Introduction- Paul’s teaching from Romans 8
1. Paul has written about the eternal plan of God for those who put their faith in Him.
2. That all things work together for the good of those put their faith in Him. (Romans 8:28)
3. That God calls people to Himself, He justifies them, and sees them as already completed and glorified in Heaven.
4. That nothing in all of creation can separate those called people from the love of God.
Paul knows that people will object to these statements.
1. Then what about the Jews? Aren’t they called God’s chosen people?
2. If God chose to reveal Himself in a unique way to them, then why did they reject Jesus, their Messiah?
I. Paul’s Statements About Israel Vs. 1-5
A. Salvation Through Faith Had Been Preached To Israel (Review)
1. Romans 1:16; 2:9-11; 3:1-4, 21-24, 29; 4:1-3; 7:1
2. Justification by faith was a message that had been told first to Israel.
3. The culmination of justification by faith was found in Jesus, the Messiah, the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin, whom Israel had rejected. This general rejection of Jesus led to Paul’s explanation of the Gospel and its apparent ineffectiveness towards the Jews.
B. Paul Loved His Fellow Jews Vs. 1-3
1. Paul deeply desires their salvation.
2. Paul grieves over them, and is perplexed at their rejection of Jesus.
3. He expresses these same loving sentiments in Romans 10:1, 11:1
4. Paul was willing to sacrifice (if possible) his eternal salvation for their salvation.
5. He is not stating that this was possible, for that would contradict all he has taught so far. He simply says that he would be willing to do this.
C. Israel Was Greatly Blessed As A Nation Vs. 4, 5
1. Adoption- Exodus 4:22 Thus says the Lord: “Israel is my son, my firstborn…”.
2. The glory- Shekinah presence of God.
1 Kings 8:10, 11 10And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
3. The covenants-Covenant agreements between God and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David. Blessings that God promised and granted to the nation.
4. Giving of the Law- Exodus 31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
5. The service of God-The nation was instructed by God how they were to worship Him. The design of the Tabernacle and later the Temple, the offerings, who could serve, etc.
6. The promises-The promise of Abraham becoming a nation, of being set free from Egypt, of being led into the Promised Land, of God defeating their enemies, and of the coming of Messiah. They experienced most of these promises coming true.
7. The fathers-Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, etc.
8. Christ came- Jesus’ lineage traces back to Abraham. Jesus, God over all, came thru the Jewish lineage. God came in the flesh as a Jewish baby.
II.Is God’s Choosing Ineffective? Vs. 6-13
The anticipated question and objection would be as follows:
If God chose to show such favor to Israel, why did most of them reject Jesus, their Messiah?
A. God’s Choosing Has Been Effective V. 6a
1. V. 6a- God’s offer of justification was effective to some of those who heard it.
B. The Chosen V. 6b-13
1. V. 6b– 6b For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
a. God’s calling was effective, but not all “of” the nation of Israel, are actually “Israel”.
b. There is a physical Israel, and a spiritual Israel.
c. Salvation is not based on national or cultural identity.
2. Vs. 7- 9 Paul now describes those that God chose for salvation
a. V. 7- God promised Abraham and Sarah as son, but Sarah was barren. She told Abraham to father a child through her Egyptian servant girl, and Ishmael was born.
b. V. 8, 9- God’s intention was that Abraham and Sarah have a child, a miraculous child not born of human achievement, but by the power of God. Upon that son, Isaac, the promises of greatness and faith would rest.
c. God blessed Ishmael, and made him a great nation, but the promised Messiah and the blessings of faith would come through Isaac.
d. Ishmael and Isaac had the same father, but different mothers. Ishmael was the son of the flesh, but Isaac was the son of God’s promise.
e. The Messiah, from whom would come the offer of salvation, could not be allowed to be the result of man’s efforts, but only of God’s promise.
f. Salvation is not based upon a man’s lineage or ancestry.
3. V. 10- Isaac, the son of promise, married Rebecca, and fathered Jacob and Esau: twins
a. V. 11, 12- God sovereignly chose Jacob over Esau, even though Esau was the older
b. This choice was made before the children were born, showing that God’s choosing had nothing to do with the works of man. It was all the sovereign grace of God.
c. V. 12- The choice of God was pronounced to Rebecca before her twins were born.
d. V. 11b, c- “…that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls…”. This principle still stands today. Election is still of God.
4. V. 13- Salvation is not based upon man’s good works or bad works. It’s all of faith.
a. Jacob was a deceiver and a manipulator.
b. “A woman once said to Mr. Spurgeon, ‘I cannot understand why God should say that He hated Esau.’ ‘That,’ Spurgeon replied, ‘is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob.'”
c. Hated- used relatively
i. Literally- hated, viewed as an enemy
ii. Contextually, speaks of choosing one over another
iii. Prov. 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
iv. Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
v. John 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
vi. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…