God's Purpose- Romans 9:6-13

Yesterday we read through and began to understand a little of the first 5 verses of Romans chapter 9. In that section, Paul discussed and showed that the Jewish people, in spite of all their privileges from years gone by, were still a lost people and needed to find faith in Jesus as the only way to salvation. Paul will continue the same thought process in the set of verses today but will take it in an important theological direction.

Romans 9:6-13

⁶ It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷ 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.” ⁸ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. ⁹ For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁰ Not only that, but 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.”

The first thought that Paul wants us to understand is the fact that the people of promise under Abraham, are not a people of promise because they had Abraham has their ancestor. They are people of the promise because God loved them and they had the same faith in God that Abraham had. Paul wants us to understand that salvation is not through our relationships, family or again privileges on this earth but our salvation is through our relationship with God, just like Abraham and Issac. Paul continues this same thought process but shifts the focus back to God and His love. Paul shows that Jacob and Esau were the same before they were born. Before both of those men were born from their mom, Rebekah, they were in the same situation. Just because they were the grandsons of Abraham did not make a difference, it was up to God and His love to make the difference. Paul shows what happened, because God has a plan, elected and called Jacob and because He chose Jacob, He loved him. This last part of verse 13 can get a little tricky to understand. What Paul is showing us is the fact that before both men were born they were both in trouble. Remember, put this verse in context with the entire letter up to this point. Both Jacob and Esau were in trouble before they were born because they were both sinful and sin leads to death. God hates sin, God, in His holy righteous wrath hates sin and the sinner. We can never miss this point. Both Jacob and Esau were in trouble with their sin even before they could do anything. But Paul shows us that God in His great love chose Jacob and that is why Paul says and quotes from Malachi 1 in the fact that God loved Jacob and chose him for the relationship and ultimately salvation. Wow

Again, I find 3 important application truths and questions we need to ask ourselves every day.
#1- As Paul states in verse 11, God has a purpose and because of that purpose God has a plan and in that plan was Jacob, whom He loved. That means God has a purpose and plan for me, today, to do for Him because He loves me and I love Him. Because of my relationship and faith in God I must discover and desire to work out the plan and purpose of God for my life today. So, do we try and discover the purpose and plan that God has given us to do today or are we always doing what we want each day?

#2-My salvation is dictated by the love of God, not a right or privilege of being me. This tells me that I must take seriously my salvation and love the God who loved me enough, in spite of my daily sin, to save me. How many times do I thank God each day for His love and in that love, saving me in spite of my sin?

#3-My salvation is decided by God and not something I can or could do. This is a hard application for many to understand. Simply put, God chose me for His love, counted Jesus death in place of my sin, and chose me to then love Him and have faith in Him for His salvation. Salvation started with God, was planned by God, given by God, and determined by God, and has come into my life by God. Everything about my relationship with God comes from Him. I could never do any good to help my salvation. Just like because of the purpose of God, I could never do any wrong to stop the salvation of God in my life because God chose to love and save me, just like Jacob. So the last question than is, how many times do we daily try to earn our salvation from God by doing good?

Sorrow over Souls- Romans 9:1-5

^{Romans 9:1-5}

^1I am telling the truth in union with Christ—I am not lying, for my conscience, confirms it in the Holy Spirit. ^2I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart,  ^3for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh.

^4They are Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ^5To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, Christ descended, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

This is the first section we come to in Romans 9. Chapter 9 of Romans is a new set of thoughts from the Apostle Paul. Paul has been working his way through the letter so far dealing with first in chapters 1, all have sinned and in chapter 3, everyone is trapped in sin and death. In chapter 5 Paul deals with the fact that sin is original and comes strait from Adam. But Paul also gives hope at the same time in chapter 4 giving that righteousness comes by faith, chapters 6 and 7 discussing grace and the full effects of it, and finally in chapter 8 gives the solution for sin. But now in chapter 9 Paul wants to think about his fellow brothers, the Jews. And that is where today's section of Romans picks up. Paul has a deep sorrow over his fellow Jews because as he already has shown it is by faith in the grace of God through the death of Jesus that a person is saved. Paul in verses 4 and 5 lists all of the privileges that the Israleties had from God, yet now they do not matter because as Paul clearly has shown it is not by works or privileges that one gets saved but by faith in Jesus. Paul is broken and in anguish over his friends and family, the Jews, to the point he would even trade his salvation for the salvation of all the people of privilege. Wow

3 Important applications I find in these 5 simple verses.

#1- As Paul tells us and shows through the list of privileges for the Jews, it is not by privilege or position that a person is saved. Paul follows chapter 8 with this section and in chapter 8 Paul shows us that it is a relationship through faith in the grace of God that will lead a person to salvation. Salvation does not come by a list of privileges but by the death and faith in that death, of Jesus. So we need to ask ourselves, every day, what is my salvation founded in???

