Book of Romans
Lesson # 21
By Rev. James May
Romans Chapter 9:1 – 9:18
We ended last week with a discussion of the predestination of God for man. God has already determined that we should live victorious; that we should be blessed; that we should fulfill his will in the earth; and that we are to his own children in our eternal home. God’s plans are for good, and even promises that all things will accomplish that good in us to bring us to his predetermined place for us.
Paul stated it emphatically, that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus. Not any power on earth, or power of Satan man can remove us from God’s plan for our ultimate redemption and victory in Christ. There is no greater power than the strong bond of the Love of God that holds you in the Father’s hand.
But we must ever be mindful that there is ONE THING that can keep us from reaping the full benefits of God’s promises. There is one thing that God has also predetermined that he will not do, and that’s to overstep the will of man in deciding his own destiny. By our own choices, we either enter into the predestined plan of God that will bring us to the place victory and power in Christ, or we can reject Christ, and choose to walk away from God’s plan. If we, by our own choice, decide to leave Christ, deny his Lordship in our lives, and go back and serve the devil, then we also choose to suffer the consequences of our actions. God’s promises are always conditional upon our choices.
We do not believe that a man can be Born Again, yet decide to live in sin, rejecting the voice of the Spirit of God, and offending the Word of God, living his life in sin as much as those who were never saved, and still make Heaven his home. By his own choice, he can go back into the world and be eternally lost!
That is the major difference between what we discussed last week of the Calvinist and Arminian doctrines. It’s that question of whether we believe in the Unconditional Eternal Security of the Believer; or the Conditional Eternal Security of the Believer. We believe that the scriptures teach a Conditional Eternal Security based upon the obedience and faithfulness of those who are Born Again, who must choose to continue daily in their walk with God. God’s grace is ours if we accept it. His continual cleansing from sin is shown through his grace and mercy. We cannot earn salvation, but we must not take that to mean that we can presume upon God’s grace and think that we will be saved without repentance of sin. Grace does not give us license to sin against God.
Paul now continues this idea of predestination as he begins to use his own nation, Israel, as an example of how God’s predestination works.
Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Romans 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Romans 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Paul proclaims that he is very sorrowful and grieves continually, over the spiritual condition of the Jews. His sorrow never ceases, and he is in constant warfare against the forces of darkness while he tries to make every effort to bring Israel back into that place of blessing that God had predestined for them.
Paul’s love for his fellowman was so great that he was willing, if that’s what it took, to give up his own salvation so that Israel could be saved. The sad fact is that no matter how much Paul would have been willing to that, and no matter how much you might love your own children, and your own country, every man must stand upon his own decisions.
Like some of you, I have given my life, and dedicated all I am for the sake of the gospel. That’s not a bragging point, but a commitment that I made to Jesus long ago. Like many of you, I have tried my best to teach my family and anyone else who would hear, about the Love of God and salvation through Christ. If it were possible, I would die for their sakes, so that they might be saved.
I’m not sure, I confess, whether I would be willing to spend eternity in hell in their place, though I do believe that if I knew they would all be saved, I would have the grace and Love of God enough to do just as Paul would. I thank God that he doesn’t give us that choice to make. He has chosen a better way; one that is based on absolute justice and fairness to every man.
Every one of them has to make their own choice! No matter how much I pray, trust God, and desire it for them; they have to accept Jesus of their own free will. What I pray is that God will help them, through whatever means necessary, to come to the place in their lives where they will make that choice. That’s the prayer that I hold on to, and I’m going to continue to believe in God to make that happen. Yet I know, that no matter what God does, even to the point of giving his only Son on the cross for them, that they must make their own ultimate decision. God will never overpower or take away their free will.
In the earthly realm, according to the flesh, all of Israel were the kinship of Paul. He was a Jew, born into a nation that was as pure of blood as any nation could be. His lineage could be traced all the way back to Abraham, as could nearly all of the Jews. There is no doubt that they were all of one blood, all descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, and on down through the 12 sons of Jacob who fathered the 12 tribes of Israel.
Romans 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Romans 9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Here Paul reminds us of the predestined plan for Israel as God’s own chosen nation in the earth. They had received so many precious and wonderful promises from God. They were supposed to be the most blessed nation on the planet, and they were given a purpose as a people to spread the knowledge of the One True God to all other nations.
Israel was adopted, chosen and set aside by God himself. God’s glory was revealed to Israel numerous times throughout its history. God’s law and covenants were given; a law that was perfect for the governing of both men and nations; and covenants which God would not fail to fulfill through them.
How blessed a nation Israel was; and still is today, even though they have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah. Israel had to make its choice as a nation, and every Jew had to make his choice as a man, to be faithful to God and his calling if they were to reach that predestined end.
Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Romans 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Romans 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
What does Paul mean by the statement, “not as though the word of God had no effect”? The promises of God to Israel were always, and still are to this day, in effect. God does not back down on his covenants. He is a covenant keeping God and he is not a man that he should lie, even under the disguise of changing his mind. God’s covenants are true and sure, and their only condition is obedience to receive.
