Sermons

In chapter 11 of Romans we come to the climax of Paul’s explanation of God’s gracious plan of redemption for His covenant people Israel and for the Gentiles.

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery…so that you may not be conceited: that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. 28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved.

Paul writes of Israel’s election in chapter 9….Israel’s defection in chapter 10…and Israel’s restoration in chapter 11.

Paul starts verse 25 off with the word ‘for’ …it’s a conjunction which means ‘because’…Paul is linking what he’s about to say with what he just said.

Paul has just made reference to a mystery… I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery…up until now God’s dealing with the nation of Israel had been a mystery…Paul says I’m going to clear that up…a mystery in the New Testament is not like what we think of as a mystery today.

A mystery in the Bible speaks of a truth which is not discoverable apart from being revealed by God… something made known to us only by revelation.

The mystery Paul is revealing is something that would have never been realized …people hearing this for the first time are thinking ‘how bazaar is this’.

Paul is explaining the reason for Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as their Messiah …Paul says a partial hardening has caused Israel’s blindness to who Jesus is.

Paul doesn’t want them to reach the wrong conclusion about the truth…he wants them to understand one of the central mysteries of God’s relationship with Israel.

Regarding this partial hardening Paul says two things:

FIRST…God has brought this ‘partial hardening’ upon Israel…SO… why has God done that…for what purpose and how long will it last?

Paul has already stated that God has not rejected His people… chapter 10 reveals God’s plan to regather Israel back to a nation that once honored Him:

I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you. [18]

Knowing the arrogance of the Hebrew people God is using their own pride and jealousy against them.

Then to the Gentiles Paul says…don’t let this go to your head…don’t be conceited thinking that you’re now somehow better than the Jews…because if God did not spare the natural branches (Israel) He will not spare you either.

Second…when will this partial hardening end?…Paul tells us exactly when it will end.

Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as their Messiah will last…until the fullness of the Gentiles has come [25].

A strange saying…does that mean that God is waiting for all Gentiles to believe in Jesus? …we all know that’s not going to happen…so what is the meaning of… until the fullness of the Gentiles has come?

It’s the time when as many as are going to believe…believe…NOT as some think until God has finished selecting all those whom He will save have been saved…it’s the time when all the Gentiles whom God knows will come to be saved are saved.

When that mysterious point in time is eventually reached two things will happen:

FIRST…the rapture will occur and every Christian alive at that time will be transported to Paradise…those remaining on earth will experience the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24 and Revelation.

God will continue His evangelistic effort on earth through the Jews who remain on the earth after the rapture.

SECOND…the Jewish people will no longer be hardened in their unbelief in who Jesus is.

So, does the wording… 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved…mean that every Israelite will come to faith in Jesus…NO…but that only a representative proportion will believe in Him whom they crucified.

Someday the nation as a whole (not necessarily every individual [1 Kings 12:1 / 2 Chron. 12:1]) will be converted to Christ and be saved.

Have to understand Jewish history…what Paul is sharing is the result of hundreds of years of Jewish disobedience…knowing the events that contributed to God’s punishment of Israel and Judah are crucial in understanding Israel’s deportation into foreign lands because of their unfaithfulness to God (Deut. 4:25-40).

Habakkuk prophesied about the source God chose to accomplish that purpose …He will use a heathen king and a heathen nation.

5  Look among the nations, and see…I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6  https://biblia.com/bible/esv/habakkuk/1/5-11#footnote3 I am raising up the Chaldeans that bitter and hasty nation, to seize dwellings not their own.
7  They are dreaded and fearsome;
9  They all come for violence,

Here’s what Isaiah writes about the Babylonians…God says…I was angry with My people and gave them into your (the Babylonians) hand [Isaiah 47:6].

God allowed Babylon to conquer Judah…even calling Nebuchadnezzar ‘my servant’ …in the Hebrew the wording used in reference to Nebuchadnezzar as my servant is the same personal suffix used when referring to God [Jer. 2:6].

God did not create sin…sin entered the world due to an act of rebellion against God by Satan and his angels…but…God can and sometimes does use the sin already existing in the world to fulfill His purpose…God used the Babylonians …an evil people…to accomplish His will.

There is an important distinction between God controlling evil and God creating evil…God can and does use sinful men to attain an objective.

In the case of Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt…there was no revolution… no rebellion…no forceable evacuation…they left because God wanted them out …God designs and controls all of history to display His faithfulness to His promises.

Nebuchadnezzar is depicted as a cruel enemy…God allowed Babylon to destroy the temple in Jerusalem and capture the residents to fulfill His purpose.

God’s purpose was to use the heathen nation Babylon as His instrument to bring judgment on Judah for their idolatry…then…in one of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible… God raises up another heathen king and nation to destroy Babylon for destroying Jerusalem.

That other nation was Persia who was ruled by the heathen king Cyrus…a man identified by name 200 years before he was even born…three different prophets tell about this guy …and give the details of what he will do:

Isaiah:
…he is God’s shepherd and he will perform all My desires [44:28]
…God has called you by your name and has given you a title of honor though you have not known Me [Is. 45:4]
…he will build My city and will let my exiles go free [Isaiah 45:13]

Ezra 1:1-4:
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation
2 ‘The LORD, the God of heaven…has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem… in Judah.
3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem…and build the temple.
4 And any survivors are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock.

Amos 9:14, 15:
‘I will restore the captivity of My people Israel….I will plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them,’ Says the LORD your God.
Cyrus fulfilled God’s promise…God rescued and restored His people back to Himself using a heathen king who really didn’t want to…the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus [Ezra 1:1].

What we see in both Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus as well as with Pharaoh is that God claims control and jurisdiction even on pagan kings…princes…and monarchs…God’s working everything according to the counsel of His will.

It is God who directs their plans…they are under His direction who raised them up for that very purpose.

Some might react to this statement by thinking that it denies people their “free will.” …that they are just robots that God has programmed to do what He has determined they should do…the biblical view is much more profound than that.

HOW GOD WORKS….While God controls all of history and moves it according to His sovereign purpose He does so through humans who are free to make choices for which they are held responsible.

Notice the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility…God has a plan for His people and He will carry out that plan right on schedule…He is not restricted from carrying out His plan by what sinful people do.

In the case of Cyrus…he had to decide to let the Jews return to their land…the Jews then had to decide to give up living in Babylon and make the difficult and dangerous journey back to Israel.

When they freely chose those things, they were carrying out God’s foreordained plan…God designs and controls how things turn out to accomplish His purposes …But at the same time, He accomplishes His purpose through people who make real choices for which they are responsible.

Both decisions were based on free will…the plan included the “free” decision of a sinful king and the “free” decision of the Jews to return to the land.

God then gives Ezekiel a vision of the Jews returning back to their homeland after 70 years in captivity…This is how Ezekiel describes that vision [Ezek.37:1-3]:
the LORD set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many…and indeed they were very dry.

Ezekiel notes that the people and the nation who were returning were nothing more than… dry…lifeless bones.

According to some commentators this vision in the valley of dry bones has numerous applications to us as well as the nation of Israel…that it is describing three forms of resurrection…illustrating several Scriptural truths.

FIRST…Some think this is a parable of the resurrection of the dead and is a vision of what will happen in the day when “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised.”

These dry bones represent all the bodies of Christians who sleep in the dust of the earth as seen in [12] where the vision appears to move to a cemetery…the phrase ‘open your graves’ [twice] describes the promise to raise all who die in Jesus to eternal life…at the word of Christ:
For the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; 

SECOND…Others see this as pertaining to Israel…Ezekiel had witnessed the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem… after their captivity restoration seemed impossible…it was as impossible to bring life back to dry lifeless bones … they could see no possible renewal of the Israelite nation.

The return of the Jews to Jerusalem was only a partial fulfillment of this promise …throughout the O. T. it is prophesied that God would restore Israel…see this prophecy fulfilled in a number of ways.

This was the first time God brought the Jews back from Babylonian captivity… But Isaiah says…there seems to be a second time [Isaiah 11:11].

The prophets spoke of the day when God would fully restore his people…
gathering them to Himself once more (Deut. 30:1-3; Isaiah 40:9-11) when God will bring His people back to the land of Israel a second time.

See the grace and mercy of God…in our own lives…has God had to bring you back to Himself because of being in captivity to something in your life that has caused a barrier in your fellowship with God?

In chapters 11 and 12 Isaiah writes of the coming Millennial kingdom of Christ and a second gathering of His people back to their promised homeland from which they will never again be scattered.

The dry bones signify God’s plan for Israel’s future national restoration…a second gathering prophesied by Isaiah.
On that day the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people [Isaiah 11:11].

On that ‘day’ for a second time in Israel’s history the Lord will regather the remnant of His dispersed people back to Himself…never to be dispersed again.

In chapters 11 and 12, Isaiah writes of the coming Millennial kingdom of Christ and a second gathering of His people back to their promised homeland – from which they will never again be scattered…Israel’s full restoration is yet to be
accomplished [Rom. 11:26].

With respect to the nation of Israel…the valley of the dry bones means that not all Jews will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah…there will be only a believing remnant that will be saved.

This addresses the fallacy in believing that God will somehow mysteriously cause ALL Jews to become Christians…He won’t…the nation as a whole (not necessarily every individual [1 Kings 12:1 / 2 Chron. 12:1]) will be converted to Christ and be saved.

The Jews today must not see themselves as being automatically included in God’s promises simply because of their heritage.

Becoming a part of God’s remnant is a matter of grace and not a matter of privilege…not like it is something owed to them…that pertains to us today.

Being chosen by God never meant getting special privileges and favors from God…it means they had the honor of being used by God for His purposes.

THIRD…this analogy is looking beyond the literal for a spiritual teaching …here is a picture of the recovery of ungodly men from their spiritual death and corruption.

This is a parable of the way in which sinners are brought up from their hopeless, spiritually dead condition…the description of these dry bones is symbolic of every person who has not accepted Jesus as their Savior.

They are nothing more than dry, dead bones…with no hope…BUT…they can come to life…they can be made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Charles Spurgeon was particularly troubled by this idea…as a lot of pastors are …regarding the unsaved in his church.

Spurgeon…was burdened to see the unconverted seek the Lord in the hope that some of them would seek salvation in the Lord.

I assume that some of my congregation are totally unacquainted with the plan of salvation…I will try in the simplest words that human lips can put together to tell the story of how men are saved by calling upon the name of the Lord.

So what’s the take away from today’s history lesson…Paul says: from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved.

Here’s why God is so passionate about His people…from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved.

At the expense of repeating myself for the fourth week in a row I’m going to reiterate the importance of why God reaches down to gather us back into a relationship with Him.

FIRST…is in understanding that God calls us (καλέω) …it’s an invitation for us to join Him in Eternal life.

Human beings are totally incapable of responding to God without God first empowering them to have faith…this empowerment is known as “Prevenient Grace.”

Prevenient grace is given to all men at some point in their life…it doesn’t save us but, rather it draws us to God making us WANT to come to God and enabling us to have faith in God.

SECOND…is our response to that calling…our invitation is to ‘call’ ἐπικαλέω God back… meaning I accept that call.

Here’s the blessing in all of this…it’s two-fold…Paul says: from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved.

That word ‘choice’ …from the standpoint of God’s choice…in the Greek means ‘to choose or select for oneself’. It is God’s selection of people for a purpose or task…nothing to do with choosing for salvation.

That statement is specifically directed towards the Jews…God chose Abraham and his descendants to proclaim His name to the rest of the world…God chose them for that special task even though they failed to perform God’s will and are today opposed to the Gospel.

BUT…the result is:
FIRST…it pleased God in His sovereign plan to reject a majority of the Jews in order to open His kingdom to the Gentiles.

SECOND…the Jews are still dear to God…His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still in force and unchangeable and because God has chosen Israel to be His ‘beloved’ He will bring salvation to the people in the last day.

One day the world will stand in awe when we finally see the fulfillment of God’s promises…that all things do work together for God’s good just as He designed and controlled it.

The application to us is the same…including your salvation and your life…it works together for God’s good…your freewill decision to accept Jesus as your Savior is in line with God’s plan for you.

Then…God choosing or selecting you for Himself…is in line with God’s purpose for you in this life…it has nothing to do with salvation but God choosing you for a task.

Goes back to Cyrus and the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility…Cyrus made the decision to let the Jews return to their land…the Jews had to make the decision to give up living in Babylon and make the difficult and dangerous journey back to Israel.

God has a plan…He designs and controls how things turn out to accomplish that plan…He will carry out that plan right on schedule.

He accomplishes His purpose through people…His chosen people…people who are willing to make a commitment to freely allow God to use them.

It all begins when we make the decision to accept Jesus into our lives so we can be used…so we can be the select few chosen by God to complete His purpose.

As we continue on in Romans it’s been suggested that no letter in the history of the world has had a greater impact than Paul’s letter to the Romans…it has been called one of the greatest dissertations of fundamental Christian doctrine ever written.

When we started this study 26 weeks ago, I said:

The Book of Romans is broken into two parts. It is a blueprint for Christians on —what to believe and—how to behave.

With respect to what to believe…in this epistle we have looked at the things a Christian ought to know, namely…what is law…gospel…sin…punishment… grace…faith…righteousness…Christ…God…good works…love…hope…and the cross…hopefully…if you’ve been with us during this study you have a better understanding of those.

For this reason, it is often one of the first books that new believers are encouraged to read when they start to study the Bible.

In this letter Paul reveals what is the most complete statement in the Bible… that salvation is available to everyone who believes [1:16].

Here’s what Martin Luther writes about Romans:

The epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and is truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.
(Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, 1960, p. 365)

With respect to how to behave, Paul emphasizes the importance of Christian conduct…you cannot just believe John 3:16 and be confident that you are saved because living a lifestyle of disobedience is an enemy of your destiny.

Beginning in chapter 9 Paul began with the heartbreaking issue that because most of the people of Israel rejected their Messiah they are therefore accursed and cut off from Christ.

In Chapter 10, Paul explained why the people of Israel have stumbled in their relationship with God…the problem was they tried to continue following the law even after Jesus came and revealed that salvation is through faith.

Paul gave the Romans very simple instructions for salvation, which many of us have verbalized during our baptism: believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, that God raised Him from the dead, and then declare that Jesus is Lord.

But because of Israel’s continued rejection of Jesus as their Messiah in Chapter 11 Paul asks the rhetorical question [11:1] that reflects Paul’s concern in chapters 9 and 10…”has God rejected his people?”

