Letter to the Romans -- Chapter 11

Having established that God alone is capable of working faith in man for the sake of Christ Jesus, Paul continues on: “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me’? And what was God's answer to him? ‘I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:1-6). Even in the face of the appeal of His prophet Elijah, God refused to reject His chosen people and graciously decided that despite their continued rebellion, disobedience, obstinacy, and rejection that He would reserve for Himself a remnant. As Paul says, this remnant was and is chosen completely by grace, meaning that it is completely apart from any work, doing, willing, effort, seeking, or choosing of Israel.

Paul continues: “What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.’ And David says: ‘May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever’” (Romans 11:7-10). Thru Israel God has chosen to illustrate His sovereignty, providence, mercy, and grace. Though Israel fought earnestly to attain righteousness they failed where God’s chosen elect received it apart from any seeking at all. God handed them over to their hardened hearts and thru this illustrates that simply “hearing” the Word of Christ and truly hearing the Word of Christ are far different. One is the effort of impotent man, while the other is the work of God’s Spirit within the hearts of men. “Unless Yahweh builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Though Israel “heard” the Word, they did not truly hear. In their sinfulness they were blinded and deafened and incapable of responding to the Word in their own seeking and striving.

In the face of this seemingly bleak proclamation Paul continues on, asking the hard question of whether God has completely abandoned His chosen people: “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!” (Romans 11:11-12). In the wake of telling us that God had given His people over to blind eyes, deaf ears, and hardened hearts, Paul proclaims the will and purposes of God in doing this. God willingly sacrificed His own chosen people in order to be gracious to the entire world by setting them up as an “example” for all to see. By taking His chosen people and holding them up for all to see, God mercifully reached out His gracious arm of salvation to all the nations of the world. In this God has made known the riches of His grace and mercy, declaring that all of the efforts of man are only a hindrance to salvation. In order to teach us that everything we do is fruitless and impotent, God has held up Israel as the example, bearing witness to the futility of their earnest seeking; all of their best efforts only resulted in disobedience, idolatry, and rejection time and time again. God broke them down with His law before the whole world so that we, the Gentiles, might see our utter wickedness and inability before God and not follow the dead-end path of self-righteousness of obstinate Israel. God has held up His chosen people before us to illustrate His perfect law and subsequently has held up His Son, Jesus Christ, to display His gospel (which alone is capable of drawing men to God) throughout all the world. Thru His law He too causes us to stumble and breaks us down of all of our vain seeking and willing, so that He may build us up with His gospel message of Jesus Christ. God has not abandoned Israel permanently however, but He is using His grace towards the Gentiles as a way to rouse them from their hardened hearts and once again build them up in the grace of His Son, the promised Messiah and Anointed One of God. The prophet Jeremiah said it best as he described God’s plan with His chosen people that mirrors our individual paths before God’s harsh law and ever-comforting gospel: “Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 31:28). Thru Israel we are meant to see that God’s law and anger is only against us in order to break us of self (to show us our impotence) and to prepare us for His compassion, mercy, kindness, and grace in Jesus Christ our Lord. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you…Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed” (Isaiah 54:7-8, 10).

After having illustrated the purposes of God thru His people Israel, Paul continues on by telling us that what he has been saying hasn’t been just for His own people but has been in fact been to teach us, the Gentiles. “I am talking to you Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). Even though the topic has been Israel we must understand that the true Israel exists not as a natural blood line, but as those who share in the same faith of Abraham. Thru God’s working in the Old Testament and old covenant nation of Israel He is ultimately speaking to all men. “Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. If their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:13-18). Paul is first and foremost talking to us Gentiles (since he was called as the Apostle to the Gentiles), but he also prays and hopes that thru his preaching to us that his own people (the old covenant nation of Israel) will eventually be aroused to faith. Thru Israel’s rejection of God, God demonstrated His grace and mercy by bringing reconciliation to the whole world thru His Son. In the nation of Israel we see that Israel’s rejection of God caused them to be broken off and in place of them we, the Gentiles, were grafted in. We however must be careful not to boast over the loss of Israel, for it was nothing from us that caused God to graft us in, but it was purely His grace thru Jesus Christ. It is thru the root that the branches get their nourishment and life, and so also we only have life in Jesus Christ, our root and vine. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:5-6). Apart from Christ we can do nothing and it is because of Him and His Word, that He has given us, that we have been grafted onto the root that supports us. “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3).

