Be Moldable
Notes
Transcript
Romans 9:14-33
Romans 9:14-33
Be moldable. What does that entail? As coaches, we would tell our athletes that uncoachable kids are unemployable adults. Being moldable means to be shaped, formed, or influenced. If we desire to become all God intends us to become, we need to be moldable by the Creator. Being moldable by God is essentially saying, I have faith, and I trust you, God.
How many of you have ever heard of Charles Blondin? Charles Blondin was a world-famous tightrope walker. In 1859, he decided to walk the tightrope over the Niagara Falls. He just did not do it once, but 300 times. He went backwards, once with a potato sack over his head. Once he stopped halfway with a stove and cooked an omelet, and then continued to the other side. One time, he showed up with a wheelbarrow. He asked the crowd if they believed he could do it. The crowd all shouted with the belief that he could. Once the crowd had settled down, he asked for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow. Nobody trusted him with their life. They believed, but they did not trust.
Being moldable is not just believing, but it is totally trusting God. In the verses we just read, everyone is being molded by the molder. Paul gives us three principles in being Moldable. The first is to understand who is in control. The second is to know why He is molding you. The last is to have faith that produces trust.
Control:
Control:
In a democratic society, we believe that we have control. That we are the planners of our own destiny. With this belief, we have allowed it to seep into the Church. Paul is concise in his refutation of such a belief regarding God. It does not matter how many times a man tries to come to Christ; it only happens if the Father draws you to the Son (John 6:44). Read verse 16 again. “So it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.” God decides who He will have mercy on and who He will not, He is GOD! When He told Moses’ He will have mercy on whom I have mercy or compassion on whom I have compassion; it is God who decides this, not us. People might say it is not a god I would want to serve. Correct, because we have made a false god in our image instead of allowing the God who created us to lead and direct us.
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
God told Moses (Exodus 33:16) to explain why Pharaoh was created. For God’s purpose, so that all the world would know His power and proclaim His name. Do we honestly believe God is unjust for this? Absolutely not! Exegeirō (raised … up) carries the idea of bringing forward or lifting up and was used of the rise of historical figures to positions of prominence. The word is used several times in the Septuagint. Speaking of the Messiah, Balaam declared to Balak, the king of Moab, “One from Jacob shall have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city” (Num. 24:19). Through the prophet Nathan, the Lord told David that, because of his murder of Uriah and taking his wife, Bathsheba, for himself, “I will raise upevil against you from your own household” (2 Sam. 12:11). One of Job’s “comforters” rightly said of God that “He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety” (Job 5:11). In much the same way that He raised up Pharaoh, the Lord also raised up “the Chaldeans” to do His will (Hab. 1:6) and one day will “raise upa shepherd [Antichrist] in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs” (Zech 11:16).
“And one from Jacob shall have dominion, And will make the survivor perish from the city.”
“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
So that He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to salvation.
“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That bitter and hasty nation Who walks on the breadth of the land To possess dwelling places which are not theirs.
“For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who face annihilation, seek the young, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will consume the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
Listen, all men are sinful and deserve God’s condemnation; no person is wronged or treated unjustly if God chooses to condemn him. That is justice. His mercy toward any person is purely by His grace. It is not man’s choice or pursuit but God who initiates mercy for the sinner. Salvation is never initiated by human choice or merited by zealous human effort. It always begins in God’s sovereign, gracious, and eternal will. Being moldable means understanding who is in control and asking the “why” question.
Why:
Why:
When I ask God, “Why?” I have learned to ask it in the correct context. Why am I in this situation, and what am I to learn from it? Paul gives a sharp rebuke to the people's thoughts (19). If you are in Christ and He is in you, you should want and desire God to mold you. Paul is clear in (Romans 8:29) that those who are His are being conformed into the image of His Son. We have no right to ask God why you made this person or made me this way. Everything that He has created is for His purpose and His glory. I want to take us deeper for a second. Why have all things worked out the way they have?
Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;
Have you ever pondered what life would be like if Israel were the only saved people? If Jesus only came to save His people? Because of God’s plan and His molding not only us but also His-story, we too are partakers in being called His people.
Why we ask? Because of His loving kindness to those whom He chose. Praise Jesus that we are partakers in something we had nothing to do with. Who are His people? I have no idea of all those whom He has called. I believe that anyone who hears the Good News has an opportunity, but it is not for me to know the why. I know that Jesus’ death is plausible to cover all the sins of the world, but only those who are His will have the atonement on judgment day. Because I believe this, I trust in His will.
Trust:
Trust:
Growing up, we trusted our parents to provide for our needs. Some of us went to bed without worrying about electricity, water, food, or a roof over our heads. We believed our parents had that under control. My children did not worry about these things. They had faith and trust in their parents to provide for and protect them. Trust was the fruit of their faith in their parents.
James says (James 2:14-18). Trust is a fruit of our faith in God. Cain’s offering was rejected, but not Able’s. Trusting God. Saul was rejected, but not David. Trusting in God. Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, believed and trusted God would hand them over, but the others did not. Daniel trusted God would shut the mouths of the lions. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-nego trusted the Lord would save them. Their faith produced works (trust). Too many Christians live like the people at Niagara Falls, they believe God can do it, but don’t trust Him enough to join Him in the wheelbarrow.
What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.
But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
What was the difference between Israel and the Gentiles? They gentile was counted righteous because they trusted God through their faith. Israel kept trying to attain something through their own strength by keeping laws they could not be kept.
Being moldable is letting go and letting God to be in control of your entire life. I have come to find out, it is a lot easier. I have started asking the right ‘why.’ And each day my trust in Him grows. I love walking by faith and not sight, because the road I am on is only visible to the next step.
