Election and Sovereignty
Introduction:
- Paul is anticipating
arguments against his view. If
salvation is by grace, what about Israel?
Has God cast off his people or what is His plan for them?
- Two reasons Paul deals
with Israel
- Personally, he wanted
to show that he was concerned for the Jews. His love for his countrymen was probably challenged,
especially since many were spreading lies about him.
- Doctrinally, this has a
place in the argument for justification by faith. How does Israel fit in with the fact
that salvation is by faith and not by the law since Israel was so beholden
to the Law?
- Paul had argued in Romans 8 that the believer is
secure in Jesus Christ and that God’s election would stand (Rom. 8:28-30).
But someone might ask, “What about the Jews? They were chosen by God, and
yet now you tell us they are set aside and God is building His church. Did
God fail to keep His promises to Israel?” In other words, the very
character of God was at stake. If God was not faithful to the Jews, how do
we know He will be faithful to the church?
- The emphasis in Romans 9 is on Israel’s past
election, in Romans 10 on Israel’s present rejection, and in Romans 11 on
Israel’s future restoration. Israel is the only nation in the world with a
complete history—past, present, and future.
- Wiersbe: “It is remarkable how Paul moved from
the joy of Romans 8 into the sorrow and burden of Romans 9. When he looked
at Christ, he rejoiced; but when he looked at the lost people of Israel, he
wept. Like Moses (Ex. 32:30-35), he was willing to be cursed and separated
from Christ if it would mean the salvation of Israel. What a man
this Paul was! He was willing to stay out of heaven for the sake of the
saved (Phil. 1:22-24), and willing to go to hell for the sake of the
lost.”
- Ro. 11:33 “The wisdom and knowledge of God” is
the best verse to help us understand that we won’t understand all of how
God works.
I. The Special Place of Israel
A.
Paul’s burden for his countrymen
1.
Continual sorrow
2.
Willing to be accursed for them
3.
These ingredients are what we need in our endeavor to win
others
B.
Description of their benefits
1.
Israelites (is. 5:2, they were the choicest vine)
2.
Adoption (Ex. 4:22-23)
3.
Glory
a)
God’s glory dwelt in the tabernacle & temple (Ex.
40:34-38)
b)
God’s glory dwelt with His people
4.
The covenants
a)
Abrahamic
b)
Mosaic
c)
Davidic
5.
The giving of the Law
6.
The service of God
7.
The promises
8.
The fathers were Israelites
9.
Christ came from the Israelites
a)
Note that Ro. 9:5 is a great text on the deity of Christ
b)
Have the humanity and deity in one verse
II. Has God’s Election Failed? (v. 5f)
A.
Since Israel was elected by God and had all of these benefits
and they still failed by rejecting the Messiah, how can we be sure that our
election will not end in our rejection or failure?
B.
He explains Israel’s election to demonstrate ours
C.
Truths About Israel’s Election
1.
God’s Word has been effective (it does not return void)
2.
Children of the promise are the true heirs, not the physical
descendants
3.
Election here is not personal, but national
a)
Ro. 9:13 quotes Malachi 1:2-3
b)
Here the election refers to nations (Edom and Israel), not to
individuals
c)
This helps explain the argument in this passage
d)
4.
His election is not based on merit
a)
Israel was not chosen because she was better than the other
nations. In fact, she was chosen
precisely because she wasn’t better
b)
Election is grounded in God’s mercy
5.
His election is not unrighteous
a)
First, we all deserve punishment
b)
It is only grace and mercy that allows anyone to be saved
c)
The “hardening” of
Pharaoh (Rom. 9:18)
(1)
This hardening process
is referred to at least fifteen times in Exodus 7-14.
(2)
Sometimes we are told
that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 8:15, 19, 32)
(3)
Other times that God
hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27).
(4)
By declaring His Word
and revealing His power, God gave Pharaoh opportunity to repent; but instead,
Pharaoh resisted God and hardened his heart.
(5)
The fault lay not with
God but Pharaoh.
(6)
The same sunlight that
melts the ice also hardens the clay.
d)
Moses vs. Pharaoh
(1)
Both were murderers and deserved condemnation
(2)
One received grace, the other damnation
(3)
God’s power was displayed through both men
(a)
Through Moses by his faithfulness
(b)
Through Pharaoh by his hardness
(c)
God’s purpose will be done no matter our response
(d)
It is better for us to be like Moses, not like Pharaoh
6.
