Scandia Bible Church

 

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Transcript:

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Good morning. If you’ll take your copy of God’s Word and

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turn with me to Romans chapter 9.

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Romans chapter 9.

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If Romans chapter eight is the most beloved chapter in the book of Romans, then likely we could say that Romans chapter nine is the most controversial chapter in the book of Romans. It’s not controversial because it is particularly difficult to understand. I’m not saying there’s no questions in it. There’s not paradox or things like that. I’m just saying that if you read…

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through the text what it means is what you plainly read. Now the reason it’s controversial is that folks do not like what Romans 9 has to say. It says things like, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. It says things like, so then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

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It says, so then he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. Or how about Romans 9, 21, or does not the potter have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Some, some of this chapter, or maybe I should say the major themes of this chapter, they rub us.

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the wrong way. They go against maybe our own sense of fairness, our human sense of what is right. You know, God shatters in Romans 9 our presupposition. He topples, as it were, the idols of our heart. We realize maybe for the first time that we read something like this and the God who we pictured is not how God has revealed himself in the Bible. And as we go through this chapter, we’re just going to be starting.

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this chapter this morning, but as we go through it, some of you will be challenged with truth that you just may not have considered before. Others may be giving hearty amens, and if that describes you, praise the Lord, but let me just remind you that you were not always in that camp. I know I was not, and so experiences like that should draw out our humility.

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in God’s goodness and not arrogance that we may have toward a neighbor who may have learned something that we just learned last year or a few years ago. So once again our passage is Romans 9. We’re going to be covering the first nine verses and this really introduces and sets the pace for what we’re going to encounter in the rest of the chapter. The first part of the passage we find

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Paul revealing his heart, his compassion for his brethren, other Jews, and it’s very pastoral. Second part really is a hinge for the rest of the chapter. But you have to understand this section. Again, the text is Romans 9, 1 through 9. Let me read it to you. Paul writes, I’m telling the truth in Christ. I’m not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit.

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that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom

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is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all God blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but through Isaac your descendants will be named. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God.

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but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” And Lord we ask that you would open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit that as the scriptures are read in your word proclaim that we may hear with joy what you have to say to us this morning. Amen.

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The contrast between Romans 8 and 9 is dramatic. After all, we’ve gone from the end of Romans 8, exalting in the fact that nothing in this world in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is a jubilant, exalting, and the unfailing love of God. And then chapter nine, Paul begins with an incredible statement of anguish. Why such a dramatic change? Well,

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To answer that, let me just say this. Throughout the book so far, Paul has contrasted the expectations of his Jewish brethren in the flesh and their understanding of God’s law and their understanding of God’s holiness and their understanding of personal sinfulness. And Paul is not pitting Jew against Gentile. Rather, he is uprooting the false conceptions.

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of what a person believes makes them acceptable before God. These were false conceptions that were predominant in the mind of the Jew who had many advantages in light of God electing them and covening with them as his peculiar people, as a nation. Flip back a few pages to Romans chapter 2. Let me just read a section from Romans 2 as

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referring to here. And I’m gonna, just the end of the chapter there beginning, that last paragraph beginning in verse 25. Paul says, for indeed, circumcision is of value if you practice the law. But if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. By the way, everyone is a transgressor of the law, right? So if the uncircumcised man,

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keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the law, will he not judge you, who though having the letter of the law and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?” And then Paul makes this incredible statement, verse 28, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

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But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God. Now some hear that and they believe that that Paul is attacking the Jews, he’s doing nothing of the sort, he’s attacking the faulty presuppositions of the Jews, and he is not.

