Romans 9-11 - Lesson 1
Overview
Beginning Romans 9–11: God's Sovereignty in Salvation
Three foundational confessions frame any honest study of salvation: God is God, I am not God, and you are not God. We hold these truths tightly because as we examine how God saves, hard questions will arise. Questions themselves are not dangerous; what becomes dangerous is demanding answers to things God has not given us to know. Alongside this, we acknowledge a second tension: we long for everyone to be saved—and so does God, who "is not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:9—yet Scripture is clear that not all will be saved, and there is only one way to salvation. "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" Acts 4:12. Jesus himself declares, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6, and "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" Romans 10:13.
Paul's Anguish for Israel
Paul opens Romans 9 with consuming grief—he could wish himself "accursed and cut off from Christ" for the sake of his Jewish kindred Romans 9:1–5. Pause here. Would we trade places with our neighbors, friends, or family so that they might be saved? This is the missional heart we are called toward. We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation: "in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" 2 Corinthians 5:17–19. Giving away the gospel never diminishes what we have in Christ; it should ignite a holy fire to share him.
Israel's Privileges—and the Question They Raise
Paul lists what belonged to Israel: the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and the Messiah himself. Israel was chosen as God's "treasured possession" Deuteronomy 7:6 and given his perfect law to teach and treasure Deuteronomy 6:1–9. They had the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15; Genesis 17; Genesis 22:17–18) renewed with Jacob Genesis 28:13–15, and the prophetic promise that the Messiah would come from their own line (Jeremiah 23:5–6; Micah 5:2). So why have many not received him? Paul answers immediately: "It is not as though the word of God had failed" Romans 9:6. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New—the same God, the same word, the same promises made and kept.
True Descendants of Abraham
The decisive line runs not through flesh but through promise: "It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants" Romans 9:7–9. Jesus pressed this same point with those who claimed Abraham as father: if they were truly his children, they would do what Abraham did John 8:31–59. Paul makes it plain that the promise to Abraham's "offspring" finds its singular fulfillment in Christ, and the law given 430 years later does not annul that promise Galatians 3:16–18. True belonging to God's people is a matter of the heart: "real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal" Romans 2:28–29. Through Christ's shed blood and empty tomb, the covenant is completed; all who belong to him are children of the promise.
Pastoral Take-Away
Paul does not rejoice that any are lost; he treats salvation as the eternal life-and-death matter it is. May that same urgency mark us. The more we give away the gospel, the more clearly we see that nothing is taken from us—Christ remains ours, and his promise remains sure. Next, Romans 9 will press into harder territory: God's wrath and mercy, election, and predestination. We will return to those questions holding firmly to where we began: God is God, I am not God, you are not God—and in Christ alone we are reconciled to the Father.
Transcript
Thank you so much for this morning. 7s
We thank you for bringing us into your house again to receive word and 10s
sacrament. 14s
Lord, we ask that as we study your word in education today, 15s
Lord, we ask that you would guide us by your spirit. 21s
We ask that the kids down the hall as they are diving into your word with their Sunday 23s
school teachers, we ask that you would also open your your word to them and guide their 29s
conversations and their learning by your spirit. 34s
Lord, we love you. 37s
We thank you for calling us as your own and we ask that you would be with us today and 38s
always in Christ's name we pray. 42s
Okay, so we are starting a new adult ed class today. 46s
We're going to get this a little bit closer. 50s
And so we have to do so we're studying Romans 9 through 11. 54s
And we're talking about God sovereignty in salvation. 61s
God sovereignty in salvation. 66s
So there are a few things that we need to get cleared up first. 68s
Okay, first thing. 72s
God is God. 78s
Second things. 81s
I am not God. 86s
Third thing. 89s
You are not God. 95s
Okay, so we need to get those things cleared up. 97s
Right away, I don't think that any of you are confused on those points, but it's really important 101s
to understand these clarifications because as we study salvation, as we study God sovereignty 108s
and salvation, there will be questions that arise and that's okay. 118s
It is okay to have questions. 122s
Questions are not inherently bad. 127s
It's the demand for answers that can lead us down a dangerous path. 132s
It's when we demand answers that we are not privy to that leads us down a dangerous path. 140s
So, second thing, second. 151s
We can all agree that it would be lovely if everyone were saved. 155s
In theory, we want everyone to be saved. 162s
We want all of the world to be saved. 166s
God wants that all would come to repentance and be saved in second Peter chapter 3. 171s
It says, the Lord is not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 179s
The truth is that not everyone will be saved. 189s
Not everyone will be saved and there is only one way to salvation. 194s
And this is, as a compassionate, caring, loving people, this hurt because we do want all to be saved, 200s
but the reality is that not all are saved or will be saved. 211s
There is one way to salvation. 217s
In Acts chapter 4, we read, there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under heaven, 220s
given among mortals by which we must be saved. 228s
He is speaking of the name of Jesus. 231s
In Romans chapter 10, which we will get to, not today, but just briefly today, it says, 234s
for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 243s
John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way. 247s
I am the truth. 253s
I am the life. 255s
No one comes to the Father except through me. 258s
Go ahead and open up to second Corinthians chapter 5, second Corinthians chapter 5. 261s
So this is in the New Testament and it is right after Romans. 269s
