ROM 9:19 – 24 . VINDICATING GOD (PART 3) STAND IN AWE!
RECAP: WE ARE IN THE HEART OF OBJECTIONS BEING THROWN AT PAUL V19 - 24 FROM HIS JEWISH COUNTRYMEN, THESE PEOPLE HAD REJECTED JESUS AS MESSIAH, THIS WHOLE SALE REJECTION THEY BELIEVED WAS A SIGN TO THEM THAT JESUS IS NOT THE MESSIAH. PAUL ON THE OTHER HAND WAS SAYING THE OPPOSITE IN THESE CHAPTERS 9,10,11 THAT JEWISH UNBELIEF IS ACTUALLY A SIGN THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, AND THEIR LARGE SCALE REJECTION IS NOT INCONSISTENT BUT ACTUALLY CONSISTENT WITH GODS COVENANTAL PROMISES IN HIS WORD.
1. SO THEY MAKE KNOWN THEIR OBJECTIONS TO PAUL, THE FIRST OBJECTION IF YOU ARE RIGHT PAUL GODS WORD HAS FAILED V6 HAS GODS WORD FAILED? GOD HAS BROKEN HIS WORD, HIS PROMISES HAVE FAILED.” BECAUSE WE ARE GODS CHOSEN DESCENDANTS THROUGH ABRAHAM WE ARE BENEFICIARIES OF ALL GODS PROMISES. AND SO IN V 6 – 13 PAUL SHOWS HOW MISGUIDED THEY ARE BECAUSE BELONGING TO GOD IS NOT OF NATURAL DESCENT V6-9 AND NOT OF OUR GOOD WORKS. V10 -13 BUT ALL ABOUT GODS ELECTING LOVE TOWARDS THE INDIVIDUAL.
2. THE 2ND OBJECTION CARRIES ON FROM THE LAST ANSWER GIVEN. SURELY PAUL IF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS TRUE THEN ISNT GOD UNJUST (UNRIGHTEOUS) V14 IS GOD UNJUST? HERE THEY OBJECT TO THE RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER OF GOD, IN REGARD TO HIS ELECTIVE PURPOSES IN CHOOSING ONE AND HARDENING ANOTHER. V14- 18 PAUL UNPACKS HISTORICAL EXAMPLES OF HIS ELECTIVE PURPOSES AND REVEALS TO HIS MISGUIDED CRITICS - FIRSTLY THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN AND HE DOES AS HE PLEASES TO SOME HE DEMONSTRATES MERCY TO OTHERS HE HARDENS. BUT THE GROUNDS OF GOD DEALING WITH US IS NOT HIS JUSTICE BUT HIS MERCY. BECAUSE IF HE DEALT WITH US ACCORDING TO HIS JUSTICE, THEN WE WOULD ALL BE CONDEMNED, SO HOW CAN GOD BE UNJUST? HOW CAN GOD BE UNFAIR BECAUSE HE IS ACTUALLY MERCIFUL? AND IF HE HARDENS, HE IS RIGHT AND JUST TO DO SO AND HIS GLORY IS MANIFESTED IN SO DOING. SO PAUL HAS REVEALED THEIR IS NO VIOLATION TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD AT ALL IN HIS ELECTIVE PURPOSES. ROM 11:7-8 REINFORCES WHAT HAS BEEN STIPULATED HERE THAT GOD SHOWS MERCY AND GOD HARDENS.
3. AND SO NOW WE FIND OURSELVES AT THE 3RD OBJECTION V19 ONE OF YOU WILL SAY TO ME: “THEN WHY DOES GOD STILL BLAME US? WHO RESISTS HIS WILL?” IF OUR SALVATION IS ALL OF GOD V15, 18 AND WE DO NOT RESIST HIS WILL (WHICH WE CANNOT) THEN THE QUESTION ARISES...IS IT FAIR FOR GOD TO HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE, WHEN HE MAKES ALL THE DECISIONS V19 ? ONCE AGAIN HERE AS EARLIER THIS OBJECTION IS AGAINST GODS CHARACTER, “HOW CAN GOD BLAME ME WHEN HE MAKES ALL THE DECISIONS?” HE HOLDS THE STRINGS; I’M JUST THE PUPPET ON THE STRING.... JUST A ROBOT PRE –PROGRAMMED - ITS HIS DIVINE DECREE TO REJECT SOME AND RECEIVE OTHERS I’M JUST A VICTIM OF HIS WHIMS?
