Studies in Romans-07 — William MacDonald

Now I come to chapter 9 of the letters to the Romans. In chapters 9 through 11 We hear Paul's answer to the Jewish objector who asks Does the gospel? promising salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews Mean that God has broken his promises to his earthly people the Jews.

Paul's answer covers Israel's past chapter 9. Its present in chapter 10 and its future in chapter 11. You will notice that this section contains a great emphasis on divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Romans 9 is one of the key passages in the Bible on the sovereign election of God. The next chapter sets forth the balancing truth the responsibility of man with equal vigor. When we say that God is sovereign we mean that he is in charge of the universe and that he can do as he pleases.

In saying that however, we know that because he is God he will never choose to do anything that is wrong unfair or unrighteous. Therefore to say that God is sovereign is merely to allow God to be God.

We should not be afraid of this truth or apologize for it. It is a glorious truth and should cause us to worship. In his sovereignty God has elected or chosen certain individuals to belong to himself.

But the same Bible that teaches God's sovereign election Also teaches human responsibility. While it is true that God elects men to salvation It is also true that men must choose to be saved by a definite act of the will.

The divine side of salvation is seen in the words all that the father giveth me shall come to me. The human side is found in the words that follow and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise cast out.

That is John 6 37. We rejoice as believers that God chose us in Christ Before the foundation of the world as we read in Ephesians 1 4. But we believe justice surely that whosoever will may take of the water of life freely.

Revelation 22 17. Someone has illustrated the two truths this way when we come to the door of salvation We see the invitation overhead. Whosoever will may come. When we pass through we look back and see the words elect according to the foreknowledge of God above the door.

Thus the truth of man's Responsibility faces men as they come to the door of salvation. The truth of sovereign election is a family secret for those who have already entered. How can it be that God chooses?

Individuals to belong to himself and at the same time makes a bona fide offer of salvation to all men everywhere. How can we reconcile these two truths? Well, the fact is that we cannot reconcile them to the human mind they are in hopeless conflict.

But the Bible teaches both doctrines and so we should believe them. Contempt to know that the difficulty lies in our minds and not in God's. These twin truths are like two parallel lines that meet only in infinity.

Although God chooses some men to be saved He never chooses anyone to be damned. Or to put it another way though. The Bible teaches election. It never teaches divine reprobation. But someone may object if God elects some to blessing then he necessarily Elects others to destruction, but that is not true.

The whole human race was doomed to destruction By its own sin and not by any arbitrary decree of God. If God allowed everyone to go to hell. And he could have done that. Men would be getting exactly what they deserved.

The question is does the sovereign Lord have a right to stoop down and Select a handful of otherwise doomed people to be a bride for his son. The answer of course is that he does have this right. So what it boils down to is this if men are lost it's because of their own sin and rebellion if men are saved.

It's because of the sovereign electing grace of God to the man who is saved. The subject of God's sovereign choice should be the cause of unceasing wonder. The believer looks around and sees people with better characters and better personalities and better Dispositions than his own and he asks.

Why did the Lord choose me or? as the poet asked why was I made to hear thy voice and Enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come. There are two principal dangers to be avoided in connection with this subject.

The first is to hold only one side of the truth that is for instance to believe in God's Sovereign election and to deny that a man has a free will in connection with his salvation at all. The other is to over emphasize one truth at the expense of the other.

The scriptural approach is to believe in God's sovereign election and to believe with equal force in human Responsibility. Only in this way can a person hold these doctrines in their proper biblical balance.

Romans 9 and Paul’s Burden for Israel

Now let us turn to chapter 9 and follow the beloved Apostle as he unfolds the subject verse 1 in insisting that salvation is for Gentiles as well as Jews. Paul gave the appearance of being a traitor a turncoat a Renegade as far as Israel was concerned.

So he here protests his deep devotion to the Jewish people by using a solemn oath. He speaks the truth. He is not lying his Conscience in fellowship with the Holy Spirit Attests the truth of what he is saying.

Verse 2 When he thinks first of Israel's glorious calling and now of its rejection by God. Because of its rejection of the Messiah. His heart is filled with great sorrow and continual anguish. Verse 3 he could even wish himself accursed or cut off from Christ.

