ROMANS: CHOSEN TO CHOOSE

Charles Billingsley 

Romans 9-10 

Romans 9 – The Sovereignty of God 

1. God is sovereign and always Has a plan  

9 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen 

4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Israelites – they would be blessed for generations simply because they were Jews. 

Adoption – special relationship as adopted people – Exodus 4:22 – God proclaims the people os Israel as “His children”

Glory – reference to the physical glory of God – pillar of cloud / pillar of fire  – reminded them that God was with them  – a manifestation of His presence 

Covenant –  covenant with Abraham, Moses, David, the Messiah.  Was always conditioned upon their obedience to God

The Law – the Torah – the had the privilege of absolute truth as their foundation and basis for justice.  No other nation could claim that.  We have the Bible because God chose these people. America is founded upon Judeo, and later, Christian ethics that are based from the Bible.  

The Service of God (worship) – God allowed the people access to Him through the tabernacle/ temple  – by way of the tribe of Levi.  God’s means of restoring the people into a right relationship with Him.  

The promises – land , a future kingdom , the Hope of the Messiah – who ushered in a New Covenant – based on Grace instead of the Law .  Those promises are still available through Christ  – He is the true Bar Mitzvah – “son of the covenant”   

2.   God is Sovereign – His plans have a purpose 

6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,  7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”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. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 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), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

3. God is Sovereign –  His character is perfect 

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

4. God is Sovereign – His plans are merciful and just

Job 38:4 

 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

God chooses. 

God uses.  

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 

The Message-

20-24 Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn’t that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people.

Remember, Paul is talking about the history of the Jewish people.  But many have turned this personal and believe that these verses are more about personal salvation and that God pre-determines only a select number of individuals that will be saved

The Doctrine of Pre-destination/ Election 

Calvinists vs Arminians

If God were small enough for us to figure out, then He would not big enough for us to worship! 

The Message

9:25-33 

Hosea put it well:

I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies;    I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved in the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!”   they’re calling you “God’s living children.”

Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:

If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled “chosen of God, ”They’d be numbers still, not names;  salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name.  Arithmetic is not his focus.

Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:

If our powerful God  had not provided us a legacy of living children, We would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah.

How can we sum this up? All those people  who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:

Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,  a stone you can’t get around. But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me,  you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.

NKJV

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,

And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10 – The Responsibility of Man 

NLT

Romans 10 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.  As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth).

7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 

Someone asked the great preacher Charles Spurgeon one time about how he reconciles these two truths about salvation:  the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humanity.   His answer:  “I wouldn’t try.  I never reconcile friends.”  

In chapter 10, Paul highlights the our responsibility…our response to God’s call to our salvation.   

1.  The Gospel is available to all of us – therefore all of us are accountable

8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 

2.  The Gospel is Universal – therefore it is available to all of us.

10:11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 1:11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

10:14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 

3.  The Gospel is simple – therefore everyone has the chance to understand

16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have:

“The message has gone throughout the earth,  and the words to all the world.”

19 But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said, 

“I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles. 

4. The Gospel is receivable – therefore we must open our minds and hearts in order to receive it.  

20 And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying,

“I was found by people who were not looking for me.  I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”

21 But regarding Israel, God said,

“All day long I opened my arms to them,  but they were disobedient and rebellious.”

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

On April 14, 1912 – at 11:40 pm – The titanic struck and iceberg on her starboard side that gashed the side of the unsinkable vessel. 

In less that 3 hours – at 2:20 am April 15, 1912 – the Titanic had sunk.  

2,240 people on board. 

1,534 perished 

only 706 were saved.  

The reason – there were only 20 life boats.  

Enough space to hold only half of the ship’s passengers and crew.  

But even of the 20 life boats, in the chaos and the panic only a few of the boats were filled to capacity.  The life boats could hold 65 passengers.  Yet many of them only had between 20-25 people in them when they entered the water.  Mostly women and children.   

The reason:  many people were hesitant to get in the boat because they still believed the sinking ship was the safer place to stay.