That question is pressing because of what Paul quoted earlier in [10:21]:

All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people [Isaiah 65:2]

So…based on that quote from Isaiah stating God’s continued frustration with Israel …has God’s patience run out with Israel? …has God cast aside His people whom He swore to love and protect?…there are numerous instances in the Bible where God’s patience did run out and the people did suffer because of it.

So…the question is: has God rejected His people [1].

Many say He has…that the Church has taken the place of Israel… “replacement theology” …but…the immediate response might also be… ‘who cares’ …why should anyone care… how important is it for me to know that the word of God to Israel is still valid?

Thinking that might be the response, Paul quotes from Elijah:

3 Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. 4 what is God’s reply? “I have kept for myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant.

So, what’s the connection and why should I care about what was occurring in Elijah’s day…or care about what was occurring in Paul’s day?

It is important that we do care…because if God’s promise has failed to Israel… then this question goes deeper than that…then how can I be assured that God’s promise to me is still valid…and if it’s not…why should anyone who is here today bother to come back?

The reason you should care about God’s faithfulness to Israel is that if God does not keep his promises to Israel, then our hope that He will keep His promises to us in Romans 8 is worthless.

Paul writes that…nothing shall separate us from the love of God [8:35] … But if God does not keep His promises to Israel, then the promise of 8:35 is unreliable.

BUT…good news…Paul assures His Jewish readers that…God has not rejected His people [1] …and for the sixth time Paul uses the strongest wording possible in the Greek… May it never be.

So…knowing that God has not rejected His people…in chapter 10 Paul reveals God’s plan to regather Israel back to a nation that once honored Him:

I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you. [18]

That’s us…that promise is still in force today…the regathering of God’s people to their land is one of the most frequently predicted prophecies in the Bible.

Clearly…God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew [11:2]

So the question is how do I know if God’s promise to Israel through Joshua that “I will never leave you nor forsake you” is a promise to me?

What makes Paul so sure that a faithful remnant then means a faithful remnant now?

Can I be assured that what was told to ancient Israel is a promise to me…if something written in the Old Testament pertains to me?…it does if it is written in the New Testament …this promise is found in multiple books of the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments.

With this promise, we can be assured that God is always with us …The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you [Rom. 8:11].

When we profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are sealed…from that point on the Holy Spirit lives in us. This is what “Christ in me” means.

He lives in us. The Holy Spirit is revealing…reminding…and transforming us to become more like Him until the day we arrive home in heaven.

Satan can mess with us…he can tempt us…but our souls are off limits because we belong to God.

In chapters 9-11 of Romans there’s a lot of Jewish history…maybe boring to some…I hope not…I don’t like to be boring…probably for some it’s meaningless but Paul has included these Old Testament verses for our benefit.

I could just skip over this portion of Scripture and move on to more exciting verses…BUT…God has called me to preach not just the exciting parts but to be faithful in all aspects of what He has given us for the purpose of a greater understanding of how He deals with the world.

Contained in these verses Paul is revealing how God intends to bring everything to completion…we are living in the end times…this is exciting stuff…here we see the prophecies of four different prophets coming to completion.

In these two chapters we understand how God has dealt with and how He will deal with the nation of Israel in the future.

A little Jewish history…the 12 tribes of Israel were broken up because of the sins of King Solomon…comprising of ten northern tribes called Israel and the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin simply called Judah.

Because of sins of both Israel and Judah, Isaiah prophesied that God would cause the Assyrians to capture the ten northern kingdoms and carry the people away into captivity…and that the two southern kingdoms of Judah would be enslaved by the Babylonians.

BUT…God’s promise was that despite the travesty of their captivity a remnant would survive.

The prophecy of Jeremiah…Ezekiel…and Amos all detail that event:

‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess’ [Jer. 30:3]

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. [Ezek. 37:21]

they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. [Amos 9:15]

The word remnant is commonly associated with a group of people who survive a catastrophe brought about by God…usually in judgment for sin.

In every case where there was a catastrophic event brought about by God… He chose who would survive.

Noah…Noah’s wife…his three sons and their wives entered the ark… …only eight people were saved from the Flood. [Gen. 7:12-13].

Lot – only he and his two daughters were saved. Even his wife perished.
[Gen. 19:12, 13, 15].

Ezekiel – [Ezekiel 5:12] tells of the devastation– “One third …will die by plague and famine…one third will fall by the sword…one third to every direction of the wind…BUT…[6:8] –“I will leave a remnant”.

Isaiah [Isaiah 10:27] “For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return.”

What was the criteria that determined who would get picked…and where’s the sign-up sheet…it’s important you know this.

Notice the wording…according to God’s gracious choice [5] … that word ἐκλογή in the Greek means to select or pick from a larger number…which indicates not everyone is included…that is the idea of a remnant.

The Bible tells us what the criteria is to be picked…both Ezekiel and Isaiah tell us that the remnant consists of those who have put their faith and trust in God… those who chose to remain faithful to God and to keep His Covenant …it’s not just everybody…only a select few…because only a select few are willing to make that commitment.

I want you to see where this is going…since the days of the great flood God has always had a physical remnant…a few people who, despite the evil in the world, continued to have a heart for God.

As a result…God kept His promise to national Israel that they would return back to their homeland…that the Jews would forever live in the Land promised to Abraham…so God brought a remnant back to their homeland.

As commendable as the study and practice of God’s law was…and the building of synagogues was…they failed in the attempt to gain God’s favor.

They had become so ingrained in a system of works-righteousness…working so hard for God to love them… they rejected the one person who would love them back…rejecting Jesus as their Messiah.

This is how Ezekiel describes those who did return from Babylon…[Ezekiel 37:1-3].
the LORD set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many…and indeed they were very dry.

They were nothing more than… dry…lifeless bones…that describes the condition of Israel today. What the valley of the dry bones means is that not all Jews will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah…there will be only a believing remnant that will be saved…BUT…despite their lifeless condition…God says they have not been cast away.

Even though physical Israel appears to have rejected Jesus as the Messiah there is still a remnant who have come to faith in Jesus.

God sought to bless Israel by gathering them to himself, but the judgment that ultimately fell upon them for their disobedience and unfaithfulness was their scattering among the nations (Deuteronomy 4:25-40).

Even so, the prophets spoke of the day when God would act to rescue and restore His people, gathering them to Himself once more (Deut. 30:1-3; Isaiah 40:9-11).

This addresses the fallacy in believing that God will cause ALL Jews to become Christians…they won’t…believing at some point in history because they are the chosen people of God…God will save them…not true…not what is being said.

The Jews today must not see themselves as being automatically included in God’s promises simply because of their heritage.

Becoming a part of God’s remnant is a matter of grace and not a matter of privilege…not like it is something owed to them.

Being chosen by God never meant that they got special privileges and favors from God…it meant that they had the honor of being used by God for His purposes.

This actually goes back to what Elijah said:

they have killed your prophets…and I alone am left

Poor, poor pitiful me…Elijah is not complaining that there are no people of faith left…he’s complaining that there are no people of faith left alive…but what is clear is that there were men of faith who were alive…men God preserved for Himself.

I have kept for myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

For those of you who are ‘end time’ watchers…there was the first time God brought the Jews back from Babylonian captivity… But Isaiah says HOLD IT…there seems to be a second time [Isaiah 11:11].

The prophets spoke of the day when God would restore His people, gathering them to Himself once more (Deut. 30:1-3; Isaiah 40:9-11) when God will stretch out His hand and bring His people back to the land of Israel a second time.

On that day the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people [Isaiah 11:11].

This idea is confirmed by Paul in [5]:

In the same way then there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice

There is a remnant in Israel and there is a remnant in the Church…the church is no different than ancient Israel because human nature hasn’t changed in 5000 years.

There are those in the physical church and those in the spiritual church…those in the physical church think they are saved because they have an understanding of who Jesus is…BUT have never truly committed their life to Him.

There is a smaller group within the big church…a smaller group that are regenerate and know the Lord…who are serious about living a Christian lifestyle…as opposed to those who are Christians by association.

This is seen in the meaning of [5]:

5 So too at the present time there is a remnant.

Just like with spiritual Israel there is the spiritual Church…so… not everyone in the church is saved.

See here in Romans a recurring theme…I hope you all see it as well…I’m not just repeating previous sermons…The Holy Spirit’s teaching to Paul is to continue to share the importance of a dedicated lifestyle…not so we can work our way to Heaven because you can’t.

So what does all this mean to me sitting here this morning…here is the key phrase:

God’s gracious choice

Paul is announcing that there was a remnant then…and there is a remnant now both in Israel and in the Church.

These passages are actually a warning that not all are His children…and therefore not all are in line to receive the things promised to His descendants.

As you look at the 10th chapter of Romans there are four major points:

I. The Israelites were pursuing righteousness the wrong way (1-5)
II. Righteousness can only be achieved through faith from the heart (6-13)
III. Accepting Jesus is a four-step common sense procedure (14-17)
IV. God used the Gentiles to bring the Israelites to jealousy (18-21)

I. The Israelites were pursuing righteousness the wrong way (1-5)

I preached an entire sermon on this last week…just because you’re zealous or passionate for or about something doesn’t mean your motives are commendable.

Countless wars have been fought because someone had a passion or zeal about something…I picked two biblical examples to show how this works…one is inside the church, the other outside the church.

The first area is in the church…progressive churches caving into societal pressure and Political Correctness.

Churches that have long held doctrinal beliefs but are now changing those to make God into what they want Him to be or what they think He should be… thinking God changes to agree with the times.

Two major Christian denominations, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church, have recently split due to disagreements within their churches regarding Biblical guidelines for worship and Christian conduct.

These denominations have splintered from their long held traditional beliefs because they have allowed misinformation to dictate Biblical exegesis in an attempt to revise what the Bible teaches…as a result:

They are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. [2]

The second area is those who are outside the church.

Cults lack a doctrinal understanding of the Bible…they lack Biblical truths… they lack the true biblical knowledge of knowing who Jesus is.

It is that lack of knowledge that keeps them outside of what is known as mainline Christianity…they are the product of eisegesis instead of exegesis.

Exegesis is the legitimate interpretation of the Bible which conveys what the author originally meant to convey.

Eisegesis is interpreting Scripture based on what someone thinks…expressing the reader’s own subjective ideas, not the meaning in the text.

That’s what cults do…they interpret Scripture to meet their own interpretation …as a result…worship is misguided and meaningless because it’s not based on the truth of God’s word and Jesus’ claim as His Son.

They have a zeal for God but zeal not based on knowledge.

Paul’s second bullet point in chapter 10 is:

II. Righteousness can only be achieved through faith from the heart (6-13)

10 For it is with your heart (not your head) that you believe and
are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

There are two major fallacies contained in this verse.

ONE… There are many who believe based on this verse that there are two distinct steps to salvation…that to be saved you must 1st) believe the gospel in your heart and 2nd) with your mouth confess Jesus as Lord… “Otherwise,” they argue, “you are not properly saved.”

SECOND…that salvation is simply saying ‘Jesus is Lord.’

This verse should not be understood to mean that salvation is achieved by simply saying the words ‘Jesus is Lord’ …or that the phrase is intended to be a condition or a prerequisite for salvation.

This verse should be studied alongside all other passages that teach about salvation if we are to understand precisely what Paul means.

Paul points out that it is with the heart that a person believes unto righteousness …Salvation is not merely based on a whim…an intellectual assessment…or the acquisition of some factual head-knowledge.

To confess Jesus as Lord includes a heart belief in His deity…His incarnation… His atonement and bodily resurrection…that’s what you’re owning up to when you confess ‘Jesus is Lord.’

Salvation must rest on a genuine, bona fide heart-faith in God and His Son.

That’s why Paul introduces the process by which we are saved…in verses 14-17 Paul defines how the Gospel is presented and the means by which it is made available to us through being preached…understood…and received.

III. Accepting Jesus is a four-step procedure (14-17)

In verses [14-15] Paul gives four rhetorical questions…actually a commonsense approach at what is encompassed in bringing someone to the point of calling on Jesus to be saved …in some ways it is a snapshot of the entire Bible

14 How can they call on the one they have not believed in?
how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15 how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

Paul is saying this is the basis for how men come to the realization of who Jesus is and what He has done…he’s laying out the process of how people are saved.

In these four steps Paul describes the means that brings people to the saving knowledge of the Gospel…it is through this process people are exposed to God’s plan:

1) A preacher must be sent
2) He preaches the good news
3) The good news must be heard
4) The good news must be believed

These verses are a little confusing because Paul starts at the end and works backwards to the front…[15] should be the first step…so…to make sense of what Paul is suggesting I’ll approach this beginning from the logical starting point and work backward.

how can anyone preach unless they are sent? [15]

This is the single most important statement regarding anyone who is in the ministry …Preachers are called and preachers are sent.

Preaching is not a sideline done to entertain…a preacher is God’s ambassador… God’s primary means to get the Word out is by the preaching of His Word.

Regarding the importance of being sent…if you’ve never heard then how can you believe unless someone tells you…how are people going to hear about God’s love…about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection if no one goes and preaches to them?

Here’s another fallacy…the idea that Jesus commands that every believer is to be a missionary is not found in the Bible…ever hear of people who just up and quit their jobs because they believe God is calling them into mission?

God doesn’t expect that or command that…ever see the sign in churches as you’re leaving that say… ‘you are now entering your mission field’? …not me.

Here’s what’s important…the phrase is about “sending” preachers…it’s not addressing pastors who lead congregations like what I do here…nor is it encouraging people to immediately go into missions.

God calls people into different ministries…and in different ways…I can tell you my calling is not in the mission field…however, having said that, God does expect every believer to be involved in missions.

The emphasis is on the Church’s obligation to reach those who have no access to the Gospel by sending people to proclaim the gospel through evangelism.

So, God does call us into the mission field: TWO WAYS:

FIRST…God has sovereignly orchestrated your life to put you in a position to witness to a select handful of unsaved people…it might be family…friends …whoever…they are your primary responsibility…you may be the only Gospel they may ever hear.

Your job is to continue to love and pray for them until they understand who Christ really is.

SECOND…with respect to being a missionary Paul gives an illustration that shows that not all are called into the mission field…in Romans 15 Paul is NOT recruiting people to go with him to Spain…he knows that the Christians he’s writing to in Rome have jobs.

So, he’s not saying, “Hey…all you Christians quit your job…get on a boat and go with me to Spain”, instead he’s saying “stay and support me as I go to Spain”.

