The Children of the Promise

Transcript

GR 2240
5/31/2020
The Children of the Promise
Romans 9:6-13
Gil Rugh

We’re going to Romans chapter 9. We have begun this great section. It covers Romans 9, 10, and 11. It’s the natural follow-through for what Paul has developed. The gospel of Jesus Christ showing condemnation for man and his sinfulness, which is abundantly evident to us all around. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There are none righteous. No not one. We have a heart problem. It’s not a psychological problem. It’s not an environmental problem. It’s not a race problem. It’s a heart problem. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Paul showed clearly that all, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin and thus, in sin and under God’s condemnation. He showed God provided righteousness in Christ by His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. The penalty for sin was paid in full so that by faith in Him we can be credited with God’s righteousness. Our penalty has been paid in full and we are now the children of God.

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 dealt with how we now live, what is the enabling power for us to live a new life called the doctrine of sanctification. Now since we’ve shown that all are under sin and all need righteousness, where does this leave the nation Israel? God chose the nation Israel, as we have already looked at, to be His people. In the first five verses of chapter 9 Paul showed some of the unique promises and blessings that were given to Israel. But if they are under sin, they as a people, as individuals, as a nation have rejected their God. They have rejected their Messiah. They played a key part in His crucifixion. Where does that leave the nation? Paul wants to be clear, so that we understand this hasn’t cancelled the promises of God.

We came down to verse 6 where Paul stated, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.” We have to understand even the condition of Israel in these days, and where he’s going to take us in chapters 9, 10, and 11, shows that this is consistent with God’s plan from the beginning for the nation Israel. God cannot go back on His word. He will not withdraw any of the blessings that He has promised. But you must understand how this will fit into God’s overall plan. The confusion here leads to confusion for many people down to this day. They misunderstand. Some think God is done with the nation Israel. The church has replaced Israel or Israel will just get blended into the church and it no longer has a unique identity as a nation. It’s primarily just part of the church and so on. But remember, later revelation never changes prior revelation. What God promised to Israel must be fulfilled for Israel. Later revelation can bring clarity, can add information, but it doesn’t change the prior revelation. So that’s what Paul is going to show. How what is happening with Israel is consistent with what God said about Israel from the beginning.

What he’s going to show, beginning with verse 6 and following, down through verse 13 is that not everyone who is a physical descendant of Abraham was promised all the blessings that would be given to Abraham and his descendants. We need to be careful to follow the details of scripture. So, this key to understanding what God says about His sovereign work has application to us. Not every physical descendant of Abraham is included in the promises that God gave to Abraham and his descendants. From the very beginning of dealing with Abraham, He narrowed down which descendants of Abraham were covered in the promises God gave to Abraham. Verse 6 of chapter 9 of Romans said “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel...”

Not every Jew is part of the promises given to the Jews and to Israel. Note this! “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” There is a group within the broader group. Abraham, as we’re going to see, has a number of descendants. Within that there is a line. It will come, as he’s going to show, from Abraham through only one of his descendants, Isaac. And Isaac will be the recipient of all that is promised to Abraham and he will pass that on to only one of his descendants, Jacob. And Jacob will pass that on. It will be carried out then for the nation through his twelve sons who become the fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation Israel. So, understanding the distinctions that God makes.

Let me say something here. Paul is writing to a Gentile church, to the Romans, and I’ve mentioned this before. And it amazes me as I work through these sections that these believers in the church at Rome, which would have primarily been made up of Gentiles, are expected to know and understand what the Old Testament says. Now Paul’s going to help bring clarification, but he builds it on what they are supposed to know. Now they didn’t even have bibles to go back and check through the week because the bible wasn’t available in copies like that. A printing press won’t be invented for 1400 years or whatever. These where handwritten letters, but they were expected. Now what kind of responsibility is on us? We are to know the word of God. We talked about this in our study of one of the Psalms this morning. I see as a teacher, the great burden I have is to explain the word of God as clearly as I can. The responsibility on those who are believers is to read the word, study the word, be taught the word, and then they have a responsibility to know it, and they will be accountable for putting it into practice. We are expected to know it and understand it, not just have a general idea. Paul is going to work through details here. He’s going to bring in the doctrine of election. You have to understand the line that God developed through the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. The particular distinctions that are made upon which this stands or falls. Verse 6, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel…”