Paul continues on: “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either” (Romans 11:19-21). In these strong words of admonition Paul is eager to point us away from any boasting and arrogance of self. In the face of these truths our sinful flesh is always eager to grasp at straws and claim that we ourselves are the reason we are now grafted onto the root and are in Christ Jesus. Paul however tells us very plainly that we should be afraid (yes, we need to be wary!) to stand on anything from ourselves because that is what His chosen people did and they were indeed broken off because of it. Unbelief is at its core a failure to rely on God alone and His completed work in Jesus Christ, while true faith never looks to anything from “me” but always and only to the gracious work of God. The most dangerous place that this unbelief rears its ugly head is in the false teaching of “free will.” In the lie of “free will” man is deceived into looking at himself as the reason he is on the vine and root and thereby he is in reality already cut off because of this unbelief and lack of reliance on Christ alone. This is the very thing Paul is warning us to be afraid of. We can only boast in the Lord, which means that we can only stand on what He has done, because we ourselves can do nothing but fall and fail. To say that we are grafted on the root because of our own choice, freedom, or willing is to walk the same road of disaster that Israel plummeted down. If God did not spare His own people in their arrogance and self-righteousness, He certainly will not spare us. We do not stand on our own will, we stand by faith on Jesus Christ and His calling. It is because of God’s promise in the gospel and His washing of us in Baptism for the sake of Jesus Christ that our hearts have been transformed thru the Spirit so that we are now His precious children: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

In response to this Paul points us to the beautiful balance of law and gospel, imploring us to daily consider the sternness of God (His law) and His kindness (His gospel of Jesus Christ) so that we can remain strong in the faith He has given us and stay the course until life everlasting. “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22). If we look to anything of our own we will pit ourselves against the sternness of God, but if we avail ourselves and despair of all ability of our own, clinging solely to what God has given to us in the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb, then we will by grace continue in God’s immeasurable kindness.

After this reminder Paul goes on to explain God’s plan to save Israel: “And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:23-27). If Israel is turned back to belief and faith in Christ they will once again be grafted in by God’s work in their hearts. We ourselves were grafted into Christ despite the fact that we were completely helpless sinners and enemies of God, therefore Israel, the very chosen people of God, shall be grafted back in when their hearts are transformed. God has hardened them until the full number of Gentiles has come into His fold, and when the time is right He will once again melt their hearts and save the entire remnant He has chosen. “My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh” (Jeremiah 24:6-7). In the face of this though we must be careful not to despise God’s chosen people or be arrogant towards them. They are indeed our enemies as far as the gospel is concerned (since they currently oppose it and fight against it), but we must continue to love and respect them on account of God’s promise and election which are unchangeable and irrevocable. “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29).

In summary Paul goes on to once again touch on what he is teaching us thru Israel: “Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (Romans 11:30-32). God gave Israel over to their disobedience, self-righteousness, and “free will” which rejected Him time and time again in order that His mercy and grace might be illustrated in Jesus Christ. By showing thru and in Israel that all the efforts and seeking of man is in empty and fruitless vain, God has destroyed all possibility of self-righteousness and has instead chosen to have mercy on us for the sake of His Son. God bound us all over to disobedience so that we would fail hopelessly in all the works of our own hands and then desperately fall onto the work of His hands that was done for us in the manger, cross, and empty tomb.

Here then in his conclusion on the teaching of God’s providence, election, and predestination, Paul proclaims that ultimately all these teachings are the unfathomable mysteries of God that we must simply accept on faith and at His Word in Jesus Christ. God is God for a reason and His ways are above and beyond our ways and our petty attempts to put Him in a box of our own making: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36). It is completely and only because of God’s work that we are even in Christ; He is the one who has graciously, mercifully, and compassionately chosen and called us in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. We dare not boast in or about anything from “me” but we are always bold to boast in and about what God has done for us so undeservedly in Jesus Christ crucified: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Letter to the Romans -- Chapter 10

After having firmly declared the providence and sovereignty of God, who alone chooses whom to harden and whom to have mercy upon, Paul continues on to explain how the people of Israel illustrate this truth and how the righteousness by faith plays into it. “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4). Though the Israelites were zealous for God, Paul rightly saw how no amount of zealousness and striving could get them anywhere with Him. They were zealous in vain as they strove to establish their own righteousness, failing to see the righteousness that comes from God alone and apart from anything of man. If we ourselves continue to look to our own actions, decisions, choices, “free-will”, and merits then we too are refusing to submit to God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus. Christ is the end of all self-righteousness and all man-achieved, activated, and instigated righteousness, as all men share in His righteousness thru simple faith which believes that He has already done it all.