If only through the forfeiting of his own salvation his Jewish brothers might be saved. In this strong statement of self-abnegation We sense the highest form of human love that which constrains a man to lay down his life for his friends.

John 15 verse 13 and We feel the enormous burden which a converted Jew experiences for the conversion of his kinsmen. It reminds us of Moses prayer for his people. Yet now If thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not blot me I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written.

Exodus 32 32. Paul does not actually wish himself accursed from Christ, but says I could wish myself. It is a figure of speech in which something is stated in an obviously exaggerated manner to capture the depth of the Apostles emotion.

Verse 4. As he weeps over his people their glorious privileges pass in review. They are Israelites members of God's ancient chosen earthly people. God adopted that nation to be his son as we read in Exodus 4 22 and Delivered them out of Egypt.

Hosea 11 1 he was a father to Israel and Ephraim was his firstborn the Shekinah or glory clouds symbolized God's presence in their midst guiding and protecting them. It was with Israel not with the Gentiles that God made the covenants for example the covenants with Abraham Moses David and Solomon.

It was with Israel that he made the Palestinian covenant the Messianic covenant and is with Israel That he will make the new covenant. It was to Israel that the law was given they and they alone were its recipients.

The elaborate rituals and services connected with the tabernacle and the temple were given to Israel as well as the priesthood. In addition to the covenants mentioned above God made innumerable promises to Israel of protection peace and prosperity.

Verse 5. The Jewish people rightfully claim the patriarchs as their own Abraham Isaac Jacob and their noble successors. The greatest privilege of all that Israel has the Messiah is an Israelite as far as his human Descent is concerned.

Though he is also of course the sovereign of the universe. God blessed forever. Here we have a positive statement of the deity and humanity of the Savior. It's true that some Bible versions weaken the force of this verse.

For example the revised standard version reads. And of their race. According to the flesh is the Christ period. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen. The Greek does not decide which translation is correct but spiritual discernment comparing scripture with scripture Accepts the reading in the King James Version and other conservative translations.

Israel’s Remnant and the Promise of God

Verse 6. The Apostle now faces up to a serious theological problem if God made promises to Israel as his chosen earthly people. How can this be squared with Israel's present rejection and with the Gentiles being brought into the place of blessing?

Paul insists that this does not indicate any breach of promise on God's part. He goes on to show that God has always had a sovereign selection process based upon promise and not just on lineal descent.

Just because a person is born into the nation of Israel does not mean that he's an heir to the promises. Within the nation of Israel God has a true believing remnant. Verse 7. Not all Abraham's offspring are counted as his children.

Ishmael for example was of the seed of Abraham. But the line of promise came through Isaac not through Ishmael. The promise of God was in Isaac. Shall I feed be called. The Lord Jesus made this same interesting distinction when talking with the unbelieving Jews in John 8.

Verses 33 through 39. They said to him We are Abraham's seed. Jesus admitted this saying I know you are Abraham's seed. But when they said Abraham is our father the Lord replied if you were Abraham's children You would do the works of Abraham.

In other words they were descended from Abraham, but they didn't have Abraham's faith and Therefore they were not his spiritual children. Verse 8. We see from this that it is not physical descent that counts the true Israel.

Consists of those Jews who were selected by God and to whom he made some specific promise marking them out as his children. We see this principle of sovereign election in the cases of Isaac and Jacob.

Verse 9. God appeared to Abraham Promising that he would return at the appointed time and that Sarah would have a son. That son of course was Isaac. He was truly a child of promise and a child of supernatural birth.

Verse 10. Another case of sovereign election is found in the case of Jacob. Isaac and Rebecca were the parents of course, but Rebecca was carrying two babies not one. Verse 11. A Pronouncement was made before the children were ever born.

This pronouncement could not therefore have had anything to do with works of merit by either child. It was entirely a matter of God's choice. Based on his own will and not on the character or attainments of the subjects.

The purpose of God according to election means His determination to distribute his favors according to his sovereign will and good pleasure. Verse 12. The decision was that the elder would serve the younger.