Come back to Genesis 32. Remember we looked here, but a reminder in Genesis chapter 32, verse 28, Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ, and showed his tenacity. He will not for any reason let go until God gives him the promised blessing. He is told, verse 27, when the man, the preincarnate Christ asks Jacob, “‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’” Verse 28, “‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’” And then verse 30, Jacob realizes this is the preincarnate Christ, God Himself. “‘I have seen God face to face...’” You see Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. What Romans chapter 9 is saying, is not all Israel are those who are from Israel. It’s not enough to be a descendant of Jacob, whose new name was Israel, which is the name of the nation. He uses that broader name here, Israel, which will now be used not only for the man, Jacob, but it encompasses all the descendants.

But not every descendant of Jacob is included in the promises. They are not all Israel who are from Israel. What does that mean? It seems confusing, but you think of it. Not all those from Jacob will partake of the promises that Jacob is given when his name is changed to Israel. We’re told that at the beginning here, that’s key. Now you see this and say, boy I don’t know if I just read that and understood it. Think of these Romans. They’re having this read aloud to them. They don’t have a copy to follow along. He couldn’t say to them, look in your bible where it says this. But God is holding them accountable for knowing His word. How are we going to stand before God and say, well God, I didn’t know what it said, and what it meant! Why not? You think I gave it to you not intending that you understood it? We sometimes take lightly the responsibility that we have, to be given the word and understand it. So not everyone who descends from Jacob, Israel, same one, is part of Israel. Not everyone, every Jew, every physical descendant is part of the promises given. So, you can be a descendant of Jacob, and he’s going to use that very example in a few minutes, and not be a part of the promises.

Rather than go to some more promises in Genesis, come back to Romans and come to chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. I don’t know why there should be so much confusion even among quote “biblical scholars” who write on this, but there is for some reason. Verse 28 of Romans 2, and this is in the section where Paul has been showing that the Jews are just as guilty of sin as the Gentiles that are under the condemnation. Look at verse 28 of chapter 2, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.” In other words, that doesn’t make you, being a physical descendant of Abraham, a beneficiary of the promises. If you’re just a physical Jew, you need to have the heart to be a believing Jew. You need to have the circumcision of the heart to give you a new heart, to remove the sin. That’s not new.

The prophets said that, told Israel, that you must have a circumcised heart. That’s not new. In Jeremiah 31, God said with the new covenant that He would give a new heart. That’s what He always required of Israel. That’s what we talked about out of Psalm 40. It is not sacrifice and offering that He’s desired. It’s obedience that comes from the heart. Without that the sacrifices are nothing. Until the heart is changed you are not God’s child. “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter…” In other words, you don’t get it by the Mosaic Law, being obedient to the Law, that’s the letter. It’s called the letter because Moses got the commandments inscribed in stone with letters. It’s a reference to the Mosaic Law.

You need to have the Spirit change your heart. “…and his praise is not from men, but from God.” That doesn’t mean, oh when a Gentile trusts Christ and gets a new heart he becomes a Jew. That’s nonsense. You have to be a descendant of Abraham to be a Jew. He’s going to explain this. But being a descendant of Abraham won’t mean that you’re in the line of the promises given to Abraham because you must be a believing Jew. Remember he’s going to take almost all of chapter 4 of Romans and show that you must have the faith of Abraham to receive the blessings promised to Abraham. Somehow people read the bible in pieces. This is one of two passages where I read commentators that said, show the church and Gentiles become Jews. That doesn’t say that! All it says is, it’s not enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham. Read chapter 4! What enabled Abraham to be the first recipient of that covenant, “…Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” If you’re a physical descendant of Abraham and you don’t have the faith of Abraham, you’re a nobody. You’re just a sinner on their way to hell. You’re a physical descendant, but that gets you nowhere.

