Paul
has just told us in chapter 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of
God. Now in chapter 9 he wants us to
know that he is sincere. He thought that
some may have the impression that because of the law God has rejected the
people of Israel and His promises. Now
Paul explains that God chose Israel and that He has not rejected his people.
Romans 9:1-5 – Paul Loves
Paul
says he is speaking the truth because Christ is in him. He says he is not lying. He trusts the Holy Spirit that is in
him. He is very sad when he thinks about
his fellow Jews who haven’t accepted Jesus as their Messiah. He wishes he himself could suffer God’s
punishment for them. – Rom. 9:1-3.
The
Jews were God’s chosen people and God promised to bless them and all nations
through them, but most of them were rejecting Jesus. Paul shows that he is deeply concerned for
those Jews who don’t accept Christ as Savior.
He loved them more than himself.
He is willing to give up his own salvation if it meant they would be
saved. He knew that would not be
possible, because he just told us in Romans
8:29 that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. I think he is trying to show just how much he
cares for the lost.
Are you
burdened for the salvation of the lost?
Principle: We should be burdened for the salvation of
the lost.
Paul
lists the spiritual privileges God gave the Jews. They were the people of Israel. They were
adopted as sons. They had the divine
glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the
promises of God. They could trace their
ancestry to Christ. – Rom. 9:4-5.
The
Israelites were descendants of Jacob.
Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.
They were adopted as sons of God.
They had the glory and saw it many times in their history. They had the covenants that God made with
Abraham, Moses, and David. They had the
Law which told them how to live and please God.
They received God’s pattern of the temple service with the various
feasts and sacrifices to observe. They
received God’s promises and blessings.
They have the fully human Messiah Jesus who is fully God.
Many
people are separated from God because of their sins and failure to accept Jesus. If you are a Christian, you have many
privileges. You have God, Jesus, the
Bible and His promises. You have many
freedoms in this life. You have freedom
to worship and believe as we please without fear.
What
are some of your blessings?
Do you
thank God daily for them?
Romans 9:6-29 – God Chooses
Paul
quickly states that God’s promises had not failed. He reminds them that true Israel is not
simply the physical descendants of Israel.
It is not the natural children who are His children, but it is the
children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. It depends on what God has chosen according
to His purpose. He illustrates this
through the contrast of Isaac and Ishmael and then through Jacob and Esau. - Rom. 9:6-13.
Paul
asks if God is unjust and then answers, “not at all”. He quotes Ex. 33:19 - “I will have mercy on whom I
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It doesn’t depend on man’s desire or
effort, but on God’s mercy. He quotes
what God said to Pharaoh in Ex. 9:16,
“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.”
– Rom. 9:14-21.
God
chose Jacob and rejected Esau. God knew
Jacob would decide to trust God and Esau would reject God. God is sovereign over His creation and has a
perfect right to choose whom He wills.
His character if holy, impartial, just, and His goodness and love
guarantees His choices will always be for His glory and our good.
Paul
quotes Exodus where God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God did that for the greater purpose of
displaying God’s glory in power and judgment.
He did to so His fame would spread throughout the world. God didn’t cause Pharaoh to sin, but withdrew
His restraint allowing Pharaoh to be responsible for his own sin. God uses sinners for His purposes today by
withdrawing His restraint and leaves them to their own sin.
Election
shows salvation is by God’s power and grace alone. When we think of election, we think of the
negative. We think God doesn’t elect all
people. The Bible focuses on the
positive - the grace of God. If God
wanted people to go to hell, He would have no need for the Bible or the death
of His Son. He wants everyone to accept
Him. He wants us to repent and believe
in Jesus.
Paul imagines
a person complaining about God and asks the questions,
“Then why does God still blame us?” and “Why did
you make me like this”. (Rom
9:19-20). We might say, “it’s just
not fair”. It’s not true that God made
us to be sinners. The human race became
sinners when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.
Their actions affected the entire race.
When arguing with God we don’t have a leg to stand on. Paul is not teaching we are just robots, but
that we all have free will. God foreknew
who would trust in Him and He hardened all those whom He foreknew would reject
Him.
God has
the right to show His anger and His power.
He has been patient with those who oppose Him and has delayed the time
for judgment. He wants to give them more
opportunity to repent and turn to Him.
Remember
Rom. 8:28 – “…..all
things work together for good of those who love him, who have been called according
to his purpose.” He does this by
including the sinful actions of all human beings. He predestined the cross to save the most
sinful actions of people throughout the history of the world.
Predestination
or election is a comfort to believers because it assures us that what God
purposed to do for us, He will complete in spite of our sins. No one can stop God’s plan or His
purposes.
How do
you know if you are one of His elect?
How do
you know if God prepared you beforehand for glory?
Principle: God is sovereign and has the right to do what
He wants.
Romans 9:30-33 – Israel Stumbles
Paul
contrasts the Jews and the Gentiles. The
Gentiles were not looking for a relationship with God, but when they discovered
the gospel they accepted it by faith.
The Jews thought they could earn their way to heaven so they tried to
obey the law and God would accept them for their good deeds. They tried to obtain righteousness by their
good works. No one can earn
salvation. The only way to obtain
righteous is by faith in Jesus. The
gospel is for everyone, both Jews and Gentiles.
The
Jews didn’t accept God’s offer of forgiveness although Christ died for
them. Paul says Jesus was like a
“stumbling stone”. They were trying to
save themselves by their works so they stumbled over the simple fact that Jesus
died for them and all they had to do is believe and accept Him as their
Messiah. God’s plan was to use the
salvation of the Gentiles to make Israel jealous so they would eventually turn
to Christ.
Principle: Approaching God through our works is built on
faith in ourselves and will cause us to stumble over Christ and be lost.
Christ
is either one or the other to you right now.
He is a rock in which you believe and build your life on or He is a
stumbling stone of offense to your sinful pride. Don’t stumble over Christ by trusting in your
good works to save you. Trust in Christ
alone and you will not be ashamed at the judgment. He will never disappoint.
Is
Christ your Rock or your stumbling stone?
Next time
we will study Romans 10. Have a blessed day and thanks for visiting my
site. Hope to see you here again. -- I
encourage you to trust in Jesus.
__________________________________________
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