Paul continues on to compare and contrast the law and the gospel: “Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The man who does these things will live by them’” (Romans 10:5). The righteousness that is by the law, by the doing and willing of man, is a righteousness that hinges on the efforts of men. It is any righteousness that is in the hands of man and is determined by him; if man is the agent then it is a righteousness by the law no matter how we try to veil it otherwise. In contrast Paul goes on to explain the righteousness by faith: “But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ‘or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)” (Romans 10:6-7). Here we see that the righteousness by faith does not look to the individual and try to judge whether they have willed their way to ascend into heaven or to descend into hell. The righteousness that is by faith does not concern itself with what “I have done,” with what “you have done,” or even what choices we have made. The righteousness by faith also does not try to determine who is elected, predestined, and chosen by God, for it sees that this is a fruitless endeavor and question that only drives men away from the manger, cross, and empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

So what does the righteousness by faith say? “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:8-10). The righteousness by faith simply says: “Forget whether you think you have been elected or not. Forget any possibility of being righteous thru your own deeds, actions, choices, merits, decisions, or willing. Simply look to the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb, look to the gospel of Jesus Christ that is being proclaimed to you here and now. The good news that He has already died for your sins and has saved and forgiven you thru His blood on the cross. Cling to this with every fiber of your being. He is your righteousness now. He is your election. He is your predestination. You (specifically you!) have been chosen in Jesus Christ apart from anything from your self and solely because of God’s immeasurable grace and mercy for the sake of His Son.” As we see here the righteousness by faith never points to man and it always relentlessly points to Jesus Christ crucified. If men point you to something in you for your salvation, whether some prayer, decision, choice, willing, or working, close your ears off to them and get back to tunnel-vision for Christ. The righteousness by faith never even points us to our own faith, it points us to the cross. If we think too long about faith it will become our focus and we will lose Christ who alone needs to be our focus. So often in America today men preach faith, faith, faith, and forget that faith is not the point, it is Jesus Christ who is the point. CFW Walther understood very well that we must not lose Christ amidst all our “faith” talk: “A preacher must be able to preach a sermon on faith without ever using the term faith. It is not important that he shout the word faith into the ears of his audience, but it is necessary for him to frame his address so as to arouse in every poor sinner the desire to lay the burden of his sins at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ…You must instruct him to do nothing but listen to the Word of God, and God will give him faith.” Therefore the righteousness by faith doesn’t focus on faith, it focuses on what Jesus Christ has done for us in His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, thereby bringing men (whether they are conscious of it or not) to faith and trust in God’s promise given to us there. “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:11-13). Yes, God alone chooses whom to have mercy upon and we are nothing but helpless clay in His hands who can do nothing good on our own, however for the sake of His Son, God has destroyed all difference between us so that we all may share in the blessings of Jesus Christ. Thru His Son we all have been bought and forgiven and it takes the Word of this promise to bring men to faith in this work of Christ.

Therefore we must ask with Paul: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15). Here Paul touches on how the universal grace of Jesus Christ, the predestination of the elect, and the fact that not all men are saved, come together in the one truth of the Scriptures. The key that holds all these truths together in Christ Jesus is what is called the “means of grace.” God has chosen to attach His blessings in Christ to His external Word. He has chosen the humble means of His Word and promise as the vehicle to reach us sinful men with the good news. Therefore, how can men believe in Christ if they have not heard the message? How can they share in the death and resurrection of Christ if they have not been baptized into the Trinity? How can anyone be reached with these means of grace if men are not called and sent to preach? With Paul we answer humbly, “Indeed, they cannot.” Though Christ died for all men, if they don’t hear about it they cannot be brought to faith, and therefore God has called us to be His workers and harvesters. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:2-3). God has sent us into the world to bring His Word and His Baptism to the nations so that they may hear and be touched by the Good News in order to be brought to share in its universal blessings! “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’” (Matthew 28:18-20). It is in these words of Christ that we have been given the command to take His Word and Baptism to all nations in order to make disciples of all nations, creeds, walks, ethnicities, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. This is our duty to bring this message of reconciliation to the world so that thru this message God might bring men to Christ. God is indeed calling us to be His harvesters and thru His Word we also are fed daily by this message of reconciliation that strengthens and sustains us in the promise of God. “Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 18-21).