This is why we have a missions director…that is why we send thousands of dollars each year to support our missionaries…because we have an obligation to help support those who are in the mission field…those who are without the full time financial support of an established church.

That’s why we stress Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offerings in addition to the individual missions we support, because although we might not ever be a missionary we do have an obligation to support those who are.

Paul continues by revealing the second step in how people are saved

how can they hear without someone preaching to them? [14]

Hopefully you come to church to listen to preaching…whether it’s me or someone else doing the preaching…and hopefully by someone who is faithfully preaching the Word of God…not ideas…or concepts…or theory…or concerns.

Preaching is not reading a newspaper to get ideas for your Sunday message…or reading about the latest world conflicts to tie them in with end time prophecy.

Preaching is not voicing your opinion on political matters…nor is it to make people feel happy and positive about their lives.

A preacher’s business is to present truth and through that presentation of truth, to change lives.

Just being honest in assessing my own preaching skills…I don’t have a dynamic …charismatic…entertaining…captivating…delivery style…I don’t…I’m not apologizing…I’m just making an honest assessment about myself…but hopefully my messages are informative and are able to hold your attention.

Here’s the importance in preaching…there is an energy level and a depth of conviction that comes when the Word of God is preached.

Talked with some guys who say when they do attend church they sit further back than row five because the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict further back than that.

That’s why the gospel is to be preached…it’s the working of the Holy Spirit in your life that does the convicting…and…the importance of preaching is…“How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?”

The answer again is …no one can believe the facts about the gospel until they have heard the facts about the gospel.

It’s the knowledge of who Jesus is that leads someone to call on Him for salvation.

That’s why the next step is closely related to the previous one:

How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? [14]

The answer is…they can’t…again…before you can believe the facts of the gospel you must first hear the facts of the gospel.

It’s interesting Paul says…“whom you have not heard.” …the emphasis is that the gospel would primarily be heard through being preached…not so much by being read but preached in order to be heard.

The gospel is designed to be proclaimed…when you come to church it is not to have someone read something to you…you don’t need to have the Bible read to you…you can do that yourself.

Hearing the Word preached is paramount because without hearing the word the next sequential step which is to answer God’s call can’t be achieved.

How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? [14]

The answer again is obvious. No one can call on the name of the Lord until they have believed in the Lord…well kind of…two thoughts:

This begs the repetitive question people throw at you… ‘how can people who have never heard of Jesus be saved?’

The theory of “universal opportunity” …which is Scriptural…maintains that at some time during every person’s lifetime they will have an opportunity to respond by virtue of their exposure to general revelation.

But because of man’s individual freewill choice they reject that revelation and God’s call…as a result…they stand guilty before God “without an excuse.”

For the past couple weeks, I have shared with you the importance of the word ‘call’ …especially with respect to God calling us to Himself:

Those who were not my people I will call —and—
of him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Both these verses use the Greek word καλέω (2564) which means to summon or invite…referring to “an invitation” …God inviting every person to join Him in eternity…then you have the responsibility to answer that call.

That is exactly what Paul is referring to in [14] …when God calls us…you have to answer the call…John Calvin is wrong…you have to do something…by answering God’s call and call Him…the word Paul uses in the Greek reflects just that.

God calls to invite us to join Him in Eternal life καλέω… that’s God’s invitation …I must then respond…to ‘call’ out to God in faith…ἐπικαλέω (1941) meaning I accept that call.

Salvation means calling out to God by accepting the provision He made by the death and resurrection of His Son…this is what [13] means…Paul quotes from the prophet Joel:

Whoever will call (1941) on the Name of the Lord will be saved. [13]
1) It’s a response…it’s answering God’s call to join Him in eternal life

2) It’s an Old Testament verse that affirms Jesus is the only acceptable means to be saved from sin and become a child of God.

This ties in with Romans 10:9 that all one needs to do is:

Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Something I talked about earlier…both Romans 10:9 and 10:13 imply a salvation without constraints…that’s misleading…and because they have been oversimplified and taken out of context the meaning has lost the original punch which Paul intended.

It implies a casual recognition of who Jesus is without any commitment. One who is zealous for God recognizes the personal cost of following Jesus…of surrendering their life to His will…even when it means that I won’t be popular or accepted by my non-believing friends or family…it might even mean death.

Becoming a Christian is not a half-hearted or partial commitment…it’s not a sometimes on sometimes off kind of faith that could be classified as ‘lukewarm.’

It’s being fully dedicated to God as evident in your attitudes and actions… embracing all that Christ wants to do in your life…being determined to remain fully committed to following Him regardless of the situation.

When we acknowledge Jesus is Lord we’re willing to accept that Jesus is Lord over the world…but that that somehow excludes my individual life…thinking they can say that Jesus is Lord yet live their lives how they want.

Paul’s fourth bullet point is in regard to God’s response to Israel’s failure to accept Jesus as their promised Messiah.

IV. The Israelites rejected the gospel so God used the Gentiles to bring them to jealousy (18-21)

Ever done that…use someone you’re really not interested in to make someone you are interested in jealous?…this is how God is using the Church today.

Paul is saying…I knew this was going to happen…quoting from Moses [Deut. 32:21] Paul shows that thousands of years before Jesus was even born God devised a plan to not only provide a way to proclaim salvation to the Gentiles but at the same time a plan to cause the Jews to become angry and jealous.

Verse 21 is rather humorous…God tells Moses that the people had made Him (God) jealous with their idols…so (God) says I will make them jealous.

He’s done that…God has chosen a non-Hebrew nation (Gentiles, those who are not Jews) to anger them and make them jealous, thereby leading the Jewish people to desire the gospel. [19]

I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

Everybody…that’s us…we are that nation.

We are warned not to be unbelieving outsiders. God wants us to look at the example of Israel and understand the dangers of unbelief.

We, who were outsiders, have been invited to be children by faith.

Faith secures your place at the table while unbelief drives you away…the moral of the story when read alongside Romans 10:17-21, is to be on guard against unbelief.

In Chapter 10 Paul reveals God’s simplistic and purposeful four step plan of proclaiming the Gospel in a manner that should be obvious to anyone… it is through this process people are exposed to God’s plan:

The emphasis has been and always will be that salvation is initiated by God…He makes the call…then you need to respond to His call…His invitation must be answered by our call…we must accept that call…in order to be saved.

In chapter 10 of Romans Paul continues to reveal his disappointment in Israel’s failure to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. (Romans 10:1-2)

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge

FIRST…what does it mean to be zealous for God?

One who is zealous for God recognizes the personal cost of following Jesus…of surrendering his life to His will…even when it means that I won’t be popular or accepted by my non-believing friends or family.

Becoming a Christian is not a half-hearted or partial commitment…it’s not a sometimes on sometimes off kind of faith that could be classified as ‘lukewarm.’

It’s being fully dedicated to God as evident in your attitudes and actions… embracing all that Christ wants to do in your life…being determined to remain fully committed to following Him regardless of the situation.

When you answered the call to become a Christian did you consider the cost of what that involved?…or was it an emotional reaction?…something you did for fear of being sent to Hell?…did you consider how that would impact your individual life?…what changes might be involved?…did you count the cost of being a Christian before you decided to become one?

Jesus addresses this very issue in calling people to follow Him in discipleship.
Jesus knows there’s a cost in becoming a Christian, so He uses the analogy of a person building a building…He asks…does (he) not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? [Luke 14:28].

Jesus is reminding us that discipleship is like building a building…you don’t start building it without having enough resources to finish it…you don’t want to leave it half-finished…before deciding to become a Christian do you know what that involves?

So, he says, “Be sure to count the cost before you sign up for discipleship because it is costly… I don’t want you to sign up and then be surprised later when the cost is too high.”

BUT…how do we count the cost of something in advance when we don’t know what the cost will be?

That’s what makes that decision even tougher…generally in life when you sign up for something you know in advance what you’re committing to…you wouldn’t think of buying a car or a house with the interest rate left blank and the reason is… ‘we can fill that in later.’

But that’s the commitment you make with God…you will never know the cost of what your commitment involves…God will never reveal the specifics of His purpose for your life…or what He has planned for you…goes back to what I said earlier…how do we count the cost of something in advance when we don’t know what the cost will be?

Being zealous for God means being on fire for the Lord…being hungry for His presence…passionate about His word…eager to learn and grow…and not being ashamed of your faith…that’s the kind of life God calls all Christians to live.

God calling goes back to the Greek word καλέω (2564) which means to summon or invite…referring to “an invitation” …it’s God inviting you to join Him in eternity…not to scare you…BUT…it is a call you can accept or reject…it’s an invitation that can be refused.

Every time someone comes to the place where they respond to God’s call to join Him in eternity…a tremendous process is behind that call…it starts with the birth at Bethlehem and includes
…the anguish of the cross
…the miracle of the resurrection
…the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
…it involves a person’s whole being…the heart…and the inner consciousness
…it involves a deep conviction of the will
…it involves a willingness to verbally confess that Jesus is Lord

All this is the process behind the single individual act of answering God’s call of salvation.

This brings up the SECOND issue…zeal not based on knowledge.

If anything characterized first-century Judaism it was zeal for God and His law.

The Jews in Paul’s day were descendants of those who had gone into exile for their flagrant violation of the Mosaic covenant…because of their love affair with Baal and other idols, God had forsaken them.

God followed through on His promise to scold Israel for their bad behavior by allowing them to be overrun by the Assyrians and the Babylonians…God literally declared them to be…not my people.

Wanting to avoid a second exile, and the ugliness of being in captivity…the returning Jews seeked to regain God’s favor…emphasized the study and practice of God’s law…and the building of synagogues.

This effort was commendable, but what started off as obedience motivated by repentance and gratitude for God’s forgiveness (Neh. 9) devolved into a system of works-righteousness…we’re working hard so God will love us.

Paul makes it clear that although Israel has a zeal for God, they were ignorant of the purpose of the Law…in their zeal they became preoccupied with keeping the law and sought to attain their own righteousness without understanding that only the blood of their Messiah could pay the price for their sins.

As Christians our zeal for God must be more focused…we must avoid being like Israel who:
…wanted to be followers of God, but did not want to listen to God
…wanted to appear godly but did not want to be godly
…lived a life that was self-righteous instead of one that honored God

They were outwardly zealous, so much so, that they killed Christians thinking they were doing God a favor…all the while failing to realize that Jesus was the very righteousness that God provided for them.

Now people aren’t out killing Christians in this country…but how often are the more conservative Christian denominations ridiculed by the more liberal denominations that results in disagreements and divisions within the Church?

Let me just address a couple…on May 1 the United Methodist Church split…it was the launch of the Global Methodist Church, a new theologically conservative denomination.

The split came as a result of the more progressive views within the Methodist church being at odds with the traditionalists who want to adhere to stricter Biblical principles.

Without giving you a lesson in church history, the Presbyterian Church has done the same thing…the Presbyterian Church of the USA…being more liberal and the Presbyterian Church of America being more conservative…which includes New Hope Presbyterian Church.

Having a zeal for God without having knowledge of the Bible is hopeless.

So, what has this got to do with the Jews?…nothing…but it does demonstrate that zeal without knowledge is failing…it’s deceitful…it’s fraudulent.

Paul warned about these churches: the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them teachers that say what they want to hear.

Churches that want to be accommodating to societal pressure and Political Correctness…sermons that charm rather than challenge…sermons that entertain rather than edify…and please rather than preach.

We alter God’s Word to display our progressive belief that God changes to agree with the times…just because the Supreme Court declares something to be legal…doesn’t mean it’s moral.

Just like the Israelites in Paul’s day…many people today are zealous about God but have no knowledge regarding the truth of who Jesus is.

True worship is worshiping God in spirit and in truth….this can only happen through Jesus.

When you remove Jesus from His deity and worship God without regard to who Jesus is…then your worship is in vain and is not based upon truth or knowledge.

We use religion to make God into what we want him to be or what we think He should be…God is a spirit and to communicate with God requires that we be on a spiritual level as well…that’s what being born again means…born not naturally but supernaturally from above.

It’s exactly what Paul was referring to in [2] …”they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.”

Cults are just like the women at the well…they’re zealous for God…they send missionaries throughout the world…they go door to door in their communities… their zeal is unmatched by Christians…but a zeal not based on knowledge.

Let me just share with you four primary fallacies regarding cults:

1) They lack the knowledge of knowing who Jesus is…that He is part of the Trinity…He is God in the flesh…that failure to understand Jesus’ association with God is what keeps them outside of what is known as mainline Christianity.

2) One of the most telling signs of a cult and its leaders concerns the source of their doctrine…the Bible should be our authoritative source for faith and practice.

While we may refer to other writings at times, those are secondary to the Bible …cults on the other hand will invariably fail to remain faithful to the Bible.

One of the ways they vary from the Bible is to cherry-pick through the Scripture for passages that support a belief they want to promote while ignoring the rest.

3) A third indication of a false leader or cult is their claim that they have the only correct understanding of the Scripture…they have the only way to Heaven.

4) Most all cults claim that you need grace plus works, this is unbiblical.

This is an incredible reality that people need to understand…worship is misguided and meaningless unless it is based upon the truth of God’s word and Jesus’ claim as His Son.

As long as people are deceived into looking outside of Jesus for salvation, it’s just religion…religion does not want you to be free…that’s why most all cults claim that you need grace plus works…they don’t include Jesus of the Bible and that is why Christianity regards them as a cult…they fail the test. [Acts 4:12]

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”

Jesus said…If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free [John 8:31-32] …but to be free, you have to know the truth.

The world wants you to believe that there are many roads leading to heaven… it’s acceptable to talk about Buddha and teach about Allah but at the mention of Jesus the world gets hostile…WHY?

We’re not accommodating…we don’t ‘coexist’ with other religions…we don’t even coexist with other denominations…as a result …Christianity is selfish… arrogant… and self-centered because of our belief that Jesus is the only means of salvation.

Jesus is the vital piece of information that we must have in worshipping God… and for those who claim that they can worship God outside of knowing Jesus… that is a lie.

Christians who lack knowledge of who Jesus is are no better than unbelievers …my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)…having only a superficial knowledge about who Jesus is.

The only knowledge they have is Jesus in the manager….not realizing the world is full of the person of Jesus and what He has done…and what He has given to the world through His redemption…this is the knowledge that Paul desired the Israelites to have. He knew Jesus was the missing link in their devotion to God.

It’s exactly what Paul was referring to in [2] …they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.”

