Today, we continue our study of Romans 9-11 where the main topic is the sovereignty of God. In the first eight chapters of Romans the apostle Paul has dealt with a variety of doctrines which in Romans 9-11, he expounds upon. Whereas Romans 9 is about the past history that the people of Israel had with God, Romans 10-11 are about Israel's present and their future with the Lord respectively.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel."
Interestingly, like his grandfather, God intercepted Jacob long before he did anything meritorious. Before he was known as Israel, he was known as Jacob. The name "Jacob" means deceiver and the name "Israel" means prince with God. God named him Israel after Jacob wrestled with the angel of God all night one night. God made Jacob, the deceiver, into Israel, the prince. But those who are Israel's descendants can not necessarily claim the promises that God gave to Israel because salvation is not inherited, it is a free gift from God received by those humble enough to believe that God is faithful and true.
Since Israel largely rejected God's Son, it appears that the purpose of His word to change theirs hearts failed. But, this is not the case because God's promise to all of Israel who did believe succeeded. The rejection of Christ by the majority of Israel does not negate the promise of God to the minority who believed. In fact, God still extends the Abrahamic Covenant to all who would believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
God's choice to save anyone is not based upon physical descent nor human merit. Abraham did nothing meritorious before He was intercepted by God in Genesis in Genesis 12. God does not operate on the basis of who we are related to or any other human connection. God's choice does not operate on the basis of human perfection. No one works really hard at being good enough to earn the favor of God. God only operates on the basis of the faith that we choose to place in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, like his grandfather, God intercepted Jacob long before he did anything meritorious. Before he was known as Israel, he was known as Jacob. The name "Jacob" means deceiver and the name "Israel" means prince with God. God named him Israel after Jacob wrestled with the angel of God all night one night. God made Jacob, the deceiver, into Israel, the prince. But those who are Israel's descendants can not necessarily claim the promises that God gave to Israel because salvation is not inherited, it is a free gift from God received by those humble enough to believe that God is faithful and true.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "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 v.8 of today's passage we read, "In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring."
In Genesis 18:10 we read, "And He said, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.'"
For Sarah, Abraham's wife to have a child at the age of 90 was a biological miracle. Yet, that was God's promise to them in this verse. The birth of Isaac involved God's own supernatural activity. And, His promise was based on what He did, not upon what Sarah and Abraham would do.
As I am sure you know, Abraham had another son, Ishmael, the son Abraham had with Sarah's handmaiden Hagar. Ishmael was born thirteen years before Isaac. By rights, he should have inherited the promises that God made to Abraham, but he didn't. Instead, Isaac inherited those promises. Ishmael stands as a symbol of the futility of expecting God to honor our ideas of how He should react to our attempts to aid His work.
The circumstances around the birth of Ishmael were sketchy. According to Genesis 16, Sarah said to Abraham, "Do you expect God to do everything? He has promised you a son, but you are getting old. Time's wasting. Surely, God doesn't expect you to leave it all up to him!" To this Sarah suggested that her husband follow a pagan act by taking Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. Hagar then conceived and bore a son whose name was Ishmael.
According to Genesis 17, Ishmael was brought before God by Abraham, who said, "God, here is my son. Will you fulfill your promises to him?" God said, "No, I won't. That is not the one. He must come by divine promise." Abraham and Sarah had misunderstood one caveat in the promise God had given them: God would do it miraculously so that they would not mistake that He did it. God is committed to do only what He has promised to do.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring."
Again, according to Genesis 18, God gave Abraham and his wife Sarah a promise which turned into a biological
miracle. God supernaturally gave the couple a son in their old age. Abraham sired another son, Ishmael, and God also gave them Isaac. But the promise was not to the firstborn, though that was the culture, and that was what the cultural law demanded, that the firstborn would get the inheritance. But it skipped the firstborn, and, it went to the second born, Isaac, the son of promise. He was the son of promise because he believed.
Same with Isaac and Rebecca. They had two kids, Esau and Jacob. Esau, the firstborn, should have gotten the inheritance. He didn't. It went to Jacob. It is true that the Bible teaches that God elected us. On the other hand, He implores us to believe in Him, He holds us responsible for selecting Him. He predestines and He calls. But then we have to decide to believe.
in v.9 of today's passage we read, "For this was how the promise was stated: 'At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.'"
God makes choices based on His sovereign will. This doctrine is called "election" or "predestination." According to the scriptures, believers in Christ were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And yet, God says we must choose. This is one of those mysteries that we will only understand in eternity, but, we can be greatly encouraged that our eternal security is guaranteed by none other than the God of eternity.
God's election is always a matter of His grace. He doesn't elect based on what we deserve. If God acted only on the basis of our righteousness or the false idea that we deserve it, no one would ever be saved. The gospel of the grace of God is the message everyone needs. The word of "grace" is proclaimed from every page of the Bible and ultimately revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The last verse of the Bible summarizes the message from Genesis to Revelation: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all” (Revelation 22:21). In John 1:16 we read that through the Lord Jesus, “we have all received grace upon grace.” His is the only kind of grace that we all hunger and thirst for. His grace is the gratuitous and undomesticated kind of grace that liberates rebellious sinners into being the sons and daughters of God.
For those who would find fault with God that all are not saved, I simply quote John 3:16-17, "16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