#2-In our union with Jesus, we need to be listening to the truth from the Holy Spirit. Paul is clear in the first verse that everything he is saying is not is own ideas or thoughts but because of his relationship with Jesus and hard-line connection with Him, the Holy Spirit is feeding him and giving him truth to share with others. We have this same power in our lives when we are in a relationship, by faith, with Jesus. So again another question we need to ask ourselves, every day, are we listening to the Holy Spirit and His truth or ourselves and our desires?

#3- We need to be like Paul, broken and in anguish over souls we know are going to hell. Paul is in tears and heart broken over his brothers missing the point and truth of Jesus. Paul is even broken to the point he would even possibly trade his salvation for their souls. We have the same mandate and we should feel the same weight about our friends, family, and loved ones that do not know Jesus and will spend eternity in anguish in hell. So the last question from this passage for us to ask, every day, is, do we feel broken and cry out over those we love and what can we do about our sorrow for the souls of others?

Romans 9

This week I want to write my thoughts down in my blog as I study, read, and begin to understand more of Romans 9. Romans 9 I think is the pivotal chapter and thought of Paul as he was pouring his heart and Godly understand out to the church. As I study this passage this coming week, verse by verse, I will highlight, summarize, and apply God's word to my life and share the thoughts with you. What better way to start a series on Romans 9 than giving the whole passage for us to read. Enjoy, and I pray you enjoy from God this week also.

 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

           “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’

and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”

     ²⁶ “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

        “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom

and become like Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

           “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

Trust Account

Trust is like a savings account. In order to receive trust from others we must slowly and continually make a deposit in the trust account. After making many deposits the trust level that others have in us will build up. But it will only take one action we do and others will lose all that trust we have build up. 1 mistake or action in destroying the trust others have in us will take away years of many small deposits we put in the account.

Quotable Friday

Here is my favorite line from a book I read this past week.

"God has the right to do whatever He pleases".~ Francis Chan

The Tongue and Hell

The little brother of Jesus, James, only talks one time in his little letter about hell. But I find the one time that James talks about hell to be very interesting. This week we have discovered that we can end up in hell based upon our relationship with others in the church, our outlook towards the poor, racism, and doing good things. In the verses that James talks about the tongue he mentions hell. Lets take a look.

James 3:5-6

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

In these few verses James links the tongue to hell. Have you ever thought about the fact that your tongue and how you use your tongue could get you sent to hell? I never did. I have never linked the use of my tongue to going to hell. Jesus also linked the tongue specifically back in Matthew 5 to hell but Jesus also had a bigger picture in mind in how we deal with one another overall. Here James links the tongue, and the sinful evil use of it, to going to hell. James is saying the tongue is like a fire and however you use your tongue for evil can spread and effect others like a wild fire. Then James links the fire of the tongue to the fires of hell. Simply put, James is telling us that if you use your tongue for fire and hurting others, your tongue will end up where that fire came from, hell. Our tongues could end us up in hell. If we do not use our tongues for good and for things that honor, praise, and worship Jesus, than our tongue will send us to hell. 

James it letting us know that if we love Jesus and do the wise things Jesus tells us to, than our tongues will be used for God. But if we do not know and love Jesus, than we will use our tongues for evil and will end up in hell. So a simple question to ask now is, what do we use our tongues for? If we find our tongues continually being used for praise, worship, and honor of Jesus and telling others about Him, than we know and love Jesus. But if we continually find our tongues being used for evil; like critical speech, gossip, lying, slander, profanity, and other deceitful things, than we do not know and truly love Jesus and our tongue is driving us to hell. So we need to check our tongues because it is a good sign whether we are destined for hell or not. 

Sheep, Goats, and Hell

This week we have been looking at different passages from Jesus and hell. We have discovered that how we treat others in the church, what we do for Jesus, and racism can all send us to hell. In the text today we find that how we treat others in this life, especially the poor and needy, will also dictate whether we go to hell or not. here is the passage from Matthew.

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

This passage and line from Jesus speaks a lot for itself. Simply put, if we love Jesus we will look at others just like Jesus did. So if we want to ask ourselves, our we going to hell, we need to look and ask ourselves some other questions too. Do we feel entitled because we know Jesus? Are we generous to others with out time, talents, and treasure? Do I truly care for the poor or let others do it? Do I help others intentionally or am I too busy? Do I view others through the eyes of Jesus? If we answer any of the questions in not a good light or way, we do not know Jesus and His kingdom and we might be a goat, destined for hell. Loving others like Jesus did is knowing Jesus and loving Jesus, which equals escaping hell.