When we have knowledge based on truth…then Paul’s statement in [9] reveals how simple salvation is…put this verse right alongside John 3:16.

Confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

So simple…there is nothing left to do except to celebrate the new life that Jesus offers…it’s as simple as that…kind of.

It’s not my intention to always be negative with respect to what a Christian is… but I believe Romans 10:9 has been oversimplified and taken out of context so that the meaning has lost its original punch which Paul intended.

The phrase, “Jesus is Lord,” is so short that it is easy for us to pass over it and say it quickly without digging out the full meaning.

Becoming a Christian being fully dedicated to God is evident in your attitudes and actions…embracing all that Christ wants to do in your life…surrendering your life to His will and being fully committed to following Him regardless of the situation.

To testify that Jesus is Lord means that we know and accept who Jesus truly is…that He’s not just an ordinary person…He’s not merely a prophet… He’s not just a good moral human.
When we confess Jesus is Lord we are accepting within our own hearts that Jesus is God and He’s fully divine.

When we acknowledge Jesus is Lord, then we are accepting that He is in charge …that He is ruler over all rulers…powers…and people…that He is the king and we are the subjects…that He is in charge.

Problem is we’re willing to accept that Jesus is Lord over the world…but that somehow excludes our lives…we think we can say that Jesus is Lord yet live our lives how we want.

If I believe that Jesus is Lord, then I must find out what He wants me to do because He is over my life….this is the problem with what I see going on in the Christian world today.

We say, “Jesus is Lord” …it’s not the mere uttering of words that saves…what Paul means is that if Jesus is Lord, then we will submit to His rule…He will be in charge of our lives …we will act as He wants us to act…we will do what He says…and we will yield our will to His will… God is not asking you to say Jesus is Lord. God is asking you to live it.

Christians must have knowledge AND zeal.

As we continue into chapter 9 of Romans it is emphasizing that there is physical Israel and there is a spiritual Israel…Paul begins by making reference to physical Israel.

Originally [v 25-27] was written to the Israelites who were captured by the Assyrians in the 8th century.

25 ’“I will call those who were not my people my people, and her who was not beloved ‘beloved.’”

26 And it shall be in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there shall be called ‘sons of the living God.’

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”

God has always had a physical remnant.

Noah – [Gen. 7:12-13] – for 120 years Noah preached the gospel…then rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights” On that same day…Noah …Noah’s wife…his three sons and their wives entered the ark…”…only eight people were saved from the Flood.

Moses preached God’s commandments to over two million people who left Egypt yet only two entered into the Promised Land.

Lot – [Gen. 19:12, 13, 15] – Lot preached the gospel to the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah…Then the angels said to Lot…get …out of this place… Take your wife …two daughters…for we are about to destroy this place…only he and his two daughters were saved. Even his wife perished.

Elijah – [1 Kings 19:10, 18] –“…the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, I (God) will leave 7,000 in Israel that have not bowed to Baal”.

Ezekiel – [Ezekiel 5:12] tells of the devastation–“One third …will die by plague and famine…one third will fall by the sword…one third to every direction of the wind…BUT…[6:8] –“I will leave a remnant”.

[Isaiah 10:22] “For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return.”
THREE THINGS:
FIRST…The gospel has always been rejected…and will always BE rejected.

SECOND…God will always be in pursuit of His people.

THIRD…there will always be a remnant that will worship and obey God.

Go back to verse 25…who did God call?
I will call those who were not My people

Originally this verse was written to the ten northern tribes of Israel taken captive and carted off into Assyria in the 8th century…they were in unbelief…they were in apostasy…that’s why they were captured…God’s patience had run out and God scolded physical Israel…the people.

The Lord removed his name from them so that they were of the same status as unbelieving Gentiles…Israel had become indistinguishable from the Gentiles …they were, physically speaking, “Not My people.”

Paul quotes Hosea 2:23 to confirm God’s commitment that one day He will restore the exiled northern ten tribes of Israel.

Then Paul incorporates this same idea from Hosea to the Church…Paul in writing to the Gentiles…US…introduces the idea that just like with physical Israel there is the physical Church…using the same wording in [24 ] “Those who were not My people,”

You and I can put ourselves in verse 25 and 26…your conversion is the fulfillment of verses 25 and 26.

I will call those who were not my people

You and I are Gentiles who at one time were not God’s people…BUT…having been called by God into a saving relationship with the Father through His Son we are part of the physical Church.

Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, re-enforces Paul’s assessment regarding God’s promise to the church which includes Gentile believers.

 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; 

once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy [1 Peter 2:10]

Both apostles recognize the fulfillment of Hosea’s promise to include Gentiles who once were not the people of God and had not received mercy…but are now receiving the promise and fulfillment of God’s promise in Hosea 2:23.

Again…proof that God knows the beginning to the end…He’s already there…
He foresaw the need to provide redemption to all people everywhere.

When God speaks…God brings it to pass…God is not just talking to fill pages. God is calling…God is commanding…God brings to fulfillment all that He says …that is critically important.

Look at how commanding God is:
…verse 25 God says, “I will,”
…in verse 26, “It shall be,”
…again in verse 26, “They shall be”
…in verse 27, “That will be,”

These two verses confirm that.

Those who were not my people I will call my people
of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Both these verses use the Greek word ‘call’ (καλέω 2564) which means to summon or invite…here it refers to “an invitation” …God inviting men by the preaching of the gospel… then you have the responsibility to answer that call… you can accept the call or reject it…an invitation that can be refused.

Here’s the objection…Calvinists say that you do nothing to aid in your salvation …that way you can’t say that you helped in your salvation by selecting God… BUT…you do have to do something…Bible says so…you accept or you resist that call…here’s the importance in that.

If God hadn’t called, you would have never answered…if God had not called… you would still be in the world…you would still be living as a slave of sin…you would be imprisoned in your sins.

On your own you would have been unable to answer the invitation of the gospel …God had to issue a call to your heart.

You accepting the call in no way implies you had something to do with your salvation by answering the call…it simply means you came to the realization of who God is…and you decided to join Him by answering that call.

But because we allow ourselves to be influenced by shaky theology like predestination we adopt ‘tunnel’ vision and have a tendency to say… ‘Well there it is in black and white’ [15 & [18] God picks and chooses who He wants:

He has mercy on whom He desires and he hardens whom He desires

What does this verse mean? …first of all…God does have mercy on everybody because the Bible says so: John 3:16…Eph. 2:18 …Romans 10:13…1 Tim 2:4 …all confirm that God does desire that not any should perish but all would come to a saving knowledge of who Jesus is.

Paul…using the example of Pharaoh [17] …demonstrates how God works in those vessels fitted to destruction.

God foresaw what was in Pharaoh’s heart and knew that whatever He did Pharaoh was determined to reject God’s mercy and tells Moses the reason why:

For this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate My power in you

God gave Pharaoh the opportunity to repent but instead Pharaoh resisted God and hardened his own heart….goes back to [v 22]…the fault is not with God but with Pharaoh.

God was not unrighteous in His dealings with Pharaoh, because He gave him opportunities to repent and to believe…Pharaoh refused.

Pharaoh was determined to reject God’s mercy and therefore God would end up withdrawing His softening grace from Pharaoh’s conscience so Pharaoh became more and more blind and dead to God’s voice….God works the same way today.

Some believe Romans 9 tells us that God has pre-determined the fate of every person and has determined where they will spend eternity before they were ever born.

That God has sovereignly elected some people for salvation before the foundation of the world…that is a twisted interpretation of Romans 9.

Paul in quoting Hosea isn’t trying to teach us why God condemns certain people and saves others so to insert this into the text is to miss the meaning.

God’s call for salvation is unlimited…it goes out to every person…this is where the phrase “you were called” comes in.

And those whom He predestined He also called…

What does this mean?

Goes back to the Greek word ‘call’ (καλέω 2564) which means to summon or invite…here it refers to “an invitation” …God inviting you to join Him in eternity…a call… you can accept or reject…an invitation that can be refused.

God has known you from eternity past…at a specific moment in time God’s grace comes into contact with our lives…God’s purpose for you occurred before time began…but your calling occurs in time.

There is a time in the life of every human when we are drawn to God…making us WANT to come to God and enabling us to have faith in God…everyone is called.

Where were you when God called you to Himself? …everyone who is in the kingdom of God has been individually and personally called by name.

The confusion comes in with the addition of Matthew 22:14… “Many are called, few are chosen” …that call is the external call of the gospel to everyone …it is God’s extended internal call to everyone…God would have all men to be saved. (I Tim. 2:3) But…only a few will accept the call and be saved.

Again…the verse that says…He has mercy on whom He desires and he hardens whom He desires…says two things:

ONE…God has nothing to do with NOT allowing people to hear or make a decision to become a Christian…Scripture declares that it is Satan who blinds the minds of unbelievers [2 Cor. 4:4].

That is why many people will hear the gospel, but they will not listen…as a result only a few will be saved.

TWO…the misconception that God hardens the conscience of those who reject His mercy and hardens their will against Him…last week I explained how this works…there are two types of people:

[v 22] vessels of wrath fitted to destruction
[v 23] vessels of mercy which He had prepared to glory.

In [22] those fitted to destruction…that phrase in the Greek middle voice means that the subject does the acting…and receives the action…people initiate the action and receive the consequences of their own actions…what happens to them is their own fault…God doesn’t choose or cause it to happen.

In [23] those He prepared to Glory…notice God is not mentioned in [verse 22] God doesn’t do anything to those fitted to destruction…the people themselves are doing it because it’s the individual doing the action.

In [23] Paul refers to vessels of mercy which ‘He (God) prepared beforehand’ …God is the one doing the preparing.

Then…Paul begins to split hairs and concludes that (within physical Israel) there is a spiritual Israel…a smaller subset of physical Israel made up of Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah.

God’s promises were not meant for Abraham’s physical descendants (National Israel) but to Abraham’s spiritual descendants (True Israel) those who share in Abraham’s faith.

God is calling that subset of physical Israel who have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior…spiritual Israel…not all those born in Abraham’s bloodline are his descendants.

That is the meaning of [9:6]:

not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

The Church is no different… there is a smaller group within the big church that really is regenerate and knows the Lord…just like with spiritual Israel there is the spiritual Church…so…not everyone in the church is saved.

Within the physical church there is a spiritual church…that includes those who are serious about living a Christian lifestyle as opposed to those who are Christians by association.

Think about this…this verse is validating that thousands of years ago God looked into the future and made provisions for our salvation…and knowing in advance who would make the decision to become His followers He gave us a promise. [1 Peter 2:9]

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called (2564) you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Let me explain how important that word ‘chosen’ (ἐκλεκτός) is…in the Greek it means selected…as a subset…chosen out by God for the rendering of special service to Him.

This word is like the Greek word ‘call’ (καλέω 2564) [25] I will call those who were not my people…which means to summon or invite…“an invitation” to join God in eternity…BUT…you have the responsibility to answer that call… you can accept the call or reject it…it’s an invitation that can be refused.

This confirms the idea that God has ‘called’ you and ‘chosen’ you personally for a special service that only you can fulfill.

Those in the physical church think they are saved because they have an understanding of who Jesus is…BUT have never truly committed their life to Him.

God is calling all Christians to become part of the spiritual church.

Hosea was written thousands of years ago…what’s important is it’s not literally Hosea speaking…Hosea is only the messenger…Hosea is only the scribe.

This is God speaking in the present tense…here’s what that tells us…what God said so many centuries ago He is still saying today…this book is still speaking… God is still calling those who were not His people to be His people.

It’s easy to focus on those who are not believers…and claim that this whole message is directed to those who have never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and offer up an invitation to do so….this message is making that offer.

BUT…the invitation goes deeper than that…it’s demanding that as Christians we leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity [Heb 6:1] not being content to just be members of the physical church…but that we become part of that small remnant, the spiritual church.

That can only happen when we determine to be more committed to being members of His spiritual church.

The Church that will last throughout eternity.

The first eight chapters of Romans, Paul reveals some never before known truths about God and how He works in the lives of people.

…That we are all sinners and as a result…we are all under God’s wrath and therefore cannot save or justify ourselves…something the Jewish believer would not have believed…because we know the Law makes us righteous.

…That God has graciously removed that wrath and declared us justified… just as if I had never sinned…that is the message of Romans.

…That we are no longer guilty because of our faith in Jesus…who provided the means for us to be righteous in God’s sight.

Paul then concludes chapter 8 with two promises of assurance:
…FIRST…we are no longer under God’s wrath…He sees us as sin-free…and

…SECOND…Paul finishes this portion of Romans with the promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is the meaning…the reason…the purpose…and the whole rational…of God’s plan for humanity…Bible theology 101.

Chapter 9 begins another major section of Romans…he changes his tone from his passionate confidence of God’s love in which nothing can separate us from God’s love at the end of chapter 8 to one of deep sorrow…regret …and grief.

Paul is so distressed over Israel’s lack of faith in Christ that he says he would be willing if it were possible…to give up his place in Heaven…to separate himself from Christ, if only his fellow Jews would realize who Jesus is.

SO…why did God choose Israel in the first place…above all the other nations who were on the earth at that time?

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the people, for you were the fewest of all peoples. [Deut. 7:7]

Not because of your righteousness [Deut. 9:4]

But because the Lord loved you ]Deut. 7:8]

The immediate question if you were Jewish…based on your knowledge of Old Testament Scriptures and God’s promises of providing His love and protection to them…why then is Paul suggesting that:
not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are Israel.

Again…this is brand new teaching…this goes against everything written in the Old Testament…where’s Paul coming up with this?…Scripture declares that all those born in Abraham’s bloodline are his natural descendants…BUT…now Paul’s saying…not all those born in Abraham’s bloodline are his descendants.

Israel’s failure to come to faith in Jesus is not an indication that God’s promises have failed…Paul clarifies this to his imaginary friend in verse eight:

it is not as though the word of God has failed

On the contrary, God’s purpose has always been through Israel…Paul is now revealing it has always been through the spiritual remnant of physical Israel.

KEY…Here’s the revelation…not all who are born in Abraham’s bloodline are his descendants…only those born of faith like Abraham…understanding this is the starting point of interpreting Romans 9 – 11.

God’s promises were not made to national Israel but to spiritual Israel.

Israel’s failure to come to faith in Jesus is not an indication that God’s promises have failed…on the contrary, God’s purpose has always been through the spiritual remnant of physical Israel…affirming the privileged spiritual position of the Jews.