The other reference while we’re on it, is Galatians chapter 6. Many of you are familiar with the book of Galatians and we have studied it. Paul is showing the Jews the Law won’t do it. Come to Galatians chapter 6, verse 14, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Paul obviously is a physical Jew. “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” The Jews began to identify these physical things, physical circumcision, physical descendant of Abraham, the physical sacrifices of the various animals and so on, as what assured salvation. Verse 16, “And those who will walk by this rule…” and he’s just talked about and we read, “…peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” Now why in the world would you say that’s the church? “The Israel of God” he is basically saying, are those Jews who have true faith. That’s the only Jews who have ever been in the line of promise.

Remember God told Israel in the Old Testament, I give you a bill of divorcement. Meaning I don’t claim you. You have rebelled against Me and I’m rejecting you. Now He can’t not fulfill His promises, but that’s the state of the bulk of Israel. The prophets, they stand out, and what did Jesus say to the Jews? Which of the prophets didn’t you persecute because you don’t want to hear from God? We’ve been through that so many times. There’s no excuse for people to be confused. Who is Israel? Israel is the descendants of Abraham. That means all the Jews will be saved. No! Read chapter 4 of Romans. The only ones who can be saved are believers.

So, come back to chapter 9 of Romans. What he says in verse 6, “For they are not all Israel who are from Israel...” Now he doesn’t say any who are not from Israel are Israel. Somehow that gets read into this. He says not all who are from Israel are part of Israel, the Israel of the promises that we read about. Remember those blessings? Verse 4, “…who are Israelites, to whom belongs…” and we listed those blessings? Well, you are not part of that Israel, just because you’re a descendant of the man Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. It’s like Bible 101.

Verse 8, what is he saying? “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” That’s all. Again, keep in mind what he is talking about. To whom does he address this? To my kinsmen, my brethren according to the flesh, verse 3, who are Israelites. Then to whom belong all these blessings? Verses 4 and 5. And the word of God hasn’t failed. Even though the nation is under judgment, the promises haven’t been cancelled. They can’t be. We’ve gone through that. “…it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” But he hasn’t jumped away from physical Jews to Gentiles. All he is saying is, you’re not part of the Abrahamic promise. That’s back in chapter 4, those who are children of Abraham have the faith of Abraham. Being in the physical line, okay, good. But Paul wasn’t in the line of promise until he believed in the Messiah. Then he became a believing Jew. There is a separation. It’s not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise. But remember, the promise was given to the Israelites.

Go back to chapter 9, verse 4, verse 5. Those promises never were to just physical descendants, physical descendants who are also of the faith of Abraham. Verse 9, “For this is the word of promise: ‘AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.’” Now you see we haven’t left the Jews. He’s going to take us back to father Abraham. Now I realize Galatians says Gentiles have Abraham as their father if they have the faith of Abraham. They do. And we receive the benefits that are promised under that covenant. We’ll get to that when we get to chapter 11. That was always part of the promise. So, we’re not changing anything in prior revelation. “In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” And that’s repeated through Genesis at different times. That’s always been part of it.

So how do I as a Gentile get grafted into the Abrahamic Covenant? Do I have to become a Jew? That’s what the Judaizers taught. You’ll have to be circumcised and take on the responsibilities of the Mosaic Law. Then you will be accepted as a Jew. It’s good you have to have faith. We agree with that, but you need to….…No! You mix the two. This mixing, and confusion goes back a long way. It goes back to the time Sarah shall have a son. Okay. So that’s taking us back, if you want to come back to Genesis 18. I didn’t tell you, you had to leave something here because at least you can get to the first book of the bible quickly. Some of you cheat and have it on your phone or your tablet and you get there automatically. That’s sinful cheating and that’s just for us old people. You get there faster than us, so that can’t be good. In Genesis chapter 18, look at verse 10. And this is because He promised a son.

Look at chapter 17, verse 19, just for the context. “But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son...” Because remember Abraham already has a son with Hagar the Egyptian. His name is Ishmael. “…but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” So already it’s not enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham. Keep in mind the line will come through the male. But the heir has to come through the male with a certain woman Sarah. Abraham is the father of a son who will be 14 years older than Isaac. He’s the first son. He should have priority, don’t you think? The first son has priority and he’s absolutely the son of Abraham. Nobody questions that, and Sarah agreed to that relationship with her handmaiden, Hagar. So, it’s good. Not in God’s plan. It has to be a son.