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in this text or in any other text, siding with Gentiles. If Paul was not a Jew himself, I’m assured that someone would accuse him of being an anti-Semite. That’s not the case. He’s doing nothing of the sort. He’s destroying lofty speculations from his brethren in the flesh that are contrary to the Word of God and against the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so flip back to Romans 9. Here in Romans 9,

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Paul now shows his heart. He’s about to lay out a logic based on God’s word, but he wisely shows his heart. And it’s a genuine heart for not only sinners, but especially for his countrymen. There is wisdom in this. You know, if people think that you are on the attack and against them, they have a hard time hearing what you have to say, even if what you say is true. But if they’re convinced…

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your sincerity and love they have an easier time receiving correction and truth from you Should that be the case? No, but it just is that’s the case and Paul here declares his heart Look at verse 1 as Paul introduces us to his deep sorrow He says I’m telling the truth in Christ. I’m not lying my conscience Testifies with me in the Holy Spirit

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And so in verse one, he’s making various certifications that all add weight to what he is about to say. He could have just said the positive statement, I’m telling you the truth, right? Scout’s honor, or something like that. But he adds in Christ to the statement. He’s not just certifying that what he’s saying is heartfelt, or that it’s a true emotion, but that his affections are in line with the purposes of God in Christ.

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This is not emotionalism, but affection under the rule of Christ. He adds to this, this negative assertion. It says, I am not lying. The truth is contrary to lying. This would include even exaggeration in what Paul is saying. And then he appeals to his conscience. He says, my conscience testifies. But here’s what you have to know about conscience. Conscience can be deceiving.

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A person’s conscience may convict them not according to truth, not according to the word of God. And so to certify his conscience, Paul appeals to the witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul knows that what he’s about to say is by the leading and governing of the Holy Spirit who indwells him. And so the fact that he is speaking truth is certified by Christ.

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The fact that his conscience is bound to the word of God toward this end is certified by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. What he’s about to say is serious. That’s why he’s starting it like this. What is this important truth that he’s about to declare? Well look at verse 2. I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. That’s what Paul is asserting here.

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Remember Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, he said, rejoice in the Lord always, again, I will say, rejoice. This grief that Paul speaks about does not nullify Paul’s rejoicing because this is a grief that is in Christ, it corresponds with Paul’s rejoicing.

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That’s something that we have to wrestle with. When we’re talking about rejoicing the Lord, it does not mean that we don’t grieve and have godly sorrow. It’s because He rejoices in Christ that He grieves in this way. This grief, it pangs Him in the gut. It burdens Him. He thinks and He does praise about this often because God has burdened Him in this way. And some of you know exactly.

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what this means. Perhaps your children or another family member whom you love does not know the Lord, declare themselves either indifferent to the gospel or even hostile to the gospel. And this burdens you. You’re burdened by this. It is a constant source of grief that pervades your thought. It is a constant prayer that they would come to know the Lord. And you beg the Lord that He would draw them to Himself, that they might repent and believe.

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and thus be saved. And so Paul is not exaggerating here, but rather God has given him a deep burden. Not just sorrow, but great sorrow. Not just grief, but unceasing grief. Over what? His great desire for his Jewish brethren. Look at verse 3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ.

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for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. That word curse is the word anathema. And it means in the New Testament to be cut off from Christ. And Paul’s usage of the word, it was used to convey, the Jews at the time would take these things and say that they would be cursed. And in their mind they could be thinking,

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I’m separated from God or apart from the temple or apart from Jerusalem. When the New Testament writers speak of a curse, it is always separation from Christ. But you can think back to, for instance, in Acts chapter 23, when the Jews were setting out to murder Paul. And they had this plot to murder him, and it says that they came to the chief priests and elders and they said, we have bound ourselves under a solemn oath.

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to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. And that solemn oath there is the same word, anathema. So in other words, they’re saying, we vow to kill this guy, and may God curse us if we don’t. May God devote us to destruction if we don’t carry out this oath. And of course, they would come to regret those rash words. Well, Paul is, he is aware

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that this is an impossibility. He knows that, we just read Romans 8. He knows, just like we know, that you cannot separate, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. He does not say I wish, but he says I could wish. In other words, hypothetically, if my death and substitution could achieve their salvation, I love them so much that I would give myself for them. And someone could hear this.

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And they could think, I can’t believe Paul said that.

