Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. We will be focusing on verses 9-23 this morning. You can find that on page 1123. This summer, we are working through Romans 9-11. Last week, we started with the opening few verses of chapter 9. In it, the apostle Paul revealed his heart. Every fiber of his being desired to see his fellow Jews who do not be in Christ, come to know Jesus as the Messiah. He was willing to be accursed if God would open their hearts to know the promised Savior. We should have that same heart and desire. Paul also answered an important question. Since the vast majority of Israelites did not believe in Jesus, does that mean that God’s Word and promises failed? The answer is no. Paul revealed that there has always been a distinction between the natural descendants of Abraham and the descendants of the promise. God’s Word has therefore not failed. Ok, that brings us to these verses. He continues the argument and works through some important matters. For a little context, I’ll start reading from verse 8. Reading of Romans 9:9-23 Prayer Is God sovereign or does man have free will? The answer is yes and yes. Sometimes we set those two statements in opposition. But the Scriptures teach both. Is God sovereign? Yes. Can we act according to our will? Yes. God has created us with the ability to think and reason. We are responsible for our actions. God has given all mankind common grace, as we call it, by which people can choose to do honorable and kind and generous things, or not. However, in our fallen state, that is, since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, there is one thing that no one can do. Noone is able, in his or her own will, to choose God and salvation. No, rather, the Bible is clear that we are dead in our sins. Spiritually dead. Only God can turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Only the Holy Spirit can awakens us. Only he can give us a new heart to see our sin and to grieve it. It is at that point that we are then able to turn to God in Christ and pursue holiness and righteousness in him through his Spirit. Are you following me on the distinction? So yes, God is Sovereign. Yes, man is responsible. And yes, we have free will. But our free will is limited by our nature. In our fallen nature, we are spiritually dead and cannot pursue God. In our redeemed nature, we are alive in Christ and able to pursue him and the things of God. I bring that up because in the middle of Romans 9 (these verses), Paul is speaking about salvation. Specifically, he is speaking about election. It’s about those to whom God has determined to give his grace. In context, the apostle Paul is answering the question, why did God choose to give some Israelites his mercy and believe in Jesus and others he did not? Of course, the question applies to all people. He’ll make that clear in the next section. And let me say this. This chapter is a beautiful chapter, but it is also a hard chapter. It’s beautiful because it is about God and his mercy. And it’s hard because it is about God and his mercy – specifically that he chooses who will receive his mercy. There are two things that I hope and pray that you will leave here with today. · First, a renewed sense of who God is - an understanding of who God is as your creator. · Second, I hope and pray that you will see the mercy of God in these verses. Yes, these verses speak of God hardening people’s hearts, but the emphasis is God’s mercy. With that in mind, let’s begin by considering the historical examples. Last week, we touched upon Abraham and Sarah. Remember from last week, God declared that his covenant promises would be fulfilled through Isaac’s descendants and not Ishmael’s. Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s son born to Sarah in her old age. Ishmael was born to Sarah’s servant, Hagar. Remember, Abraham and Sarah didn’t think that Sarah could conceive a child, so they came up with their own plan. But that was not God’s plan. Paul’s point in bringing up Isaac was to differentiate between the natural descendants and the descendants of the promise. God ordained a subset of Israel, a remnant, to be his true people – spiritual Israel. Now, someone *could* argue that God did not choose Ishmael because of external reasons – after all, Ishmael’s mother, Hagar, was not Abraham’s wife. In fact, Ishmael was born due to Abraham and Sarah’s lack of faith. So, someone could argue that for those reasons, God instead chose Isaac. However, that is not what Paul is saying. He wants us to be absolutely sure that we get it – God is the one who chooses. And so, he gives a second example in verses 10 through 13 - Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau are both the sons of Isaac. We are just one generation down from Abraham. Isaac marries Rachel and they have two sons. Not only that, but they are twins. Esau was born first and Jacob second. Some of you know this, but I have a twin sister. In fact, I...
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