Having taught us that the Word of God in all its forms is the means by which God brings us and appropriates to us His grace, Paul continues to discuss the difficult questions that arise when we look at Israel, God’s chosen people. “But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:16-17). Paul once again reiterates that it is only thru the Word of Christ that men are brought to faith; it is not their work, decision, choice, or will, it is the Word itself that creates faith and therefore apart from the Word there can be no faith. All the Israelites however have not accepted the good news of Christ and this begs the immediate question of whether Israel ever heard the Word. “But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world’” (Romans 10:18). Here Paul clearly shows from the Scriptures that the message and Word of Christ has indeed gone into all the earth and has reached the ends of the world. So if the Word has gone forth to them all, then our next logical question is whether they understood the message that came to them: “Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, ‘I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.’ And Isaiah boldly says, ‘I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me’” (Romans 10:19-20). Here Paul even debunks the possibility that Israel misunderstood the message of Jesus Christ. He clearly shows from the Scriptures that Israel in fact did understand the message by contrasting the Gentiles to them. God chose to reveal Himself to those who did not understand and who did not seek, desire, or ask for Him, therefore He revealed Himself to the ignorant Gentiles who did not have the understanding that Israel did.

Paul continues: “But concerning Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people’” (Romans 10:21). Even in the face of hearing the Word and understanding its message Israel was still disobedient and obstinate. It is here that we come to see what Paul is really getting at with this line of questioning: all the efforts, desires, willing, choosing, decisions, hearing, seeking, and even understanding of men cannot create faith within him or bring him in right standing with God. Even though God’s own chosen people had been given the Word, they were powerless to respond to it. Even though God’s own chosen people understood the message proclaimed to them, they were futile in laying hold of it. Even though God had patiently pleaded for them to come to Him and to turn away from their sin, they did nothing but fall into idolatry over and over again. Thru Israel we see that no matter how hard we strive to bring ourselves to faith or to lay hold of God it is impossible for man. With the disciples we desperately ask: “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26), and Christ replies once and for all: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). God Himself must be the agent and worker by which we come to faith. God has chosen to reveal Himself to those who did not seek, ask, or desire in order to illustrate this very point that what is impossible for us men, God alone can do.

Letter to the Romans -- Chapter 9

After concluding the first 8 chapters of his letter to the Romans Paul makes a very distinct change and break in his discussion. His general dissertation on the law and gospel in Jesus Christ, as the Scriptures proclaim it, is complete and he moves on to much tougher and more difficult issues. These issues of the providence and sovereignty of God and His predestination and election must be looked at in the light of the law and gospel that was proclaimed by Paul before this. It is only thru Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and rose again for our sakes, that we can begin to grasp what Paul endeavors to teach us here and to find the comfort that is intended here for the mature in faith. In the end we must always remember to stay focused on the grace that has been given us in the manger, cross, and empty tomb as we delve into these revealed mysteries of God’s will. To understand these hard mysteries to come we must be rooted in Jesus Christ and how God and His will is truly only seen in Him. Without Jesus Christ as the center of election, predestination, and sovereignty we will only create a false god of our reason and rationalizing. Therefore Paul prefaces what he is saying by reassuring us that he is speaking and writing under the inspiration and carrying along of the Holy Spirit: “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). What Paul is telling us and teaching is nothing but God’s Word. It is in fact not Paul who is the teacher, but it is the only true teacher of the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit Himself.

