Is God Unjust?
(Romans 9:14-29)
1. There are many puzzles in life. One recent puzzle is the whereabouts of an escapted tiger.
Bengal Tiger Seen Roaming La. Army Base
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
FORT POLK, La. — A Bengal tiger on the loose in the thick brush surrounding Fort Polk seems to be playing hide and seek — and winning.
A team of about 40 soldiers and sheriff’s deputies searched the woods on the Army base for a second day Wednesday for any sign of the tiger.
"So far we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of it," said Scott Heinrich, owner of a wild animal consultancy that was brought in to track the big cat.
It was unclear where the animal came from, but it’s likely that it was a pet that escaped or was set free, said Leslie Whitt, director of the Alexandria Zoo, who assisted in the search. Several witnesses said the animal was wearing a collar.
Heinrich said he and others scanned the woods Tuesday morning from a helicopter but did not see the tiger. They continued their search on the ground, beginning from where the animal was last seen, he said.
Based on witnesses descriptions, the tiger is probably about 100 pounds and 1 year old, Whitt said. If it was kept as a pet, it probably has not learned how to hunt for food, he said.
2. But few things are more puzzling than the mysterious ways of God.
Main idea: Paul has taught us that God picks out individuals for salvation not based on anything they do, but out of pure grace. At the same time, he bypasses others. This raises a number of questions, and Paul fields them, though not necessarily to our satisfaction. God is God, and He does as He pleases. We do not have to like it, but we should not live in spiritual denial either.
I. Is God Unjust? (14-18)
A. The answer: “Not at all”
B. God is merciful to some (16)
1. This mercy is NOT a result of human effort or even desire
2. It is based on God’s Sovereignty
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don’t ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.
"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
“Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman’s son.
C. God is just to some others (17-18)
1. If you read the account in Exodus, you find that, at first, Pharaoh hardened his own heart; then God hardened it further as a judgment
2. Everyone’s heart is hard toward God; sometimes God softens a person’s heart somewhat without necessarily regenerating that person…
3. Daniel 4:35, a lesson Nebuchadnezzar had to learn: “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”
4. In the case of Pharaoh, God hardened his heart further so he would not become co-operative…this is similar to God giving depraved society “over” in Romans 1:28…an act of judgment
5. Dr. Leon Morris put it this way, “Neither here nor anywhere else is God said to harden anyone who had not first hardened himself.”
6. God is therefore free to do just what verse 18 says….the wonder is NOT that all are lost, the wonder is that SOME are saved….God is not obligated to show equal mercy to all…
God is God, and He does as He pleases. We do not have to like it, but we should not live in spiritual denial either.
II. How Can God Blame People If He Irresistibly Chooses Some While Bypassing Others? (19-21)
A. Paul does not give us a direct answer, probably because he knew none. He acknowledges the question, however, to indicate to his readers that they are, in fact, understanding exactly what he is saying.
B. His answer addresses attitude more than intellectual content. He treats the question more as an objection than a query.
1. Paul does not usually stifle legitimate questions; indeed, he encourages them
2. But here, since there is no way for we humans to understand how these issues can be reconciled, the only answer Paul can give us boils down to this: Remember who you are and remember Who God is…
3. “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” Psalm 115:3
4. The Scriptures reveal God as He is, not as we want Him to be…too many of us develop our theology and then make the Bible fit it rather than studying the whole of Scripture and then developing our theology…
C. Paul reminds us that God is the potter and we are the clay; we cannot demand a satisfactory answer, but simply must believe that God is good and righteous because He says so. As Paul answers in vs. 14, “Is God unjust” “Not at all.”
D. God’s Word makes it clear that we ARE responsible for our behavior and will be held accountable for every choice we make and everything we do. We cannot reconcile our responsibility with God’s sovereignty, but we can admit that God’s ways are higher than ours; it should come as no surprise to us that we cannot understand everything about God. We ARE, in fact, responsible:
Consider this story told by Bernard L. Brown, Jr., president of the Kennestone Regional Health Care System in the state of Georgia.
Brown once worked in a hospital where a patient knocked over a cup of water, which spilled on the floor beside the patient’s bed. The patient was afraid he might slip on the water if he got out of the bed, so he asked a nurse’s aide to mop it up. The patient didn’t know it, but the hospital policy said that small spills were the responsibility of the nurse’s aides while large spills were to be mopped up by the hospital’s housekeeping group.
The nurse’s aide decided the spill was a large one and she called the housekeeping department. A housekeeper arrived and declared the spill a small one. An argument followed.
"It’s not my responsibility," said the nurse’s aide, "because it’s a large puddle." The housekeeper did not agree. "Well, it’s not mine," she said, "the puddle is too small."
The exasperated patient listened for a time, then took a pitcher of water from his night table and poured the whole thing on the floor. "Is that a big enough puddle now for you two to decide?" he asked. It was, and that was the end of the argument.
Bits & Pieces , September 16, 1993, p. 22-24.
Found at ChristianGlobe.com
God is God, and He does as He pleases. We do not have to like it, but we should not live in spiritual denial either.
III. What If God IS Glorified By Both the Lost and the Redeemed? (22-29)
A. Objects of Wrath Highlight His JUSTICE
----not stated who prepared them as such
---when people shake their fists in hatred at God, when they say they think that God, as portrayed in the Bible, is evil, or when they live lives that ignore God’s claim on their lives, these people will still ultimately glorify God
Phil. 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.
B. Objects of Mercy Highlight His Love and GRACE
1.prepared BY God for glory
2. prepared in ADVANCE
3. Who are these objects of mercy? Even US (we believers)
4. Note: the issue here is not national election, but personal election—people “called out”
2 Cor. 2:15-16, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”
C. The Old Testament also has prophecies and examples of times when only a remnant of Israel was saved while Gentiles were predicted as also enjoying the blessings of the God of Israel….(25-29)
D. Jesus put it this way: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 8:11-12)
God is God, and He does as He pleases. We do not have to like it, but we should not live in spiritual denial either.
CONCLUSION
1. Those of us who are objects of mercy need to SAVOR our status; we are branches snatched from the fire.
2. It is one thing to be exposed to these realities, another to live in light of them.
3. This means we did nothing to earn our salvation, nor are we better than anyone else. We are simply objects of God’s mercy and will enjoy Him forever.
4. Let’s begin now. Are you walking with the Lord daily? In the Word? In prayer? God conscious during the day? Training your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Living as He would have you live?
