Romans 9:3, 4 he goes on to say,
"3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;" (cf. Romans 10:1-4)
Romans 10:1-4
Now I am back on Romans 9 which is what I am breaking down.
"1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
COMMENT: From this section of Romans 9, please remember that Paul wishes that he was cursed, cut off from Christ for his brothers, the Israelites. Also in Romans 10 we see that his heart's desire and prayer is for Israel to be saved...
Romans 10:5-11 is really good too.
We'll come back to this at the end of this teaching...
Romans 9:5-8
"5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."
COMMENT: Now we need to determine who are the children of the promise.
First we need to go to the word to find out who God wants saved.
1 Tim. 2:1-6
"1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
COMMENT: We see that God wants us to pray for all men because He wants all to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth and the only way is through Jesus.
Keep in mind that HE GAVE HIMSELF AS A RANSOM FOR ALL AND THAT HE WANTS ALL SAVED.
Then we go to
II Peter 3:9,
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
COMMENT: Here we see that he doesn't want anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Now let's tie what we have so far together with...
II Tim. 1:9,10,
"9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:"
COMMENT: So here we see that God saved us and called us to an holy calling not based on our works but according to what he has done for us in Christ Jesus. And that sacrifice was and is for everyone. He said "through the gospel." What is the gospel?
I Cor 15:3,4 gives it to us in a nutshell.
"3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
"4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
When Jesus uttered some of his last words from the cross, "It is finished". He meant what he said. It is finished, we are not going to add to it or take from it. We're called to believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ and let him work his will out in our lives as we submit to him.
Cf. Phil. 2:13
"13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
AND James 4:7
"7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Back to Romans 9:9-13,
"9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
COMMENT: From this section, I would like to bring to your attention that election has to do with service not salvation- 'The older will serve the younger'. As was pointed out earlier, God wants all saved and not just a select few. Also commenting on v.13, the last part of this section, even if we wanted to forget God's foreknowledge, this particular statement that Paul was quoting from was written hundreds of years after they died (Ck. Mal. 1:2,3)
Romans 9:14-18
"14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
COMMENT: I would like to stop here and make a few observations regarding God hardening Pharaoh's heart. It has already been laid out that the Lord wants all saved. God was very patient with the Pharoah but he rejected God's mercy. Now it was time for him to suffer the consequences. (Ck. Rom. 9:22)
Romans 9:19-21
"19 Thou wilt say then unto me, (1)Why doth he yet find fault? (2)For who hath resisted his will?
20 (3)Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? (4)Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 (5)Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"
COMMENT: I numbered the five questions above, let's take them in order.
(1)Because of sin in our lives
(2)Many do but are never left unaffected or unharmed
(3)I wonder that too
(4)We as the ones that He formed shouldn't but we do at times
(5)Yes, read about King David and also John the Baptist.
Romans 9:22-24
"22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"
COMMENT: Verse 22 was brought up when we were speaking of the Pharaoh in verses 14-18. God endured with much patience the Pharaoh whom he wanted to repent and turn to him but the Pharaoh just wouldn't. In essence this section is speaking of God showing his wrath upon those who reject him and his blessings upon those who accept him.
Romans 9:25-33
"25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
(COMMENT) God made his name known to the world through the nation of Israel. As time went on, they kept turning their backs on him or trying to please him through the works of the law, which is impossible (Ck. Rom. 3:20 "Therefore by the deeds of the law…;" Rom. 4:5,6 "But to him that worketh not but believeth…;" Gal 3:24-26 "Where for the law was out schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ…" and not through works. (Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please God…). He turned to another people who were not his people and they became children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (John 1:11,12; 2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus the living Word made flesh is drawing all that will come to him in faith through and by the Spirit and his written word (the bible) or in agreement with it. God said that his word will not come back void (Isa. 55:11 "So shall my word be that goeth forth..."). So don't stumble over Jesus Christ as many have by trying to please God by your works just accept him because of his finished work on the cross. Let him make you a new creature and work in and through you (II Cor. 5:17; Phil. 2:13).
In summing this up, we saw in verse 3 that Paul wishes himself accursed, shut off from Christ for his brothers, the Israelites sake. If God just convicts, draws, saves certain ones then Paul is in disagreement with God because Paul wants them all saved. Check these scriptures, keeping in mind that God calls men to himself through the Living Word, Jesus Christ and/or through his written word by the Spirit (Acts 2:39; Rom. 4:20-25). When I was commenting on Romans 9:7, we needed to determine who were the children of the promise. Using I Tim. 2:1-6 we saw that God wants us to pray for everyone since he wants all saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth, he was a ransom for all men.
AS we saw in…
I Timothy 2:6
"6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
...THE GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD WAS SHOWN TO US IN THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS ON THE CROSS AND THAT SACRIFICE IS FOR EVERYBODY.
Election has to do with service not salvation in Romans 9:11-13. "God hated Esau and loved Jacob" was written hundreds of years after they died and that's not even mentioning God's foreknowledge. Now we come to the Pharaoh, tying Romans 9:14-18 with Romans 9:22 and cross-referencing with Exodus 7:8,9; God bore with great patience the Pharaoh and his deeds but the Pharaoh kept hardening his own heart and at a certain point and time, God hardened his heart even harder since now he was a vessel fit for destruction, (he went past the point of no-return.) God just doesn't put people here to die and go to hell forever. He loves them and wants them to come to saving knowledge of himself, but he never forces anyone to be saved. He convicts and draws but never forces.
In closing... let's look at a few WHOSOEVERS...
John 3:16-19
"16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
The condemnation is NOT because men were predestined for hell, it is because they loved the darkness (sin) RATHER than the light (righteousness, truth)
Matt. 10:32,33
"32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Matt. 12:46-50
Look at
"46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
WHOSOEVER shall do the will of the Father...??? WHAT IS THE WILL OF THE FATHER?
John 6:40
"40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
I had a brother tell me that we must physically see Jesus to be saved… I shared this verse with him… It says,
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29
Then I went on to tell him that salvation is based on repenting and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. I carried it further by telling him that when I "saw" what the Lord did for me then I was one of the ones who "seeth the Son, and believeth on him,…". NOW I see the SON for who he is and what he did for me. I came into his life and NOW I SEE. He gave me eyes to see his truth and ears to hear it too. I DID NOT PHYSICALLY SEE BUT I DID SPIRITUALLY SEE HIM AND WHAT HE DID FOR ME.
Closing with…
John 6:28,29
"28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
BELIEVE ON the Lord Jesus Christ, he is a prayer away from each and everyone of us.
Hyper Calvinism teaches the TULIP
T otal Depravity- Born totally sinful with no good in you
U nconditional Election- Salvation is NOT based on anything to do with you
L imited atonement- God just picks certain people to get saved
I rresistible Grace- When God convicts you, you WILL get saved
P erseverance of the Saints- OR once saved, always saved as they persevere