You see we are narrowing down the seed of Abraham. It’s Abraham through Sarah and that is the son that will inherit the promise down in verse 25. Ishmael’s thirteen at this time. So, it’ll be a year then and Isaac will be born so there’ll be about 14 years difference between them. And then when he’s sixteen or seventeen years of age he will be sent away from the family. And God said that’s His plan. I’ll bring blessings on Ishmael, but the covenant promises belong to Isaac. We’ve narrowed it down.

Oh, I didn’t have you read verse 10 in Genesis 18, “…I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have son.” And she does and they name him Isaac. So that’s the reason that he quotes that statement in verse 9 of Romans 9, “‘…AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON…’” because it draws it down. Now keep in mind, Paul hasn’t talked a lot about what we have in the history in Genesis, but these people were expected to know it. This is what the scripture says. You had to get going and do some serious study in the church at Rome so you could follow these things. You’re going to be held accountable for it. Now we can understand. We’re narrowing the line down. It’s Abraham with a son who will be born to Sarah. So, the son born to Hagar, fathered by Abraham, he’ll get his own blessing but he’s not in the covenant line. Later after Sarah dies Abraham will have another wife, Keturah, and he’ll father other sons, but they’re not in the covenant line either. But this is the key one, because it shows at the very beginning, and every Jew would have to acknowledge this, and the Gentiles have to understand this.

You might say, well that wouldn’t settle it because obviously Hagar was a second choice, and she was an Egyptian, and that was something planned by Sarah and agreed to with Abraham. Yeah, I can understand why those descendants wouldn’t. So, it’s Abraham, Isaac, but that doesn’t prove the selection. Well it evidences it, but we’ll take it further. Verse 10, “And not only this,…” and you’re going to see God’s sovereignty here gets stronger “…but there was Rebecca also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to (election)…according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.’ Just as it is written, ‘JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.’”

Alright, so now we’re getting the overall picture. God is sovereign. Why should He choose Sarah’s son over Hagar’s son? Hagar didn’t do anything wrong. She did what Abraham and Sarah said she should do. Why does her son not get to be the recipient of the blessing? Because God said that’s not the way He’s doing it. Well I think – it doesn’t matter what I think! God didn’t ask my opinion. He didn’t even ask Abraham’s opinion. He didn’t say, well Abraham I’m good, it’s your son, that’s acceptable. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s not! God is sovereign. What about now? I can see she was the Egyptian, she wasn’t the wife, it was not quite the best way.

But now Isaac will have a wife, Rebecca, and she’s going to have not one son, but two. And they’ll be twins! Now we’re getting as much alike in being a descendant of Abraham as you can get. You’re going to have one father, one mother, one act of conception, and two sons. Well, even with twins one will be born before the other. That will help settle it. But it won’t! Because God will reverse the procedure normally thought, and He’ll chose the younger one over…I say wait a minute. What is He showing? God is sovereign. That’s why, remember, all the promised blessings are going to happen. Verse 6, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.” So, what he is explaining is how the word of God is being consistently carried out. Go back and look at history. God always guaranteed and carried out His plan.

So now you have Rebecca having conceived twins and you note the emphasis, by one father, Isaac. You’ve got the right father. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and you’ve got Isaac here. You’ve got the right wife, Rebecca. They conceive, not one baby but two, twins. Alright, so that’s the emphasis here. Verse 10, “And not only this, but there was Rebecca also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac…” And you note the word twins is in italics; it’s added, because that’s going to come out. But he doesn’t bring it out until you get down further, but everybody knows it. And again, I’m just taken back by what is, could I say assumed, that these Romans would have understood.

