God's Word Never Fails
by James Lincoln on Sunday, June 4, 2006
Romans is not for the faint of heart or mind. In it Paul argues from Scripture defending that the righteousness of God that can only come to us by faith. Last Sunday I tried to set this chapter in its larger context and showed its continuity with the teachings of Jesus (Jn. 6). Paul declared that there's only one way anyone can be made right before God and that is through faith: by trusting that God will provide a righteousness for us in Christ that we could never provide for ourselves. This of course is the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God has been made known from faith to faith. So listen up. I may lose you half way through this sermon. If you want to be right with God put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who lived, died and was raised from the dead so that our sins would be forgiven and that we can fulfill our original purpose which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So if you hear nothing else and if my presentation here gets perplexing you can know what you need to know to have peace with God. Escape the wrath to come and find peace and joy in Jesus by trusting Him for all He is and all He does.
Now, as a servant of Jesus Paul faithfully represented Jesus and all that Jesus taught. And Jesus' teachings angered Paul's fellow Jews. Why? Three of those reasons are found in John 6. First, Jesus said, "The flesh counts for nothing" (6:63) when it came to being right with God. Most Jews assumed that God had placed His favor on them by virtue of their ethnic identity (Jewishness). If they were relatively good people then they could enjoy God's favor. Jesus said, "No, the flesh (your physical descent) counts for nothing in this respect." No one's race gives them acceptance before God. This was shocking. Jesus challenged the racism that was deeply stamped in the heart of the Jews. That same sense of superiority can also manifest itself in any of us as well. It's hard to count the number of wars and the amount of brutality that have been justified in the name of racial or national superiority. We listed some last Sunday.
Second, this phrase, "the flesh counts for nothing" also means that the efforts or the record of our own righteousness will not count for anything or merit for us any right standing before God. We're simply too sinful and God is too holy for that calculation. Third, Jesus taught that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him (6:44) or grants it (6:65). We are not co-equals with God in this matter. Becoming right with God is not a matter of autonomous self determination. Paul will say the same thing in 9:16. Why? Well, Look at Rom.3:9-12:
"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written,'There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.'"
So, not one is righteous. Not one understands. Not one person by nature seeks for God; all have turned aside and are worthless; not one does good. Now this wasn't a popular or a new idea. Paul is quoting David from Psalms 14. But do you believe the diagnosis? Do you believe that mankind is so lost and so void of true understanding that by nature no one seeks God and that no one does good? We are so lost that we need saving by God.
Jesus said the only way anyone can be considered right before God is for us to believe or trust in Him. To believe means to taste, eat and be satisfied with Jesus and His words. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life that has come down from heaven. He who comes to Me will not hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst." Coming and believing is like eating and being filled up and being satisfied with Jesus. It's one thing to know that honey is sweet; it's quite another to taste the sweetness of honey.
Now, this message was so offensive that many of His disciples left Him to walk with him no more (65-66). Why? First, after the feeding of the five thousand some wanted to take Him by force and make him king. All this talk about believing in Him, tasting, eating and being satisfied in Him was irrelevant to their idea of the kingdom of God. But what really offended them was the fact Jesus undermined their confidence that their Jewishness granted them God's favor. He removed their confidence that they could live a good enough life to merit God's approval. He took away any confidence that they could gain God's favor through self-determination. The grace of God's favor was a matter of God's choosing, God drawing or God granting and it was a matter of faith to everyone who would believe. So, what did they do with Jesus? 6:66 says, "After hearing this many of his disciples left Him to walk with Him no more."
Paul preached the same message and got a similar reaction from his fellow Jews. They rejected the gospel of a righteousness that comes only by sovereign grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result Israel fell under the judgment of God.
Now, the Jews raised three objections to the gospel of the righteousness that comes only by faith. First, they said, "If Israel is under judgment for rejecting the gospel then God's word has failed. God promised to bless His people. God made promises of universal prosperity, peace and prominence to His people. If His people are under His judgment then God has failed to keep His promises. The promise to Abraham was unconditional. "I will be your God and you will be my people." The second objection was that if God chose to save the Gentiles and not the Jews this made God unjust. That would mean that He saved the bad people (Gentiles) and judged the good people (Israel). Lastly, if being right with God ultimately depends on God's choice and if I can't be a co-equal with God in this matter of choosing then that makes God unjust (9:19). "Paul, your gospel makes God unfaithful, unjust or unrighteous." So, Paul sets out in Romans 9 to answer these objections. This is perhaps the most challenging chapter in the Bible. So, we're going to have to work hard and think hard.
Paul gives three answers to this charge that God's word has failed.
- First, (6-9) God's word has not failed because His word teaches that the true child of Abraham has always been so by faith in the miracle of God's sovereign grace (not race).- Second, (10-13) the word of God has not failed because God's word teaches that one can only be right with God by God's gracious calling or by His purpose in election (not works).
- Third, (vv.14-26) The word of God has not failed because God's word has always taught that you can only become right with God through an act of His mercy not your race or works. And God's mercy to some does not diminish his justice to all.
In 9:6 Paul says, "It is not as though the word of God has failed." But what is his proof?