THESE OBJECTORS ARE ACTING LIKE THE LITTLE BOY WHO HAS GOTTEN INTO TROUBLE, WHO TURNS AROUND TO DEFEND HIS CORNER, “I HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER HE MADE ME DO IT?” AS THE LITTLE BOY PASSES THE BLAME FROM HIMSELF TO THE OTHER, LIKEWISE THEY PASS THE BLAME.
PAUL DOESNT REPLY WITH ANSWERS BUT WITH COUNTER QUESTIONS - HE DOESN’T NEATLY ANSWER THEIR OBJECTIONS - BUT FORCES THEM TO LOOK AT WHO GOD IS? AND WHO THEY ARE IN RELATION TO GOD? HE IS CALLING THEM TO SILENTLY STAND IN AWE OF GOD!
• ON CHRISTMAS DAY 1968, THE THREE ASTRONAUTS OF APOLLO 8 CIRCLED THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AND HEADED FOR HOME. SUDDENLY, OVER THE HORIZON OF THE MOON ROSE THE BLUE AND WHITE EARTH GARLANDED BY THE GLISTENING LIGHT OF THE SUN AGAINST THE BLACK VOID OF SPACE. THOSE SOPHISTICATED MEN, TRAINED IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DID NOT UTTER EINSTEIN’S NAME. THEY DID NOT EVEN GO TO THE POETS, THE LYRICISTS, OR THE DRAMATISTS. ONLY ONE THING COULD CAPTURE THE AWE-INSPIRING THRILL OF THIS MAGNIFICENT OBSERVATION. BILLIONS HEARD THE VOICE FROM OUTER SPACE AS THE ASTRONAUT READ IT: "IN THE BEGINNING GOD"--THE ONLY CONCEPT WORTHY ENOUGH TO DESCRIBE THAT UNSPEAKABLE AWE, UNUTTERABLE IN ANY OTHER WAY. "IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED"--THE INVASIVE, THE INESCAPABLE SENSE OF THE INFINITE AND THE ETERNAL.
1. STAND IN AWE AND EXAMINE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD. V20 -21
• EXAMINE YOUR IDENTITY: V20 WHO ARE YOU, A MERE HUMAN BEING.
PAUL WANTS US TO KNOW, THAT THERE IS A GREAT GULF BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS AND GOD AND WE NEED TO LOOK AT OURSELVES IN RELATION TO GOD? WHO ARE YOU, A MERE HUMAN BEING? AND HE IS GOD THE CREATOR WHO FORMED YOU V20B YOU ARE A PIECE OF CLAY AND HE IS THE POTTER. HE IS THE HOLY GOD AND WE ARE SINFUL HUMAN BEINGS.
YOU SEE SOME THINGS ARE SIMPLY BEYOND OUR PUNY BRAIN, WE CANNOT FIT GOD IN A BOX AND CLAIM TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD AND HIS COUNSEL, WE WILL ALL HAVE HEART SEARCHING QUESTIONS, WHICH ARE LEFT, THINGS THAT WE DON’T UNDERSTAND. 1 COR 13:12 NOW WE SEE BUT A POOR REFLECTION AS IN A MIRROR: THEN WE SHALL SEE FACE TO FACE . KNOW I KNOW IN PART; THEN I SHALL KNOW FULLY, EVEN AS I AM FULLY KNOWN.
• MATTHEW HENRY SAID, “WHEN WE CANNOT, BY SEARCHING, FIND THE BOTTOM, WE MUST SIT DOWN AT THE BRINK AND ADORE THE DEPTH.”