It’s just like the fact that not everyone in the church is saved…there is a smaller circle within the big church that really is regenerate and knows the Lord…Jesus makes reference to this spiritual remnant who is the true church [Matt 7:13].

Can we credibly put people on the Church membership roll who show no evidence of being converted…but still refer to them as being “Christian?”

Is it worthy to call people “Christians” just because they “practice” church but forsake the assembly?

Let me just say this…Nowhere in Scripture is there an explicit command to formally join a local church…however…the Biblical foundation for church membership permeates throughout the entire New Testament.

In the early church coming to Christ was coming to church…the idea of experiencing salvation without belonging to a local church is foreign to the N. T.

It is essential for every Christian to understand what church membership is and why it matters…to become a member of a church is to formally commit oneself to a local body of believers who have joined themselves together:
…for the divinely ordained purpose of being united to Christ (1 Cor. 12:13)
…to receive instructions from God’s Word (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:2),
…for serving and edifying one another through spiritual gifts (Rom. 12 / 1 Cor. 12)
…to participate in the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42).

To neglect—or to refuse—to join a church as a formal member reflects a misunderstanding of the believer’s responsibility to the body of Christ…and it cuts off many of the blessings and opportunities that flow from that commitment.

Multitudes of people claim to be members of local churches without knowing the gospel…they practice being Christians by association…like the five foolish women who thought the oil of spiritual preparedness could be shared.

For these people their belief is in Christ…the healer…or the problem-solver…or the one who materially blesses…but not in Christ who was crucified to pay for the forgiveness of sin.

There is a veil of deception caused by false teachers who fail to encourage church members to practice Biblical precepts…they’re never challenged to evaluate themselves…or test themselves to see whether they are in the faith.

Instead, they wander under the delusion that they’re saved when in reality they are facing God’s wrath.

If a Christian is one who has been purchased with the blood of the one and only Son of God shouldn’t their lives resemble a life that affirms what the Bible
teaches about being led by the Spirit of God?

Living a Spirit-filled life is the distinguishing mark between those of the world and those redeemed.

There’s a fitting quote from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones…that points out the danger that an unregenerate church member…an unbeliever…poses not only to himself but to the church as well.

When a man presents himself as a religious person, the church tends to take him for granted; because it would be an insult to question him.

The church assumes that because he acknowledges himself to be religious that he therefore is a Christian.

That is the most dangerous place for such a man to be…this is the present state the church is in…far too often those people associate with the church…and join the church who are really not following Christ…they deceive themselves believing they are saved and they deceive the church.

They are put in positions of leadership and authority without having the guidance of the Holy Spirit…they sway Church decisions without having the knowledge of Church doctrine.

Again…not everyone in the church is saved…there is a smaller circle within the big church that really is regenerate and knows the Lord…that all goes back to Paul’s statement in verse 7:

not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are (the sons of) Israel.

This is where Scripture becomes confusing…Paul…after making the statement about not all who are descended from Israel are Israel…begins to explain why that is…an explanation that has been debated for years.

We have an incorrect idea about how God works in the world…rarely if ever does God intervene in the affairs of men…God is not going to get involved in the Ukraine/Russian conflict…He doesn’t pick sides…He doesn’t meddle in the affairs of men.

As a result, God gets blamed for things He doesn’t do and also gets credited for things He doesn’t do.

It’s not God’s fault that planes crash…or people are killed in accidents…but people blame God for allowing it to happen.

God also gets credited for things He doesn’t do…someone miraculously survives a plane crash and it’s ‘thank you God for keeping them safe’ …but what do they say if they were killed…it goes back to the idea that God should have done something.

The reason people have incorrect ideas about how God deals with people is because people don’t take the time to seriously assess how God deals with us as humans…Paul expands on that starting in verse 7 to the end of the chapter.

He gives four examples from Israel’s history in Scripture to show why God gives His mercy to whomever He likes without the need of any explanation.

Starting in verse 14, Paul uses a rhetorical diatribe style to address objections to this line of reasoning…it’s the objection of the perception of injustice in God choosing one over another.

…First example Paul gives is God’s promise to Abraham that the promised son Isaac would be from Sarah and not by any of his other wives…they’re excluded.

…Second example was that the promise would come through Isaac even though Ishmael was his first-born…God’s divine love was set on Isaac…Ishmael was excluded.

…Third example he mentions is Rebekah’s twin sons Jacob and Esau and before either one was even born…God’s choice was Jacob over Esau because…Jacob I loved but Esau I hated [9:13]…Esau was excluded.

…Fourth example was God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and bringing the ten terrible plagues upon Egypt…while Israel was excluded.

From this comes the concept that God picks certain people while others are excluded…that God chooses certain people whom He favors while others are not even considered…to further support that idea is the quote that God told Moses:

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion [15]

The question is… ‘is that fair of God?’ Paul imagines that’s exactly what his readers would be asking.

The answer for years has been incorrectly preached…since I was a kid I have heard these verses preached…I’ve heard them taught at seminary…using the analogy in [20] that God as the creator molds some people for eternity and some for eternal destruction.

Here’s the answer that is given: [Isaiah 55:8–9 (ESV)]

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
My ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

That’s it…that’s the best you got…that’s not an answer…that’s a I don’t know the answer so this sounds as good as any.

That answer implies that we probably won’t ever fully grasp some of God’s truths…and because God’s ways and thoughts exceed ours…and it may not seem exactly right from our perspective…we’re just required to accept it and believe it…NO!!!

Now I don’t want to get too deep but I want to give you a more scriptural answer…notice, there are in [v 22], vessels of wrath fitted to destruction… and [v 23] , vessels of mercy which He had prepared to glory.

SO…two vessels…one fitted to destruction and the other prepared to glory.

Right off the bat that should be an indication that Paul’s talking about two different groups…the wording in the Greek is crucial.

In the Greek you have two distinctions…the difference between the active and middle voices…the active voice versus the middle voice clarifies the whole misunderstanding of God’s choosing some people for destruction while choosing some for glory.

This is seen in the original language…in [22] Paul uses a Greek perfect tense middle voice participle…in the Greek it reads:

vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction

The wording…having been prepared is one word in the Greek…the perfect tense means it’s already happened…hence the wording ‘having been’ prepared.

The middle voice means the subject does the acting…‘the vessels’ who are people…are the cause and receive the action of destruction…what happens to them is their own fault.

Here’s the importance in that…in this case the subject…the vessels of wrath… initiate the action…it is people and not God that does the preparing for destruction…the more correct translation could read:

vessels of wrath having prepared (himself) for destruction

The rejection is not because of God…but because at some point in time ‘the vessels’ rejected God…and are still rejecting God…because of their own actions of rejecting God the responsibility is on their shoulders.

It’s not something God decided before they were born…that He prepared them for destruction…it’s because of their own actions of rejecting the truth that left God with no choice.

God doesn’t take that responsibility…if you study the Bible carefully, you’ll see that everywhere in Scripture the responsibility for such preparation lies right in the very heart of the man who goes to hell.

Now…in Verse 23 Paul refers to vessels of mercy which ‘He prepared beforehand’. This is also one word in the Greek. ‘He prepared beforehand’ is an aorist active verb…meaning it’s already taken place just like it reads in the English.

vessels of mercy which He had prepared beforehand.

God is the one doing the preparing…‘He prepared beforehand” …as opposed to [v 22] where the vessels of destruction…not God… is doing the action.

So, in verse 22 you have people ‘vessels’ whose own fault it is that they are fitted for destruction…in verse 23…God is the one doing the preparing.

BUT to further complicate things in verse 20 it’s as if Paul is saying… ‘Hey don’t question what God has done’.

who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this’

BUT…Paul seems to indicate that it is in fact God who makes me them like that

Does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for common use [21]

This seems to add to the idea that God chooses some for glory while others are hopelessly doomed…that it depends on how God makes us.

Paul uses an analogy taken from Jer. 18:1-11 to explain this idea…the story is about a potter who wanted to fashion one kind of vessel, but found the clay wasn’t cooperating, so he instead fashions a different kind of vessel.

This is inferred in the example of:
…God choosing Abraham over every other person in the known world
…God choosing Isaac over Ishmael
…God loving Jacob and hating Esau

It has nothing to do with the human emotions of love and hate…it has everything to do with God choosing one man over another to fulfill His purpose.

When you put the human emotion of God hating someone…the Bible could have said….because God chose Abraham out of all the men in the world… Abraham I love and every other man I hated.

God choosing Isaac instead of Abraham’s first son Ishmael…the Bible could have said…Isaac I love, and Ishmael I hated.

God choosing Jacob over Esau wasn’t God displaying the human emotion of love and hate…it is based on how receptive Jacob would be to His calling.

God steers us according to the kind of clay we make ourselves, for better or for worse…it’s your choice. When we cooperate with God it’s just like with molding clay…He changes us and fashions us for eternal blessing.

If we are rebellious, God fashions us for judgment (but even with this He’s doing this in hopes that we’ll repent). The point is…God is always willing to change us, if we are willing to change for him.

The point in the analogy isn’t about the power of the potter over the clay but the wisdom of the potter in responding to the kind of clay he’s working with and his ability to change the vessel because of his great wisdom.

As we continue in our study of the book of Romans, we have progressed our way through two of the book’s four sections: righteousness needed 1:18-3:20 …righteousness provided 3:21-8:39…righteousness vindicated 9:1-11:36… and righteousness practiced.

Looking back at chapters 1 through 8 Paul explains the world’s rebellion against God and the dismal situation that everyone who has ever been born is faced with …which ultimately leads Paul to say….you are without excuse.

In chapter 2 Paul reveals God’s reaction to this rebellion…to judge everyone because our conscience and God’s revelation through nature confirms His existence and again…we are without excuse.

Chapter 3- Paul continues in his description of God’s judgment and that no one will be exempt from God’s judgment because everyone has sinned…and are therefore without excuse.

BUT…after 3 and a half chapters of revealing God’s condemnation on us…Paul finally shares some good news…that God has provided a way to make us right with Him that does not depend on anything we can do…as a result.

In Chapter 4 God declares us righteous…without sin…not by doing things… but by belief in His Son…whereby in Chapter 5 because we have been declared righteous…we are now put right with God and have peace with Him.

Paul closes out the first eight chapters of Romans by concluding that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 9 begins another major section of Romans.

Paul changes his tone from his passionate confidence of God’s love in which nothing can separate us at the end of chapter 8 to one of deep sorrow…regret …and grief.

Paul is so distressed over Israel’s lack of faith in Christ that he says he would be willing, if it would help…if it were possible…to separate himself from Christ for the sake of his fellow Jews.

That he would give up his place in Heaven if only his fellow Jews would realize who Jesus is…that’s quite a sacrifice.

Knowing that God had previously given Israel every advantage, Paul lists the blessings God has given Israel but in sorrow writes:
1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit, 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen

Paul sets forth eight privileges that God graciously bestowed to and belong only to Israel:

1) – They are privileged to be “Israelites”…descendants of Abraham.

2) – They are privileged to have been “adoption as sons”.

3) – They are privileged to have the divine visible presence of God’s Shekinah “glory” dwelling with them.

4) – They were privileged to have been given “the covenants.”

5) – They were privileged by the “receiving of the Law” …the Scriptures…the Ten Commandments.

6) – Israel was blessed by being entrusted with “the temple service” the Tabernacle of Moses…the Tabernacle of David…the Temple of Solomon.

7) – Israel was given the “promises of God”…including the promised Messiah.

8) – Israel was privileged to provide the lineage of “Christ according to the flesh”….whose human nature came through Israel.

Why did God choose Israel in the first place…above all the other nations who were on the earth at that time?

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because
you were more in number than any of the people for you were
the fewest of all peoples. [Deut. 7:7]

Not because of your righteousness [Deut. 9:4]

But because the Lord loved you ]Deut. 7:8]

Here’s the issue…if the people that God personally chose as His own are in danger of being cast aside…could the same also happen to us?

When reading this about Israel, it might cause us to question God’s dealings with us…how can I be secure in God’s love and salvation when Israel who was once loved now seems to have been cast aside and rejected?

In just the previous verses Paul declares that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ…now he hints that God’s own chosen people seem to have been cast aside and rejected.

Will God also reject and curse me one day? …if God cannot bring His own people into salvation, how convinced is a Christian that he can be saved?

The first five verses of Rom. 9 introduce the next three chapters…these verses start a whole new section in the book of Romans dealing with the question of Jewish unbelief and their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

If God aborted his covenant with Israel…how do we know that His promises to save us are any more trustworthy than His promise to the Jews?

This creates a massive problem…what does it say about God…what does it say about the people of Israel that God had previously set aside as His own possession but are now being rejected by Him?

This is where the foolish idea of replacement theology comes in. It “is the view that the church is the new Israel that has permanently replaced Israel as the people of God.”

There is a list of questions that goes along with that line of thinking:

…Why did God reject his people?
…Why are God’s chosen people, Israel, still in unbelief?
…Why are God’s chosen people not saved?
…Why have God’s chosen people not chosen Christ?

In the next three chapters Paul…directed by the Holy Spirit and probably completely unknown to him at the time, writes about God’s eternal plan for Israel in addition to the reason for Israel’s rejection of their Messiah.

This seemingly boring part of Scripture unveils God’s plan for Israel:
Chapter 9 – Israel’s past election
Chapter 10 – Israel’s present rejection
Chapter 11 – Israel’s future restoration

Paul begins in chapter 9 by addressing two hard to follow issues:

FIRST…who is the true physical descendant of Abraham?

Paul makes an important statement about the history of Israel concerning not all are children because they are Abraham’s descendants.

6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.

These two verses have a couple of meanings:
1) Abraham had other “seed” besides Isaac…these are referred to in verse 8 as the children of the flesh that included Abraham’s first born by Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid.

Only through Abraham and Sarah would come the child of the promise [Gen. 21]. Any seed outside of Sarah is not counted as the ‘seed’ in God’s mind.

2) After the death of Sarah, Abraham married again, and by his second wife, Keturah, there came at least six other sons [Gen 25:1-6]. These sons were also the ‘seed’ of Abraham but none were the promised ‘seed’ of Abraham…only in Isaac was the promise of the Messiah to come.

3) There are other nations who can claim Abraham as their father…Scripture is clear…Only “in Isaac shall they seed be called” only the nation that could trace its birth…and genealogy back to Isaac…Abraham’s only begotten son…in God’s sight is counted as the ‘seed.’

Then there’s the secondary issue regarding the true physical descendants of Abraham…all Jews are descendants of Abraham…BUT…this is where it’s important to understand verse 6 and the statement from a spiritual perspective

For not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are Israel.