Esau would have a subservient place to Jacob. Notice here that it was not a question of salvation. God did not elect Esau to eternal damnation. But he did choose Jacob to be a link in the bloodline of the Messiah.

And he did choose Jacob's descendants to be his ancient earthly people. Esau was the firstborn of the twin brothers and ordinarily would have had the honors and privileges associated with that position.

But God's selection passed him by and rested on Jacob. Verse 13 to further enforce God's sovereignty in choosing. Paul quotes Malachi 1 and 2 Jacob. I loved but Esau I hated. Here God is speaking of the two nations Israel and Edom of which Jacob and Esau were heads.

God marked out Israel as the nation to whom he promised the Messiah and the messianic kingdom. Edom received no such promise. Instead its mountains and heritage were laid waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

This preference for Jacob is seen as an indication of God's love. Whereas the bypassing of Edom is interpreted as hatred by comparison. Actually God had plenty of reason for hating the Edomites because of their bitter hostility to his people.

The wonder lies not so much in his hatred of Edom as in his love for Israel. The former was well-deserved. The latter was a display of pure grace. Notice that it doesn't say that God hated Esau before he was born.

This was recorded in the last book of the Old Testament after God had borne patiently with that people for centuries. God's hatred of Edom doesn't mean that individual Edomites can't be saved. Anymore than his love for Israel means that individual Jews don't need to be saved.

Objections to Election and God’s Mercy

Verse 14 the Apostle correctly Anticipated that his teaching on sovereign election would stir up all kinds of objections. People still accused God of unfairness. They say that if he chooses some then he thereby necessarily damns the rest.

They argue that if God has settled everything in advance Then there's nothing man can do about it and God is unrighteous for condemning man. Paul hotly denies any possibility of unrighteousness on God's part.

But instead of watering down God's sovereignty in order to make it more palatable to these objectors He proceeds to restate it more vigorously and without apology. Verse 15. He first quotes God's words to Moses.

I Will have compassion on whom I have compassion. Who can say that the Most High the Lord of heaven and earth does not have the right to show mercy and compassion? All men are condemned by their own sin and unbelief.

If left to themselves, they would all perish. God chooses some of these condemned men to be objects of his grace. But this does not mean that he arbitrarily chooses the others to be condemned. They are already condemned.

Those who are chosen can thank God for his grace. Those who are lost have no one to thank but themselves. Verse 16. The conclusion then is that the ultimate destiny of men or of nations? Does not rest in the strength of their will or in the power of their exertions.

But rather in the mercy of the Lord. When Paul says that it is not of him that willeth He does not mean that a man's will is not involved in his salvation. The gospel invitation is clearly directed to man's will as in Revelation chapter 22 verse 17 where it says.

And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. Jesus exposed the unbelieving Jews as being unwilling to come to him. In John 5 40. Also when Paul says that it is not of him that runneth he does not deny that we must strive to enter the straight gate.

A Certain amount of spiritual earnestness and vigor is necessary. But man's will and man's running are not the primary determining factors. Salvation is of the Lord. G Campbell Morgan said. No willing on our part.

No running of our own can procure for us the salvation we need or enable us to enter into the blessings that provide of Ourselves. We shall have no will for salvation and shall make no effort toward it.

Everything of human salvation begins in God. Verse 17. God's Sovereignty is seen not only in showing mercy to some but in hardening others. Pharaoh is cited as an example. There's no suggestion here that the Egyptian monarch was doomed from the time of his birth.

What happened was this. In adult life he proved to be wicked cruel and Extremely stubborn in spite of the most solemn warnings. He kept hardening his heart. God could have destroyed him instantly, but he didn't.

Instead he raised him up or exalted him as Ruler in order that God might display his power in Pharaoh and that through Pharaoh God's name Might be known worldwide. Verse 18. Pharaoh Repeatedly hardened his own heart and every time he did God hardened Pharaoh's heart as a judgment upon him.

The same Sun that melts ice hardens play. The same Sun that bleaches cloth tans the skin. The same God who shows mercy to the brokenhearted also Hardens the impenitent grace. Rejected is grace denied.

