Good morning, Bereans. As we continue our study of Romans 9, I want us to begin by looking at how chapter 8 ended.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30 ESV
When God gives eternal life to a person, when God enters into the eternal covenant with someone, He never changes it. There's never a possibility of separation from then on throughout eternity. Paul ends Romans 8 by saying there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ. We are absolutely secure in Him.
So, the question arises: What about the Jews? They also had a covenant with God. They were His chosen people and now they are set aside? Hasn't God been unfaithful to His covenant with them? Did God fail Israel? And if He has, how can we trust Him?
So, now in chapters 9-11, Paul defends God's covenant faithfulness. The apostle begins his theodicy by assuring his critics of his own burden for his kinsmen's salvation. Then he makes the following promise:
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, Romans 9:6 ESV
"It is not as though the word of God has failed"—In other words, because many, if not most, of those from Jewish descent were not believers, that did not in any way diminish the promises of God to Israel. And what was his reasoning for this? "For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel." Racial, ethnic heritage does not equate to being a child of God. It is only by God's sovereign choice that one is ultimately a child of the promise. He illustrates this by God's choice of Isaac over Ishmael. He gives greater detail in that of Jacob over Esau showing that God made His choice before they had done good or evil, so that His choice concerning election might stand. He ends with that strong statement from Malachi 1:2, 3.
As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13 ESV
And most people, even most Christians respond, "That's not fair!" That's just not fair of God to decide that Jacob would belong to Him, but Esau would not. It sounds as though they had no choice in the matter and that God alone laid ultimate claim to one's inclusion and the other's exclusion! It sounds like that because that is how it is!
Boy, do people ever hate the doctrine of election! A.W. Pink writes, "Who is regulating the affairs on this earth today—God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; that He does so over this world, is almost universally denied—if not directly, then indirectly. Throughout Christendom, with an almost negligible exception, the theory is held that man is a 'free agent,' and therefore, lord of his fortunes and the determiner of his destiny."
Remember that when we started Romans 9, I told you that this would be a difficult passage for some to handle. Many people struggle with the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. I struggled with this at one time. I started out my Christian journey as an Arminian. Now, that is not Armenian. It has nothing to do with Armenia or the folks who come from Armenia. Arminianism is derived from the man who first expounded these ideas—Arminius, a Dutch theologian who lived in the seventeenth century. I would say that I believed that God was sovereign, but I limited His control over man, and I didn't see the contradiction. I knew God controlled the king's heart in Proverbs 21.
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1 ESV
The heart to the Hebrew was the thought process, his thinking. So here we see that God controls the thoughts of the King. I had no problem with that; that was fine with me. But God controls my thinking? No way. I was a free agent. I didn't consider that He controlled the hearts of not just kings but of ALL men. Notice this passage in Exodus 12.
The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Exodus 12:35-36 ESV
Yahweh worked in the hearts of the Egyptians so that they gave away their material possessions to their slaves. Who does this? Knowing the selfishness of man, this was truly a work of God.
Let me share with you a Scripture that greatly hindered me from accepting the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Matthew 23:37 ESV
I took this verse as proof that God wants to save all men but men are able to refuse His call. I perceived that while Yeshua wanted to gather them, they wouldn't come. Do you see my point? But to understand this verse, we must know it's context. If we look at the context of chapter 23, we see that by "Jerusalem" he meant the Scribes and Pharisees (v2), the rulers and governors of Jerusalem. The leaders killed the prophets. Who was it Yeshua wanted to gather? It was "Your children"—the Jewish people. "And you"—Jewish leaders, were not willing for me to gather your children. Does that make more sense now? Another stumbling block to me is found in Paul's first letter to Timothy in which he declares that God
desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4 ESV
I saw this as teaching that God wants all men to be saved. Again, we must look at the context:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 1 Timothy 2:1-3 ESV
Paul is exhorting them to pray for all men, for kings and for all those in authority. Christianity, in its beginning stages, was made up primarily of slaves and common men. Paul says, "Pray for all men, even kings and rulers because God will save some of them also." "All men" means men of every station in life and racial origin. It is a removal of racial and social distinctions.
Do you remember what the primary rule of hermeneutics is? It is the "analogy of faith"—the rule that Scripture is to interpret Scripture. This means that no part of Scripture can be interpreted in such a way as to render it in conflict with what is clearly taught elsewhere in Scripture. Now, let me ask you, "Do the Scriptures teach that God is omnipotent?" Yes, they do!