Paul begins: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen” (Romans 9:2-5). In the midst of this lament over some of the people of Israel being lost and having rejected Christ, Paul raises the unspoken question that our sinful nature comes back to time and time again: Why have some men been lost in the face of God’s grace? Has God and His mercy failed? Have His promises failed? Is His Word unfaithful? Paul answers without hesitation these questions raised by our sinful reasoning: “It is not as though God's word had failed” (Romans 9:6). Our reasoning however is still not satisfied, so on we go raising more questions: If God’s Word has not failed, is the reason that some are lost and some are saved because some men have a better will and have made a smarter “decision”? Is each individual man really the one who “controls” his destiny and determines his “fate”? Is God Himself powerless to save those He chooses and desires? Is it possible that God only desires some men to be saved and He chooses some as opposed to others?

In response to and in the face of these hard questions Paul starts his teaching: “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: ‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son’” (Romans 9:6-9). Here Paul once again reiterates what he taught earlier in his letter, that the true people of Israel are Abraham’s descendants by faith, it is thru the promise of God that men are regarded as his offspring and not by natural “man-determined” means. Because it is the promise that determines the true people of Israel we also see that it is therefore the Word of God that makes men the true children of God. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). No choice, will, or desire of man makes us the people of Israel, but God’s will alone as revealed in His Word, in Jesus Christ incarnate, crucified, and risen.

Paul continues: “Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’” (Romans 9:10-13). By pointing to the story of Jacob and Esau, Paul once and for all squashes the possibility that man is in “control” of his destiny. Paul specifically states that before the twins were born and even before they were able to do anything “good or bad” God had determined their paths in life. The key comforting words of Paul here are “not by works but by Him who calls,” because in them we find that God’s election is not one of anger or wrath, but is a gracious call apart from what our wretched works truly deserve. God does this so that His purpose in election might stand in opposition to the sinful will of us depraved men who do nothing but reject and hate Him. “In his heart a man plans his course, but Yahweh determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is Yahweh's purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21). “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).

After proclaiming this sovereign election of God Paul anticipates the questions that arise in the face of this hard truth. Our sinful reason immediately desires to raise its perverted sense of justice and accuse God of being unjust or “playing favorites” in His choice of election: “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’” (Romans 9:14-15). Paul responds by implicitly pointing back to what he taught us in the first few chapters. The key to seeing the election of God for the gracious and merciful call that it is, is our proper understanding of sin. If we do not understand the magnitude of our sin and the harsh demands of the law that stand against us men who are “by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), then we will never see election as a gracious comfort of God. The prerequisite for understanding that God has mercy on whom He will have mercy, is that we see that no man deserves the mercy of God and that we all deserve His punishment and wrath. “Yahweh is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies” (Isaiah 34:2). His election is purely merciful as He has chosen to be compassionate to men who have done nothing but reject and despise Him. “Their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath” (Psalm 78:37-38).

Paul continues on by proclaiming in very clear language that the election and compassion of God depends not on man’s choosing or works, but solely on God’s mercy. “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy” (Romans 9:16). It does not matter how much we desire, will, or choose, or even how much we work, strive, or give effort, it will all amount to nothing apart from God’s merciful and gracious choosing. “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). If we do not understand our impotence in the midst of our slavery and sinfulness then we will never understand this and we will falsely think that predestination and God’s election are the most “unfair” things in the world. This however is only the reaction of evil and wretched men who somehow think we are “entitled” to God’s favor and “deserve” His blessing. It is for this reason that God has given us His law, which reveals our utter sinfulness for what it is, so that we will finally see the true comfort that is derived and found in God’s choosing and election. Predestination is so comforting because in its promise we never have any reason to doubt our election and choosing by God Himself. Instead of doubt we will daily see that in the manger, cross, and empty tomb of Jesus Christ we (you and me specifically!) have already been called and chosen and that thru God’s grace given there we are surely and most certainly the elect of God on whom He has undeservedly chosen to have mercy. “God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10).

