Chosen by God (Rom. 9:10-18)

Introduction

· Our last time in Romans, Paul shared his overwhelming sorrow that the people of Israel, had, by and large, rejected the Gospel. The Jews are precious in the eyes of God, to whom belong many blessings. Yet when Jesus was present on the earth, most of them rejected Jesus as their Messiah. And when Paul shared the gospel in synagogues throughout the ancient world, he was often received not with hospitality, but with hostility. But God had promised a day of restoration and renewal of God’s people. Is it is possible … that God had been wrong??

· Read vv. 6-18.

· The word “grace” (unmerited favor, undeserved kindness) does not appear in chapter 9. Yet the idea is woven into almost every line. Other, similar words are used like “election” (11) and “mercy” (15) and “compassion” (15). And see Romans 11:5–6: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

· THREE FEATURES OF THE SAVING GRACE OF GOD…

The Surprising Recipients of God’s Grace (10-13)

· Genesis begins with a promise in 3:15. Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise [crush] your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Over the centuries, there is a narrowing of this promise of a deliverer. Seth (4:26) > Noah > Abraham (12) > Isaac (17:15-19) > Jacob (25:21-23) > Judah (49:8-12) > David (2 Sam. 7:11-16) > Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

· Recap the story of Jacob and Esau

· God’s announcement in Genesis (prediction)

· God’s explanation in Malachi (predestination)

· Why did God choose one, and not choose the other? Why did he choose to bless Jacob, and not Esau? Why does he choose to save one person, and pass over another?

· God’s “purpose of election might continue” (Rom. 9:11). What is this election based on? We have several options.

o Choice is based on personal merit. This is what we typically do. Kids on the playground choosing teams. Shopping at the grocery store for the perfect fruit or salad. There is some superior quality (bigger, newer, cheaper, healthier, or better looking). Those whose hearts contain a better quality to them. Paul rules this out in v. 11.

o Choice is based on the merit of others. Maybe a parent, or a pastor. Roman Catholic. A “storehouse” or “treasury” of merit. Saints like Peter, and Mother Teresa, and Pope Francis have performed more than enough good works to cover their own sin, and so the extras are set aside and available to help others get into heaven.

o Choice is based on chance. A lottery kind of system.

o Choice is based on grace. See v. 11. Deuteronomy 7:7–9 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. Cf. Romans 3:23–24 for all have sinned … and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

· The heavenly citizenship will be full of surprises. Who would have ever imagined an arrogant deceiver like Jacob, or a foul-mouthed fisherman like Peter, or a self-righteous persecutor like Paul. If we had known each other 20 years ago, we would have been quite surprised to meet up in church one day. There are people you and I know today who are further from the gospel than we are from the moon. But there are no chances or probabilities with God. Don’t give up. Don’t stop praying.

· Because you see, the gospel is not for “good” people. It is for sinners in need of God’s goodness. Church is not for “moral” people.

· Matthew 9:12–13 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

· God chooses us, we do not choose him. Salvation is entirely of grace.

· >>Some of you are already thinking. That doesn’t seem fair. That God would choose Jacob and not Esau, or rescuing one person to be saved, while permitting another person to be damned. It’s hard for us to imagine a cosmic king being in control.

The Sovereign Rightness of God’s Grace (14-16)

· Particle “me” implies a negative. “Surely, we wouldn’t say that God is unfair on his part? May it never be!” (then quotes from Ex. 33:19).

· Remember that our very sense of justice is a gift from God, and part of being made in his image. This is one of the great weaknesses of postmodernism. If there is no absolute truth, there is no absolute standard of right and wrong. Morality and justice are eventually determined by majority rule, or by whoever is in power at the moment (might makes right).

· God defines what is fair and unfair. His character is just, and anything that is “fair” or “just” it because it conforms with his character.

· Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

· Wayne Grudem – “whatever conforms to God’s moral character is right. But why is whatever conforms to God’s moral character right? It is right because it conforms to his moral character! If indeed God is the final standard of righteousness, then there can be no standard outside of God by which we measure righteousness or justice. He himself is the final standard.”

· If we ever accuse God of being unjust, we are claiming moral superiority to God. And that is something we cannot do.

· Paul will expand on this theme later in the chapter.

· Here, he simply says, if he desires to set his affection on others, while passing over others, he has the right to do so.

· I am reminded of the story Matthew 20:1–16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

The Spectacular Results of God’s Grace (17-18)

· Here we are introduced to one of the great mysteries of salvation. God’s sovereignty, but human responsibility.

· Pharaoh hardened – Ex. 8:15, 19, 32; 9:34

· God hardened – Ex. 4:21; 7:3, 13, 14, 22; 9:12. Cf. God “gave them over.” Rom. 1:24, 26, 28. The judicial hardening of God.

· Which one was it? Both!

· Why do some believe, while others reject? It is both man’s response but God’s sovereignty.

· Spurgeon: “If the sun of grace does not soften you as it does wax, it will harden you as the sun does clay. If it is not a savour of life unto life, to repeat the text I quoted just now, it will be a savour of death unto death. Oh, do not be blind in the sunlight! Do not perish with hunger in the banqueting—house! Do not die of thirst when the water of life is before you!”

Conclusion

· The result of unconditional election: God is glorified.

· Joshua 2:9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

· The same with salvation. Ephesians 1:5–6 he predestined us for adoption …to the praise of his glorious grace.

· Alix’ upcoming missions trip to Thailand and Cambodia. Why do this? Why take time out of your summer? Time away from family and friends, eat different food? Spend two months with strangers in a faraway land, to serve and feed orphans? The answer is written the wall out on in the foyer.

· Psalm 96:3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

· Why? Because God’s grace is worth it.