God has the right to show mercy to whomever he wishes and to harden whomever he wishes. But because he is God he never acts unjustly. Verse 19. Paul's insistence on God's right to do what he pleases raises the objection that if this is so God shouldn't find fault with anyone.

No one can successfully resist his will. To the objector man is a helpless pawn on the divine chessboard. Nothing he can do or say will change his fate. Verse 20. The Apostle first rebukes the insolence of any creature who dares to find fault with his Creator.

Finite man laden with sin ignorance and weakness is in no position to talk back to God or Question the wisdom or justice of his ways. Verse 21. And Paul uses the illustration of the potter and the clay to vindicate the sovereignty of God.

The potter comes into his shop one day and Sees a pile of clay on the floor. He picks up a handful of the clay puts it on his wheel and fashions a beautiful vessel. Does he have a right to do that? The potter of course is God.

The clay is sinful lost humanity. If the potter left it alone, it would all be sent to hell. He would be absolutely just and fair if he left it alone. But instead he sovereignly selects a handful of sinners saves them by his grace and Conforms them to the image of his son.

Does he have the right to do that? Remember he's not arbitrarily dooming the others to hell. They are already doomed by their own willfulness and unbelief. God has the absolute right and authority to make a vessel of beauty with some of the clay and a vessel of dishonor with some.

In a situation where everyone is unworthy He can bestow his blessings where he chooses and withhold them whenever he wishes. Barnes says where all are. Undeserving. The utmost that can be demanded is that he should not treat any with unjustice injustice.

Verse 22. What valid objection can be raised if God desires to show his power in punishing sin. If he condoned sin or overlooked it, he would not be righteous. God must punish sin. But instead of doing so instantly his Characteristic approach has been to put up patiently with vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction.

Vessels of wrath are people whose sins make them eligible for God's wrath. They are fitted unto destruction by their own disobedience and not by some arbitrary decree of God. Verse 23. Who can object if God wishes to show the treasures of his glory.

To people to whom he desires to show mercy. People whom he had previously Selected for eternal glory. Here see our Erdman's comment seems especially helpful. He says God's sovereignty is never exercised in condemning men who ought to be saved.

But rather it has resulted in the salvation of men who ought to be lost. God does not fit vessels of wrath to destruction, but he does fit vessels of mercy to glory. Verse 24. Paul identifies the vessels of mercy as Those of us who are Christians whom God called from both the Jewish and Gentile worlds.

Hosea, Isaiah, and the Remnant of Israel

This lays the foundation for much that is to follow the setting aside of all but a remnant of the nation of Israel and the call of the Gentiles to a place of privilege. Verse 25. The inspired apostle quotes two verses from Hosea to show that the call of the Gentiles Should not have come as a surprise to the Jews.

The first is Hosea 223 where God calls the Gentiles my people and beloved. Actually the interpretation of the Hosea passage refers to the restoration of Israel. But Paul by the Holy Spirit makes an application of the verse to the Gentile.

Verse 26. The second verse is Hosea 110 where God is acknowledging Gentiles as his sons. Here to the passage is actually speaking of Israel's restoration to God's favor. But it when it comes to the application of Scripture the Holy Spirit is a law unto himself.

Verse 27. The rejection of all but a remnant of Israel is discussed in verses 27 through 29. Isaiah predicted that only a minority of the children of Israel would be saved. Even though the nation itself might grow to tremendous numbers.

That's in Isaiah 10 and verse 22. Verse 28 the Prophet was dogmatic that Jehovah would do as he had said finishing the work of judgment and doing it speedily. If You're puzzled by the fact that these quotations are different from the Old Testament You should remember that they're taken from the Septuagint and this accounts for the difference in wording Isaiah was speaking of the Babylonian invasion and captivity.

But if it happened once it could happen again. In other words what happened in Isaiah's day could and did happen in Paul's day. Verse 29. So it happened as Isaiah said before that is in an earlier part of his prophecy that Israel Would have been wiped out like Sodom and Gomorrah if the Lord of the armies of heaven had not left some survivors.