The election was not based on the physical
a)
Isaac was not the firstborn but he received the promise
b)
Jacob was not the firstborn, but he was chosen
c)
Don’t let the choosing overshadow what is being taught: namely
that the method of choosing was not based on the physical.
d)
Now, if God did not choose Isaac or Jacob based on the
physical, then God’s choosing of Israel does not have to be based on physical
bloodlines, but on the promise
e)
The elect of God are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, not
his physical descendants
7.
His election is eternal
a)
It was not based on anything Israel did, so it is not lost
because of anything that they do
b)
It was not earned, so it is not discarded just because they
have failed
III. If God is Sovereign, Why Does He Find Fault? (v. 19)
A.
If God made both Moses and Pharaoh, and He made them to
demonstrate His glory and wrath, why does He find fault with Pharaoh. Why does he hold Pharaoh responsible for his
actions if those actions are by God’s sovereign choice?
1.
Logical Argument: God is the potter, we are the clay. He can do what He wants
a)
This seems to make God less than loving
b)
Yet, we know God loves everyone and desires all men to be
saved
c)
Thus, He did not create them for the purpose of damning them
d)
Hell was not originally prepared for man, but for Satan and
his angels
e)
This is the difficulty of grasping Divine Sovereignty and
human responsibility
2.
Purpose Argument: God has a purpose for everything, including
the sinner
a)
God endured with longsuffering the vessels of wrath
(1)
God was not desiring that they should perish
(2)
He gave them opportunities to repent
b)
Definition: “fitted”
(1)
Does not mean specifically prepared
(2)
Middle-voice meaning “fitted himself” for destruction
c)
God prepares men for
glory (Rom. 9:23), but sinners prepare themselves for judgment.
(1)
In Moses and Israel
God revealed the riches of His mercy
(2)
In Pharaoh and Egypt
He revealed His power and wrath.
(3)
Since neither deserved
any mercy, God cannot be charged with injustice.
3.
Prophecy Argument: God is fulfilling OT prophecy
a)
His manner of fulfillment was not understood by the Jews
b)
Quotes four passages
(1)
Hosea 2:23, a statement declaring that God would turn from the
Jews and call the Gentiles.
(a)
Hosea was commanded to take a wife who was an adulterous as an
illustration of God’s relationship with Israel
(b)
Gomer’s unfaithfulness mirrored that of Israel’s
(c)
Her children’s names provided another clue as to God’s plan
for Israel
(i) Son:
“God sows”
(ii) Daughter:
“not pitied”
(iii) Son:
“not my people”
(d)
Israel would be sown among the nations, unpitied by them, and
not God’s people.
(e)
However, God promised that they would not permanently be
forsaken (Ho. 2:14, 19)
(f)
Ro. 11:25-26 teaches that all Israel will be saved when “the
fullness of the Gentiles” has ended
(2)
Hosea 1:10 to prove that this new people being called would be
God’s people and “children of the living God.”
(3)
Isaiah 10:22-23 to show that only a remnant of Israel would be
saved, while the greater part of the nation would suffer judgment.
(a)
Romans 9:28 probably refers to God’s work of judgment during
the Tribulation, when the nation of Israel will be persecuted and judged, and
only a small remnant left to enter into the kingdom when Jesus Christ returns
to earth.
(b)
But the application for today is clear: only a remnant of Jews
is believing; and they, together with the Gentiles, are the “called of God”
(Rom. 9:24).
(4)
Isaiah 1:9 emphasized
the grace of God in sparing the believing remnant.
c)
What does all of this
prove?
(1)
God was not unjust in
saving some and judging others, because He was only fulfilling the Old
Testament prophecies given centuries ago.
(2)
He would be unjust if
He did not keep His own Word.
(3)
But even more than
that, these prophecies show that God’s election has made possible the salvation
of the Gentiles.
(a)
This is the grace of
God.
(b)
At the Exodus, God
rejected the Gentiles and chose the Jews, so that, through the Jews, He might
save the Gentiles.
(c)
The nation of Israel
rejected His will, but this did not defeat His purposes. A remnant of Jews does
believe and God’s Word has been fulfilled.
B.
Conclusion of the Answer (v. 30-33)
1.
Israel, trying to establish their own righteousness, actually
moved away from it
a)
They had many privileges that should have let them TO Christ
b)
They used these privileges, rather, as a substitute FOR Christ
c)
Israel’s rejection of God actually established prophecy,
rather than contradicted it
(1)
Is. 28:16 prophesied that Israel would stumble over the
Messiah
(2)
Is. 53:1-5 prophesied that he would be rejected by Israel
2.
The Gentiles, who were not trying to establish a
righteousness, obtained it by God’s election