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But we see a similar thing in the old covenant mediator, Moses. And Moses in Exodus 32, he shows his heart for the Israelites in his intercession after Israel had fallen into grievous idolatry and God threatened to destroy them and start all over with Moses. And Moses pleads to God and he says, but now if you will forgive their sin, and if not, please blot me out from your book which you have written. And God did not cut off.

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Moses nor Israel but through Moses’s intercession relents Jesus Christ the mediator of the new covenant Did he wrote the new covenant in his blood by sacrificing himself for those he loved So Paul is exhibiting a heart for his people just as we love those who are closest to us Paul is speaking hypothetically to demonstrate knowing full well that what he is saying here is not

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a possibility. Paul could not sacrifice himself. His own death would not even cover his own sin. He knows that the consequences of his own sin require his own death. That’s not his point. His point is that he loves them. His heart is moved to sacrifice for them. He calls them his brethren according to the flesh and he shows their privileged position

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in verses four and five. And so if you haven’t turned back to Romans nine, turn back there.

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Paul describes him, he says, who are Israelites to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is overall God blessed forever, amen. Those are spiritual advantages.

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There are spiritual advantages that those who were Jews had. This is similar to what Paul said back in Romans chapter 3, when he says, then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the benefit of circumcision? And he says, great in every respect. First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. So Paul’s aware.

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of their advantages. These are advantages to the Jew, they’re disadvantages to the Gentile. In the book of Ephesians, Paul says of the Gentile, he says, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. And so here in Romans

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privileges of the Jew. He says first they have their adoption as sons just like what Moses the Lord told Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus 4, Israel is my firstborn son. In Deuteronomy 131 God said that he carried Israel out of Egypt as a man carries his son. Later Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 14, you are

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the sons of the Lord your God? Through Jeremiah the Lord declared, I am a father to Israel. No other people had the advantage and yet they rejected him as father. The glory of the Lord filled the temple and led them through the wilderness. God covenanted with them alone among all the nations. No other nation received the law of God written by God himself.

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on tablets of stone and given to them. No other nation had a sacrificial system put in place by God to point to blood sacrifice as the way that sin would be forgiven and ultimately to point to Jesus Christ himself. No other people received the promises of God, not only land promises, but promises of national blessing for obedience. In the keeping

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of the covenant that God had made with them. The giving of these promises goes back to the patriarchs. Their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, ultimately the greatest promise of course that through them would come the Messiah, would come the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, the God man. In his humanity, he was Jewish.

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We read in the Nicene Creed, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made. Or as Paul words it in more succinct fashion, whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all.

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God bless forever, amen. But Paul’s grief comes from the fact that with all of these privileges and promises, the vast majority of his Jewish brethren had rejected the Messiah. They continued in their unbelief. Despite these spiritual advantages, Paul’s brethren remain under the wrath of God.

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To Paul’s heart, this brought great sorrow and unceasing grief. Let me say this, some have grown up in the church, in a household of believing parents, and yet they have rejected the fullness of the gospel, they have rejected Christ, they have no fear of God before their eyes. Their parents express Paul’s words, you know, describing a heart that is full.

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of sorrow and unceasing grief? You will understand that the greater your love for a person or a group of people, the greater your pain knowing that they remain under the wrath of God? What parent wouldn’t jump in front of the train to save their child at the cost of their own life? What parent wouldn’t charge a grizzly bear or something like that? How much greater is the sorrow of looming eternal doom?

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Now you’re starting to see why Paul would use such great terms. It’s terms like these that are used when you have the intersection of great love and great danger. The question before us is, how is it that a people with such great advantages and promises are under God’s wrath? On one hand, we could simply say, well, because of sin.

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But there’s a deeper question that underscores what Paul is going to with this. And if we think back to chapter 8, we think back to the promises of God and God’s love to us in Christ. And that there is now therefore no condemnation. That’s how chapter 8 begins. That is God’s promises that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ have accomplished his purposes when Jesus says it is finished.

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we believe that it was actually finished. The result of that is that there’s no longer wrath over us whatsoever. Therefore, in all of creation, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. But if God promises things to the Jews, and those promises were not kept, then how can we as Christians be assured of the promises given?