As he continues his teaching on the providence, election, and predestination of God, Paul once again uses an illustration from the Scriptures to hammer home his point: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans 9:17-18). Here we see that Pharaoh was raised up by God and hardened by God in order to fulfill God’s divine purposes and to proclaim God’s name thru all the earth. In the mystery of God’s providence He can give whoever He desires over to their already sinfully hardened hearts and if He so desires He can also compassionately have mercy on whomever He chooses. Our sinful flesh however absolutely despises the idea that God could harden the heart of Pharaoh and attempts to play the despicable “blame game” with God, accusing Him of unfairness and injustice: “One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?’ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” (Romans 9:19-21). In the face of these questions Paul reminds us who is God and who is the creature, showing us that we are nothing but clay in the Potter’s hands. It is absolutely ridiculous for us to question the purposes and ways of God since He is the Creator and Master of all things. In our sinful arrogance, that we have lived in since the fall of Adam and Eve, we somehow think that we have the freedom that belongs only to God and believe that we do have or should have some sort of “say” in how things are. We, the powerless clay, in our pride somehow think that God is supposed to follow our will and our ways, as we elevate ourselves to the level of “god” in thinking that we should somehow be “running the show.” “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He did not make me’? Can the pot say of the potter, ‘He knows nothing’?” (Isaiah 29:16). If God is truly our Creator then it is absolutely absurd that we should question His ways; do the creations of our hands have the right and ability to question us? Does the technology of our hands talk back to us and complain that we do not know what we are doing? So then who are we to question God? “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?...Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?” (Isaiah 45:9, 11). Do we dare quarrel with our Maker and doubt His wisdom to carry out what is best? Even if we wanted to argue with Him, how, in our ignorance, do we even have the knowledge or wisdom to know where to begin? “Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand. His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?...If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’…How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?” (Job 9:3-4, 12, 14). God Himself declares that we are the clay in His hands and are in no position to talk back to Him and question His ways and decisions. “‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares Yahweh. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel’” (Jeremiah 18:6).

Having great patience and concern, Paul continues on and asks a couple questions of his own towards those of us who would dare question God and His ways: “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:22-24). Paul once again points out that our failure to see sin for what it truly is, has blinded us to the astounding graciousness and mercy of God. Do we, who have rejected and despised God and have turned ourselves into His objects of wrath, dare complain and moan about Him showing compassion to us? By questioning God we are in reality complaining about Him having mercy on us; how absurd! We must see that we deserve His punishment and wrath, and only then will we finally understand that God’s ways are truly merciful and compassionate beyond compare. God has decided to undeservedly turn His enemies (you and me!) into His children thru the grace of the work of Jesus Christ. He has borne our rebellion, hatred, idolatry, unbelief, and doubting so that He can save us from ourselves. And yet in the face of this do we dare question Him and call Him “unfair”? What ungrateful wretches we are. “As he says in Hosea: ‘I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,’ and, ‘It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” (Romans 9:25-26). Paul here quotes the prophet Hosea, in order to show that God has chosen those who were not His children and who were not His loved ones, and has graciously turned them into His children and loved ones. “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.’ It is just as Isaiah said previously: ‘Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah’” (Romans 9:27-29). By quoting the prophet Isaiah, Paul speaks of how only the remnant will be saved and how if God had not stepped in Himself then we would have all perished like Sodom and Gomorrah before the fire of His wrath. “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him” (Isaiah 59:16). Because we were helpless to save ourselves, God Himself stepped in and did it all Himself.

Paul continues: “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it” (Romans 9:30-31). Paul speaks here of the counter-intuitive nature of the gospel and how those who pursued righteousness have not attained it, while those who did not pursue righteousness at all have indeed attained it. But why didn’t those who pursue it attain it? “Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling stone.’ As it is written: ‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (Romans 9:32-33). Paul answers our question of “why?” by pointing to Jesus Christ and the righteousness that comes thru Him; the righteousness that comes not by working, striving, choosing, or earning, but that comes thru simple faith in the fact that God graciously justifies us wicked men who deserve nothing but punishment and eternal damnation. Christ is the stumbling stone upon which all who try to be self-righteous stumble and fall. He breaks all of us of our delusions of “goodness” and shows us that the only way any of us can be saved is thru a total work of grace and mercy on His part. If we arrogantly think that we can attain righteousness for ourselves then we too will continue to stumble over the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb, and we will fail to receive what God has freely given us. “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:27-30). Because of God’s unfathomable ways and His great providence we are in Christ Jesus and have been rescued from the wrath of God that stood against us apart from Jesus Christ. We are nothing but clay in the hands of God and because of His great mercy in Jesus Christ we faithfully and thankfully pray: “O Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O Yahweh; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people” (Isaiah 64:8-9).