God's Soverign Choice Series

Romans 9:1-33

Getting on the Same Page as God about God’s Sovereign Choices

Introduction

A. Music expresses emotions and feelings.

B. Movies will use music to explain what is going on, you know Jaws is about to attack when you here the music

C. Now last week we learned that we do not have to fear, because God is for us

D. If you were to play music for that portion we study last week it would sound something like this

E. (Have Heather Play Happy Music)

F. Now we have to deal with this week. If we were to play music for this portion it would sound something like this

G. (Have Heather play doom and gloom music)

H. I will admit, I have been scared to deal with this passage; I knew it was coming up.

I. Today we are going to look at God’s Sovereign Choice

J. This might make some people upset, hey don’t blame me it is in the Scripture

K. This passage deals with 4 Attributes of God

a. God’s Faithfulness

b. God’s Mercy

c. God’s Righteousness

d. God’s Grace

I.

God’s Faithfulness (9:1-13)

A. Explanation

1. So here we are dealing with a subject I am sure that Paul did not necessarily himself want to deal with it but He knew that he had too.

2. Paul was a Jew, and he loved the Jews, take a look what he says in verse 3. He wishes he could sacrifice his own life for the sake of the Jewish nation

3. The Jews were tight with God, they were God’s chosen people

4. Look at everything that they were given and all the promises that were made to them

5. Paul has been creating a lot of uproar among the Jewish community. Preaching to the Gentiles, telling them that God would save them

a) Understand that the Jews thought they were the only ones who would be there, and they had a hatred for the Gentiles like nothing we know today

(1) I guess a way to compare the level of hatred would be that of the Germans against the Jews back during the Holocaust

6. So here Paul is teaching something that goes against everything the Jew’s would believe

7. The logical conclusion in the Jewish mind then would be to call God unfaithful, if he is not going to restore the Jewish community He is not keeping His word right?

8. Paul then goes to great length to explain that God is faithful

9. In Jewish culture the first born always had more rights then the second. Paul traces us back to Abraham and Isaac and shows us that God choose the second born in both cases, not because of what they had done, not because of any Human involvement but because he did

10. In verse 8 Paul makes a very bold and important declaration. (Read 8)

11. I have to mention verse 13. This verse has created a lot of controversy over the years let me try and explain

a) This verse is referring to the nation of Israel and Edom not the individuals

b) God does not hate sinners, read John 3:16, it makes it clear his loves sinners

c) Since national election does not have to do with human effort 2 things are true

(1) First, Israel disobedience cannot nullify the elective purpose of God, that is to say God is faithful even though His people are not

(2) 2nd There is hope for people of Edom. Just as Israel’s disobedience does not separate them from the love of God, either does Edom obedience or disobedienc

B. Application

1. What can we learn from all of this?

2. First of all natural decent, doesn’t mean a thing.

a) God does not care if you are a Jew, Gentile, German, Polish, or Yugoslavian. God cares if you follow him

b) God does not care if your father is Billy Graham, John Calvin, or Vern Borchert

c) To quote Tom Ferguson “God does not have Grand Children”

3. Second it is not based on human effort

a) God would choose Jacob before Jacob and Esau were born.

b) Obviously they had not done anything good or bad at that point

4. Finally we learn that God is faithful

5. God promised to bless the nation of Israel if they followed him, did they? No

a) God promises us that he will save us if we call on Him.

b) Because of God’s faithfulness we are guaranteed of that

c) Does that mean we will be saved if we do not call on Him? NO

d) God is always faithful

C. Illustration

II. God’s Mercy (14-18)

A. Explanation

1. We need to keep two things in mind here

a) First God is Holy – Because of the Holiness of God their can not be sin, sin and holiness do not mix