WE HAVE TO STAND IN SILENCE AND AWE, AT THE COUNSEL OF GOD AND TRUST IN HIM, THAT HE WILL DO THAT WHICH IS RIGHT, FOR HE IS GOD AND WE ARE MERE HUMAN BEINGS WHO WILL ONE DAY SHALL KNOW FULLY EVEN AS I AM FULLY KNOWN.
• A REPORTER ONCE ASKED ALBERT EINSTEIN’S WIFE IF SHE UNDERSTOOD THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY. SHE REPLIED, "NO, BUT I KNOW ALBERT, AND HE CAN BE TRUSTED." CAN YOU SAY THE SAME THING “I DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT GOD, BUT I KNOW GOD, AND HE CAN BE TRUSTED
• ROMANS 11: 33- 36 READ: THIS ONLY RESPONSE TO GODS ELECTIVE PURPOSES : TO SILENTLY STAND IN AWE OF GOD! AND LET GOD BE GOD.
2. STAND IN AWE AND EXAMINE OUR ATTITUDE BEFORE GOD. V20 TO TALK BACK TO GOD ( WHO ARE WE TO QUESTION GODS PURPOSES ) SHALL WHAT IS FORMED SAY TO HIM WHO FORMED IT, WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LIKE THIS?”
PAUL IS NOT CENSORING HEART SEARCHING (PERPLEXED) QUESTIONS ( I AM SURE WE HAVE ALL ASKED THESE HEART SEARCHING QUESTIONS, AS WE HAVE TRAVELLED THROUGH THIS PASSAGE OF THE BIBLE) HE IS NOT STIFLING GENUINE QUESTIONS FOR THE BOOK OF ROMANS IS FULL OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS... BUT HE IS CALLING THEM TO EXAMINE THEIR QUARRELLING SPIRIT, “HOW CAN YOU TALK BACK TO GOD” AFTER GOD HAS SPOKEN? WHEN GOD HAS REVEALED HIS TRUTH TOO US, SUCH A PERSON TO WILL NOT SUBMIT TO THE WISDOM AND COUNSEL OF GOD AND SILENTLY STAND IN AWE OF GOD, AND LET GOD BE GOD.
CONSIDER MOSES EX 3:5 DO NOT COME ANY CLOSE, GOD SAID, “TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS , FOR THE PLACE YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.
THESE PEOPLE BEGIN TO BLAME GOD...THEY BEGIN TO QUARREL WITH GOD...
• C.H DODD DECLARES, “SUCH A PERSON MANIFESTS A REPREHENSIBLE SPIRIT OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD , A REFUSAL TO LET GOD BE GOD AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIS OR HER TRUE STATUS AS CREATURE AND SINNER.”
2 PET 3:16 : PETER TELLS US THAT SOME OF THE THINGS PAUL WRITES ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND (COMFORT PETER FOUND IT HARD) HE ALSO GOES ON TO TELL US TO BEWARE OF PEOPLE WHO DISTORT HIS WORD, BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND, EVER SINCE THE FALL, GOD HAS BEEN DISTORTED BY SATAN AND UNREGENERATE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM ALSO - AND THEIR END WILL BE THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.
JAMES PACKER WRITES, MANY OF US WOULD AGREE WITH PETER WHEN HE SAYS THAT PARTS OF PAUL’S LETTERS ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND! AND THERE ARE DIFFICULTIES AND APPARENT DISCREPANCIES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE BIBLE TOO. ON THIS MATTER OF DISCREPANCIES, I REMEMBER READING SOMETHING WRITTEN BY AN OLD SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PURITAN NAMED WILLIAM BRIDGE. HE SAID THAT HARPING ON DISCREPANCIES SHOWS A VERY BAD HEART, ADDING: "FOR A GODLY MAN, IT SHOULD BE AS IT WAS WITH MOSES. WHEN A GODLY MAN SEES THE BIBLE AND SECULAR DATA APPARENTLY AT ODDS, WELL, HE DOES AS MOSES DID WHEN HE SAW AN EGYPTIAN FIGHTING AN ISRAELITE: HE KILLS THE EGYPTIAN. HE DISCOUNTS THE SECULAR TESTIMONY, KNOWING GOD’S WORD TO BE TRUE. BUT WHEN HE SEES AN APPARENT INCONSISTENCY BETWEEN TWO PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, HE DOES AS MOSES DID WHEN HE FOUND TWO ISRAELITES QUARRELING: HE TRIES TO RECONCILE THEM. HE SAYS, ’AHA, THESE ARE BRETHREN, I MUST MAKE PEACE BETWEEN THEM.’ AND THAT’S WHAT THE GODLY MAN DOES." JAMES PACKER, YOUR FATHER LOVES YOU, HAROLD SHAW PUBLISHERS, 1986.
