When in Romans… Trust in God’s Plan

Intro

Good morning to all of you—whether you're here in person, tuning in online, or if you’re new here… you really picked a great week to show up. Romans 9. You kidding me? We just spent three whole weeks in Romans 8—but no, you come for this? Come on! But seriously, I’m glad you’re here. Clearly, God wanted you here—maybe He even predestined it. We don’t know. Romans 9 is a tough chapter. It begins to get into God’s election and the doctrine of predestination, which many theologians wrestle with. And we are going to wrestle with it today. But I think this is important because first, we don’t ignore Romans 9. It is an important part of Scripture. But we also don’t shape our entire view of God off of it. An important principle to understand is that Scripture interprets Scripture. Meaning when we wrestle with Romans 9, we read it in light of Romans 8. We read it in light of John 3:16. We read it within the full story of God's Word.

A few weeks ago, I talked with my dad—a pastor in Colorado—about Romans 9. He said something that stuck with me: “If your reading of Romans 9 leads you to a view of God that contradicts His character throughout Scripture, then you’re missing Paul’s point.” So if your first reaction to Romans 9 is that God seems unjust or unfair, you’re not alone—but that’s a sign to sit with it longer. Talk with us pastors. Discuss in your small group. Join our Bible Class Thursday morning which will be in Romans 9. Let’s be the kind of church that wrestles through the hard things together.

Last week, Paul ended Romans 8 with one of the most breathtaking promises in all of Scripture:

Romans 8:39 NLT

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And then Romans 9… takes a sharp turn. Suddenly, we find Paul in grief. He says he’s filled with “bitter sorrow and unending grief.” Why? Because he’s looking around and realizing—there are people he loves, his own people, who are not experiencing the reality of Romans 8. And I am sure you can relate with Paul when thinking about certain people in your life who do not know Jesus. Romans 9 is Paul’s heartfelt wrestling with that very tension—and in it, he’s going to give us four truths about how we are to understand God’s election, starting with

God’s election is unconditional

God’s election is unconditional. Paul opens this section with a question:

Romans 9:6 NLT

Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!

Now this seems like a fair question. If God promised to bless and save His people, Israel, then why have so many Israelites rejected Jesus? Has God's Word failed? Has He gone back on His promises? And Paul says, “No”, for not all who are physical descendants of Israel are truly God’s people. And to make his point, he uses this example of Jacob and Esau from the Old Testament. He says,

Romans 9:11–13 NLT

But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Jacob and Esau. Both descendants of Abraham. And yet, rather than choosing the obvious candidate—the firstborn, the strong, the favored Esau—God chose Jacob. “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.” That’s a challenging phrase for modern ears. Some translations even say, “Esau I hated.” So what do we do with that? It’s important to understand that the word translated as “rejected” or “hated” is comparative. It doesn’t mean God had personal hatred toward Esau, but that He chose Jacob over Esau for a specific role in His redemptive plan. This kind of language appears elsewhere in Scripture. In Luke 14, Jesus says that anyone who wants to follow Him must hate their father, mother, sister, and brother. He’s not calling for literal hatred—He’s saying that our love for Him must be so great that every other love looks lesser by comparison. In the same way, God chose Jacob to carry the covenant promise—not because Jacob was more deserving, but because of God’s sovereign purpose. Does that mean God had it out for Esau? Not at all. God still blessed Esau—with descendants, land, and wealth. But in His sovereign plan, God chose Jacob—not Esau—to be the one through whom the covenant promise would continue.

God’s election is merciful

And our modern ears don’t like that. We want everything to be equal and so we cry out, “That’s unfair!” And this is where we get to the second important thing to know, and that is God’s election is merciful. Paul asks the question you all are thinking,

Romans 9:14–16 NLT

Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

If you are accusing God of being unfair, then you will never understand Romans 9. You want God to be fair? Romans 6 tells you what the fair wages are for you life, and guess what, it is death. Eternal separation. You see God is so far from unfair. He is merciful. If being unfair is giving someone the punishment that they don’t deserve, being merciful is not giving someone the punishment that they do deserve. Thus, we never deserve God’s mercy. We don’t get to accuse God of being unfair when He chooses how He will lavish His mercy.

