Romans 9:14-33 comments: the election of Israel

 

Romans 9:14 ¶  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

 

A big question that this section raises could be why did God let anyone be born that He knew would reject His offer of forgiveness and amnesty? Why even allow any question?

 

Verses 14 through 16 show that God chooses upon whom He will have mercy.

 

Exodus 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 

But this doesn’t prevent any sinner from crying out for mercy.

 

Luke 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

 

And while God is perfectly able and just in refusing mercy to that sinner it is in His nature to show mercy to the repentant.

 

Psalm 103:8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

 

How do you deny free will in all of this from the Scriptures? How do you deny that God shows mercy to the repentant sinner?

 

Notice, as an aside, that in verse 17 the Scripture is elevated to the status of God Himself. See the reference in Exodus. We know from Exodus 9:13-21 that it was God who said this through Moses. We know that Pharaoh refused to honestly hear God’s commands to let God’s people go free. God saith and the Scripture saith in this case are the same thing. Think of this in Hebrews.

 

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God [lowercase w] is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

Back to free will and this passage. We have a quandary to sort out. How do you reconcile passages that suggest that all of this is already preordained with passages that insist that it is only preordained because of God’s foreknowledge of who would follow Him? The key is, I believe very strongly, that the verses cannot contradict and if we are led astray it is because we ignore verses and passages that don’t agree with our conclusions and I understand that you might accuse me of that, as well.

 

I think it is clear to say that we are ordained and appointed to certain things such as eternal life or damnation based on God’s foreknowledge that we would receive Christ as our Saviour. Then, we are called as in verse 24.

 

So, if God knew that Pharaoh would choose to oppose God’s will then God put him in this position of power at this time and not another, like for instance the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time, to prove God’s point about His sovereignty even over mighty nations.

 

If there is any hard thing for us to accept it is that God can put the wrong man in at the right station and right time to show His power over all reality.

 

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

 

Luke 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

 

Verse 22 seems to me to be explaining that it is within God’s right to be patient toward those who will refuse Him and be damned. This explains the long life and seeming prosperity of someone we would regard as wicked by God’s standard. This also details that those who are saved are ordained to glory.

 

Romans 9:25 ¶  As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26  And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. 27  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29  And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

 

Verses 25 and 26 are allusions to verses in Hosea with Osee being the Greek version of the Hebrew name.

 

Hosea 2:23  And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

 

Hosea 1:10  Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

 

Isaiah is also alluded to;

 

Isaiah 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 23  For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

 

Isaiah 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

 

This passage confirms that in chapter 9 Paul is talking about the election of Israel as a people not some kind of Calvinist eternal decree where many individual persons are created for the sole purpose of making them suffer forever.

 

Romans 9:30 ¶  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 

How could the Gentiles be saved and added to the fold of God’s people?

 

The Jews based their place in God’s plan on their following of the Law, a rote copying of ritual and formulas and regulations practiced as if those rituals, formulas, and regulations had power in themselves. This is sort of like the modern evangelical Christian talking about the power of prayer rather than the power of the one prayed to.

 

The Law was a stumbling block to the Jew because they sought it not by faith. Christ was a stumbling block to the Jew because He showed that faith and belief was what God wanted. An example would be that I met an atheist online whom I argued with. His father was a Hindu priest who officiated at births, weddings, blessings, and funerals but who was also an atheist. You don’t have to have faith to follow a cultural custom that has no power in itself. Many so-called conservative Christians in America today are truly practicing atheists because their God is an idea, not a person, and they think that church attendance, giving, and appearing respectable makes them worthy of blessings in this life and by hedging their bets salvation and heaven in the next if there is a next.

 

To please God we must have faith and come to Him through Christ by faith, not by faith in a practice or ritual but by faith in Him. American Christians are often neo-Calvinists who believe they are God’s frontline troops and have a great merit in God’s eyes and have material prosperity and safety in worship because of their being wonderful. But they were born here not by any effort of their own. It was God’s mercy that had them be born in a country such as this. Perhaps God, in His foreknowledge, knew they would be weak and not be able to stand up to true persecution. Maybe the real frontline Christians are those faithful thousands in Muslim and communist countries who are being persecuted, murdered, raped, starved, tortured, and otherwise mistreated and maybe God put them there because He knew they would have a spiritual strength a Christian born in America would not. Perhaps our giving of money to third world Christians and sending workers to build churches, houses, and worship centers is like God sending the support troops to give aid to the embattled frontline battle-hardened troops. Don’t get too much of a swelled head, Christian. You are not ‘all that and a bag of chips’ because you have lots of food and stuff and a civil law that provides you with some protection so that there are no mobs outside of your church doors wanting to burn the place down and kill you.

 

The Jews of Christ and Paul’s time stumbled and fell because their faith was built upon ritual and performance and not on God, not on Christ. True faith is what is required. What is the foundation upon which your approval by God rests? Is it your political party? Is it your social beliefs? Is it your view of history? Is it how you keep your yard mowed? Is it how often you are at church? Is it how lofty your prayers sound? Or do you have urgent and constant faith in Christ Jesus, trusting in His righteousness and not your own, believing in His finished work on the Cross and in His resurrection to be saved and justified before God? The Jews followed the evil nations that surrounded them and broke God’s standards regularly.

 

Verse 33 alludes to the first part of;

 

Isaiah 8:14  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

 

And the last of…

 

Isaiah 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

 

The connection between not make haste in Isaiah 28:16 and shall not be ashamed in chapter 33 is there if we view the context of Isaiah 28 as to not make haste to run to the thinking and ways of evil men which would bring shame and dishonor.

 

Christ will not let us down. He is sure and we can be confident in Him, unashamed. Now Paul concludes this section of his argument in Romans with a salvation message.