JOB KNEW MUCH SORROW, HERE WAS A MAN WHO WAS RIGHT TO CORRECT HIS SO CALLED COMFORTERS WHEN THEY WERE IN THE WRONG JOB 42:7 GOD CONFIRMED IT, BUT JOB OVER STEPS THE MARK WHEN HE TRIES TO CORRECT GOD TO ACCUSE GOD, GOD RESPONSE JOB:40:2 WILL THE ONE WHO CONTENDS WITH THE ALIMIGHTY CORRECT HIM? LET HIM WHO ACCUSES GOD ANSWER HIM!” 40:3-4 JOB ANSWERED “I AM UNWORTHY – HOW CAN I REPLY TO YOU? I PUT MY HAND OVER MY MOUTH . I SPOKE ONCE BUT I HAVE NO ANSWER – TWICE BUT I WILL SAY NO MORE.
WE ALL MAY FIND DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND GODS ELECTION, NONE THE LESS GOD HAS SPOKEN, GOD CHOOSES WHOM HE WILLS TO SHOW HIS MERCY AND HE CHOOSES WHOM HE HARDENS AND THIS IS NOT OUT OF HIS CHARACTER, BUT IN KEEPING WITH IT, A GOD WHO IS MERCIFUL AND JUST, TO RETORT BACK TO GOD AS IF WE KNOW BETTER IS ACTUALLY BLASPHEMOUS...... OUR RESPONSE SHOULD BE TO SILENTLY STAND IN AWE!
3. STAND IN AWE AND EXAMINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP. V21 DOES NOT THE POTTER HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE OUT OF THE SAME LUMP OF CLAY SOME POTTERY FOR NOBLE PURPOSES AND SOME FOR COMMON USE? (WE ARE CREATED – HE IS THE CREATOR)
HE’S POTTER, WERE THE CLAY, HE’S THE MASTER CRAFTSMEN WE ARE THE CRAFTED OBJECT - AS THE CREATOR HE HAS CONTROL OVER THE CREATED OBJECT. THEREFORE WE HAVE NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER TO DEMAND ANYTHING FROM THE CREATOR, BECAUSE OUR VERY EXISTENCE DEPENDS UPON HIM.
IF WE KEEP THIS PERSPECTIVE IN OUR HEART AND MIND BEFORE GOD IT WILL REMOVE ANY TEMPTATION TO HAVE ANY PRIDE IN OURSELVES (V16) , KEEPING US HUMBLE.
THE OT PROPHETS OFTEN USED THIS RELATIONSHIP (POTTER AND THE CLAY) POTTERY WAS A COMMON CRAFT AT THAT TIME. THE PROPHETS USED THE ANALOGUE OF GOD (AS THE POTTER) AND ISRAEL (AS THE CLAY). JER 18:1 -4 HERE THE ANALOGUE IS OF GOD TAKING A MARRED LUMP OF CLAY AND RESHAPES AS HE SEES BEST. GOD HAS DONE JUST THAT TO US WHO ARE SAVED, WE WERE MARRED BY SIN AND HAS BEGUN THE RE-SHAPING OF US AS SEEMS BEST TO HIM, NOT WHAT SEEMS BEST TO US.
THEY TOO HAD TURNED THE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD UPSIDE DOWN. ISAIAH 29:16 GODS COMPLAINT ROLE REVERSAL. ISAIAH.45:9: SECONDLY WE HAVE A WARNING: “WOE TO HIM HOW QUARRELS WITH HIS MAKER” HOW CAN WE ARGUE? WHEN WE ARE A MERE POTSHERD - SIMPLY A BROKEN PIECE OF POTTERY.