A great example of this is Jesus’s parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20. In this parable, the landowner hires workers for his vineyard, agreeing to pay them the normal daily wage. So they go out to work. But then at noon, the landowner hires some more. And he does the same at 3pm and 5pm. And so you have all of these workers who worked different amount of time. And the landowner decides that, out of his generosity, he is going to pay all of the workers the full day’s wages. Well, the worker who worked the entire day protested saying, “How could you pay them the same as us?” And listen to the response of the landowner:

Matthew 20:13–15 NLT

“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

God’s election is entirely an act of mercy. He was under no obligation to give it, and as God, He has every right to reveal His mercy in different ways and to different degrees in the lives of different people.

God’s election is patient

Now, at this point you might be wondering, “If someone is only saved because God chose to reveal his mercy to them, well then what about those who oppose God? He must have chosen in advance for them to be rejected!” That is logical. It makes sense in our heads. But not every truth of God is able to grasped by our finite minds. Paul makes clear that God’s election is patient, and he uses the example of Pharaoh in Exodus, saying,

Romans 9:17–19 NLT

For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

How can you blame Pharaoh? Maybe God is to blame for making him like that! To which Paul loses his composure a bit and says,

Romans 9:20 NLT

No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Paul is essentially saying, “Do you realize who you are accusing?” It’s like a person on trial for capital murder—hands in chains—standing up and shouting at the judge, “You’re the guilty one!” It’s a complete reversal of roles. The creature accusing the Creator. The sinner accusing the Holy Judge. Pharaoh is completely to blame for his destruction, and we see this when we pay attention to the state of Pharaoh’s hearts throughout the plagues in Exodus. Notice, in the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s heart either became hardened or he hardened his own heart. Five times God sends Moses to Pharaoh to call him to acknowledge the one true God and let His people go. And five times, Pharaoh rejects God’s call to repent. Was God unfair to Pharaoh? No, He was actually merciful and patient with him. He didn’t need to do that. He had every right to destroy Pharaoh the instant he rejected. But God was patient with him. It was only after Pharaoh’s own rejection many times, that God began to harden his hear. You see, when God hardens someone’s heart, He is never starting from scratch. He confirms what the person has already chosen. And this is exactly the point Paul makes when he writes:

Romans 9:22–23 NLT

In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

It’s crucial to see this: God never predestines anyone to destruction. Scripture is clear that God desires all people to be saved. God gave Pharaoh repeated opportunities to repent, and if he had, God would have shown mercy. But Pharaoh repeatedly rejected God, and eventually, God confirmed him in that rejection—using even Pharaoh’s hardness to display His power and glory through Him. And this is where we see the great mystery of God’s election. Paul says that there are those “who are destined for destruction” and those “who were prepared in advance for glory.” But Paul never says God prepared people in advance for destruction. Scripture never says that.

God’s election is for you

And so where does this leave us? In this mystery where Scripture says that salvation is 100% by the pure mercy and choice of God. That damnation is 100% the fault of the individual. That God desires all people to be saved, and yet not all are saved. That no one can come to God unless He draws them, and yet all are invited to believe. It’s heavy. And if we’re honest, it can leave us unsettled, wondering, “Am I saved? Maybe I’m the Esau. Maybe my life of running from God looks a lot like Pharaoh. How do I know if I’m one of God’s elect?” But Paul makes clear at the end that God’s election is for you. Listen to how he ends,

Romans 9:24 NLT

And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

How could Paul make such an assumption? Well, the answer to God’s election is found in one simple reality: Belief in Jesus. How did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob receive salvation? By knowing if God chose them or not? No, they believed the promise. And if you are hearing these words today, God is calling you to that same place of belief. Believe in what Jesus has done for you. Believe Him when He says, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” Yes, there is mystery in election—but rather than needing to understand it all, the mystery finds its anchor in Jesus. Because this is true: There is no one who believes in Jesus who will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. And there is no one in the kingdom of heaven who is there apart from belief in Jesus. Apart from Jesus, every one of us would be rejected. But with Jesus—you are elect. You are chosen. You are His.