Revering the Word
Romans 9 God has chosen Gentiles who believe.
Good morning, everyone. This morning we are in Romans, chapter nine. In Romans, chapter nine, the topic is going to shift a bit to now focusing on Israel. You know, this book has done a great job of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and that all now who have faith like Abraham had faith can come into the family of God. And all our sinners and need to embrace Jesus by faith and enter into the family of God and be forgiven to their sin. But it would be as though then you could almost look down on Israel or not explain. Hey, what about the privileged position that the people of God had Abraham's family. Does that not matter anymore and Paul is going to address that in particular in chapter nine and chapter 11 of Romans this morning, we will be developing into chapter nine. I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscious testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 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 belong the adoption as sons, and 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. Paul is saying, you know, if I could be accursed and separated from Christ in order to lead all the Jews to faith in Jesus, I would do so. And he's saying, Hey, you know what the Jews were special because, you know, they were adopted as God's family and they had the glory of God residing to the tabernacle and the temple and the covenants were given to them and they got, they got the law, which was a gift from God that they got God's written instruction and they had all the temple service and the sacrifices and the promises and, and then they, he says, you know what, Christ came from that. I mean, Christ came from the Davidic line and he too, you know, was part of Israel. But now in verse six, it says, 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. Through Isaac, your descendants will be named. 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. Paul's making the case here that that in order to be someone who is really part of the true Israel. Now, it is people that our children of the promise, you know, God made a promise to Abraham to give him a family to bless them with the land to be a blessing to the nations and although he didn't have any children. God promised that he had a child and that was part of the promise and that he would have Isaac through Sarah. And now what he's saying, he says, he's saying that it's really the true Israel are people who are part of that promise. And people who are that promise are God's family. And just being born in the flesh is not the most significant thing. It's really being a part of the promise. Now, you might recall that Paul's made the case in this book already that everyone now who had faith is accredited righteousness just as Abraham had faith and was accredited righteousness is now part of the family of God. And that's how you get grafted into that promise, the promise to be part of God's family is that you have the same kind of faith Abraham had Abraham believed and he was accredited righteousness now if we believe we become grafted into Abraham's family. That's going to be talked a lot about here and in chapter 11 as I've mentioned, verse nine for this is the word of promise at this time I will come and Sarah will have a son which was a big deal because she was barren. And not only this, but there was Rebecca also, this is Abraham's wife when, excuse me, Isaac's wife, when she had conceived twins by one man or father Isaac, for through the twins, though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad. So that God's purpose, according to his choice would stand not because of works but because of him who calls, and it was said to her the older will serve the younger, just as it is written Jacob I love that you saw I hated. What he's making the point is, is that God has had a choice of how he wants to extend his family line, and he chose out of Rebecca's womb that the line would come through Jacob the two twins that were born. And God chose that. And for season in history, God chose Israel, and they were God's special family. But what he's trying to make the case now is, is that now God has chosen like he has had the ability to choose all along he's chosen that Gentiles could be his family of God through faith. And now that's his choice and just as he had his choice before to choose Abraham to be God's family and just as he had his choice to have Jacob be the one who's the line would continue through God now has a choice and he said you know what now all who had the faith of Abraham whether Israelite or Gentile it doesn't matter now that's going to be my family and God has a right to make that choice and he's made it. What shall we say then. There is no injustice with God is there may it never be. In Moses I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion meaning God has a choice on how he wants to do things and it's up to him and it's not up to us. It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy for the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth God had a choice in hardening Pharaoh's heart and you know God's choice is what counts so then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. God's still at the throne. You will say then you will say to me then why does he still find fault for who resists as well so now because Paul has gone strong on you know God chooses who he chooses he gives mercy to some he has compassion on some. Now he's welcome Gentiles in some Israelites have been hardened because they're unwilling to accept Jesus and then the question is was if someone doesn't come to Christ then is it. It's God's fault because he didn't you know he didn't choose them so to speak is what the question being asked is on the contrary who are you oh man who answers back to God. The thing molded will not say to the moulder why did you make me like this will it or does not the potter have the right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use. What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known endured with much patience vessels of wrath compared for destruction and he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy, he prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he called not from among the Jews only, but also from among the Gentiles. So he's saying you know what you know we all in the Old Testament days would look down on Gentiles and, and now they've been grafted in through faith and that was God's choice and he can do that as he wills. He also says in Jose I will call those who were not my people my people that's Gentiles and her who was not beloved beloved. And it shall be in that place where it was said to them you are not my people, they shall be called the sons of the living God. That was quoted from Jose because God was prophesying there would be a day when all the nations would come to him and now it doesn't matter. If you have a weak slave free black white male female, all that matters when it comes to salvation is do you have faith in Jesus hallelujah. And that was God's choice to open up the path of salvation to anyone who believed, but it's still, it's still grafted into the promise that he gave to the Israelites we've become almost like a new Israel through faith in Jesus because just as Abraham was a credit righteousness now those who believe in his son are accredited righteousness. