Romans 9:6-13

God’s sovereignty & Man’s free will

Welcome!

Would you open your Bibles to...Romans 9:6-13

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Intro

√ Beginning with chapter 9 Paul takes a side-trip from his presentation of the Gospel of Grace…

..and in the next 3 chapters deals with a nagging and difficult question:

“Have God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob failed to come to pass because the Jews rejected their Messiah?”

Deeper than that and of universal concern…

“Can Man through the exercise of his free will disrupt, destroy, the plans of God?”

Ap. Because these two ideas – God’s sovereignty and Man’s Free will – are difficult to reconcile…

…many people have made up their mind to focus only on one and ignore the other!

God keeps His promises (vs. 6-9)

Rom. 9:6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

Rom. 9:7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

Rom. 9:8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Rom. 9:9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

√ The central question

Have God’s promises to Israel failed?

Paul’s response is an unqualified, unequivocal “NO!” Look again at vs. 6…

“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect.”

Ex. The Jews rejection of Messiah put Jesus on the Cross by which God’s plan of redemption was fulfilled!

The Jews hostility toward the Gospel in Jerusalem ultimately led to the Church being forced to “go into all the world”.

Israel’s failure to receive the Gospel does not indicate that God’s word has failed…

…rather, their rejection of the Gospel is another example of how God’s sovereign choice works out in the experience of Man.

To prove his point Paul spends the rest of chapter 9 showing the reader how it is that God worked with the patriarchs of the Old Testament to accomplish His will.

Ex. Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau.

The point; that God’s promises are predicated upon His sovereign choice and will – not Man’s choices and failures.

√ 1^st example – the son of promise

God promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son though which Abraham would have so many descendants that they could not be numbered…

…and that from this promised son would come…

Nations

Kings

Messiah

One problem – after years of trying to conceive and years of waiting Sarah and Abraham still didn’t have a son!

So, being a purpose-driven and resourceful couple Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands and produced a son by the works of their flesh.

Ishmael – the son of flesh

They failed to wait for the promise of God.

But, their failure did not derail the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring them a son.

Rather, in His sovereign will God granted life to Sarah’s womb, and to Abraham’s body so that she was able to conceive and bear a child at 90!

Isaac – the son of promise

Paul’s point is that God’s promise to Abraham to give him a son would be brought about by God…

…not Abraham!

And, while Abraham had many sons by the works of his flesh…

Ishmael by Hagar

Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah by Keturah.

But, God’s promise to give them a son was fulfilled through Isaac! Thus, the true children of God are those by promise, not by works of the flesh.

Ap. Listen – when God makes a promise – He keeps His promise!

He doesn’t need our help to do what He said He would do!

2Tim. 2:11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.

2Tim. 2:12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

2Tim. 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself

And…

2Cor. 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Ap. What about you and me this morning? What promise has God made to you?

Ex. He’s promised to save us and to sanctify us – Paul’s theme throughout Romans.

How does God do that in our life?

By works of our flesh, or by His Spirit?

By His Spirit!

*** Two ways that we get ourselves in trouble regarding what God is doing in our life.

1) When we try and bring about His promises by our own works of righteousness (epistle to the Galatians).

2) When we get lazy and take the attitude that “Hey, God’s gonna do it so I don’t have to do anything” (Epistle to the Corinthians).

Ex. Using Paul’s illustration we can see that both of these approaches are the wrong.

1) Hagar – wrong approach. Why? Because it was a work of the flesh – they were trying to bring about God’s promise by their own work.

2) Sarah – the woman by which God would bring the son of promise; however, Abraham and Sarah had a part to play – this wasn’t a case of “immaculate conception”!

Their part was to still love one another through sexual intimacy – God’s part was to bring life to Sarah’s womb and bring about conception.

Ap. You see the point?

God has chosen to save you by faith in the promise that His Son’s work on the Cross is all that’s needed to grant forgiveness and eternal life.

