human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy

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August 23, 2015

If Romans 9 is an ocean of God’s freedom and sovereignty, we didn’t dive into the depths last week. We stood on the edge of the shore and let the water wash up on our feet. One reason I led us to take that approach is because I know the waves of Romans 9 are so massive that they can come crashing down on us, crushing the breath out of us, and then we just want to get out of the water and never get back in again. And I want us to avoid that reaction, because that’s not the point of Romans 9. Yes, you should see the waves of God’s freedom and sovereignty in Romans 9 as so huge that you know they could crush you. There should be an appropriate reverence and awe in your heart that leads you to tremble in worship before your great God. But the point is not to strike a fear in your heart that drives you away from God and away from faith in His freedom and sovereignty. The point of Romans 9 is to assure you that all the promises of love and security and joy that God gives at the end of Romans 8 will be true forever. This same God who loves you so passionately also has utter power and sovereignty to carry out the desires of His love. Nothing can stop Him. He promises good to you, because He loves you. He is able to give good to you, because He is sovereign and free. Or you can say it the other way around: God can do whatever He wants, because He is sovereign and free. And because of His love, what He wants is to make all things work for your good for all eternity. When you see that connection between Romans 8 and Romans 9—between God’s love and God’s sovereignty—I hope you see that God didn’t inspire the massive waves of Romans 9 in order to crush you beneath them. God inspired the massive waves of Romans 9 because He wants you to experience the joy of riding on top of them. He wants you to experience the complete assurance and guarantee of knowing that the power of His sovereignty and freedom is carrying you to the goal of His love. So that’s one reason why we are taking small steps into the edge of Romans 9 before we plunge into the ocean: I hope it’s helpful to see how God wants us to relate to His “waves” before we encounter them full force. The second reason for taking small steps has to do with my inadequacy to teach these truths. They are very big, and my mind is very small, and my command of words is even smaller. I want to be very clear about our complete dependence on the Spirit to teach us if we are going to truly grasp the spiritual truths of this chapter. I can’t get my arms around it all at once. I certainly can’t express it clearly all at once. So we’re going to take it one piece at a time, all the while knowing that even one piece is too big for us on our own, and we are completely dependent on the Spirit to teach us. So tonight I want us to take another step of preparation for the waves of Romans 9. This time, I want us to look at some of the most common objections we have to the teaching about God’s freedom and sovereignty in election—objections that often cause us to “jump off” the waves and refuse to get back on. And what I hope we’ll see is that these objections are not biblically accurate. If our understanding of Romans 9 leads us to believe any of these things, then we don’t yet understand Romans 9. Often, when we hear the truth of God’s freedom and sovereignty in election—that “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy,” and “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (9:16, 18) - we have objections (or at least questions) like this: 1.

If that’s true, then it doesn’t matter what we do. If God’s already decided how everything’s going to happen, all we can do is accept it.

2. If that’s true, then there’s no way we should be responsible for anything. God makes it all happen. 3. If that’s true, then there’s no point in praying. God has already determined everything, so my prayers don’t matter, because they aren’t going to change anything. 4. If that’s true, then there’s no point in evangelism and missions, because God has already decided who He’s going to save.

I can understand why we struggle with each of those thoughts. But what I hope we see tonight is that if we think that way about God’s sovereignty, our thoughts don’t match what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches God’s sovereignty, but the Bible does not teach that any of those objections follow from God’s sovereignty. And in our finite and fallen minds, it is very hard (probably impossible) for us to fully understand how the Bible’s teaching fits together at this point, but we can trust that it does fit together. The problem is not with the Bible’s teaching. The problem is with our limited understanding. So I’m not claiming I can explain everything we’ll see tonight. But I want us to see it any way. I’ll try to be helpful, and I pray we will see further than we’ve seen before. And then at the points where we still don’t see clearly, I pray we’ll trust what God reveals instead of trusting our own thoughts. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but many of you probably know that all of Romans 9-11 fits together. Paul raises the issue of Israel’s lostness at the beginning of chapter 9, because he intends to show that their lostness doesn’t mean God’s word has failed, and he continues to address that topic all the way through chapter 11. It’s in that context that he brings up God’s sovereignty and freedom in election. So the way I want us to deal with the objections to God’s sovereignty is by seeing that even this very section of Romans does not teach any of them. Even the chapters that make some of the most explicit claims about God’s sovereignty and freedom in the whole Bible still don’t teach any of the above objections. Let’s start with the first objection: “It doesn’t matter what we do. If God’s already decided how everything’s going to happen, all we can do is accept it.” Romans 9-11 makes it clear that isn’t true. First, look at 9:1-3, “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience bears witness

in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” What I want us to see right now in those verses is that Paul’s reaction to Israel’s lostness is not a passive, “Oh well, there’s nothing I can do about it. God’s sovereign, so I’ve just got to resign myself to accept that this is their fate.” No! He grieves their lostness. He doesn’t just accept it; he’s burdened by it. He’s so burdened that he even says he wishes he could give up his salvation for the sake of them being saved! Do any of us have that type of love and passion for the lost? Do you care that much when you think about people who don’t know Jesus? So already, in the first 3 verses of Romans 9, we see that somehow God’s sovereignty in election fits with a passionate love and concern for the lost. Now, combine that with 11:13-14, “Now I am speaking to

you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.” Do you realize what Paul

is saying there? He’s saying that he does not accept Israel’s lostness. He’s doing everything he can to save them. Even when he shares the gospel with Gentiles, he does so because the Gentiles’ salvation may wake up some Jews and have the effect of drawing them to Jesus. In other words, according to Paul, God’s sovereignty in election does not mean it doesn't matter what Paul does, and it does not mean Paul just accepts whatever’s going to happen. No, Paul is an active participant in what happens. What Paul does really matters. What Paul does really produces results. Why? Because our sovereign God intends for it to be that way! When Jesus first called Paul, He said Paul “is a chosen [elect!] instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Yes, God is ultimately sovereign in who is saved, but He’s also sovereign in how they’re saved. And God has chosen to use human “instruments” as His tools to save. What we do matters, because God chooses for it to matter. When we share the gospel, it impacts who is saved, because God chooses for our sharing the gospel to impact who is saved. Our passion and love for the lost matter, because God chooses for it to matter.