WE ALL CAME FROM THE SAME LUMP OF CLAY (MARRED)- THAT GOD SHOULD RESHAPE ANY OF US IS MIND BOGGLING, SO WHETHER HE CHOOSES TO RESHAPE THAT LUMP OF CLAY FOR NOBLE OR COMMON USE, THAT’S GODS PREROGATIVE. HE IS ABLE TO DEAL WITH SINNERS ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY AND WRATH, THAT’S GOD’S PREROGATIVE.
GOD NEVER MADE US SINNERS,( IN ADAM WE SINNED), GOD’S (PLAN TO REDEEM) WE REBELLED AGAINST GOD , HE DESIRES TO RESHAPE US, ( SOME NOBLE AND COMMON PURPOSES) ACCORDING TO HIS PERFECT WILL, EITHER TO PARDON OR TO PUNISH. ( HE IS MORAL JUDGE)
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE ? STAND IN AWE! EXAMINE YOURSELF “WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM ?” ARE YOU A RECIPIENT OF GRACE OR ARE YOU UNDER HIS JUDGEMENT? BELIEVE THE GOSPEL
4. STAND IN AWE AT THE GLORY OF GOD. V22 -24
WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER GOD’S HIGHEST VALUE? WHAT DOES GOD WANT TO REVEAL TO US ABOVE ALL... HIS LOVE - HIS MERCY – HIS COMPASSION - HIS GRACE - – HIS FORGIVENESS - HIS JUSTICE - HERE WE ARE BEGIN TO GET A PICTURE OF SOMETHING OF WHAT GOD IS LIKE....HIS ATTRIBUTES OF GOD...... BUT PAUL WANTS US TO KNOW THAT ABOVE ALL GODS GLORY IS GODS HIGHEST VALUE.
THIS IS GODS MORAL BEAUTY AND PERFECTION OF CHARACTER A DIVINE QUALITY IS BEYOND MANS UNDERSTANDING (PSALM 113:4) AND ALL PEOPLE FALL SHORT OF IT (ROM3:23) BUT THROUGH HIS ELECTING LOVE - HUMAN BEINGS, WHO HAVE FALLEN SHOT CAN BEGIN TO LIVE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY EPHN1:12
(THIS IS AN OPEN ENDED QUESTION) V22 WHAT IF GOD, CHOOSING TO SHOW HIS WRATH, SECONDLY AND MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN, WHY? TO SHOW THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY KNOWN TO THE OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY. SO WHEN GOD BRINGS CONDEMNATION UPON A SINNER IT BRINGS GLORY TO GOD.
BUT WHY? BECAUSE THAT IS PART OF WHO HE IS, TO DEMONSTRATE HIS WRATH AND JUDGEMENT IS DEMONSTRATING IS HOLY INDIGNATION TOWARDS SIN. THESE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD ARE AS MUCH PART OF HIS NATURE AS HIS LOVE AND MERCY ARE TOWARDS SINNERS. PAUL WANTS US TO KNOW THAT GODS GLORY IS NOT ONLY SEEN IN THOSE WHOM HE HAS SHOWN MERCY TOO BUT GODS GLORY IS SHOWN TO US (OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY) ALSO TOWARDS THOSE HE HAS SHOWN HIS WRATH TO.
V22-23. WHAT IF GOD, CHOOSING TO SHOW HIS WRATH AND MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN, BORE WITH GREAT PATIENCE THE OBJECTS OF HIS WRATH—PREPARED FOR DESTRUCTION? 23WHAT IF HE DID THIS TO MAKE THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY KNOWN TO THE OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY, WHOM HE PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR GLORY— PAUL WANT US TO SEE THAT GODS HIGHEST VALUE “ THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY” V23 WHICH IS SEEN IN ALL ITS SPLENDOUR IN HIS ELECTING PURPOSES AS HE SHOWS MERCY AND AS HE HARDENS.
