Romans 9:14-21, “The Difficult Doctrine of God’s Favor.”
Today I want to emphatically encourage you to open your hearts and minds to a very difficult section of Scripture. You will need to buckle up and hold on, as this is going to be the start to an “E-Ticket” ride.
We will not complete the “ride” today, as it will take at least one more Sunday, maybe two, to do justice to this topic.
There are certain phrases every parent begins to expect from their kids. Phrases like "why?" or, “everybody else is doing it,” or “all the other kids have one,” or something like, "That’s not fair!" Well, as we grow up, we find out that not all the “why” questions can be answered, that “everybody isn’t doing everything,” that “everybody doesn’t have everything,” and that, "Life’s not fair."
We begin to ask other questions, like Does God play favorites? Is God’s definition of fairness is different than ours? Romans chapter 9 is one of the most difficult and controversial chapters in the New Testament, and today you are going to get a taste of why that is so.
Some of the differences over how Romans 9 is to be understood have caused friendships to fail, churches to split, and has divided Christians into a wide variety of different doctrinal groups.
Think about what we have already studied in this chapter: God’s choice of Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, God’s choice of Israel over all the other nations in the ancient world, and now, God’s choice of the Church (i.e., all those who call upon Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins) over all the peoples of the earth.
Do you see how that could be understood as God showing favoritism? As God not playing fair?
Today I want to share with you some reasons why I believe we can trust God to be fair and just in working out His plan, now and forever.
Romans 9:14-18... When Paul asks, "What then shall we say?" he is anticipating a negative response to what he has said so far. Back in chapter 3:5 he said, "What shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us?”; 6:1, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?"; 7:7,"What shall we say then? Is the law sin?” In each case he clearly expected a negative conclusion, “May it never be said!”
But, does God play favorites with people? Is God unfair? Paul says “No,” of course not, he then quotes the last half of Exodus 33:19, to prove that God isn’t unjust or unfair.
At first it’s unclear exactly how this quotation demonstrates God’s fairness. The passage in context, is when Moses asks to see God’s glory. Here is the entire verse, “And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My Name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
The phrase Paul quotes here is connected to God’s name. Notice what this text doesn’t say, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will show cruelty on whom I will show cruelty." The emphasis here is on God’s mercy and compassion, for these character qualities are at the very heart of God’s nature.
God’s mercy is something God freely gives according to His nature, not according to our worthiness or unworthiness. Let me say that again, God’s mercy is something God freely gives according to His nature, not according to our worthiness or unworthiness.
Look again at verse 16. The phrase "desire or effort" describes the totality of our innate human capacity, ability, resourcefulness. Ultimately, the ability and authority of God to offer a reconciled relationship to the human race through His Son Jesus Christ is not dependent on whether Israel believes in Jesus as Messiah or rejects Jesus as Messiah. Israel’s lack of desire and effort doesn’t stop God’s purpose from prevailing.
Paul now, in verse 17, gives an example from Exodus to illustrate his point, by referencing the Egyptian Pharaoh who refused to release the people of Israel until God had done several miracles. Although Pharaoh defied God and expressed his hatred toward the Hebrews, God had actually raised Pharaoh up to fulfill God’s purpose. Even Pharaoh’s rebellion toward God, serves as a witness to God’s greatness and glory. When human beings oppose God’s plans and purposes, they actually think they can prevail, but the truth is, God uses their resistance as an opportunity to accomplish His will and to display His power and nature.
Throughout the bible, we see this paradox of God using adverse circumstances and even the most extreme wickedness of mankind to achieve God’s own good purpose. For example, Joseph (the son of Jacob or Israel), was done great harm by his brothers, but in the end, Joseph says to his brothers (Genesis 50:20), “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Peter describes (Acts 2:23) the crucifixion of Jesus as the work of “wicked men,’' and yet it was, “by God's set purpose and foreknowledge.” And (Acts 4:28) says, these wicked men “did what [God’s] power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”
God sovereignly worked through sinful and sometimes wicked and cursed men, to bring blessings to others, and to bring honor and glory to God.
Verse 18 here in Romans 9, alludes to the fact that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened toward God and the Israelites. Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Some verses in Exodus claim Pharaoh hardened his own heart against God, making him accountable for his own rebellion and hardheartedness.
Exodus 7:14, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.’”
Exodus 8:11-15, “‘The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.’ After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
But several other verses in Exodus seem to say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart:
Exodus 4:21, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.’”
Exodus 7:3-4, “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.”
Exodus 14:8, “The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.”
The Bible never tries to reconcile how both of these claims can be true, and yet it does affirm that both are indeed true: God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh, by his own will, hardened his own heart; both of these claims are simultaneously true.
Just as Pharaoh hardened his heart against God within God’s plan, the nation of Israel hardened its heart toward Jesus Christ within God’s plan, we may not be able to resolve this in our minds, but we can trust God to be fair because GOD IS MOTIVATED BY MERCY.