You can see that this also answers our fourth objection: “There’s no point in evangelism and missions, because God has already decided who He’s going to save.” That is not what we see in Romans 9-11! It matters if you share the gospel, because God has decreed that you sharing the gospel is how the elect are saved. Paul does not accept that everything is just a done deal. He knows that his Sovereign God has created him and called him to play a real role in God’s saving purposes. So Paul can say, “Somehow… somehow!... I am going to do something to save some Jews!” Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 2:10, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” He doesn’t say, “Oh, they’re elect, so they’re in. They’re elect, so I don’t have to do anything.” No! “I endure everything for the sake of the elect.” Something about Paul’s understanding of election drives him to do everything he possibly can to make sure the elect are saved. If we don’t understand election that way, then we aren’t thinking about it the way it’s taught in the Bible. Paul’s not passive as if God’s sovereignty means what he does doesn’t matter. He’s passionate because God’s sovereignty means everything he does matters… because our sovereign God designed it that way! Let’s look at our second objection now: “There’s no way we should be responsible for anything. God makes it all happen.” I want us to see two different ways Romans 9-11 rejects this thought. First, think about the example of Israel that Paul gives. When Paul talks about their lostness, what does he say is the cause? (That’s sort of a trick question.) Start in 9:31, “Israel who pursued a law that

would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works…” What’s the reason he gives for Israel’s

lostness? They worked for righteousness instead of trusting God. In other words, they are responsible for their lostness, because they chose not to trust God. They are the cause of their lostness. We see the same thing in 10:3, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” The reason they are lost is because they did not submit to God’s righteousness. They are the cause of their lostness, and they are responsible for what they have done. But that’s not the only answer Paul gives. (That’s why it was sort of a trick question—there are two answers.) The other reason Paul gives for Israel’s lostness is because God didn’t choose all Israel to be true Israel (9:6-13). God has mercy on whomever he wills, and He hardens whomever He wills (9:18). “ God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day” (11:8). What’s the cause of Israel’s lostness in those verses? The sovereign election and purposes of God. The reason they are lost is because God, in His infinite wisdom and eternal purposes, chose to harden them. And make sure you’re clear on what we’re seeing: In the very same chapters, the Bible talks simultaneously about God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The fact that Israel is responsible for causing their lostness does not mean God is not sovereign in causing their lostness. And the fact that God is sovereign in causing their lostness does not mean Israel is not responsible for their lostness. Both are true. God is sovereign, and we are responsible. One is deeper than the other (God’s sovereignty is deeper), but both are true. How? I don’t fully understand it. It’s likely that God’s mind is the only mind great enough to fully grasp it. But we know it’s true, because we see it in God’s Word. And it makes sense that there would be pieces of truth we don’t fully understand right now. Our current, finite minds aren’t big enough to understand it all. If we fully understood all of it, I would feel certain we didn’t have all the truth! Piper makes a great statement about what to do when you see something that is clearly taught in the Bible, but your mind doesn’t fully understand it, “If this stretches your mind to the breaking point, better that your minds be broken than that the scriptures be broken. And even better yet would be to let your mind and heart be enlarged rather than broken, so that they can contain all the Scriptures teach.”

The second way our text answers this objection is in 9:19-21. 9:19 raises the very objection we’re talking about, “Why does (God) still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 9:20-21 answers,

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ’Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” If God says both that He ordains all

things and that we are still responsible for what we do, then we are still responsible for what we do! Are you really going to come to a situation where Sovereign God says, “You’re responsible,” and you answer by saying, “No, I’m not!” and you think you’re going to be right about it instead of God? Seriously? If you understand God’s sovereignty as Romans 9-11 teaches it, you will not reject human responsibility. You will also know that your belief in human responsibility is no reason to reject God’s sovereignty. You will realize the Bible teaches human responsibility in accordance with God’s sovereignty. We’re going to leave our fourth objection (about prayer) for next week, because I don’t want to cram so much in at once that we can’t process any of it. (I know, it may already be too late for that!) But tonight, I want to close with some questions that grow out of what we just read in 9:19-21. When you come to the teaching of Romans 9, do you come with a heart that wants to hear from God what He has to say about Himself? Or do you come with a heart that wants to answer back to God and tell Him what you think He should be like? Do you come wanting God to correct your wrong thoughts about Him with His truth? Or do you come wanting to “correct” God’s truth with your thoughts? Do you come wanting to submit to whatever God reveals? Or do you come wanting to find reasons to reject any teaching you don’t like or don’t understand? Let me tell you what our hope is in answer to those questions: Our hope is that our God is both loving and sovereign. His love means He is willing to work in our stubborn hearts to soften them so we submit to His truth. And His sovereignty means He is able to do exactly that. I pray that you will trust Him to do it.