JOHN MACARTHUR BELIEVES THIS ANSWERS A BIG QUESTION WE ALL ASK .... AND I WOULD AGREE WITH HIM. THE BIG QUESTION IS.......SO WHY DID GOD ALLOW SIN ?
THE ENTRANCE OF SIN INTO THE WORLD WAS NECESSARY SO GOD COULD MANIFEST HIS WRATH AND HIS JUDGEMENT, TO MAKE THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY KNOWN TO THE OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY, WHOM HE PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR GLORY— YOU SEE IF SIN HAD NEVER COME INTO THE WORLD - WE WOULD HAVE NEVER HAVE SEEN GODS FULL GLORY HIS JUST AND HOLY INDIGNATION TOWARDS SIN , GOD WOULD HAVE NEVER REVEALED HIS FULL GLORY.
MARTIN LUTHER SAID TO ERASMUS, "MERE HUMAN REASON CAN NEVER COMPREHEND HOW GOD IS GOOD AND MERCIFUL; AND THEREFORE YOU MAKE TO YOURSELF A GOD OF YOUR OWN FANCY, WHO HARDENS NOBODY, CONDEMNS NOBODY, PITIES EVERYBODY. YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND HOW A JUST GOD CAN CONDEMN THOSE WHO ARE BORN IN SIN, AND CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES, BUT MUST , BY A NECESSITY OF THEIR NATURAL CONSTITUTION, CONTINUE IN SIN, AND REMAIN CHILDREN OF WRATH. THE ANSWER IS GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE THROUGHOUT, AND THEREFORE HIS JUSTICE, AS WELL AS HIS OTHER ATTRIBUTES, MUST BE INCOMPREHENSIBLE."IT IS ON THIS VERY GROUND THAT PAUL EXCLAIMS, " OH, THE DEPTH OF THE RICHES BOTH OF THE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD! HOW UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS AND HIS WAYS PAST FINDING OUT!" (ROMANS 11:33) WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT EVEN THOUGH THESE THINGS ARE TRULY INCOMPREHENSIBLE - FOR THE HUMAN MIND (COMPUTER CRASH)
V23 WHAT IF HE DID THIS TO MAKE THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY KNOWN......THE PERSON WHO HAS RECEIVED MERCY SHOULDN’T BE SAYING ” HOW CAN GOD DO SUCH A THING” WE SHOULDN’T BE TRYING TO QUARREL WITH GOD – PASSING THE BLAME – WHEN WE SEE GODS JUDGEMENT UPON SINNERS BECAUSE IT IS PERFECTLY JUST AND BRINGS GLORY TO GOD JUST AS HIS MERCY TOWARDS US BRINGS GLORY TO GOD. . BUT SILENTLY STAND IN AWE AT THE SOVEREIGN ACTS OF HIS ELECTING LOVE AND HARDENING BECAUSE IT ALL BRINGS GLORY TO GOD!
THE GOSPEL INVITATION. V24 EVEN US , WHOM HE ALSO CALLED...
EVEN SO I DO BELIEVE WITH ALL MY BEING THAT ANYBODY CAN RESPOND TO THE GOSPEL AND BE SAVED THAT NONE OF US ARE PRE- PROGRAMMED TO DESTRUCTION, V22 BORE WITH GREAT PATIENCE THE OBJECTS OF HIS WRATH FRIENDS WE WERE THE OBJECTS OF HIS WRATH AT SOME POINT AND WE RESPONDED TO THE GOSPEL AND BECAME THE OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT, ASK YOURSELF THIS MORNING WHAT AM I AN OBJECT OFF? EVEN THIS MORNING YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO GODS ELECTING LOVE, BY REPENTING AND BELIEVING THE GOOD NEWS.
AMEN.
ROMANS 9: 19 - 24. STANDING IN AWE OF GOD.
