Paul has been explaining that it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
In chapters 9-11 he will be building a case for the salvation of all Israel – but he quickly has to explain that not all who are descended from Israel are the true Israel (Romans 9:6). It is a sad reality that during the whole of history there have been those who have deliberately turned their backs on God and they have been paid the wages for their sin (Romans 6:23).
Here he is concerned about those of his own people who wanted a relationship with God, but who were still trying to obtain salvation through obedience to the Old Testament Law.
Read Romans 9:1-5
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, for ever praised! Amen.
I feel envious of those Jews who have accepted Jesus as their saviour. To have such heritage, leading to the coming of the promised Messiah, must be wonderful. For Paul though, when his own people rejected Jesus, it was pure anguish. Yes, he had been sent to the Gentiles, but he still had deep longing for his own people to turn to Jesus.
Read Romans 9:6-9
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ (Genesis 21:12)
8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: ‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.’ (Genesis 18:10,14)
Again we are reminded that our call is from God. As he is sovereign, he will choose those he had already chosen. He chose to promise a son for Abraham and Sarah. Abraham and Sarah’s way of forcing God’s hand, Ishmael, was not to be the one.
Read Romans 9:10-15
10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls – she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ (Genesis 25:23) 13 Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ (Malachi 1:2-3)
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ (Exodus 33:19)
‘mercy’ . . . . ‘compassion’. It is important to recognise that there is no way that we could ever gain our salvation by simply performing some sort of ritual; it is only by grace that we are called while we are still sinners.
Read Romans 9:16
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
It is simply because of his love and kindness towards us that we were ever chosen at all. Nothing in us could have influenced that choice (Titus 3:5). And as we have already seen, everyone is a sinner and would be heading for hell if it were not the fact that God in his mercy chose to save us.
So what is the answer to verse 14 ‘ Is God unjust? ’ In our eyes, if God was to be ‘just’, he would have to leave us all to the peril we have chosen for ourselves.
That still leaves us with a problem though. Why does he choose some and not others? I’m sorry – I can only refer you back to Exodus 33:19 (quoted above in verse 15), or to quote 1 Corinthians 2:11 ‘ no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God’ and Romans 11:33 ‘ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ’
Read Romans 9:17-18
17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. ’ (Exodus 9:16) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
That is a hard verse but it is simply stating fact. Pharoah actually had ample chance to accept God, but each time he refused, his heart became harder (Exodus 7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) until God simply confirmed that choice (Exodus 9:12, 16-17, 34-35;10:1, 20, 27; 11:10)
Read Romans 9:19-21
19 One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?’ 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”’ (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
In our last study we read Romans 8:29-30
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
We really need to stop here for a while and consider the whole question of predestination.
We have seen that God is God, and we cannot question his decisions.
As sinners, we were already lost. There was nothing in us worth saving.
In his grace and mercy he has chosen to save some.
Immediately we might say ‘but that’s not fair’. If you are a Christian I have to say yes, it is not fair – you should have been going to hell. It’s only for his glory that he has saved you.
If you are not, the only way to find if God is calling you to repentance is to say yes to Jesus, and accept his offer of salvation. It is actually your choice. If like pharaoh you insist on turning your back on God, that too is your choice.
I think we can get nearer to understanding if we can look at things from God’s perspective and for that you’d have to leave this study for a while and look at this study in 1 Corinthians 16.
You can also look at the study in John 15, but at he end of the day we may well be left with the words of Martin Luther who said ‘Predestination is a mystery, which forbids the unprofitable intrusion of prying minds’.
But that doesn’t explain predestination. No I’m afraid it is inexplicable. Many, including myself have tried and failed. As we read on in the rest of this chapter it seems Paul too had problems with it.
Read Romans 9:22-33
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea:
‘I will call them “my people” who are not my people;
and I will call her “my loved one” who is not my loved one,’ (Hosea 2:23)
26 and,
‘In the very place where it was said to them,
“You are not my people,”
there they will be called “children of the living God.”’ (Hosea 1:10)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
‘Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.’ (Isaiah 10:22,23)
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
‘Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.’ (Isaiah 1:9)
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling stone.’ 33 As it is written:
‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ (Isaiah 8:14; 28:16)
I can only join with Paul in Romans 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Now we can move into Romans 10. You may have noticed that Paul relies heavily on the Bible as he builds his argument (of course in his day there was no New Testament). As he reaches out to the Jews this will be even more noticeable, subtly pointing out that these are the same Scriptures that they have always had.
Read Romans 10:1-4
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
The Scribes and Pharisees who had been so against Jesus were still in control. All those who were Jews by birth would have been taught that the only way to become righteous in God’s sight was to obey ‘The Law’, (and more specifically their version of it).
Read Romans 10:5-8
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’ (Leviticus 18:5)
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 ‘or “Who will descend into the deep?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart (Deuteronomy 30:12-14), that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:
Look, says Paul; this is not some new teaching, It’s not by works, it’s all by faith.
Read Romans 10:9-13
9 if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ (Isaiah 28:16) 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (Joel 2:32)
I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul was explaining to the Corinthians that he did not have to use eloquence or persuasion to bring the message of salvation to them.
Romans 10:9 is all you need! And questions of race or religion (v12) can be ignored – verse 13 ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ’
Read Romans 10:14-15
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Isaiah 52:7)
That is very simple logic and Paul is speaking directly to us! We have Good News – actually it’s amazing, fantastic news. If we had just heard that we were now free from Cancer, we would be eager to share it with everybody.
Sadly, we seem to want to keep quiet about the fact that we have been healed from sin and its consequences, and not only that but we now have the Spirit of Jesus living in us and we have been adopted into God’s family
‘But I haven’t been sent’ (v15) is our plaintive plea – what was the last command of Jesus? Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Let’s move on. Read Romans 10:16-21
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ (Isaiah 53:1) 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: did they not hear? Of course they did:
‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.’ (Psalm 19:4)
19 Again I ask: did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
‘I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.’ (Deuteronomy 32:21)
20 And Isaiah boldly says,
‘I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.’ (Isaiah 65:1)
21 But concerning Israel he says,
‘All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.’ (Isaiah 65:2)
I sense a feeling of sadness in Paul’s writing. Like Moses he despairs over his own people, and even when he accepts he is sent to preach to the Gentiles, he still seems to automatically start in the local Synagogue. I can feel his despondency as he writes verse 21.
I’m sorry to end this study in sadness. But if we are sad, how much more is the Lord sad too?