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to us. That’s the question.

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In other words, has God’s Word failed?

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Paul doesn’t hide from this. Look at what he says in verse six. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. Why hasn’t it failed? For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. Now this may seem like a paradoxical statement. What Paul is saying is that those who may

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wonder if the word of God has failed have actually misinterpreted the word of God. And misinterpreting God’s word has led them down a path of false assumptions that has eternal consequences. Theology matters. Interpreting the Bible correctly matters. This is not simply a matter of opinion. This is the difference between the good news of the gospel and no good news at all.

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This is the difference between knowing Christ as the Messiah, from whom salvation comes, or approaching God in a works-based system of external ritual which will avail you nothing but your eternal doom.

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What does Paul mean when he says, for they are not all Israel, who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children, because they are Abraham’s descendants? Well, he explains this right away, and he does so by drawing the reader back to the Old Testament. And he takes him to familiar passage. He’s not bringing them a new teaching, rather he’s showing them that

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what God has declared all along, they were not seeing because of their sin. So he takes them to Genesis 21, 12, where Abraham was distressed because his wife Sarah wanted him to drive out Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. He loved his son Ishmael. And in fact, let’s just turn there for a moment. Genesis chapter 12. Put a marker there in Romans because we’ll be back.

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a few passages because I think this is important for you to see this from all the scriptures. Genesis chapter 12, I’m sorry, Genesis 21.

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Keep saying 12, it’s 21 verse 12, Genesis 21.

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and

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There’s a distinction, important distinction you have to see here. Let’s begin here in verse 12. It says, but God said to Abraham, do not be distressed because of the lad, meaning his son Ishmael, and he loved his son. Again, and your maid, and that’s speaking of Hagar. Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her. Why? For through Isaac, your descendants shall be named.

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So Abraham’s descendants will be named from Isaac and not Ishmael, except wait, look at verse 13. And of the son of the maid, I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.

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We have two descendants that have different futures because of different promises. Both of them are natural children of Abraham, but one receives the promises and the other does not. Now, turn back for a moment. We’re going to be flipping around, but turn back for a moment to Romans 9 to see how Paul describes this. And again, from verse 7.

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but through Isaac your descendants will be named. That is, in other words, here is the interpretation of what I’ve just said, that is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. See, it’s not as though there’s some kind of genetic promise or parental promise.

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that follow certain bloodlines that goes to the child of Sarah because she has the winning genes and it gets passed on to her or something like that. No, it’s not genetics, it’s promise. Not because of what Abraham did or what Sarah did or what Hagar did or what Ishmael did, but because of God who promised. Both Isaac and Ishmael are children of Abraham’s flesh.

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But that natural descent does not give them both the spiritual promises. What is the promise here? Well verse 9, for this is the word of promise, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. Now listen carefully. That means that just because you are a blood related descendant of Abraham, your relationship with Abraham.

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doesn’t obtain the promises of God for you. Okay? Furthermore, and consequently, that means that just because you are a child of Isaac, right, the child in the line of promise, just because you are a child of Isaac does not mean that you are a child of promise, even though you are a child of flesh.

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It’s not that Abraham had two sons and one was a cursed child and one was a special child. In fact, Abraham had six more sons after Sarah died. He married Keturah and he had six more sons. That’s not the point that Paul is making. The point is that while God had a national covenant with Israel, the spiritual promises were not given to every natural son or son of the flesh, but only to those whom God had given the promise.

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Another way to say that, to borrow from Romans 8 language, but only to those whom he predestined and called and justified and would eventually glorify. You have to understand this. I don’t want you to wonder if this is just a Romans 9 thing, and I’m missing it and all of a sudden I’m presented with this idea of two Israels, one of the flesh and one of promise. Is this a weird…

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Monte interpretation and I prayed I don’t have any of those. No it’s not. Turn with me to Galatians chapter four.

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Paul unpacks it for us there.

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Galatians 4, Flip the Forward a few books.

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And we’re going to begin in verse 21.