THESE JEWISH OBJECTORS HAD REJECTED JESUS AS ................................... AS A RESULT THEY BELIEVED PAUL WAS REALLY THE ONE WHO WAS MISTAKEN, THEY HAD MANY QUESTIONS. PAUL HAS ALREADY SHOWN HIS OBJECTORS THAT NOT ALL ABRAHAMS DESCENDANTS ARE PART OF THE TRUE SPIRITUAL ....................... V6, HE SEEKS TO PROVE THIS THOUGH THEIR OWN ...................................... V9. AS THEY WERE ATTACKING THE PROMISES OF GOD.
HE SHOWS THAT GOD HAS NOT BROKEN HIS PROMISES BUT IS ACTUALLY FULFILLING THEM. AND THEIR UNBELIEF ACTUALLY CONFIRMS JESUS AS MESSIAH BECAUSE GOD PROMISED ONLY A R.............................. WOULD BE SAVED NOT ALL ISRAEL.
THE JEWISH QUESTIONERS BELIEVED AS NATURAL DESCENDANTS OF .............................. THEY WERE HEIRS OF ALL GODS PROMISES. THEY ALSO BELIEVED THAT THEIR GOOD ................ WOULD SAVE THEM. BUT PAUL SAYS ITS NOT BY NATURAL DESCENT OR HUMAN EFFORT THAT A PERSON IS SAVED BUT BY GODS PURPOSE IN ..................................V11 HE POINTS TO THE LIVES OF TWINS CALLED ............................ AND ................ TO SHOW GODS PURPOSES IN ELECTION.
THIS CAUSES THEM TO ASK A SECOND QUESTION IS GOD ........................... V14? THEY GO ON TO ARGUE IF GOD CHOOSES AND HARDENS WHOM HE WISHES SURELY THAT’S NOT FAIR. . PAUL THEN SHOWS THAT GOD DOESN’T SAVE ANYBODY ON THE GROUNDS OF HIS JUSTICE BUT HIS ................. V15-16 HE HARDENS SOME BUT THIS ISN’T AN INJUSTICE BUT ACTUALLY ........................ BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE ARE ......................... AND RECEIVING WHAT THEY DESERVE.
THEN A THIRD QUESTION IS RAISED, IF GOD CHOOSES TO SHOW HIS MERCY AND HARDEN OTHERS, THEN CAN HOW GOD BLAME US, FOR WHO RESISTS HIS WILL V19 PAUL AT THIS POINT DOESN’T GIVE A DIRECT ANSWER, BUT GIVES A COUNTER QUESTION.
HE WANTS THEM TO EX....................... THEMSELVES BEFORE GOD, ASKING WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? TO ........................................ TO GOD V20. HE WANTS THEM TO SEE THE GULF IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND GOD. TO QUESTION HIS WAYS IS NOT A FITTING RESPONSE? FROM A ............................ V19 THE ONLY FITTING RESPONSE BEFORE GOD IS TO .................... IN..................!
HE WANTS THEM TO KNOW THAT GODS IS THE C............................ AND WE ARE THE C ........................................ HE IS THE........................................ AND WE ARE THE ..........................V21 CAN THE ONE WHO IS ........................ V20 REALLY TALK BACK TO THE ONE WHO FORMED IT? HE IS THE ONE WHO SHAPES THE SAME MARRED CLAY FOR TWO DIFFERENT PURPOSES WHICH ARE? .............................................................PURPOSES.
PAUL IS NOT SAYING WE CANNOT TRY TO GRASP THESE THINGS, ASPECTS OF GODS WAYS ARE PERPLEXING TO THE HUMAN MIND, BUT THESE PEOPLE WERE ARGUING AGAINST GODS WAYS. AT THE END OF THE DAY WE NEED TO LET GOD BE GOD. AFTER ALL ROMANS 11: 33 SAYS HIS JUDGEMENTS ARE ACTUALLY ................................................... V33.
WHETHER A PERSON HAS RECEIVED MERCY OR BEEN HARDENED ULTIMATELY GODS...................... IS REVEALED IN ALL HIS JUDGEMENTS OUR ONLY FITTING RESPONSE AS OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY IS NOT TO QUARREL BUT TO STAND IN ............... AND LIVE OUT LIVES ................................................. GRACE AS OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY.