All those born in Abraham’s bloodline are his descendants…BUT…not all those born in Abraham’s bloodline are true Israelites…which explains verse 7:

Nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.

God’s promises were not made to national Israel but to spiritual Israel.

Israel’s failure to come to faith in Jesus is not an indication that God’s promises have failed—I’m standing on the promises that cannot fail—on the contrary, God’s purpose has always been through the spiritual remnant of physical Israel.

Not to those born in Abraham’s bloodline…but those born of faith like Abraham …Paul is affirming the privileged spiritual position of the Jews.

Understanding this is the starting point of interpreting Romans 9 – 11…it’s just like the fact that not everyone in the church is saved…you do know that right? There is a smaller circle within the big church that really is regenerate and knows the Lord.

Within the church there is a large group that believes that they are relatively ‘good’ people…they go to church…they are outwardly moral… “Sure, I’ve got my faults. Who doesn’t? …BUT God knows that I’m basically a good person.”

I hear that a lot… ‘God knows I’m a good person’ …what does that mean? … God has said…There is no one righteous, not even one [Rom. 3:10] …here’s what Jesus says about Himself… Why do you call me good?”…“No one is good—except God alone [Mark 10:18].

When people make the statement…‘I’m a good person’ …they’re putting themselves as an equal with God.

When people are filled with self-righteousness, they’re trusting in their good works to justify them on judgment day.

Here’s the terrifying reality…one day they’ll be standing before God…all excuses will evaporate…all mouths will be closed…all that will be heard is the Sovereign Judge pronouncing, “Guilty as charged!” At that point, it will be too
late to plead for mercy.

So, not all Israel is saved and not all the church is saved…there is a smaller, tighter circle, and that is what Paul is describing in this chapter.

See this more clearly defined in Deut. 29:21 that says a lot about God:

The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity

…first…He knows you personally
…second…no one can escape God’s knowledge of what you’re doing
…third…God will pay you back for your disobedience.

This person’s mistake was to think he was safe in his sins because he belonged to Israel…I’m part of the chosen nation…that verse has an application today.
People respond by saying…‘we live in the age of grace where God forgives… that’s an Old Testament verse that has no meaning today, that’s not the God of the New Testament’…an important thing to remember about the New Testament is that…the New Testament gets the Old Testament right.

The issue in this verse is a person thinks he’s safe even if he has no heart for holiness… the mistaken thinking is…“I’m in the new covenant…you don’t need holiness…we’re justified by faith.”

There’s a verse in Hebrews that reflects the error of that thinking [Hebrews 12:15]

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God

Those who “fall short of the grace of God” is in reference to those who are false believers…that would be in agreement with other N. T. warnings about those who claim to be godly, but aren’t (Matt.7:15, Jude 1:12).

Those falling short of the grace of God are those within the church who are defiant towards God’s holiness.

In Deuteronomy the people of Israel were warned about those who assumed they’d be blessed and protected by God because they were the descendants of Abraham despite their willful rebellion…God’s patience eventually ran out.

There are people in the ‘church’ today who think because they’ve been baptized …go to church…even participate in church activities, that they’re saved and can live however they want…God’s patience will eventually run out.

There’s a warning concerning that erroneous thinking in Hebrews 12:14:

“Strive…for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

See the importance of holiness…here’s the problem…much of Protestant theology has its emphasis on justification and imputed righteousness…both of those are salient points…but it has created a Christian culture of sinful people who believe that holiness is not necessary because the Bible says ‘I’m forgiven.’

Too many believers do not see a life of holiness as necessary for their Christian journey through life…they’re content to remain ‘sinners saved by grace’ to not only save them…but to excuse them to live a life that is profane and outside of God’s holy standards…because they think they’re forgiven.

Another area of unholiness that hampers our fellowship with God is when we allow bitterness…resentment…rage…anger…discontentment…and grudges against others to come into our lives.

When we have no heart for holiness, we come short of the grace of God and allow ungodly characteristics of this life into our hearts…the consequence is a lack of power to preserve their life as a Christian.

The Israel God made His promises to are the children of faith or as Paul writes, the children of promise. That’s why… not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Romans 9 is a text revealing that it is not our heritage…our ability to adhere to the law…or by being a physical descendant of Abraham that makes us God’s children…salvation is by being a spiritual offspring by faith.

SECOND…This chapter is a particularly difficult one because it is the most widely used text in the defense of predestination.

I realize for most of you predestination means very little…but because it is God’s word to simply ignore it or scan over it without an explanation of what it’s revealing is inexcusable.

Because this chapter has been historical and widely used as one of the main texts that defends the theological stance of pre-determination it’s important to untangle the text in order to see Scripture the way it was meant to be.

The Bible must be interpreted within its correct social and historical context, as well as giving regard to its intended audience.

This text is often interpreted as meaning that God unilaterally determines who He will have mercy on and who He will pour His wrath upon…using Israel as the example, many believe that Paul is defining how God works in the lives of all people and nations.

Some believe Romans 9 tells us that God has pre-determined the fate of every person and has determined where they will spend eternity before they were ever born.

That God has sovereignly elected some people for salvation before the foundation of the world…that is a twisted interpretation of Romans 9.

When interpreting Scripture, it’s important to know the context of the text before trying to decide what it’s trying to say…we must ask ourselves why is Paul writing these words…what is the relevance?

Looking at the letter on a broader scale, Paul wasn’t trying to teach us why God condemns certain people and saves others, so to insert this into the text is to miss the meaning.

Romans 9 teaches us that it is not the natural children that are God’s children, but the children of the promise…the promise that comes through faith in Christ, not by works of the Law.

This is a great lesson for us today…Paul uses the example of the Israelites, who pursued righteousness by the law without obtaining it…as a result they were on the outside looking in…For 33 verses Paul uses the Old Testament to prove that righteousness through doing things was unattainable.

It’s the same today…people getting wrapped up in going to church…being involved in Bible Studies and church organizations and letting rituals and traditions keep them separated from being in a relationship with Jesus.

The Israelites were the beneficiaries of all the promised blessings of God but failed to obtain those blessings as opposed to the Gentiles who pursued righteousness by faith and obtained it through Jesus.

Chapter 9 is a sobering call about the importance of relationships…a relationship that must start with recognizing that faith in Christ alone saves us.

Last week in verses 29-30 of Romans 8. we looked at the five links in the Golden Chain of Salvation…foreknowledge…predestination…called…justified…and glorified.

A chain God has bound us with…another verse that confirms and secures our salvation…a chain that stretches back into eternity past and stretches forward into future eternity…a chain that will never be broken.

In these verses Paul expounds on the unsurpassed privileges and blessings that belong to every believer…we who deserve punishment…but instead have been justified and glorified because we have trusted Jesus as our Savior.

In light of the fact that God foreknew us…predestined us…called us…justified us…and will glorify us…Paul comes to an undeniable conclusion…God must be for us…that He is for all who are in Christ by faith.

All views that deny the reality of eternal security and deny the possibility of the full assurance of salvation are shattered in this one verse…it should be more than plain that the justified will be glorified.

In this passage Paul brings us the truth that a believer’s eternal salvation is completely secure in God’s hands.

It’s important to note the wording ‘What then shall we say to these things?’ is in reference to saved Christian believers…the reference to ‘us’ and ‘we’ does not include the entire human race…BUT…only those who have accepted Jesus as Savior…never in Scripture do you find a blanket statement that includes the salvation of the entire human race.

Paul is talking about “those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” [v. 28] …he is talking only about those whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified [29-30] it is only these who are…to be conformed to the image of His Son.

These words really define the Church’s position on the abortion issues… typically I stay away from controversial issues…but I really don’t see this as a controversial issue.

Clearly the Bible speaks on the issue of abortion…it’s a moral issue that has become a political issue…in [v. 29-30] Paul’s wording in the Greek identifies the fact that while we were in our mother’s womb…before we were ever born…God was aware of us.

You hear people talk about the “baby” when someone is pregnant…there are specific terms that describe the different stages of pregnancy based on how the different stages of pregnancy are measured.

At conception a zygote is formed and quickly begins dividing to become an embryo…as the pregnancy progresses the embryo becomes a fetus and the fetus becomes a baby at birth…all these words can be used to explain embryonic and fetal development of an unborn.

The position taken by Southern Baptists…not saying the Church because different denominations within the church have opposing views on the issue of abortion…but to quote the official teachings of the Catholic Church which could also represent what we adhere to as well:

To oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, embryo or fetus, since it holds that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.”

That position agrees with the scientific evidence proposed by a Harvard University Medical School professor (Micheline Matthews-Ross) who testified in 1981 before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that: “It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception … and that this developing human always is a member of our species in all stages of life” (New York Times, April 26, 1981).

Again…this verse along with many others in Scripture explains that God knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb…these five links confirm the redemptive plan of God that stretches back into eternity past and into the eternal ages that are to come.

Reading this in English you miss out on the truth regarding God knowing us before we are born…when you look at verses 29-30 in the Greek…all the links in the chain…foreknowledge…predestination…called…justified…and glorified are in the aorist tense indicating completed action…we read this and assume that Paul is referring to a distant time in the future…he’s not.

Paul wrote this in the past tense to show that in God’s mind it’s as if all those links have already been accomplished…Paul is so certain that all these links in the life of a believer…even though they have not yet been born…have already taken place…he speaks of them as already occurred.

Beginning in Romans 3 Paul began a question-and-answer session with an imaginary opponent that continues throughout the book of Romans.

This is known as the diatribe genre…a genre that includes a dialogue with an imaginary questioner or opponent using questions or hypothetical objections to transition from one topic to the next…using rhetorical questions.

In other words Paul is anticipating what questions he thought the Jews might ask him in response to his teaching so he writes them down as if they were real.

When you look at the first eight chapters of Romans Paul asks a lot of questions:

in Romans 2, there are eight questions.
In Romans 3, there are fifteen questions.
in Romans 4, there are five questions.
In Romans 6, there are seven questions.
in Romans 7, there are five questions.
in Romans 8, there are seven questions.

There are forty-seven different questions Paul asks in just the first 8 chapters as he writes to the church in Rome…all intended to teach doctrine, to teach theology, and also to make application to our lives.

In today’s passage Paul asks a single question then responds to it with a series of six additional questions he believes his imaginary opponent might ask…Paul begins in verse 31 with the single question:

First question: What then shall we say to these things? (Rom 8:31a)
There are a number of ways we can look at this question:

FIRST…Paul could be addressing the issue he just wrote about since the question…What then shall we say to these things…immediately follows the five links in the Golden Chain of Salvation…Paul is revealing a never before know truth…what can we possible say about the concept that God knew us before we were born?

SECOND…the book of Romans is divided into four sections: righteousness needed 1:18-3:20…righteousness provided 3:21-8:39…righteousness vindicated 9:1-11:36…and righteousness practiced.

Verses 31-39 serve as the conclusion of the second part of the first eight chapters of Romans…righteousness provided 3:21-8:39.

‘These things’ could mean what Paul has been teaching on thus far …the sinfulness of man…the salvation of God…justification by faith…the result of justification…our unification to Christ…Christians’ deliverance from bondage.

THIRD…in the more immediate context of Romans 8 these things could include the promise of no condemnation…the giving of the Holy Spirit …and the sovereignty of God in salvation.

FOURTH…”these things” could refer to the good that God intends all things to come together for…that we will be conformed to the image of His Son…that we become more like Jesus and less like ourselves.

FIFTH…he could be referring to what immediately follows… ‘if God is for us, who is against us?’ Focusing on another tactic of Satan…to separate us from the love of God…every day we are confronted with things that will try to separate you from God and His plan for you…if he succeeds in separating us from the love of Christ, he has completed his purpose.

SO…regardless of which of the five you might think Paul’s asking …What then shall we say to these things…it’s a question that demands a response …a question that requires an answer.

God’s Word is not information to be filed away…it’s not an academic exercise…the Word of God is given to us to act upon.

Just like the question Jesus asked the disciples…who do you say that I am [Mark 8:29] …every person who has ever lived will be asked that exact same question…how you respond to that will depend on where you spend eternity.

Paul then follows with six additional questions.

…If God is for us, who is against us? (question mark)
…He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (question mark)
…Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? (question mark)
…Who is the one who condemns? (question mark)
…Who will separate us from the love of Christ? (question mark)
…Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (question mark).

Second question: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31b)
Paul uses the word “for” and “against” in this question…his choice of words brings to mind…as he often does…a courtroom scene.

If this was a courtroom, God would be your lawyer…I don’t totally understand how all this works, but Scripture says Satan is the accuser of the brethren [Rev. 12:10] and he brings accusation against you and against me every day.

When Satan brings charges against us, you have a defense attorney who will successfully defeat all accusations that the devil brings against you.

That’s what the wording God is “for us” means…but…it is only for a small circle within all humanity…only for those who are foreknown…predestined …called… justified…and glorified as shown in last week’s sermon.

Essentially…it’s all who are known by God because they believe in His Son Jesus for their salvation.

Paul is asking in effect…What difference does it make who is against us?
Who can take away our no-condemnation status…is there anyone stronger than God…if anyone were able to rob us of our salvation, they would have to be greater than God Himself because He is the giver and the Sustainer of salvation.

Paul’s line of thinking is not in the form of a hypothetical condition…as if there was a question whether God was for us or not…Paul’s thought is…in view of the fact that God is for us who can be against us to do us harm…he answers his own question with the third question:

Third question: He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)

Paul’s third question is arguing that the Son is infinitely more valuable and infinitely worth more than all things…therefore…if God has freely given us His Son, will He not also freely give us all things.

Why would God keep anything from you…He’s already given you everything …it is not logical for God to withhold good from us when He has given us His ultimate good…as a result:

Fourth question: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? (Rom 8:33)

Paul is asking about charges against the saints…against God’s chosen, and replies that because God is the one who justifies…no one can bring a charge against God’s elect.

Why is this important? Even psychologists have identified that our guilt and shame are our greatest struggles and problems…no matter what front we put on…some people deep down inside constantly battle accusations.

Satan constantly and daily brings accusations to the elect. [Rev. 12:10]… we know this only too well…feelings of doubt…shame…guilt…and insecurities.