Now, before he makes his case Paul spoke of how much he loved his kinsmen. His words aren't spoken out of hatred or meanness; they are spoken out of a heart filled with love. Look at how Paul begins this.
"I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit- 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Rom 9:1-5
Paul begins with his own overwhelming love for his own people. He cares more deeply for his fellow Jews than we can imagine. If he could he would give up heaven for them. To test this remember that Paul went to their synagogues repeatedly even though they frequently, threw him out, stoned him and persecuted him. At one point forty Jews took a solemn oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. I wonder if they kept that vow (Acts 23:12-14)? However, even though he was hated and abused by his kinsmen he kept going back again and again. Why? He loved them. I get a little rejection and I'm ready to throw in the towel and say, "Enough with all of this." Paul loved those who refused to believe and he loved those who hated him. His words are words of perplexity, love and deep anguish and grief. The love at work in Paul is no different that God's own love. He was a servant of God.
Paul writes to Timothy, "God desires all people to be saved." Peter writes, "God does not wish for anyone to perish." Both of these men are conveying the heart of God. God is moved by a great love for all mankind as Paul was moved by a great love for his own race. Here's the application.
Beloved, love your neighbors. Don't ever pick up the word of God and use it as an excuse to not love you neighbor or to throw up you hands and say, "Well, God has everything pre-determined therefore I guess its just useless for me to do anything." Paul never conveyed that spirit. That is a betrayal of the purposes and the character of God. If you fear for your neighbor's salvation, pray for them; go to them with the gospel and do good by them.
However, true love is not blind; even God's love. You and I live in a very unbalanced age in which we place huge value on emotional intensity and passion. What does the phrase "Love is blind" mean? Well, it means a love that excludes everything else. Such a thing never happens with God. God never sacrifices one of His attributes for the sake of some other attribute. God never compromises His standards of truth, justice and righteousness for the sake of His lovingkindness not even in the case of His own Son.
We all know what happens when parents compromise truth and righteousness out of love for their children. They grow up spoiled. They're not shaped by the truth. They learn patterns of self-indulgence instead of self-discipline. They become victims of their own passions. God is never the victim of His passions...if love is taken as a passion. How great was God's resolve to uphold the standards of truth and justice. So, great that he let His own Son die to uphold the standards of righteousness and truth. Our salvation combines God's perfect justice with His perfect mercy.
In v. 4-5 Paul lays out the immense privileges Israel received. But these advantages were not received by faith. Faith is always a personal action and never a corporate decision or the decision of a race. And as a race Israel rejected the purposes of her privileges.
Now, Paul's first answer to the charge that God's word has failed if the gospel is true is this. "No! It's not failed because God's word teaches that you can only be made right with God or a true Jew by faith in God's promise and not by race."
Look at v. 6: "for not all those who are descended from Israel belong to Israel." In Rom. 2:28-29 he says, "No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit..."
The promises of God rest on grace not on race! Why were so many of his kinsmen not being saved even though they enjoyed all of these privileges? They mistook the privileges for God's favor (an easy thing to do). Paul says, "Your physical descent or racial heritage doesn't make you a Jew." WOW!! Paul says "Not all descendants of Abraham are true children of Abraham. " Why? Because the true children of Abraham are those who believe (like Abraham) in the miracle of grace to become right with God! The true children of Abraham are called like Isaac was called into being by the miracle of God's grace and Abraham received that miracle by faith.
Look at v. 9: How did the promise come to Abraham? In Ge.21:12 God said, "I will return about this time next year and Sarah will have a son." Abraham had two sons. The first was Ishmael through Hagar the second was Isaac through Sarah. But with Sarah it required faith in an extraordinary and sovereign miracle. The challenge was not so much that Abraham was old and tired but that Sarah was barren. It was physically impossible for Sarah to have children. So when God told Abraham next year Sarah would have a son, Abraham had to believe in a miracle of grace. Now with Hagar there was no question about whether or not she could have a child. It was perfectly natural. It required no faith in an extraordinary miracle to have a child by Hagar. And faith is the issue here.
The reason the child Ishmael was not qualified to fulfill the promise was because he didn't come about through faith. So, Paul says, "Look, God's word of promise to Israel didn't fail. True Israel has never been Israel by physical descent. Starting with Abraham God made it clear that being right with God or being a true child of Abraham was not a matter of physical descent but a matter of faith". The word of God teaches us that not all Israel belongs to Israel. Jesus and Paul redefined their perception of what it meant to be a true Jew. God's word hasn't failed. His promise is for anyone who will believe the gospel and they will be called Israel or My People (cf. 9:25).
Paul's second point is that the word of God has not failed because the word teaches that (9:10-13) we can only be a right with God by His gracious calling or by God's purpose in election. The word of God says that you can't claim to be righteous by your own self-determination. Our salvation (or right standing with God) depends on God who calls us by His purposes in election not on the man who wills or runs. He uses Jacob and Esau to illustrate this (Ge.21:12).
"Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls - she was told, 'The older will serve the younger.' 13 Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' Rom 9:10-13 NIV
What distinguished Jacob and Esau was God's call. Now there rises up with in us, "You've got to be kidding?" Or "That's not fair. Esau didn't have a chance." Paul anticipates the question and he says, (14) "what shall we say then is there injustice on God's part!?" No! That would be blasphemous. If God is unjust there is no justice anywhere. This troubles us because we don't see ourselves as under God's judgment or wrath from our conception. (David wrote, "In sin did my mother conceive me.") Now, it's disturbing to read that God hated Esau. But, beloved, God is holy and just. He hates sin. And we are all born sinners by nature. God's hatred or His wrath against Esau is His righteous indignation against all sin. We like to say that God hates the sin and loves the sinner. David and Paul are not so diplomatic. By nature we are all children of wrath and all under His judgment of condemnation already. Of course we don't like to hear this. In Eph. 2:1-5:
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins... Among them we too all... were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. "
So, on what basis would Jacob have peace with God and experience His love? He says in v. 11 it was "not because of works but because of His call." God's choice came before either was born or had done anything good or bad. Notice that here he doesn't contrast (11) works with faith. This time he contrast works with God's call and election before either was yet born. This may be offensive to our ears but Paul argues that it is the way of God in the Scriptures.
Finally, in 9:14-26, the word of God has not failed because the word teaches that you can only become right with God through an act of His mercy. And God's mercy to some does not diminish his justice.
Look at v. 16, "So then it (our right standing before God) depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Bear with me here as I push us along. The natural question is, "Doesn't this make God unjust?" Paul says, "No, not at all!" ESAU RECEIVED MERCY! He then illustrates this with Moses saying (15) "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (15). He doesn't say, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and have justice on whom I have justice." The statement is not balanced. He speaks only of mercy and compassion here. Please listen carefully. Mercy and justice aren't the same kind of thing. They're different. Justice - by its very nature - must be universal. It must apply equally in all cases and at all times. Justice cannot distinguish or choose amongst things. It must draw to itself all things that fall under its jurisdiction.
Beloved, mercy, by contrast, is not necessary...it's optional. By its very nature mercy is free and wholly at the choice of the giver. It's an action taken or an exception to justice. It's merciful. Mercy doesn't need to be universal to be mercy. You can have mercy on one individual only and it would still be mercy. That's the nature of mercy. And the same is true of compassion. They are both aspects of grace, which is unmerited favor. Jacob received mercy.
Now, hardening is just the opposite of mercy. Hardening is one way God responds in justice to the sins of men. What is it? When God hardens a person He leaves that person to the continuing consequences of their own sins. You see this in Proverbs. Just sit in your own stew and stew is what it amounts to. And there will be deepening consequences of your own corruption until you become totally and utterly enslaved. Eventually you will be destroyed by the processes of your own choices when you pursue that which is sinful. Without Jesus that's what's going to happen to you. In 9:17: Paul uses Pharaoh as an illustration. Rom 9:17-18:
"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." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden."
How did He harden Pharaoh? He left Pharaoh to the consequences of his unyielding pride in resisting the word of God through Moses. But what we forget is that like Pharaoh, Jacob and Esau we were all born with dead and hard (stony) hearts. God just let Pharaoh do his thing.
I think the real heart of our objection to the notion of God's sovereignty in our salvation, is the insistent desire on our parts to see ourselves as equal players with God. We see this as justice and dignity. We consider this equality to be necessary for spiritual self-determination or true freedom. We think that the universe hangs in the balance of human choice. We think that God's hands are tied behind His back at the bar of human freedom. However when we take this position we forget that we've already lost this kind of freedom and there is no spiritual self-determination, and that God is the one who is free for David says, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
Neither God's mercy nor His hardening violates justice or the word of God as long as mercy has been purchased by the justice of God. And, beloved, it has been! Rom.3:23-26....Now this is good news:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
God has paid a great price that He may exercise His grace in mercy. God has mercy on whom He has mercy and he has compassion on whom He has compassion and He hardens whom He may harden. This may trouble us but it is not unjust. In v. 19, "You will say to me 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist His will?' To this Paul says, "Enough! I've answered your questions. The gospel of sovereign grace received by faith is anchored deep in the Bible. His mercy and election don't make Him unjust. He is the Creator; you are the creature. He is the potter you are the clay. He has every just right to do with fallen, depraved, wicked human sinners as He pleases. He is just to judge them or save them. To show both His wrath and the riches of His grace He saves some. You are not the best judge of what is good for you and your life is not your own to do with as you please. You don't have an equal say in these things. Sinners like us stand at the bar of God's mercy always.
Paul says, 'enough of this, "who are you to talk back to God. You are a contingent being, repent and receive the good news of His mercy in Jesus." Enough of these charges against God."
The truth is that none of the precious promises of God will ever fail. So, if you have not believed in Him, receive His mercy today. His invitation is that the gospel is the power of salvation for everyone who believes. Believe and you will discover the strong unassailable power of His will underneath your own. And when you find yourself the object of His mercy and His will there is no bigger Rock to stand on in the universe. Believe in Jesus and discover what it means to be right with God.