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Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman, that’s his maidservant Hagar, and one by the free woman, that’d be Sarah. But the son of the bondwoman, that’s Ishmael, was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman, Isaac, through the promise. This is allegorically speaking for these women.

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are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai, bearing children who are to be slaves. She is Hagar. He’s saying that there’s two covenants that are side by side. There’s a national covenant that God would made with Israel as a nation, which they did not keep. But there’s also a spiritual covenant that God made with spiritual Israel. Were there those that were members of both of those covenants?

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Isaac would be an example, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, all believing Jews, the faithful remnant that Paul will allude to later in Romans. But being a member of the national covenant didn’t make you automatically a member of the spiritual covenant. And let me say that in another way. Being a member of national Israel does not make you a member of spiritual Israel. And look at verse 25. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.

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and corresponds to the present Jerusalem. So she corresponds with the earthly Jerusalem and its temple that was still standing at the time Paul wrote this, still had a high priest, still offering sacrifices, during the whole shebang. Paul says, Hagar is part of that system. For she is in slavery with her children. What slavery? Slavery to sin.

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Verse 26, but the Jerusalem above is free. She is our mother. There’s a different Jerusalem. It’s not of this world. It’s the new Jerusalem of God’s people, the people of promise. Verse 27, for it is written, rejoice barren woman who does not bear, break forth and shout, you who are not in labor. For more numerous are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband. And you, brethren, like Isaac,

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our children of promise. Now who’s the brethren he’s talking to? The Galatians, Gentiles. He’s telling these Gentiles that they’re like Isaac. Verse 29, but as at that time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman.

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shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free woman.” This is an incredible thought. Paul is saying, okay, if you’re a believing Gentile, you’re a son of the free woman, Sarah. And if you’re an unbelieving Jew, you’re a son of the bondwoman, Hagar. And God is saying, the unbelieving Jew is now cast out and the believing Gentile is now received in.

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Gentiles that didn’t believe, by the way, are children of the bondwoman. Jews that did believe are children of the free woman. Okay, I hope it’s starting to sink in, but let’s go to a couple other places. Flip back to the beginning of the New Testament, Matthew chapter 8.

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The context here is a Gentile centurion, Roman, came to Jesus to beg for the life of his servant that Jesus would heal him. And Jesus agreed that he would come. But the Gentile centurion says to Jesus, Lord, you know, I’m not worthy of you to come and enter my roof. Just give the word and my servant is healed. I know what authority is like.

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Right? I’m a person under authority and I have soldiers that are under me and I say to that one, go. And he goes, say to that one, come. And he comes. And I say to my slave, do this. And he does it. And Jesus says, he marveled and he said, truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. What Israel is he talking about? Well, the national Israel, the Jews. Natural Israel. And then look what he says here, verse 11, Matthew 8, 11 and 12.

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that many will come from east and west, he’s talking about Gentiles, as we see in this centurion, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that’s Jewish patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven, that’s the Jerusalem above. But the sons of the kingdom, the sons of the kingdoms are the Jews in the Jerusalem below, the sons of the kingdom would be the ones that we would expect would be reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says the sons of the kingdom

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will be cast out into the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, now flip forward to Matthew 21.

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Lot of 21s I’m noticing now. Lot of 21s. Okay, the context here in Matthew 21 is that the chief priests and the elders, they’re challenging Jesus’ authority. They’re asking, you know, where do you get this authority? And so he begins by giving them this parable in verse 28 and saying that those who believed that they were law-keeping would not, through their law-keeping, get into the kingdom, and that those that were sinful, that were seen as having no hope of getting into the kingdom.

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because they repent and believe that they actually will be given the kingdom. And then he tells us other parable about a landowner, and this is how he concludes that parable. Look down at Matthew 21 beginning in verse 42. Jesus said to them, did you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? This became the chief cornerstone.

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This came about from the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it. Who are the builders? The Jews. Who is the chief cornerstone that they’ve rejected? Christ. Who will the kingdom be given to? The Gentiles who believe that will produce kingdom fruit. Turn with me to John chapter 1.

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John chapter 1 and we’ll start in verse 11.