Here’s the frustrating part…Satan is half right…although Scripture says he’s a deceiver he is not totally wrong …look at words of Satan in Scripture where they are recorded in Genesis…Job…Matthew…and Luke and compare what Satan says as being true against what he says is a lie…in every case Satan’s words are about 46% true. https://people.engr.tamu.edu/davis/OLD/Precept/Rev1/words_of_satan.pdf

Satan…knowing that at times we are less than righteous…and at times we are sinful…comes to accuse us of our sins…causing guilt and shame…because in most cases he’s right…at times we are less than righteous.

Go back to the original question…Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect…Christ our defender bore our sins…our guilt….and shame…so the question is…why do you respond to the charges of Satan with so much fear? You shouldn’t…and the reason is found in two verses:

There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8:1
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Romans 8:33

Both verses reassure and remind us that God has justified us…both are as important as John 3:16…Eph 2:8-9…Romans 10:13.

That leads to the fifth question…if we are justified…who then is the one who condemns?

Fifth question: Who is the one who condemns? (Rom 8:34)

The word ‘condemns’ is a present participle…it’s referring to those who would condemn you today…right now…it’s bad enough we have to put up with Satan condemning us…then there’s people who also bring a charge against you for something you’ve done.

People you work with…people you live with …people you know…people you went to school with…people you have had association with…people who know the worst about you…people who could dig up dirt on you right now…there’s never a shortage of those people.

At first glance, Paul’s answer doesn’t seem to address the question regarding these kinds of people…he answers with something that doesn’t appear relevant at first…but Paul answers with four things Jesus has done for us.
Christ Jesus is the one who died…who was raised…who is
at the right hand of God…who intercedes for us [8:34].

In this verse there are three actions…these three actions undergo a change of tense from…past…to present…to present continuous. What does this mean?
Because of what God did in raising Jesus…He justified us…past tense
Because He is now at the right hand of God…present tense
He continues to intercede and stand for us before God…present continuous.

Do you see the security and certainty in these verses?
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?
Christ Jesus is the one who intercedes for us.

Having the promise of these verses will quiet the accusatory voice of Satan and those who would love the opportunity to degrade you…make you feel less than a child of God…bring up trash about you…make accusations against you… shame you for what you have done in the past…because they want to drag everyone down with them.

Here’s what this verse is saying…it doesn’t matter what anybody else has to say. God is the supreme Judge of heaven and earth…God is the One who justifies…God is the One wearing the black robe…the One who has the gavel…God is the only One sitting behind the judge’s bench…God is the One who takes the perfect righteousness of Jesus and credits it to your account.

We need to learn to use these verses…put them in our hearts when we’re doubtful…afraid…or uncertain about God’s affection for us.

Paul askes a final climactic question in Romans 8:35…the last question is really two questions.

Sixth question: Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Seventh question: Will tribulation…distress…persecution…famine… nakedness…peril or sword? (Rom 8:35)

This is not a hypothetical list…this is what the early believers were actually facing…it’s what believers have faced down through the centuries…it’s what believers are facing right now in the world…in America we’re living is good times…but it’s not that way around the world.

So Paul answers the sixth question with the seventh question…will the perils and difficulties of life separate us from the love of Christ?…the answer is “No”
Nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ.

Then in [38/39] Paul adds to the list virtually everything his imaginary friend might think would challenge God’s love or that might separate us from God’s love:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.

Paul plainly says…that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ because Christ is alive and is living in us now…He is at the right hand of God interceding for us…He is seeing to it that His finished work of redemption will one day bring us safely into an everlasting joy.

In [37] Paul sums up by saying…“But in all these things,” meaning…in everything I’ve mentioned and everything I haven’t mentioned…in “all these things,” we overwhelmingly conquer…not by whining…not by complaining… not by feeling sorry for ourselves…“Woe is me!” …but in all things we are triumphant.

We are dynamic in our faith because we know if God is for us who can be against us…in saying that, Paul was not suggesting that God will give us whatever we need…the truth is, God is the One who controls our destiny and when we are in a right relationship with God, through Him He is able to sustain us through any adversity that comes against us.

God wants to be a part of our lives…and share in His love, but He needs to be invited into our hearts…because people can reject Christ and be separated from His love.

He won’t break down a door where He’s not welcome….behold I stand at the door and knock…being separated from God is a choice…to accept Christ is to inherit God’s promises of Heaven…a promise for all who have trusted Jesus’ finished cross work at Calvary as sufficient payment for their sins [1 Cor. 15:3-4].

See how great it is to be a believer in Jesus Christ?

I preach what I think is a ‘no-nonsense gospel message’ …last Sunday I shared with you a controversial verse in Scripture that seems to present the idea that God’s desire for you is to give you a comfortable existence…that is not God’s desire for you.

A verse that seems to suggest that when bad things happen in your life God is somehow obligated…mysteriously…and magically to intervene to turn bad things into good things because Scripture says…NO He doesn’t.

For some that’s an unpopular way of presenting the Gospel because it doesn’t present a self-motivating carnal message that temporarily allows you to feel better about yourself…your lifestyle…your relationship with God…or the fact you might be outside of God’s will for your life.

For those of you familiar with the name Martyn Lloyd-Jones…he describes how preachers should present God’s Word…”any man who speaks dispassionately about the Scripture has no right to be in a pulpit; and should never be allowed to enter one.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 97.

The problem is that American Christians interpret Scripture through the lens of being an American…that God’s intention is to bless America…protect America …that our form of government is the most favored by God…fostered in part because we sing God Bless America during seventh inning stretches at baseball games.

I’ve preached the same way for over 50 years…they have a name for it…didn’t know it had a name until I went to seminary…it’s called expository preaching.

It’s a form of preaching that details a particular passage—by explaining what the text means—by what it says—by carefully drawing out the exact meaning of the passage in its original context.

Last Sunday that controversial verse that seems to present the idea that God’s desire for you is to give you a comfortable existence was Romans 8:28.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28]

A verse that has been misused for years to suggest that when bad things happen in your life God is somehow going to intervene to turn whatever was bad into something good…that’s an Americanization of that verse…NO He doesn’t.
This verse is frequently used as a source of comfort BUT…in actuality it is one of the most misused verses in the Bible.

At first glance it might be hard to imagine how such a simple, straightforward verse could be so misconstrued…misrepresented…and abused.

If you have been in church any length of time you’ve probably heard this verse applied to virtually every hardship…disappointment…and trial that believers encounter…it’s an all-purpose catch-all spiritual salve for every situation… here’s the Biblical truth:

KEY 1) God is working in all circumstances not to fulfill OUR purpose for our lives…but to fulfill His purpose through our lives.

Although the verse says: …that in all things God works for the good…we should be careful to understand what the promise is not:

…it is not for our circumstances to change
…it’s not the promise of a new and better job
…it’s not the promise to give us a more comfortable existence
…it’s not the promise of a complete physical healing
…of acquiring money
…it’s not a promise for our ease and comfort
…it’s not that God is going to ‘fix’ what is bad so you can go through life as though nothing happened.

So what is the ‘good’ that God wants?…the answer is found in the following verse: to be conformed to the image of His Son.

God is not working to make us happy…BUT…to fulfill His purpose.

This morning we’re looking at the next two verses of Scripture that is tied to this verse…verses that are extremely controversial…there is an on-going argument regarding these verses that has gone on for hundreds of years…there are books written for and against what Paul seems to be suggesting in these two verses.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Paul starts the ‘discussion’ with the word ‘for’…the words ‘for’ and ‘because’ are more accurately classified as terms of explanation…often functioning as connective words which seek to make something clear and understandable.

In this case the word ‘for’ is the connecting word that shows the reason why… all things work together for good to them that love God.

Paul explains in verses 29-30 what the good is that God is working to achieve in your life…they are the foundation for verse 28…beginning in [29] Paul reveals what has been known throughout Church history as the Golden Chain of Salvation.

Paul shows us a chain God has bound us with…yet another verse that confirms and secures our salvation…a chain that stretches back into eternity past and stretches forward into future eternity…a chain that will never be broken.

There are five links in this golden chain…each link in this chain is tightly tied to the other links in an orderly way so as to provide absolute security for God’s people…the links are: foreknowledge…predestination…called…justified… and glorified.

Notice…nothing to do with redemption…no mention of regeneration…of faith…repentance…or sanctification…clearly the point is not to provide us with a picture of our salvation…rather…Paul’s desire is for us to know that these five links define how invincible our salvation truly is.

Paul begins with ‘foreknew’…in the Bible God alone has foreknowledge… foreknowledge is based on the omniscience of God…God alone knows everything beforehand…nothing is outside of His knowledge—past, present, or future…nothing is hidden from God.

It is only a fool who thinks he can hide from God (Psalm 10:11; Psalm 11:4-5; Proverbs 15:11; Isaiah 29:15-16 )…God knows completely the thoughts and actions of every human being (Psalm 139:1).

What then does it mean for God to “know” people?

For whom he did foreknow…

The starting point of Paul’s chain of events begins with ‘whom He foreknew’. “Knowing” in Scripture refers to an intimate, personal relationship… as when Adam “knew” his wife Eve and she conceived…[Gen 4:1] or Mary’s surprised reaction when ‘she was found to be with Child’ and her response was ‘how will this be since I do not know a man’ [Luke 1:34].

When the Bible speaks of God “knowing” someone, it is speaking of an active love…not a merely passive knowledge about people…that’s why salvation is not just the knowing about Jesus…it’s having a personal relationship with Him.
Paul’s chain of events begins with God entering into an intimate relationship with people…God first knew and loved us…and therefore attracted us to the saving knowledge of who He is (Mt 7:23 / 1Co 8:3 / 2Ti 2:19 / Joh 15:16 / Php 3:12).

This is seen in Paul’s statement in Galatians [4:9] …“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God”.

Because of God’s intimate relationship with us Paul describes where that relationship is heading…he moves from one difficult term to another…this is where thing get real confusing real fast.

Without making this complicated…Paul moves from being foreknown where God enters into an intimate relationship with people…to being predestined by God:
whom He foreknew He predestined

Three Things Concerning Predestination

1) God has always had a predestined plan regarding His Son
Before the world was even created…God had a plan to provide salvation to all people through His Son Jesus Christ….for all who would believe.

2) God has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son.
Goes back to 8:28…what is the ‘good’ that God is going to do?…the answer to what the ‘good’ is: to be conformed to the image of His Son.

That is the whole essence of the Christian life…to know God more intimately… finding our place in His purpose for our lives…to have our character molded into the likeness of Jesus…and to walk in His ways and be conformed to the
likeness of His Son.

3) God has a predestined purpose for His people
God’s purpose for people was not an afterthought….it was predestined…a plan that was purposed before the foundation of the world…God loves you enough to give you a place in His plan.

Any Christian who has an understanding of predestination believes the Bible clearly teaches it…before the world began God purposed a plan for everyone who chooses to become a Christian.

It’s a plan that is in accordance with His will…God gives us opportunities for service…it was never God’s intent that once we become Christians we just sit around and wait for heaven…problem…not all Christians understand what is meant by it.

KEY 3)…some elect to seek that purpose for which God “predestined” them …. others openly reject it…

In a nutshell the issue of foreknowledge and predestination is this…two views… which will produce hours of debate…that you don’t care about…trust me…you really don‘t care.

Depending on if you agree with James Arminius or with the Augustine-Luther-Calvin line of thinking…when explaining the concepts of God’s foreknowledge and predestination…both are in disagreement with each other…but both attempt to explain how God draws non-believers to Himself using the same Bible verses… see how confusing that is.

That’s what happens when people read into Scrip¬ture their own ideas and they don’t properly consider the way a word is used in the Bible.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest summary:
…Arminians believe that God draws everyone to Himself
… Calvinists believe that God draws only a limited number…just hope you’re in the limited number group
…Arminians believe that God’s grace can be rejected
… Calvinists believe that God’s call to grace cannot be rejected.

I prefer to agree with John Wesley’s concept of how God draws everyone to Himself because it’s Biblical…it’s not just a limited number…God didn’t look into the future and choose whom he would save based on foreseen faith.

God’s call for salvation is unlimited…it goes out to every person…this is where the phrase “you were called” comes in.

And those whom He predestined He also called…

What does this mean? …God has known you from eternity past…at a specific moment in time God’s grace comes in contact with our lives…God’s purpose for you occurred before time began…but your calling occurs in time.

It’s the moment when you hear God’s call…it’s the moment when blind eyes see and dead hearts are awakened to God.

There is a time in the life of every human when we are drawn to God…making us WANT to come to God and enabling us to have faith in God…everyone is called.

“You were called” – 2564—καλέω — (kal-eh’-o) that word called in the Greek means to summon or invite…“called” here refers to “an invitation” …an invitation that can be refused…same word that is used in Matthew 22:3 – “He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet.”

If you’re familiar with the Parable of the Wedding Feast you know that Jesus says Many are called 2822 κλητός…but few are chosen 1588 (ἐκλεκτοί).

On the surface that seems to agree as John Calvin suggests…that God’s call to join Him in eternity is only given to a select few…a call that cannot be refused…
I disagree with that view and I think you should too.

Because the parable says that many did refuse the call…it wasn’t that God didn’t call them…He did…they refused the invitation…people are refusing God’s call to salvation every day…as a result not all were chosen.

This isn’t something new…John says many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him [John 6:66]…this is in agreement with John Wesley’s Order of Salvation…that God invites us to join Him in eternity…but it’s an offer that can be refused.

With respect to 8:29-30 perhaps it’s more correct to interpret these verses in terms of the doctrine of assurance rather than who is foreknown and predestined to be saved and who is not…which is what these verses are referring to as part of the Golden Chain of Salvation.

Paul’s point in Romans 8:29-30 is not attempting to answer the question of who God saves and who He rejects…but rather to KEY 2…assure you that your eternal security is based on God’s eternal purpose and not on anything you do.

If Scripture says that God predestined us…So what did God predestine us to?…

Paul then adds another link in the golden chain that is for those who didn’t refuse the call:
He also justified

This is an important link in the chain of salvation…justification is something I’m not going to spend too much time on simply because this is the grand theme of the entire book of Romans…a concept seen time and time again all through these chapters.

Justification is an amazing truth…but not understanding what being justified means prevents you from experiencing your right as child of God…justification is what occurs when we repent and believe…it’s a onetime event in which God declares us to be what we’re naturally not, righteous.

Jesus’ own righteousness is credited to us…justification is bound up with God’s sovereign purpose and plan…it has everything to do with the cross… justification is the gift God gives to those who accept His Son.

The first thing that we need to understand is that through Jesus you are justified before God…meaning that it is just as if you had never sinned…you’re acquitted …made righteous…which gives you confidence to go before God knowing that He’s not there to judge you…that you face no condemnation from him.