So what happens to Israel? In time, many of the Jews began to fall into apostasy. They began to worship other gods and to reject the Law of God. In so doing, they did not sever their ties in the flesh, but were still considered to be Jews, albeit they were often estranged from their own people because of sin.
Yet no matter how much wrong they did, or how far they were from God, they were always considered to be Jews.
Even nearly 2000 years later, after Israel was no longer a nation, and the Jews were scattered to the four winds of the earth while they were under judgment, they were still called Jews by birth. Hitler targeted them in an attempt to rid the world of Jews forever, and I believe God allowed it happen, not because of any vengeance that he had against them, but because of their own pronouncement upon themselves at the time of the crucifixion. When Pilate said that he found no fault in Jesus, the Jews continued to cry out Crucify Him!
Matthew 27:25 contains the curse of the Jews upon themselves and for future generations of Jews to come. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
Those who chose to reject Christ, and those who chose to serve other gods were still Jews in the flesh, but they were no longer Jews according to the promise of Abraham. Their spiritual connection to the covenant of God was severed, and many of them turned their back on God and many lost their eternal soul in the process.
Israel, as a nation, turned its back on God and the connection was severed. But God, in his grace and mercy, and according to his own covenant, declared that Israel would rise again, and that the Jews would still inherit the promises of the covenant, not only with Abraham, but that they would inherit the salvation through Christ as well.
God is not done with Israel! They are still God’s chosen nation, and they are the only nation on planet earth that is promised a place of prominence in the millennial reign of Christ! Jerusalem will yet be the capital city of God’s kingdom upon the earth and all the earth will look toward Israel and God’s holy city to receive the blessings of God. For 1,000 years Israel will finally occupy its predestined place in the plan of God. It will take 6000 years or more for it to happen, but God’s plan will be complete for his chosen nation.
Understand this: when a Jew decided to reject God, he was no longer a part of the covenant with Abraham. Just as a Christian can decide to sever his connection with Christ, so could the Jew sever his connection with the spiritual covenant of God with Abraham. He could claim to be a Jew and a son of Abraham in the flesh; but he had no basis to claim to be a part of the Abrahamic Covenant!
In the same manner, someone who attends church, hears the preaching, yet rejects the word of God and continues to live in sin, may say that they are Christian and have all of the connections with the church. But without Jesus in their heart, and a life that is dedicated to Christ, they are not a part of the Covenant of Jesus’ blood. The difference is the fleshly nature and the spiritual being. We have to be in that spiritual covenant to obtain all of God’s promises.
The Jews who were a part of the covenant were those who came from the Promise of God to Abraham, through Isaac, the son of promise. Those who came through Ishmael were not part of that promise, though they had Abraham as their father. God’s promise was passed down by Abraham’s fleshly seed, but by the spiritual seed of faith through Isaac.
Likewise, the promise of salvation is passed down only through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Without the spiritual cleansing and identification through the blood of Jesus, there is no connection to the Promise of God for the church.
How was God’s Covenant with Abraham given? What were its conditions?
Romans 9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
So the promise would be fulfilled through Sarah’s son, Isaac. And then It would be passed on through Isaac to his son, Jacob. That’s was God’s predestined plan to fulfill his covenant with Abraham. No one else but Isaac and Jacob could carry the seed of the covenant forward.
Romans 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Now understand that God did not preset the plan that things would go the way they did. But God does understand the nature and heart of every man, and he knew how things would go before men made their decisions.
Romans 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
In the birth of Jacob and Esau, Esau was firstborn and should have carried the promise of God for Israel, but he rejected that promise and sold the birthright to Jacob. Even though he was deceived in many ways, I have no doubt that he knew what he was doing when he sold that birthright for a bowl of soup.
God knew this was going to happen. It didn’t take him by surprise. His plans for the covenant with Abraham were suddenly derailed and he had to search for a solution. God had predestined that when Jacob obtained the birthright, that Jacob would then carry the seed of the covenant forward.
God didn’t hate Esau. He didn’t force Esau to give up his birthright. He just knew that it would happen, and therefore he “hated”, or rejected Esau as the one through whom the covenant would be brought to pass.
Romans 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Did God do anything wrong in the way this all went down? Was God to blame for Esau’s rejection? Was it God’s fault that Jacob was such a conniver? NO – God had no part in these two men making their own decisions and doing what they did. God just used their decisions to predestine what would happen in the lives of each of these men after they had made their choices.
Romans 9:15 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.
God, in speaking to Moses, proclaimed that he alone makes the decision and predestines men. God will either show mercy and compassion, or he will not, and his decision is always based on his own righteous judgment.
Who will God have mercy on? All who will receive him, believe on him, serve him, love him and choose him.
Who will God not have mercy on? Only on those who refuse to accept it and reject God. Yet, even in their rejection, God tries to show mercy and compassion, but that too is often rejected.