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Revelation 19:6 ESV
The word "almighty" here is from the Greek pantokrator, which means "the ruler of all" or "omnipotent." Scripture often affirms that all power belongs to God (Ps. 147:5), that all things are possible for God (Luke 1:37; 19:26), and that God's power exceeds what humans can ask or think (Eph. 3:20).
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Psalm 115:3 ESV
Now, if God desired all men to be saved, and we know that all men are not being saved, then it implies that man's will is supreme and omnipotent and that God's will is impotent. This contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture. What God wills, occurs. He is omnipotent, and if He wanted to save all men, He could and would.
Now many people struggle with the idea of the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. That is, that God is free to do whatever He wants, that God is free to determine all things according to His own pleasure. But that is exactly what the Scripture teaches.
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" Daniel 4:35 ESV
This idea of God's sovereign control of all things is taught over and over. Consider Isaiah 46.
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' Isaiah 46:9-10 ESV
So, Paul tells us that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. Now, if no one in and of himself will ever be saved or desires to be saved apart from God's calling, isn't God being unfair? Isn't it unjust that God only calls certain people to salvation and not others? Isn't it unfair for God not to love everybody? That brings us to Romans 9:14, which is the objectors' response to Paul's teaching of election in verses 6-13.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! Romans 9:14 ESV
Paul knew the kind of objections that were typically raised against his teachings. He had preached and taught publicly for years in synagogues and market places. So, he raises the questions that people typically raise and dealt with them.
God's righteousness is being questioned in this verse by an imaginary objector. Isn't it unrighteous for God to choose one person over another? This question would never arise if Paul didn't intend to be understood as saying that the doctrine of election teaches that the choice rests with God alone. Had he merely been dealing with God's making His choices based upon His knowledge of future events? Did He "look down the corridors of time" to see who would believe? Then it would not have caused His justice to be called into question. There would be no outcry of "It's not fair!" This question indicates that the doctrine of election places the choice with God and with God alone. The biblical doctrine of election raises this question—"Isn't that unfair?"
The question was phrased in such a way in the Greek as to expect a negative reply—and he gave it! "May it never be!"—whenever that phrase is used in Romans, it always means that is a false conclusion based upon a correct premise. The premise is that God has chosen some for salvation and that choice rests solely upon His will and purpose. The conclusion is: that's not fair, that is not just. Paul says, "May it never be." This is the strongest negative in the Greek language: "No, no, no, no, never, no way, impossible, absolutely absurd! That is a false conclusion, though the premise is correct. God is just! The Scripture clearly affirm this.
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" Genesis 18:25 ESV
Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules. Psalm 119:137 ESV
Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. Psalm 119:142 ESV
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 ESV
Whatever God does is absolutely just and righteous for that simple reason that He does it. Why is it that God's choosing certain men to salvation is not unjust? Paul gives a principle in a quotation from the Tanakh. He doesn't launch out into a great legal debate here; he simply quotes the Scripture. The Jews would have trouble arguing with their own Scripture. Here is the principle:
For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." Romans 9:15 ESV
This is a quotation from Exodus 33:19. The context of this quote is all important. This statement of the freedom of God in mercy is given to Moses as an expression and manifestation of God's name, His character, His glory. The story takes us to that time when Moses was on the mountain receiving the "Ten Commandments." As he delayed in returning, the children of Israel began to worship a golden calf and engage in immorality and drunkenness while abandoning the Lord. The Lord told Moses that they were "an obstinate people," so He would destroy them and make of Moses a great nation (Ex. 32:9-10). Moses interceded for them, pleading for God's mercy. God declared that judgment was about to fall, but some would be spared. God would spare whom He chose to spare.
Meanwhile, Moses sought the Lord, asking for His presence with him and with Israel. He told the Lord that the one thing that would distinguish Israel from the rest of the people would be the Lord's dwelling among them. Then Moses said:
"Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Exodus 33:18-19 ESV
Amazed that God would still go up with them in spite of their obstinacy, Moses wanted to see the glory of God. Who is God? He is the One who shows mercy upon whom He shows mercy and compassion upon whom He shows compassion. What we see in Exodus 33 is similar to Exodus 3:14. At the burning bush, Moses had asked the name of God. He replied, "I AM WHO I AM." In both revelations, the Lord declared His sovereignty. Apart from sovereignty there is no God. And God is sovereign in His mercy.
The children of Israel have just built a golden calf. Because of their idolatry, they all deserved to be destroyed. What happened? God destroyed 3,000 of them and left the rest alive when they all deserved to be destroyed. God showed mercy to some.
