Romans 9: The Tension of Truth
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Romans 9
Romans 9
1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—2 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 sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. 6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? 22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” 26 and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ” 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” 29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Illustration: Golden Gate Bridge
Romans 9:1-3
1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—2 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 sake of my people, those of my own race,
The problem: Gentiles are receiving the gospel, yet his own people are resistant
Great Sorrow and Unceasing Anguish
More than a conqueror yet, full of anguish
Tension 1: The Spirit of God in Us Fills Us With Boty JOY and ANGUISH
Tension 1: The Spirit of God in Us Fills Us With Boty JOY and ANGUISH
There are two truths that we must hold in tension as believers.
Believers are filled with joy through the Spirit: We have joy and peace through Christ. We can rejoice, and are called to rejoice at all times. We are more than conquerors, and nothing can separate us from Christ. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
Believers are filled with anguish and sorrow through the Spirit. Paul weeps over his people, those who are lost, even to the point of saying, if it be possible, I could choose to be separated from Christ so that they would be saved.
Biblical joy and anguish are not opposites here. But we find, these two truths refine each other.
River Raft:
What is biblical joy in salvation, if we do not feel anguish for those who are lost?
Its impossible. What I mean is, your joy in Christ is proportional to your anguish and sorry over those who are lost. As your heart breaks, your joy grows. As your joy grows, your heart breaks!”
OT
Psalm 96:1-3
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
NT- Quoting Isaiah
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
Great Joy and Great Anguish.
If we try and minimize our anguish, we will minimize our joy.
I worry today that the church, not Vertical specific, but general, do not care about the lostness and sin around us. We thank God for our blessings, but we rather not thing about thier problems.
Its why its hard to get Christians to pray. We will eat. We will sing. But prayer service..thats anguish, thats brokenness.
But the Spirit is calling us, you back to both a renewed joy of your salvation, and anguish.
Paul says, I would go to hell for them to be saved? How far will you go?
Salvation…The heart of God, and the way of the Spirit is full of joy and anguish.
It walks the road of great joy and great anguish.
Will you?
Romans 9:4-5
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Verses 4-5 next present us with one of the most controversial and fundamental truths we have to hold in tension:
Tension 2: Jesus is fully God and Fully Man
Tension 2: Jesus is fully God and Fully Man
The reason we must hold joy and anguish in tension is because this is the heart of God
God is perfect, but looked out on his creation with anguish. And Christ’ love for us brought Him to earth, and as Paul said I’d go to hell so that they would be saved…Jesus would come to earth and die, experieence the judgement of God so tha tthey could be saved.
Jesus has a human ancestry and is God over all.
This is the truth which Jews themselves can’t believe.
They believe Jesus was a miracle worker. A prophet. But not the Messiah. Not Divine. Not God.
Jesus asks the disciples who do the people say that I am.
Matthew 16:13-16
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Understanding Jesus as fully God and fully man has important implications.
If He is not fully man, Jesus could not take our place, or die for sinful flesh. He must be man to sympathize and suffer for us.
Romans 8:3-4
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Jesus was in the likeness of sinful flesh. This means, he was fully human, but he did not inheret Adams sinful nature. Jesus could be tempted but He was not bent to sin. He is the second Adam who resisted the Devils temptation, and because He was a man, He could take the place of man.
But it is also important that Jesus was fully God.
Only by being God could He satisfy the full wrath of God and restore to us righteousness.
In other words, if he was not fully man, he could not reach us. If he was not fully God, he could not restore us to God.
Like a bridge, to bring humanity to a perfect God, you needed a perfect God to become as humanity. Jesus hold both, so that those who are fully man can be made whole and righteous to dwell with God.
This is the crux of salvation, and many false religions who miss Jesus.
Jews belive He is just a prophet, and a good man.
Mormons belive Jesus is the firstborn of many spiritual children. That He is not God. He is created.
Muslims belive Jesus was a prophet.
But we must hold these ideas in tension.
If Jesus is less than God, then we fall into heresy.
If we beleive Jesus is less than man, we fall into heresy.
In Theology we have what we call tier 1, tier 2, or tier three issues.
Tier 1 are those foundational to faith, that we must agree on if we are to work together.
Tier 2 are more denominational issues: baptism
Tier 3: Debatable Issues: Creation issues, different worship styles
This is a tier 1 issue.
If Christ is not God, there is no salvation
But practically heres what this means:
Following Christ isn’t just a intellectual or spiritual pursuit. Its not abstract
Christ in His incarnation is personal, touchable, here.
Christ did not just come to bring a message, he was the message. The tangible presence of God.
We are called to bring an invisible God to bear in a visible world.
Christ being fully man and fully God means that He began reflecting His kingdom through men.
Thats what you are!
You are to bring an invisible God to bear in a visible and tangible way through your hands and feet. Through you.
Christ is fully God and fully man, so that He could save and use humanity to demonstrate God!
Your Christology will express itself in your life. If your spiritual life is all spiritual, prayer, bible reading, but not practically touching and loving people…your see His fully Godness, but not Him being fully man. You’ve created a Christ which is false.
If your spiritual life is just being happy, feeling good, eating good food, spending time with family…about your life and thes tuff here, you are missing who Christ is! He is God! He is both!
And so our perspective must be both here and there!
Hold those in tension!
Keep your eyes on God’s kingdom, and on the hurting!
Pray and Serve!
Fast, and Go!
Study the Bible, and Live it!
We are the body of Christ! The physical tangible expression of Christ in this world!
Hold these in tension!
And this leads into our final point today, a tension of truth in how this plays out
Romans 9:6-9
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.
He says not all who are from the bloodline of Abraham are sons of Abraham of the promise. In other words, It is faith, not blood that saves. It is Christ’s work, not ours that rescues us.
Tension #3 - SALVATION is achieved by FAITH and verified by WORKS.
Tension #3 - SALVATION is achieved by FAITH and verified by WORKS.
The point here is that the Israelites for all of thier law keeping were not saved by it. We’ve talked about this.
The true people of promise are those who put faith in Christ!
But everyone who puts faith in Christ will live out the heart of God
Galatians 3:26-29
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Romans 9:30-33
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:20-24
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