When God allows things to happen that seem painful and don’t make sense to us, we cry out because we don’t understand. 14 times Job asked God “why?”
questions, but God never answered them. We can trust God because He is motivated by mercy and compassion, not cruelty and vindictiveness.
Let’s look at Romans 9:19-21... Some people might read about God using people like Pharaoh and unbelieving Israel to further God’s purposes and wonder why God holds Pharaoh and Israel accountable for their disobedience. If Pharaoh and Israel are just playing the role God has for them (v. 19), why should God judge them for resisting His will? If God has ordained people to specific roles in His plan, why are they guilty for fulfilling them?
Paul says we are responsible for our response to God, even though God is able to use both our obedience and our disobedience to fulfill his purposes.
When Paul’s asks the rhetorical question (v. 20), "Who are you O man to talk back to God," he is not discouraging us from wrestling with this issue, but he is reminding us of the difference between being a creature and being God.
It is said that at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a rugged old-timer said to a new attender, "The first think you need to learn about this program is that there is a God and you’re not him." That’s essentially what Paul is reminding us here.
Paul quotes from Isaiah (29:16; 45:9; 64:8), where something that is made is questioning its maker: God is the potter, shaping a piece of pottery on a wheel, into what He wants it to be. [This is the same imagery used in Genesis 2, when God is shaping the first man out of the dust of the ground and then breathing into him the breath of life. Just as the potter has the freedom to shape and mold his pots, God has the same rights over the human race, to make one for noble [honorable] use, and another for common [dishonorable] use.
Some examples of “pottery” meant for noble purposes (in the OT) would be Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the Nation of Israel; and in the NT we
could list examples like Joseph, Mary, John the Baptist, and then with the birth of the Church came Peter, James, John, and Paul.
In the world today, God is using His Church, the Body of Christ, to fulfill God’s noble purposes. It’s not because Christians are better, but because that’s what God, the Potter, wanted to make out of His lump of clay in these last days.
Examples of real pottery made for common use would be pots used for storing supplies, holding water, etc. But notice, Paul is not talking about pots being made for the purpose of destroying them, but in order to use them.
But again, Paul is talking about vessels, about earthen jars, clay pots, meaning humans, and the emphasis here is on God sovereignly selecting people and nations for the outworking of His plan in history, in the present, and in the future. This does not even imply or infer that God is selecting some individuals for heaven and some for hell, but for how they are to be used by God.
Isaac’s brother Ishmael was an example of a pot for common use, while Isaac a pot for noble purposes; Esau was a pot for common use while Jacob was a pot for noble purposes, even though it was his descendants who became unbelieving Israel.
In this present age, the Christian Church is a vessel of honor in the outworking of God’s plan. So, in this metaphor of God being the potter and we being the clay, we can absolutely trust God to be fair, because HE IS not only OUR MAKER, OUR SAVIOR, AND OUR SUSTAINER, HE IS TOTALLY JUST.
We find, woven throughout this chapter, the tension between God’s sovereign control over His creation, and His creation’s responsibility, as those made in the image of God, to respond to Him respectfully, in obedience and love (love=obey, John 14:15, 21, 23).
The reality is, as complex as Paul’s teaching here is, he affirms both God’s sovereign control, and human responsibility before God.
Paul doesn’t try to reconcile these seemingly incompatible realities —although, I wish he did— but instead, he simply accepts and proclaims them both as being true. Be assured, we will explore this topic further next Sunday.
But for now, think about this: The nation of Israel was set apart by God to bring honor and glory to God, but Israel rejected God’s Messenger, God’s Own Son; and now, God has set apart and is using His Church (the Body of Christ), all true Christians, to fulfill God’s purpose in this age.
God’s plan wasn’t foiled or fouled by Israel’s unbelief; in fact, God used the the murder of His own Son, by the Jews, to accomplish the very work of God; and yet, the people of Israel were held accountable by God for their rejection of Jesus Christ.
You can trust God to work in His Church (in your life), as He accomplishes His own purpose and will.
1Peter 2:9, “[For] you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
We, as Christians, are not granted God’s favor because we are so special, or because we are better than other people. But it is because of God’s own mercy and love that we have received His undeserved and unmerited favor.
The doctrine of God’s favor, in all of its depth and breadth, can be very difficult to understand. But I pray the following passages of Scripture will help to illuminate your mind and heart concerning this:
Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.” 2Corinthians 6:2, “For [the LORD] says, ‘In the time of My favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Psalm 69:13, “I pray to You, O LORD, in the time of Your favor; in Your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation.
The desire and display of God’s favor is really very simple to understand: 1Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
2Peter 3:9, “[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Acts 10:34-36, “Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” 42-43, “He is the One whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
You see, God wants everyone to be saved and to come into an eternal relationship with Him; God’s favor is granted to anyone who comes to Him by faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins; God turns no one away.
Pastor Mike <‘((((><