen to what God has made clear when it is hard for us to understand.

Two things I will close with:

Don’t rob God of His glory by denying His absolute sovereignty.

Don’t rob people of their opportunity by denying the freedom and responsibility of all people.