I have to say something that’s on my mind because I think of it when I’m studying this. I had a professor in bible college, John Cawood. He came here and spoke many years ago. Now he’s home with the Lord. But he said to me when we were talking when he was here, Gil, you know, things have changed since the day when you were a student. He said when the students came in the days when I was there, we assumed they were coming from evangelical churches and would have a biblical foundation we would build on. He says, you know what today is? The students coming into our school from evangelical churches are biblically illiterate. They know nothing! We’ve had to restructure our courses because they are failing. The courses were built on a certain foundational knowledge and they come from evangelical churches. He says, I don’t know what evangelical churches are doing. That goes back many years. Now I think of that when I think here Paul is writing to the Romans. You’re supposed to understand this. How would we give an account for not knowing what the word of God says? You have to know Isaac had a wife Rebecca. Remember they didn’t have their bible to take home with them. They had to be there, listen, take this in. They didn’t have all these pieces of paper, and now we have the electronic. You had to write it on parchment or papyrus, that would be about the same thing. You wouldn’t be carrying leather around, that gets too expensive and difficult. But take it in, know it.

“…Rebecca…conceived twins by one man…” You note this emphasis. God is making a choice. Here’s this woman and one man, Isaac, our father. Paul stresses this. It all has a point. He’s our father. When you talk about the biblical line, the line of promise, the line of faith, Isaac is our father. Okay, now you have twins, verse 11. They were not yet born. This is crucial. We get to the doctrine of election. The “…twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad…” Now here, this is a key verse. Some people believe that what God did, that God had foreknowledge and the bible does say God acted on His foreknowledge. But foreknowledge cannot mean that God just looked ahead and saw Esau would do bad things, his brother Jacob would do good things because He tells us here, “…for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad…” Well of course they hadn’t done it, but God knew. Well, read the rest of it. They “…had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice…” And that word we carry it over, ekloge, election. That’s God choosing. “…His choice would stand…” would abide, would remain. “…not because of works but because of Him who calls…”

Note the whole point of this. If all God did was look down ahead in time because He would know all the future and see what Esau was going to be like and what Jacob was going to be like, and He saw Jacob would be better, He chose Jacob. He did it based on their works. He just saw ahead what they would do, what their works would be. That’s the very thing Paul said was not the basis of God’s choice. No matter how you maneuver and manipulate scripture, you’re in trouble if you try to make it say something other than what it says. God’s choice, He wants that to stand, remain. He wants everybody to understand this, that as far back as we can go, God chose to do it. Well, I think I need more explanation than that. Why? God told you how He did it, I decided. Well, where’s that leave me? That leaves me where I should be. He’s God and I am not. Sometimes we do that with our kids, or we did that in days when we thought kids should respect the authority of parents. Sometimes you told them, I don’t have to give you an explanation. You will do it because I told you to do it. I know those days are long gone.

But God is telling us it is “…so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand (remain)...” So that’s as far back as I can go. And He did it before they were born. “…not because of works but because of Him who calls…” Now this was the work of election. People sometimes say, well this was the election of nations, not the election of people. Both are involved. That’s the whole argument here, isn’t it? God chose Abraham and Sarah to be the mother of the child that He would choose that had to be Isaac, not Ishmael or any of the other sons of Abraham. And now we have twins, the individual. Sure, their descendants are involved in the choice, but it starts out with what? The choice of Abraham. The choice of Isaac. The choice of Jacob.

So be careful. You read some and they’ll say, well this is really a national election and the individual just stands for the nation that descends from them. Esau the Edomites, so it’s a nation being rejected but it’s not personal. It is personal! Who are we talking about? We’re talking about individuals. So, it is individual, and it is corporate. Like God chose Abraham, entered a covenant with Abraham which brought special, personal blessings to Abraham, and then to all of his descendants, national. You can’t get away from the personal election by just saying it’s a national election. But the personal election will involve individuals and that will come down and God is sovereign in the choosing of those individuals. So even within the nation Israel, individuals are chosen. Abraham then out of his descendants, one, Isaac is chosen. Isaac, one is chosen, Jacob, the descendants. But within Israel then we are going to have those who are chosen, those who are not. We’ll see as we come down here, he’ll broaden it out to include a non-Israelite like Pharaoh.