We now arrive at the end of the golden chain:

And these whom He justified, He also glorified.

While all of the chain leads us to rejoicing in what God has done for us… glorification should hold a special place in the heart of every believer…our glorification is the last redemptive act of God.

Glorification is the grand finale for the Christian…the Bible says that God will glorify us, His children. So, what does that mean?

Just as we were (predestined)…just as we were (called)…just as we were (justified)…so one day we will be (glorified)…this is our future: glorification.

It brings to completion the process which begins when God called us… glorification is the completion of the whole process of redemption.

Glorification for every believer will occur at the rapture…our bodies will be
transformed for eternity…perfectly conformed to the image of Christ…when we will receive glory from God in the form of praise…and rewards.

BUT WAIT…when you look at verses 29-30 in the Greek…all the links in the chain…foreknowledge…predestination…called…justified…and glorified are in the aorist tense…indicating completed action.

The wording in the Greek indicates otherwise…do you find it strange that Paul puts this in the past tense? …isn’t glorification an event that is yet to come? Something in the future? Why then the past tense?

Reading this in English, you miss out on the blessing God wants us to know… we assume Paul is referring to a distant time in the future…he’s not.

Paul wrote this in the past tense to show that in God’s mind it’s as if they have already been accomplished…Paul is so certain that all these links in the life of a believer have already taken place that he speaks of them as already happened. The glorification of God’s predestined…called…and justified people is absolutely certain…none can be lost…the chain is unbroken because the links are part of God’s eternal purpose.

In this golden chain there are no dropouts…no weak links…no weak spots…no kinks…nothing can break this chain…because the sovereign purpose of God is eternal and invincible!

In verse 17 of Roman 8…Paul tells us the gift of God is:

if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ [17].

What a promise…I think at times Christians don’t fully grasp the blessing associated with being a co-heir with Christ…we have become numb to the fact that we have been elevated into the position of being a co-heir in Heaven with Jesus…a position that cannot be repealed…or annulled.

The moment you trusted Jesus as Savior…not talking about head knowledge… but an identification with Jesus that results in obedient actions…that is the KEY …that is the single identifier that defines us as being a Christian.

You can tell me all day long about how you pray…that you go to Church…that John 3:16 is my promise to be in Heaven…but what lifestyle do you live?

With respect to being a Christian…it’s a lot like throwing a football…three things can happen and two of them are bad…three types of “Christians” and two of them are bad.

1) – A Professing Christian – Bears the name of Christ but does not genuinely belong to Him….he has no sensitivity to the things of God…he is still inclined toward the things of the flesh…he longs for the things of the flesh….his life is characterized by the things of the flesh…he is still in the flesh because his mind is set on the things of the flesh…he is spiritually dead…there is no difference between a ‘professing’ Christian and a non-believer.

2) – A Carnal Christian – This is someone who has made a profession of faith…BUT…for some reason…has forsaken God and has taken up with something else…unlike the unbeliever…a carnal Christian does know what God’s grace is…does know what sin is…does know what salvation is…BUT… has deliberately gone back to their formal lifestyle…their heart is frozen…they are not convicted of sin…they are dull and dead toward God’s working in their lives.

So, if a person claims to be a Christian but lives carnally do they lose their salvation?…2 Things…1) NO they do not lose their salvation…they do lose rewards…2) BUT more than likely they were never truly saved in the first place [1 John 2:19].

3) – A True believer – Will be evident in their lifestyle…that is the single identifier that defines us as being a Christian…they will show that they profess Jesus as Lord and Savior by the way they live their lives…they habitually put to death the sinful and ungodly deeds of the body…a life not characterized by worldly…fleshly concerns but by the things of God.

As a true Christian…a true believer you are born into a heavenly inheritance that can never perish…spoil…fade…or be lost.

But in the second part of that verse Paul reveals a transitional bridge that shifts from the glory of being co-heirs with God…to addressing the suffering of this present world…if indeed we suffer with Him [17].

Didn’t we talk about this already? YES…and I’m talking about it again today because the second part of this verse in conjunction with 8:28 opens up a whole realm of issues that have been misconstrued to promote a works-religion system.

Let me explain…the basic premise is while all Christians are “children of God” and all Christians are “heirs of God,” only some Christians are “joint-heirs with Christ.” …there’s a kind of exclusivity that only certain people enjoy.

This is another example of how Scripture is twisted to fit the ideas of those who ignorantly abuse God’s Word…let me share with you how this absurdity works.

And it centers around the two ‘if’s’ in this verse that don’t mean the same thing:

if (εἰ 1487) children, heirs also…if (εἴπερ 1512) we suffer with Him…

A casual reading of this verse in conjunction with the two ‘if’ words in this verse seems to imply a condition…the two ‘if’s’ are actually two different words that have two different meanings…the English translation further adds to an inaccurate meaning that results in confusion.

No confusion in the Bible…God is not the author of confusion [1 Cor. 14:33] so why would Paul write a statement that seems to be ambiguous… he hasn’t.

The first ‘if’ (εἰ 1487) expresses a condition, thought of as real…if you have placed your trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior then you are heirs of God and joint heir with Jesus…that all the blessings coming upon Christ are shared with those who are one with him…the condition is thought of as a true statement.

By using the word ‘if’ Paul is not questioning whether or not we have the indwelling Holy Spirit because we do [v 1-8 and 10-16] …that’s already been substantiated.

The Holy Spirit permanently seals the believer the moment you believe in Jesus as your personal Savior [1 Cor. 3:16 / 6:19 / Eph. 1:12-14 / 4:30 / 2 Tim. 1:14].

Every member of the Body of Christ will go to Heaven…that is the promise of Romans 8:17 that is given to all who are “children of God” (verse 16).

Paul’s point is that the one who does not have the Spirit of Christ [9] ‘does not belong to Him’. They are not “owned” by Christ and thus are an unsaved person.

This is what clearly separates those who are saved from those who think they are saved…goes back to the ‘Professing Christian’ a person who claims the name of Christ because of a prayer they prayed that was only superficial.

Paul has given us a definition of what being a Christian is…that’s the significance of …if (εἴπερ 1512) indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you”.

The second ‘if’ (εἴπερ 1512) is not so clear…and seems to suggest that…“if we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” …sounds like a condition for salvation.

Now to many… the significance of the phrase [17] if (εἴπερ 1512) indeed we suffer with Him…may not be a big deal…until someone tells you that because American Christians aren’t suffering persecution like our fellow Christians overseas are…we are excluded from sharing in God’s Heavenly glories and they use this verse to prove it.

The wording in verse 17 is used to promote a division in the Church…it is alleged that we must first suffer before we can be joint heirs with Christ…hence the wording…if indeed we suffer with Him.

Does Paul mean that believers are joint heirs with Christ only “if we suffer with him,” …is he really suggesting that if you haven’t suffered with Him…then you really aren’t an heir of God…that somehow suffering is a condition for being joint heirs with Christ?

On the surface that’s exactly what that verse seems to imply…that only ‘if’ we suffer with Him can we then be heirs with Him…this is an appalling mistreatment of the Bible.

It is at that point we have no response to such a ridiculous assumption because we don’t know how to respond…so we leave confused…possible defeated…and unsure of our standing before God…BECAUSE…of a verse taken out of context that claims that unless we suffer with Him there is no guarantee we’ll share in Heaven’s glories.

Notice Paul makes an inclusive statement…mentioning “the sufferings of this present time” …here he is referring to an especially difficult period in the history of the Church…BUT…the application can also be applied to the present age as well.

The whole history of creation since the fall has been marked by…struggles… wars…natural disasters…internal conflicts…and crime…all that falls under the heading of “the sufferings of this present time.”

Including any suffering that you meet on the road to heaven as a result of life’s impending… calamities…diseases…or any other hardship.

Three observations Paul shared regarding suffering:

1. The whole CREATION Suffers because of Man’s Fall into Sin
2. The whole HUMAN RACE Suffers Because of Man’s Fall into Sin.

As humans we might wish things were different…we might wish God would remove the suffering in our lives and in the world…the reality is it is here.

So Paul gives us a verse to help explain how God deals with us on a personal level as a result of the suffering in this life…he’s not explaining the ‘why’ of suffering…he’s already done that…suffering occurs because of our sin nature… here Paul is telling us how God deals with our suffering.

NOW…said all that so I can share with you the results of suffering…it seems to be found in one verse…for the Christian, God has a purpose in suffering:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. [8:28]

In Eric J. Bargerhuff’s book The Most Misused Verses in The Bible this is one of them…just what you wanted to hear…a verse that is frequently used as a source of comfort is actually one of the most misused verses in the Bible.

Many of the “Frequently Abused Verses”, and there are many in the Bible…are ripped from their context…twisted…and misapplied from their original meaning to make a fraudulent claim…this is one of them.

These kinds of verses are what is known as “needlepoint theology” …passages of Scripture that often wind up on a wall hanging…or on a throw pillow.

In some cases, the abuse is much more flagrant…that’s true of Romans 8:28.

At first glance it might be hard to imagine how such a simple, straightforward verse could be so misconstrued…misrepresented…and abused.

If you have been in church any length of time you’ve probably heard this verse applied to virtually every hardship…disappointment…and trial that believers encounter…it’s an all-purpose catch all spiritual salve for every situation.

Paul refers to the suffering we experience in this life as ‘pains of childbirth’ …the sufferings we experience in this life are not death pangs but birth pangs.

Here’s the issue…if God is fair and He promises to work all things together for good…the question is…for whose good…reality says…it’s not always for my good.

That’s the mistake we make with this verse by telling people that whatever occurs in their life God is going to cause it to somehow work out for their good…that is a lie…this verse is not suggesting that.

Anyone knows that all things aren’t good…that’s absurd…it’s mockery to say that they are…the death of a child is not good…cancer is not good…drug addiction is not good…war is not good.

What’s important for us to understand…even though life is not always fair… God is always fair…and He promises two things:

Promise #1: You Will Have Trouble
First I tell you that a verse frequently used as a source of comfort is actually one of the most misused verses in the Bible…and now I tell you God’s promise to you is…you will have trouble…He doesn’t tell unbelievers that.

In the middle of John 16:33, Jesus tells His disciples, “…in this world you will have trouble.” …that’s not something we share with someone on the verge of accepting Jesus as their Savior.

At conversion the pastor usually asks four basic questions:
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?
Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead?
Are you trusting Jesus and Him alone as your Lord and Savior?
Do you wish to be baptized and live for him?

Here…lets add a fifth…do you know that as a Christian God promises that you will have trouble? Because as a Christian that’s exactly what’s going to happen…you will have trouble.

That kind of summarizes a whole list of bad things Jesus said would happen to the apostles…from being hated and persecuted…to being murdered…Jesus was
being real – hard times were coming.

Peter, who heard this straight from Jesus, passed on the same message to Christians in his letters…he tells believers not to be surprised at the “fiery trials” they were going through, as if something strange was happening to them. [1 Peter 4:12] …he’s basically telling them, “it’s not strange that you have trouble now that you’re a Christian. In fact, you should expect it!”

An important part of this first promise is to know when trouble happens in your life, whatever it is, it shouldn’t make you turn your back on God or think that He doesn’t love you…instead, remember that He told you it would happen.

Promise #2: God works for our good…not our comfort.
There is not a promise in the Bible that says God is going to miraculously deliver you from your earthly problems…sorry Joel…the good is not the kind of good you’re thinking about.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t just stop with “life’s going to be hard, deal with it” but God does promise that things will turn out for good…just not your good.

Third observation Paul shared regarding suffering:

3. God works everything – even bad things – for His good.

That’s what the ‘good’ in that verse means… here we see the error in 8:28 …the mistranslated phrase says God ‘causes’…the word ‘cause’ is not in the original text.

I put the wording God causes all things to work together for good…right alongside “everything happens for a reason,” …both are not found in the Bible.

We should be careful to understand what the promise is not…it is not for our circumstances to change…it’s not the promise of a new and better job…not the promise to give us a more comfortable existence…of a complete physical healing…of acquiring money …it’s not a promise for our ease and comfort.

Now we come to the true meaning of 8:28…The Living Bible translates it this way:
we know that all that happens to us is working for our good…”

NO it’s not…and YES it is…the NO it’s not part is the mistaken idea that when something happens we believe God is now OBLIGED to make something good happen from it for our sakes.

Events that happen in our life are not “the cause” to make God act – they are the effects of His eternal purpose…we need to realize that God’s idea of good is often different than ours.

Anyone knows that all things aren’t good…that’s absurd…it’s mockery to say that they are …the death of a child is not good…cancer is not good…drug addiction is not good…war is not good.

The more correct translation is ‘that in all things God works for the good.’

The word “good” does not mean what we often think of as ‘good’…being happy …painless…or financially successful… Purpose Driven Life — PAGE 173 — Faithfulness to God is not a guarantee of success in life.

Here’s the YES it is part…God is working all circumstances not to fulfill OUR purpose for our lives…but to fulfill His purpose through our lives.

Nowhere does it ever say God causes thing to work together for your perceived good.

So what is the ‘good’ that God is pursuing…the answer of what is the ‘good’ is found in the following verse: to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Ultimately, everything that happens in our life…good or bad is:
…God’s purpose to bring glory to Himself and His Son
…to find true fulfillment in life that comes not in trying to get God to bless our plans for our lives but instead finding our place in His purpose for us.
…that God will use those circumstances to help us know Him more intimately …to obey Him more fully
…to have our character molded into the likeness of Christ
…to walk in His ways and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

Isn’t that the whole essence of the Christian life…to know God more intimately …finding our place in His purpose for us…to obey Him more fully…to have our character molded into the likeness of Jesus…and to walk in His ways and be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

1. God’s ultimate goal for your life is not comfort, but character development.
2. God uses all circumstances in life in an attempt to achieve that.
3. God is aware of your problems and will ultimately work them out for His glorious purpose.

God is not working to make us happy…BUT….to fulfill his purpose…it is only a faithful person who truly believes that God works in ‘all things’ …not just isolated incidents…for good.

This promise is not for everybody…it’s conditional…it’s the second part of 8:28 that can only be claimed by those

“who love God” – “to those who are called” – “according to his purpose”

Goes back to the Scripture at the start of my message…Paul tells us the gift of God is:

if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ [17].

What a promise…everything we’ve talked about this morning is encompassed in that verse…that we have been elevated into the position of being a co-heir in Heaven with Jesus…a position that cannot be repealed…or annulled.