It’s not God’s fault if men aren’t choosing to believe in him and be a part of his promises to man. But based on the choices that man makes, God then has the sovereign right to choose whether to continue to show mercy and compassion, or to reject that man.
Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
It is by no actions of man that God chooses to show mercy. It is by the act of God alone that mercy is shown. Whether a man wills, or not; whether he chooses to run with God, or to run from God, is his choice, but God’s mercy is still extended.
Since mercy is a gift from God and not merited by any action of man, whether good or bad, then it is also God’s sovereign choice to either show mercy or to withhold mercy as he judges is right. He is not doing some injustice to withhold his mercy at any given point, since no man deserves it in the first place. Thank God that he chooses to show his mercy to any man that will seek after him, for God is not willing that any man should perish.
But let us never presume upon his mercy and grace, for God has the right to remove it at any moment when he sees the evil heart of man refuse to accept it and to turn away in absolute rejection of all that God offers.
Romans 9:17 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.
There is the other side of predestination that we must see. We have seen how God predestines those who he knows will choose to serve him and plans for their blessings and victory in the end.
The other side of predestination is found in the example of Pharaoh. God in his foreknowledge of the heart of this man called Pharaoh, knew that this man’s heart would never be touched and changed by anything that God would do. God offered Pharaoh many opportunities to obey his word, but each time Pharaoh hardened his heart even more. Since Pharaoh would never surrender his will to God’s will, then God’s mercy toward Pharaoh was lifted, and his only choice was to predestine Pharaoh to being a reprobate and a heathen, and to suffer the consequences of a man who rebelled against God’s power and authority.
God set Pharaoh in place, raised him up among men, so that he would be the example God needed in the earth of what happens when men harden their hearts against God. God did not create Pharaoh to be a reprobate. He was born that way just as every man on earth is born in sin. But God knew Pharaoh’s heart, and he knew he would never submit to God’s will, so God used Pharaoh’s own hard heart against him.
Everything that Pharaoh did, God pushed him to do, proving just how reprobate Pharaoh was, and how far a man will go when he rejects God completely.
God allowed Pharaoh to be born, and purposed from the beginning, that this man would exist in the right time, at the right place, and allowed him to be exalted among men, so that the awesome power of God to deliver his people from any circumstances could be demonstrated to all mankind.
Thus we can see as it is written in the word that God is in ultimate control of all things.
Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Psalms 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another
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Revelation 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
God changes history, for the fulfillment of his prophetic word and to bring to pass the predestinated end of all things. He puts kings up and takes them down. He allows kingdoms to rise, and then brings them to their end. He allows nations to be created and then allows them to fall. He gives men wisdom and understanding to do whatever needs to be done, but then allows that same wisdom and understanding to bring about their destruction as it is necessary to fulfill his purposes in the earth.
God alone is the Righteous Judge and he alone has the right and the power to do as he sees fit, and who can question his judgments and purposes? He is God and he answers to no man, regardless of how men might try to judge him. He is righteous altogether, and he is ultimately fair and just in his treatment of all men. He alone knows the hearts of men and the beginning from the end, and he alone establishes his word in the earth to fulfill every jot and tittle.
Even in these last days, we can rest assured that everything that happens will be to fulfill the word of God and to bring about a predestined end of all things; to establish his righteous kingdom and to end the power of sin and death.
Every ruler that is given power over men is put there by God for his purposes, whether it’s a mayor who is an avowed lesbian married to another woman, or a president that is about as unpatriotic and despises a constitution that gives rights to the people, or a dictator that kills Jews by the millions, or a governor who establishes laws to persecute and prosecute Christians who preach the name of Jesus, or even a man who will give himself over to be Satan’s own.
All of these rulers are raised up, just as Pharaoh was, and all of those who are yet to come, will all be raised at the right time, and in the right place, for one purpose – to show the ultimate power of God over all things! God’s purposes will be served, and his power to deliver his people from the hands of our enemies will be revealed.
How he will do it is God’s business. All we need to do is trust him and remain faithful to the end in fulfilling his purposes in our own lives. You were raised up, the ministers of this time were raised up, the original twelve disciples were raised up, and King David, Daniel, and every man was raised up, in God’s time, in the right place, to fulfill the purposes of God. It’s all been predestined to happen as it shall, and God’s will, shall be done! He is a sovereign Lord and he rules over the affairs of all the earth!
Romans 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Because God knows the end from the beginning, and knows the hearts of all men, and is fully knowledgeable of how all men will react to his call upon their lives, it is therefore his right, as God, to show mercy to those who will accept it; to withhold mercy and harden the hearts of those who will reject him. He is Lord of all and he alone is the Righteous Judge of all the earth.
All I can say, as I close this lesson is this: Thank God that He saw in you and I a heart that would be broken and could be changed to serve him. Thank the Lord that we were created with a heart that he could touch, and a life that he can use. Thank God that we were raised up for such a time as this, so that we could all be used for his glory, to show his power, and to be a part of God’s great predestined plan for us in his Kingdom forever.