What he is dealing with here, and if you are confused on the sovereignty of God and who makes the ultimate decisions, then you just wander around and you make up theology as though you are god. So, what was said to Rebecca, the mother here. She’s got twins. She’s going to have twins. This is before they are born, “…it was said to her…” We are in verse 12 here, but the quote is from Genesis 25, the older will serve the younger. And here he speaks, and what comes out to us, it will come out that’s the way the nations will turn out. And the Israelites will dominate the Edomites but, it starts with the two sons and the one will be prominent. “‘…THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.’” And well, this is a reversal of events. Normally you would expect, unless there was something that happened along the way that caused the older, the elder, to forfeit his position, he would get the blessing. But they, either one, haven’t done anything. “‘…THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.’ Just as it is written…”

Now he jumps from Genesis to Malachi and he’s going to quote from Malachi, “‘…JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.’” Turn back to Malachi. That’s easy to get to because we’ve been in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 1, and it starts right out in the opening verses, “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. ‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord.” And he’s addressing the nation. That’s why I say there’s a national election included along with the personal election. It’s the choosing of that person and his descendants. God says to Israel, “‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have You loved us?’’ Isn’t that a terrible thing? God tells Israel He loves them, and I don’t see any evidence of Your love. You see how far away they’ve gone? “‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau…’” Then the follow through. What did He do with Esau’s descendants? “‘…I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.’”

What’s happened to Edom? You can go on and read it at your leisure. What does God do with Israel? He blessed them. He gave them the land of Canaan. Land flowing with milk and honey. Then as you get down here to the time of Malachi, He gave them a king and gave the promise of all the covenantal blessings. And Israel says, what is the evidence that You love us? You know it’s like people. They are upset and angry with God. What’s God done for me? Why do I have so many problems? I don’t see anything! That’s the heart of an unbeliever. I chose you as a nation. Why is Malachi speaking to them? God has chosen them. The prophets are sent to the nation Israel. It’s God’s blessing. Jacob, I have loved. Esau, I have hated.

Come back to Romans 9. We need to talk a little bit about that. Some people think, oh, God is a God of love. God doesn’t hate anyone. Well, He hates Esau. And then people get around this by saying, well, it’s the nation. He hates the nation that’s represented by Esau, the Edomites, because they were a godless people and all of that. But remember, it’s not because of the works. I want to talk a little bit about what it means. Some say, well, it means to love less. And there are times when that might mean in the context that you hate your father and mother. Obviously for what scripture says, you are to show them respect. You have to take care of them and honor them. So, in that sense, compared to the love you have for Christ, they’re worlds apart. But the fact is, hate can mean and does mean, hate, and it’s used in a context where God’s wrath is poured out on those He hates. So that’s different than your parents. You hate them in the context of the love of Christ; you have to love Him above everything. If you don’t love Him more than father or mother and brother and sister and everything, you can’t belong to Him.

But this is a hate in the context God manifested His hate. We just read the start of that with Edom. What did He do to them? He crushed them. He took away what would be blessing and made their land barren and a wasteland. He does all these things. They are the object, He’s rejected them. That’s what His hatred is. That’s the context we’re in, in chapter 9. We’ll get down to verse 22, in Romans 9 if you want to just look ahead. “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” That’s what it means to be hated by God. You’re a vessel of wrath appointed to destruction. I’ll say more about that because it begins to get unsettling. You say, well I don’t like to think about God like that. Didn’t God so love the world that He gave His only…yes, He did. He gave His only begotten Son. What an act of love. We want to put it and have it all together.

We need to start where we started in Romans. We can’t go back and review all that, but God started us there when the Spirit directed Paul to write this letter, then preserved it for us. Where did He start? At the introduction? Condemnation. Our sin. Who’s included in that? Remember at the end of Romans in the section on condemnation, in Romans chapter 3, verses 19 and 20, that every mouth may be closed, all the world may be accountable to God. He has shown that both Jew and Gentile alike are under condemnation, thus under the wrath of God. The enemies of God. The object of God’s hatred. We go back before we concluded the section, and how did he start the section? In Romans chapter 1, the gospel for the Jew and for the Gentile, but verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…” And when you get done with that section and into chapter 3, verse 20, he has shown that includes everybody. All the Jews and Gentiles. We’re all under the wrath of God, the judgment of God. In that sense we are the objects of His hatred. That’s who experiences wrath. The enemies of God.