"Mercy" is the Greek word eleeo, which means "to help one afflicted or seeking aid, to bring help to the wretched, show mercy to someone, help someone (out of compassion)." Mercy is the outward manifestation of pity. The verb signifies a feeling of sympathy with the misery of another, especially when manifested in action. Mercy is an appeal to the goodness of someone much greater—in this case, it is the goodness of God. Theologians often consider mercy as a subordinate category to the attribute of God's goodness. Louis Berkhof calls mercy "The goodness or love of God shown to those who are in misery or distress, irrespective of their deserts" (Systematic Theology, 72). So, mercy is action that flows from God's love toward those in desperate straits.
God says, "The principle upon which I work is this, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy." That is a formal declaration of divine prerogative. Election is based upon the mercy of God. For God to choose some for salvation is for God to show mercy to those individuals. God is free to show mercy to whom He wills. God showed that mercy to Israel, and that is why they weren't destroyed as a nation when they built the golden calf.
God is sovereign in the exercise of His mercy. Mercy is not a right to which man is entitled. To speak of deserving mercy is a contradiction of terms. God gives mercy to whom He pleases and withholds mercy as it seems good to Himself:
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids-blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Yeshua saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Yeshua said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. John 5:1-9 ESV
There was a great multitude of sick people, and Yeshua healed a certain man, one man. This is a case of the sovereign exercise of divine mercy. Now, if you were a sick person at that pool who didn't get healed, what would have been your response? "That's not fair—you have to heal me too." It would have been just as easy for Christ to have healed the great multitude as it was for Him to heal the one man, but He didn't. Why? He chose not to.
Let's say that a man is walking down your street giving out $1000 bills to each of your neighbors, but he skips your house. Now what right do you have, if you have been passed over, to confront this man and charge him with injustice? How much time would a police officer give you if you tried to file a formal complaint? The question of fairness arises whenever someone makes a choice to favor one person or group over another. The issue is not one of justice, but one of mercy.
God is absolutely free to bestow His mercy on whomever He chooses, and He is not one bit guilty of injustice for withholding it from any or all men. Because all of us are sinners and we all deserve wrath, none of us can claim the right to mercy. Therefore, none of us is wronged if mercy is withheld, right? So, it is not unrighteous for God to choose to be merciful to some. On the basis of that, there comes an inference.
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9:16 ESV
"So then it"—What is the "it"? It's the issue he is dealing with from verses 1-13, which is stated in verse 11.
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad-in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls- Romans 9:11 ESV
So, he is saying: "Election does not depend on the will or efforts of man!" The majority of Evangelicals today believe that it is of him who wills. Who shall we believe, God or the majority of Evangelicals? Paul didn't believe in the free will of man as regarding election, and neither did John Eleazar.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13 ESV
We are not born again because of a decision of our will. Yeshua makes it clear that God must draw 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. John 6:44 ESV
Is this truth that God must draw man for them to come to Christ only true up to A.D. 70? Are men only born dead in sin prior to A.D. 70? No. All men are born dead in sin and will only come to Christ when drawn by God.
This one verse in Romans 9:16 is absolutely fatal to Arminianism. Election is not based upon what man does. "Wills or runs"—are referring to human effort. Someone is bound to say: "Now, wait a minute, Paul. You evidently don't believe in free will." And Paul's response would be: "No, I don't! God's mercy is based upon God's will; it rests in His choice. God has chosen to show mercy to some and give justice to others. This is based on His sovereign choice alone."
Paul illustrates this point by contrasting God's activity in the lives of two men who were contemporaries of each other—Moses and Pharaoh. To Moses, God exercised mercy, and toward Pharaoh God exercised His justice. God was just in both cases, and interestingly, God used both men to further His purposes. God raised up Moses to be a deliverer of His people and a type of Messiah to come. God raised up Pharaoh to display His great power and to proclaim His glory.
Paul supports his inference with another illustration from the Tanakh.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Romans 9:17 ESV
"For the Scripture says to Pharaoh"—the Scripture is represented as speaking, a vivid reminder that the Scripture is God's Word. Paul is quoting here from Exodus 9:16. As with Israel after the golden calf, Pharaoh is guilty; but instead of judging him immediately, He says: "I have raised you up." This is from the Greek word exegeiro, which means "to cause to stand up, to cause to be prominent." The idea here is to bring someone forward on the stage of history. The Pharaoh was probably Amenhotep II. God determined him to be the Pharaoh, so He could use him to display His power. That Pharaoh that God put into power was the man, more than any other man, to be used of God to display His redeeming power in the Tanakh.