Israel’s Righteousness and the Stumbling Stone

That's in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 9. Like a small portion of the harvest that is reserved for sowing. Verse 30. What then Paul asks is the conclusion of all this. As far as this present church age is concerned the first conclusion is that the Gentiles who Characteristically didn't follow righteousness But rather wickedness and who certainly didn't pursue a righteousness of their own making Have found righteousness through faith in the Lord Jesus.

Not all Gentiles, of course, but those who believed in Christ were justified. Verse 31. Israel on the other hand which sought justification on the basis of law-keeping Never found the law by which they might obtain righteousness.

Verse 32. The reason is clear. They refused to believe that Justification is by faith in Christ, but went on stubbornly stubbornly trying to work out their own righteousness by personal merit. They stumbled over the stumbling stone Christ Jesus the Lord.

Verse 33. This is exactly what the Lord foretold through Isaiah. The Messiah is coming to Jerusalem would have a twofold effect. To some he would prove to be a stumbling stone and rock of offense. Others would believe of him and find no reason for shame offense or disappointment.

Israel’s Zeal Without Knowledge

Chapter 10 and verse 1. It is true that Paul's teachings were most distasteful to the unconverted Jews. They considered him a traitor and an enemy of Israel. But he here assures his Christian brethren to whom he was writing that the thing that would bring the greatest delight to his heart.

And the thing for which he prays to God most earnestly is the salvation of the people of Israel. Verse 2. Far from condemning them as godless and irreligious the Apostle gives his testimony That they have a zeal for God this was apparent from their careful observance of the rituals and ceremonies of Judaism and from their intolerance of every contrary doctrine.

But zeal is not enough. It must be connected with truth. Otherwise, it can do more harm than good this verse 3. This is where they failed. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. Ignorant of the fact that God imputes righteousness on the principle of faith and not of works.

They went about trying to produce a righteousness of their own by law-keeping. They tried to win God's favor by their own efforts their own character their own good works. They steadfastly refused to submit to God's plan for reckoning righteous.

Those ungodly sinners who believe on his son verse 4 if they had only believed on Christ They would have seen that he is the termination of the law unto righteousness. The purpose of the law is to reveal sin to convict and condemn transgressors it can never impart righteousness.

The penalty of the broken law is death. In his death Christ paid the penalty of the law which men had broken. When a sinner received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior the law has nothing more to say to him through the death of his substitute.

That man has died to the law in the language of the Old Testament. Verse 5 now in the language of the Old Testament We can hear the difference between the words of law and the words of faith. In Leviticus 18 5 for instance Moses wrote that the man who achieves the righteousness Which the law demands will live by doing so the emphasis is on his achieving His doing.

Of Course this statement presents an ideal which no sinful man can meet. All it is saying is that if a man could keep the law perfectly and perpetually He would not be condemned to death. But the law was given to people who were already sinners and who were already condemned to death.

Even if they could keep the law perfectly from that day forward They still would be lost because God requires that which is past. Any hopes that men may have for obtaining righteousness by the law are doomed to failure from the outset verse 6.

The language of faith is quite different here. Paul quotes first from Deuteronomy 30 verses 12 and 13. In their original setting these verses refer to the law. But the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul changes the wording so as to capture the spirit and doctrine of the gospel.

The divine program of obtaining righteousness by faith doesn't tell men to go into heaven to bring Christ down. This would be impossible. Just like telling them to keep the law and it's unnecessary because Christ has already come down to earth in incarnation.

Verse 7 neither does the gospel tell men to descend into the abyss to bring Christ up from among the dead. This too would be impossible and unnecessary. Christ has already risen from the dead. Notice that in verses 6 and 7 we have the two doctrines concerning Christ.

Which were hardest for a Jew to swallow his incarnation and his resurrection. Yet he must accept these doctrines if he is to be saved. Verse 8 if the gospel doesn't tell men to do the humanly impossible.

Or to do what has already been done by the Lord. What then does it say? Again Paul adapts a verse from Deuteronomy 30 to say that the gospel is near accessible intelligible. Easily obtained it can be expressed in familiar Conversation that is in thy mouth and it can be readily understood in the mind that is in thy heart.