When we come to chapter 9, the problem is it’s like people never read the opening chapters. Again, I sympathize with those in the church at Rome. They had this letter, this magisterial letter read to them. It wasn’t even divided into chapters and verses yet. How many times did they have to come back and hear it read? How many times did they maybe circulate pieces of the parchment that they wrote down so they could memorize it and learn it? But you can’t forget the opening chapters of Romans. He’s not dealing with innocent people. He’s dealing with sinners deserving of hell. That’s where Paul, remember to Titus in that third chapter, said remind them they were just like those unbelievers. And we were just as much the enemies of God. Remember Ephesians 2? We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were by nature children of wrath.

Somehow, we just throw our theology up and let the pieces come down where it may. I say go back. Where did we start? Everybody is under sin. So, list me those God is required to save. Well, the bible says that we are saved by grace. We are the recipients of mercy. And you could get an English dictionary, because the definition for grace and the definition for mercy will basically be the same in Greek or in English. It’s something unmerited, undeserved. Why do we get confused on this? You know what? What brings hope into the whole position is, God loved Jacob. The amazing thing here is not that God hated Esau but that He chose to put His love on Jacob. Not because Jacob was lovable, less sinful. The sovereignty of God comes in to play here. But we don’t want to give people misunderstanding, I want to tell them the truth. Sometimes I read and these pastors I know with good intentions get quoted in the news, and they give partial truth and leave people with the idea that they’re God’s children and God loves them. And that leaves a misunderstanding. Paul started out here with wrath. Now I can say God demonstrated His love even to His enemy. That’s the point. It’s while we were yet sinners. We saw earlier in Romans, Christ died for us. That’s the point. Christ died for those who were God’s enemies.

Come back to Psalms. I want to read a few verses that speak of God hating sinners. We’ve done this before but a good reminder. Psalm 5. Look at verse 4 of Psalm 5. “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes...” Now note this “…You hate all who do iniquity.” Understand that? Gil, in God’s grace, before you came to believe in Christ, God hated you. Why? Well, all have sinned, and I was one of those who sinned, and He hates all who do iniquity and I did. “You destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.” You know, there’s no fear of God before their eyes and we don’t want to contribute to that. You understand how serious God is? God hates you. You are in the situation that He is prepared to pour out His wrath upon you. That’s the condition you are when you are lost.

Look over in chapter 11 of Psalms. Psalm 11, verse 5, “The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates.” We sometimes say, well, God loves the sinner and hates the sin. That’s not biblical. Where does sin come from? Well, it’s like the virus. It’s in the air. I guess you catch it. You do it. Sin comes from sinners. What is sin? Sin is not doing what is right. Sin is doing what is wrong. Sin is rebellion against God. That has to come from the personal being. The trees don’t sin. The creation has been impacted by the sin of humanity, but the trees don’t sin, the flowers don’t sin. We sin! So, to say, well, God hates the sin but loves the sinner. God has demonstrated His love towards sinners. That’s the amazing thing. God demonstrated His love toward those He hates. Those are the objects of His wrath. Those who are His enemies. You know we somehow, even when we’re believers, over time we come to appreciate the love of God, but we fail. And that’s why Paul says remind them they were just like them. That’s why he told the Ephesians, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. We all were. We were by nature children of wrath. Because we forget it, and somewhere along the line, soon we become somewhat self-righteous, and we’re special. And we are. But not because of us. God does hate the sinner. Malachi says, God hates divorce and those who practice it. There are other passages, but we won’t take time to go there.

Now remember, God is dealing with sinners. Come back to Romans. This is why we started at Romans, verse 1. Remember to keep going back and reading those early chapters because that establishes the foundation. God is selecting from among sinful people. Remember when God chose Abraham, we’re told, his father Terah was an idol worshiper in Ur of the Chaldeans. But He chose Abraham. We don’t go back into a lot of the details of that background, but God chose Abraham. What was Paul doing to earn God’s favor when he was known as Saul, on the Damascus road on the way to persecute some more Christians, having stood to giving his approval to the stoning of Stephen? Imprisoning men and women, and now on his course God reaches down and grabs hold of him. What was Paul doing to gain God’s approval? Well, I was that good young boy and God saw the potential in me and saw I was of such value He had His Son die for me. That’s not the story the Bible tells.