Your part – is to employ the means.

Ex. Give you a new home

√ Paul’s second example involves the last of the 3 great patriarchs of the Jewish faith – Jacob.

God’s sovereign choice (vs. 10-13)

Rom. 9:10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac

Rom. 9:11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),

Rom. 9:12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

Rom. 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

√ The very point that Paul made concerning God’s choice of Isaac over Ishmael is even more dramatic in the case of God’s choosing Jacob over Esau.

That because they were twins!

From a practical standpoint most people today don’t point to their twin sons and say…

“That one is the oldest”

But, in the ancient culture of the Middle East birth order was very important.

They would actually bestow upon the first twin from the womb all of the rights and privileges of being the eldest son.

However, as Paul points out the Lord chose Jacob, the “younger”, to be the one through which He would work to bring about the promises He made to Abraham.

No matter how hard Isaac tried to circumvent God’s designs by making Esau his heir…

…Jacob ended up being the one through whom God brought about His promises.

√ The point?

God’s sovereign will was accomplished in spite of Man’s failure through the exercise of his free will!

Thus, Paul’s examples show us that even though Ishmael was the older son – and by Man’s tradition would be the heir of promise…

…God chose Isaac to be the heir of His promises to Abraham!

And, even though Esau was the first born and the favorite son of Isaac…

…God chose Jacob to the heir of those same promises to Abraham!

Why? To demonstrate that God’s plans and purposes – His sovereign will is accomplished by His calling – not Man’s works.

Look again at vs. 11

Rom. 9:11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),

Understand that God’s chooses by His Grace not by merit!

Ex. Neither Isaac nor Jacob earned their calling – they was God’s choice.

The Bible calls this process by which God works His divine will…

… election (vs. 11).

√ God’s election

Is a Biblical principle we find from Genesis to Revelation. The problem is that often times people wrongly apply the principle to all of human experience.

Ex. There are those who claim that God has elected some people to be saved, and elected other people to be condemned to hell.

That’s a wrong application of the principle of election.

Rather, here’s what we find in the pages of Scripture regarding election:

Salvation – God chooses (elects) everyone for the gift of salvation that they might find their place in the KOG.

Service – God chooses (elects) different tasks for different people according to His divine purpose.

Let’s illustrate how this works.

Salvation

Joh. 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Joh. 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Joh. 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And…

1Ti 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Note that God has invited (elected) ALL people in the world to experience salvation.

Yet, He leaves each person to make their own choice as to whether or not to receive His gift.

Ex. Headhunter – chose (elected) me as their number 1 candidate for a job opportunity.

However, it’s my choice as to whether or not to accept their offer.

Ap. God has not elected anyone for Hell. Rather, He has chosen – elected – all people to become His children through faith in Jesus Christ. It’s His sovereign choice based upon His Grace, not Man’s merit.

Like Isaac and Jacob we can’t earn God’s choice – we can only respond to it.

Service

Whereas all people share the same opportunity for salvation by God’s election…

…we do not all share the same opportunity for service.

Mat. 25:14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

Mat. 25:15 “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

Please note that the Master (Jesus) gave each person a different number of talents…

“each according to his own ability”

In other words, God gives to each of us only what we need and what we can handle according to our ability!

Ap. No matter how badly you or I may want to be like Billy Graham – if God hasn’t given us by His choice – the gifts necessary – then we’ll never be like Billy Graham.

Please note that each person is rewarded, or not rewarded based upon their faithfulness with what they have.

Ex. The guy with 2 talents didn’t have to produce 10 to please the Master.

Ex. Pastor Chuck and his brother trying to be evangelists

That wasn’t their calling. They were called to be pastor/teachers.

So, no matter how hard they tried to be evangelists, they didn’t experience any real success because that wasn’t what God had called them to.

Close

1) Have you responded to His calling? He’s elected you for salvation – have you received it?

2) Do you know what God has chosen for you to do? Are you doing it?