When a Jew celebrated God's redemptive power, what did he celebrate? Passover—deliverance from Egypt. That is the standard of power in the Tanakh. God raised up Pharaoh to display His power and name.
Because of Pharaoh, we have the ten plagues, the exodus, and the Red Sea parting:
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Exodus 15:1-6 ESV
This is a song of redemption. God was put on display through Pharaoh's hardened heart. God was glorified through Pharaoh's sin.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Romans 9:17 ESV
Pharaoh existed for this purpose—to display God's name throughout all the earth. This clearly happened:
The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. Exodus 15:14-16 ESV
Notice what Rahab says:
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. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Joshua 2:9-11 ESV
the Philistines were afraid, for they said, "A god has come into the camp." And they said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 1 Samuel 4:7-8 ESV
So, Pharaoh was used by God to display His power and His name. Verse 18 is a conclusion.
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. Romans 9:18 ESV
"He has mercy on whomever He wills"—this is election. "He hardens whomever He wills"—this is reprobation. The first part of verse 18 is referring to the illustration of Moses: "he has mercy on whomever he wills." The second part of that verse is referring to the illustration of Pharaoh: "he hardens whomever he wills."
The case of Pharaoh was introduced to prove the doctrine of reprobation as the counter part of the doctrine of election. Reprobation—is God's eternal purpose to pass by certain specific individuals in the bestowment of special grace, ordaining them to wrath for their sins. God's providence is simply the manifestation of His decrees: What God does in time (pouring out wrath) is only what He purposed (reprobation) in eternity.
God gives mercy to the elect by working faith in their hearts. He gives justice to the reprobate by hardening them in their own sins. One group receives mercy; the other receives justice. No one is a victim of injustice.
"He hardens whomever he wills"—hardens is from the Greek word skleruno. It means "to make hard, to become obstinate or stubborn." God is a God who makes choices. He is sovereign and He has every right to make choices. Pharaoh is not an isolated case of God's hardening. Look at Joshua 11.
Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses. Joshua 11:18-20 ESV
God hardened the hearts of the people of the land for the purpose of destroying them. They were reprobate.
Why didn't all the Jews believe the Gospel?
Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them." John 12:37-40 ESV
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, Romans 11:7 ESV
They didn't believe because God hardened them in their unbelief. God has appointed some people to wrath, but not His elect.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Proverbs 16:4 ESV
Remember, everyone deserves wrath. Why would it be unjust if God chooses to give mercy to some? If you want justice, get ready for wrath!
Hershel Hobbs, a Baptist commentator of a generation ago, wrote: "So by the examples of Moses and Pharaoh, Paul demonstrates that in His sovereignty God shows both mercy and justice—mercy where man's free will makes it possible; justice where man's free will makes it necessary. In both cases God acts in a manner true to His nature and without the counsel or consent of anyone outside Himself (Hershel Hobbs, Romans: A Verse-by-Verse Study, 125).
So, he says, "God shows both mercy and justice—mercy where man's free will makes it possible" and then he says, "God acts in a manner true to His nature and without the counsel or consent of anyone outside Himself." So, which is it?
To press this point further, the hardening of Pharaoh was an act of grace so far as the Jews were concerned, for it provided the occasion of their release, and the declaring of God's name to the world.
Now, another question that might be asked is: "Since God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh accomplished God's will, how can Pharaoh be held responsible? How can Pharaoh be blamed for what God did by hardening his heart?"
You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" Romans 9:19 ESV
That question clearly indicates that God is the one who did the hardening in Pharaoh's heart. We'll look at this in more detail next week.
Why doesn't God save everybody? Isn't it right for Him to show Himself a fair judge in punishing? The Lord can give mercy to whom He will because He is merciful, and not give it to all because He is a just judge. For by giving to some what they do not deserve, He can show His mercy. And by not giving mercy to all, He can show us what everyone deserves.
John Piper writes: "The doctrine of unconditional election is good news because when, by grace through faith, you know yourself loved by God, forgiven, justified, accepted, this doctrine of election assures you that the roots of your salvation—the roots of God's almighty commitment to save you—are not shallow, but go down deep into the counsels of eternity. It is good news to know that the root of your salvation goes down forever and ever into eternal grace and never gets to a point where it is contingent and fragile and dependent on your foreseen faith or your foreseen good works."
The doctrine of sovereign election teaches us two things: 1) God is in charge, He calls the shots, He is sovereign. 2) God is merciful to those of us who could never have earned it or deserved it. Therefore, we ought to spend our lives praising and thanking Him.