Now we’ve got a world in a mess of confusion and their eyes are closed, and they’re not open to hear that they are sinners. And so, we don’t want to tell them. But the world has never wanted to hear it. Remember Jesus asked, which of the prophets didn’t they persecute? You know why the Jews persecuted their own prophets? They didn’t want to hear what God had to say. And do you know why we sort of massage the message, so it’ll come out and I haven’t told a lie, I’ve just restructured the truth so it can be misunderstood, and they’ll think they’re ok. Just want you to know how much God loves you. Well, there’s an element of truth in that. But I want you to know you are in a terrible desperate position, because God has demonstrated a love that is provided something for you. But if you persist in rejecting that love, the hatred that He has toward you in your present condition will come to fruition when He sentences you to hell. So, you couldn’t be in any more of a dangerous position.

But the point here is the sovereignty of God. Why did God love Jacob? We get stuck on, why did He hate Esau? I can understand that. Give me a good reason why He should love Jacob. I’ve just read the little bit of the story I have of Jacob that’s recorded in the Old Testament and he’s not the most lovable character. Maybe he’s not the most unlovable, but that’s it. God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. It’s not that God saw something in us. So that in the line down. Israel forgot it. They thought we were born Jews. Of course, God loves us. How many people have we heard this from today? I was born Lutheran or raised Lutheran, baptized Lutheran. Of course, I’m going to heaven. I was born Catholic. I was born… Yeah, I’ve been at Indian Hills ever since I was born. Of course, I’m going to go to heaven. Where’d you get that from?

Well, I don’t think God chose me. I don’t think I’m one of the elect. Well, I don’t think you are either. Prove us both wrong. God says whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. We’ll get to that in chapter 10. Call upon Him! He said He’ll save you. Well, I can’t do that unless I’m one of the elect. Why? You want to call on Him? Do it. You want to be saved? Place your faith in Jesus Christ. Tell God, God I can’t see that You would choose me, I can’t really believe You will, but You said if I call upon You, I believe I’m the worst sinner in the world. I believe Christ died for that. Lord, I only can claim Your mercy. Put God on the spot, if I can say that respectfully. You say you’re not one of the elect. You’re hearing this message. I assume if they’re hearing me present the gospel, you’re hearing the gospel with them. That may be an indication they’re one of those God has chosen. They want an excuse, well if election is right, if I’m chosen, I’ll believe. If not, I won’t. Yep. And today is maybe the day you make your choice. And when you say no today, that may be your final no. I don’t know. Maybe you’ll have tomorrow, maybe not.

I’ve shared the gospel with people who seemed warm to it, but with the passing of time they grew stone cold toward it. I can’t tell you where you are, but you’ll never blame God. You deserve to go to hell. I deserved to go to hell. The fallen angels deserve to go to hell and they’re going, and there’s no savior provided for them. Hebrews chapter 2, Christ didn’t become an angel. So, He doesn’t have to offer salvation. He doesn’t have to provide it. We get back to mercy and grace. Keeping that in mind will help us, as we walk through Romans chapter 9, the sovereignty of God in all this. And in His sovereign plan He’s ordained that we go, and close, and lock the doors and stay inside for the rest of the night. So, let’s have a word of prayer.

Thank You, Lord, for Your grace. In mercy, in grace, You saved us. Lord, many of us have known You for many years. It’s easy with the passing of time, we forget what we were, what great mercy was shown when we were saved. Well, we weren’t as bad as those people, they’re disgusting, we weren’t. But Lord, we were all alike, as You looked at us. The same depraved heart. The same wretched condition. Your enemies, in rebellion, proud of our sin. Yet You showed Your love in having Your Son die for us. And then, in the grace beyond grace, You drew us to salvation. Lord, may we never forget. We give You the praise. And may we appreciate the grace that is being shown to the nation Israel that will result in them receiving, as a believing nation, all You have promised. And that is an encouragement to us as the Church that we will arrive, because You will bring to fruition all that You have promised for us. Bless the week before us. Keep us safe, use us to honor You wherever we are. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.