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He, meaning Jesus, came to his own who are his own. This is this Jewish brethren. Came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, this would be believing Jews and Gentiles, okay, no distinction there. As many as received him, to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.

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who were born not of blood, that means not of natural descent, doesn’t matter who your parents are, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. If you are not born again, you are not a child of God. Only those who are born again have the right to be called children of God. So if you are a Jew, your parentage does not get you into the kingdom, even if you had believing parents.

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If you’re a child today in the church, your gentile parents, assuming that you’re a gentile, does not get you into God’s kingdom because birth cannot make you a child of God. Does not matter if your parents are believing or unbelieving. It’s the same principle here. Only being born of God gives you the right to be called a child of God. And that’s why in just a couple chapters later in John,

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chapter three. You can flip there if you want, but we’ll read this beginning in verse one. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So Nicodemus is a Jewish teacher, a leader. And Jesus tells him in verse three, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. If you are part of the new covenant.

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you are part of the kingdom. You are among those who are receiving it. If you’re not born again, you cannot even see the kingdom. Therefore, if you are not born again, you are not part of the new covenant in Christ’s blood. Again, Jesus is speaking to a Jewish teacher and leader, and he’s saying, you cannot even see the kingdom. And he explains to him in verse 5, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water,

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and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Those who are born again are children of promise, just like John described back in chapter 1, the children of God. That’s what Paul is saying in Romans 9. I’ll turn back to Romans 9 as we conclude.

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Paul is setting the stage for the rest of the chapter. The second half of verse six is where most people get stumped, for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. And hopefully you have either an answer to that that is clear to you, or at least further areas to study that you can look to and it will become clear. So this is what you need to walk away with.

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this morning as you dwell on these things and marinate on this text. First, understand that a person can have every benefit and advantage. They can be born in a Christian home, schooled well, raised well, parents who love them, and yet they can reject Christ. Such is the deceit of sin.

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Just as the Jews had these eight spiritual advantages and yet refused to see Jesus as the Messiah, even though Jesus fulfilled every prophecy, Jesus performed miracles, Jesus rose from the dead. They refused to see Jesus as the Messiah. Secondly, the rejection of the gospel does not mean that God did not keep his promises.

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God will save all his people, not one will be lost, both Jew and Gentile. God saves his people in his sovereign good pleasure because we have nothing to offer. We are only the recipients of salvation. And lastly, you need to see that there’s a difference between a child of flesh and a child of promise. And that difference does not.

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have to do with the work of man, does not have to do with the strength of man, does not have to do with the will of man, does not have to do with the godliness of man, or anything else that is within us. It only has to do with the grace of God in Christ Jesus. And if you walk away with those things, you’re in a good, you’re standing in a good place to understand the rest of the chapter.

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If you’re struggling through some of this, let me just say two things. First, I don’t blame you, I’ve been there myself. Secondly, we haven’t even gotten to the controversial parts of Romans 9 yet. But I’m happy to speak with you further on this topic to answer any questions that you might have, and I know Pastor Josh and Pastor Keith would be as well. Let’s go before the Lord and thank him in prayer.

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Heavenly Father, as we reflect on the depth and the mystery of Your Word in Romans 9, we’re humbled by Your sovereignty and Your magnificent plan of salvation. We stand in awe of Your promises that stretch all the way back to Abraham and the patriarchs and they come to us today, recognizing the faithfulness that underpins Your covenant.

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by the apostle Paul’s earnestness for his people, his unwavering trust in your righteousness and justice. Teach us, oh God, to have such a heart for the lost, a heart that echoes your compassion, your love for all nations. And we confess, Lord, our limited understanding and often question even the ways of your divine will, and yet in humility we submit to your wisdom.

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knowing that your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts than our thoughts. We ask that you would grant us the grace to trust in your good and perfect will and may we, like the patriarchs, hold fast to the promises that you’ve given, standing firm in faith and hope. And as we leave this place, may the Spirit guide us in applying these truths to our lives, enabling us to be

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vessels of your love and a witness of your glory we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, amen.