It's the good news of salvation by faith which Paul and the other apostles preached. Verse 9 here it is in a nutshell first. You must accept the truth of the incarnation that the babe of Bethlehem's manger is the Lord of life and glory and That the Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the old.

Second you must accept the truth of his resurrection with all that it involves. God raised him from the dead as Proof that Christ had completed the work necessary for our salvation and that God was satisfied with that work.

So you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. It is a personal Appropriation of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is saving faith.

Confession, Faith, and Universal Salvation

Verse 10 in further Explanation Paul writes that man believes with the heart unto salvation. It's not a mere intellectual assent, but a genuine acceptance with one's whole inward being. When a man does that he is saved.

Then with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That is the believer publicly confesses the salvation. He has already received. Confession is not a condition of salvation. But the inevitable outward expression of what has happened.

If on Jesus Christ you trust speak for him you surely must. When a person really believes something he wants to share it with others. So when a person is genuinely born again, it's too good to keep a secret.

He confesses Christ in verse 11. The Apostle quotes, Isaiah 2816 to emphasize that whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. The thought of public confession of Christ might arouse fears of shame, but the opposite is true.

Confession of him on earth leads to his confession of us in heaven. Ours is a hope that will never be disappointed. The word whosoever forms a link with what is to follow namely that God's glory of salvation Is for all Gentiles as well as Jews.

Verse 12 in Romans 3 23. We learned that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile as far as the need for salvation is concerned for all our sinners. Now we learn that there's no difference as far as the availability of salvation is concerned.

The Lord is not an exclusive God, but Lord of all mankind. He pours out his grace and mercy abundantly to all who call upon him. Verse 13 the words of Joel 232 are pressed into service to prove the universality of the gospel.

One could scarcely wish for a simpler statement of the way of salvation that has been is found in these words. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Verse 14 but such a gospel presupposes a universal Proclamation of.

The Universal Proclamation of the Gospel

What use is the salvation offered to Jews and Gentiles if they never hear about it? Here we have the heartbeat of Christian missions in a series of four how's. The Apostle goes back over the steps that lead to the salvation of Jews and Gentiles.

Perhaps it will be clearer if we reverse the order as follows. God sends his servants forth. They preach the good news of salvation. Sinners hear God's offer of life in Christ. Some of those who hear believe the message.

Those who believe call on the Lord. Those who call on him are saved. Hodge points out that this is an argument founded on the principle that if God wills the end He also wills the means to reach that end.

This as we have said is the basis of the Christian missionary movement. Paul is here vindicating his preaching the gospel to the Gentiles a policy which the unbelieving Jews considered inexcusable. Verse 15.

God is the one who sends. We are the ones who are sent. What are we doing about it? Do we have the beautiful feet which Isaiah ascribed to those who bring glad tidings of good things. Isaiah 52 7. In the Isaiah passage we read of the beautiful feet of him.

That is the Messiah. Here in verse 15 the hymn becomes them. He came with beautiful feet 1900 years ago. Now it is our privilege and responsibility to go with beautiful feet to a lost and dying world.

Hearing, Believing, and Israel’s Unbelief

Verse 16. But the Apostles ever-present grief is that the people of Israel did not all hearken to the gospel. Isaiah had prophesied as much when he asked Lord who has believed our report. The question calls for the answer not many.

When the announcement of the Messiah's first advent was heralded out not many responded. Verse 17. In this quote from Isaiah Paul notices that the belief spoken of by the prophet Springs from the message that is heard and that the message comes through the word about the Messiah.

So he lays down the conclusion that Faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes from the preaching of or about Christ. But hearing with the ears is not enough of course a person must hear with an open heart and mind willing to be shown the truth of God.

If He does he will find that the word has the ring of truth and that truth is self-authenticating. He will then believe. Verse 18. What then has been the problem? Haven't both Jews and Gentiles heard the gospel preached.

Yes Paul borrows the words of Psalm 19 for which described the universal witness of the sun moon and stars and Says that these words are equally true of the worldwide proclamation of the gospel in his own day.

Their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world.