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel shall be like to Santa to see. It is the remnant that will be saved for the Lord will execute his word on the earth thoroughly and quickly and just as Isaiah foretold unless the Lord of the Sabbath had left us a posterity. We would have become like Sodom and we would have resembled Gomorrah. In a sense, you know, the Old Testament people Israel they were, you know, they had been disobedient to God and they could have all become like Sodom and Gomorrah, but God decided to not destroy them and to continue to use them and have them be part of his family. What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness even the righteousness which is by faith. And that's true, but Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not arrive at that law. Why, because they did not pursue it by faith but as though it were by works. And you know what was happening in particularly in Jesus's day is the Pharisaical movement was so zealous for the law and they added to the law. Like there were some 128 pages of writing on what it meant to honor God in the Sabbath and everything from knitting to sewing to, you know, obviously how much you could walk and just, there were so many rules upon rules upon rules. And it was as though they were trying to please God through works of the law and through their own man made ideas that God did not put in his word. And that's how they were pursuing and really they didn't have the heart of God and they did not have the faith that God wanted them to have. And in that season of history said you know what I'm going to open this up to anyone. I want people to believe in me. And now all who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God you can be Jew and come to Jesus and you still might have a Jewish lineage you might have You know Israelite lineage, but now it's faith in Jesus that saves you and you may not be a Jew and you may never have been born in Israel and you may not have any relatives from there and you may never have considered yourself part of God's Israel family. And now through faith in Jesus you are part of God's family hallelujah. They stumbled the Jews over the stumbling stone just as it is written behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of a fence. Even him will not be disappointed. Very awesome chapter to discover that God has now opened it up to us all but you know what it's not as though Jews can't come to Jesus. In fact, you know in this season of history many Jews did. In fact Judaism is a very small faith now. They were like the 14th largest, you know religion if you want to call it that in the world. And at this time of the Bible I think it was a much more significant but a lot of people have seen the truth that Jesus came to fulfill system and scriptures and become the Lamb of God. And, and, and so therefore they're not Jews by faith anymore they're messianic meaning they believe in Jesus as the Messiah. And that's why that faith has has dwindled as far as the quantity of people that are Jewish because there's really good reason and evidence to believe in Jesus and Christianity built on the foundation of Judaism hallelujah. So there we have it. God's not done with them though, and you know there's going to be opportunities for Jews to come to faith, not only now they have an opportunity right now to come to faith but I believe even during the tribulation. There's going to even be more Jews that are going to discover Jesus praise God for that. And I look forward to seeing you again in chapter 10 but I'd say you know what just be blessed. And speaking to those probably who do not consider themselves former Jews, just be blessed that God has welcomed Gentiles us into his family. And you know the last thing I want to say is there's a lot of, you know, talk controversy about predestination election and I'll give you a perspective and I'm not trying to nail this I'm not trying to say that this is the only way to look at it. But I'm trying to give you a perspective that I lean towards and I think there's some mystery that remains but God chose Israel. Now God has chosen to open the door to salvation to Gentiles to all who believe in him. So it was always kind of corporate or group. And when we see predestined God predestined the fact that all nations could now come to him and now in this dispensation this season of history. And when we come to him, we're receiving the door that he opened to Gentiles to come to faith in Jesus and be part of the family of God. Because many people in some study that you can do on this in scripture will reveal that God, God chose a family Israel but now he's chosen to allow the gospel to come to all the nations and all who have received him are part of his chosen family. It's a little bit different than God saying, well, you're you're individually you're not chosen and you're going to hell and there's nothing you can do about it, which could be a hard hard way to look at elected. But in this corporate sense, I believe it, I believe it's a better way of thinking about it that God has chosen now that all the nations can come to him through faith and if you accept him and believe in him, then you are part of God's family So listen, there's maybe some who don't agree with that I think it's a disputeable matter. But, you know, in the next chapter we'll see that Paul echoes what what is said in the Old Testament, everyone who calls in the name of the Lord shall be saved. God bless you all.