So if you're in the New Testament, you get through the Gospels or go past the Gospels, past the Book of Acts. 275s
You'll find yourself in Romans and then we have 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians. 279s
So second Corinthians chapter 5, we're going to look at verses 17 through 19. 283s
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. 293s
Everything old has passed away. 298s
The everything has become new. 299s
All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ. 302s
And has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 316s
That is in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, 321s
and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 331s
So I want to just pause here for a second and look at this in a missional aspect. 334s
We have been given the message of reconciliation through Christ. 346s
We know that there is one name under heaven by which we are saved. 355s
We know that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. 362s
It is through Christ Jesus that God reconciled himself to the world. 370s
And as we'll find, as we study over these next eight weeks, we're going to find that... 378s
What was I saying? 388s
We're going to find stuff. 390s
Turn it! 398s
It's gone, guys. 402s
It's gone. 405s
We're going to find some really cool stuff. 408s
Oh my gosh, that's amazing. 414s
We're going to come back to these first things, first bullet points, though. 419s
God is God. 427s
I am not God. 429s
You are not God. 430s
That's our starting point, and it is in Christ alone that we are reconciled to the Father. 433s
That doesn't take away from our wanting all to be saved. 442s
It doesn't take away anything from that. 448s
From a missional standpoint, it should light a heavenly holy fire under our pants. 451s
We're going to get going and share. 458s
We're going to talk more about that. 462s
We're breaking up these three chapters. 464s
I was going over and over. 468s
How do we break these up? 470s
How should we break these up? 471s
God is good. 474s
While the heading that we have in, the various translators will sort through and give heading, 477s
that is not God. 486s
That is the translators that are doing this. 489s
However, by God's grace, he said, look here. 492s
There are some heading. 496s
Some people have already gone through and broken this up. 497s
So we're going to go ahead and use the little heading, 502s
heading that we're given in my version of the NRSV. 505s
So we're going to begin with God's election of Israel. 509s
And then we'll study God's wrath and mercy. 512s
We'll study Israel's unbelief. 516s
Salvation for all. 518s
Israel's rejection is not final. 520s
The salvation of the Gentiles and all Israel will be saved. 524s
So we're going to begin and just jump right into God's election of Israel. 530s
So open your Bible's please to the Book of Romans or the letter to the Romans. 536s
This is, well if you are in second Corinthians still, 541s
you just go back a couple of books and you'll find yourselves in Romans. 546s
Romans chapter 9, we're going to begin with the first five verses. 549s
And this is Paul. 557s
The Apostle Paul is writing to the church in Rome. 559s
I am speaking the truth in Christ. 565s
I am not lying. 567s
My conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit. 569s
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 572s
For I could wish that I myself were a curse and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people. 577s
My kindred according to the flesh, they are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, 583s
the glory, the covenant, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. 589s
To them belong the patriarchs and from them according to the flesh comes the Messiah who is over all. 593s
God blessed forever. 602s
Amen. 604s
Okay. 605s
Notice these deep, deep words of anguish and sorrow that Paul is using here, that word for anguish, 606s
it's a consuming grief. 617s
He doesn't just willy-nilly, you know, all I'd like for all Jews to be saved. 618s
He feels it to the core of his being. 626s
He's consumed with sorrow, thinking that anyone of his Jewish brethren would be lost. 629s
And so he's expressing this deep felt, want. 637s
And he goes so far as to say that he would rather it be him. 643s
Him that was cut off from God for the sake of his Jewish brethren that they could be saved. 650s
Let's think about this in terms of mission. 659s
We've already established we want everyone to be saved. 662s
Yes, absolutely. 666s
But would we take it as far as Paul? 668s
In our missional lives in our Christian walk in our lives as disciples who make more disciples. 671s
Would we go so far as to say I would rather that I were damned. 682s
I would rather that I were condemned to hell than have the people of great fine condemned. 689s
Remember Paul is saying that he would rather be cut off from God. 700s
If his Jewish brethren could be saved, this is not just his immediate family. 707s
This is not just the people that he is blood related to. 714s
This is his people. 721s
And so for our sake, we're saying, our people of great vine, or, you know, I live in habit. 723s
My people of haslet. 731s
Am I willing in my missional walk to go so far as to say I would rather be condemned than my neighbors. 733s
I would rather be condemned than my friends. 744s
Contextualize this in our lives. 751s
And, missionally, we just don't do that. 756s
We thank the Lord. 761s
We praise the Lord that we are saved. 763s
We thank the Lord. 766s
We praise the Lord that we have come to know Him and believe and it is good. 767s
And we should thank the Lord. 773s
But do we seek? 781s
Do we seek with that same missional heart that Paul has? 783s
And I say this to myself too. 791s
I say this to myself too. 795s
I hope my friends and family are in heaven with me, but I have never once considered that I would trade faces. 798s
Trade spots with them. 810s
How deep the love that Paul has for his people. 814s
Missionally, we just don't do that. 822s
We just don't do that. 824s
Even in our own families, we don't do that. 826s
Have you ever been in that point in a mission moment? 832s
And you just don't speak up. 836s
And you ask yourself why, ten nice speak up. 840s
Think of Paul. Think of Paul. 844s
So he says, I would rather be a cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people. 847s
My kindred, according to the flesh, they are the Israelites and to them, 854s
along the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. 860s
To them, along the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah. 865s
The Israelites had the promised relationship in Deuteronomy 7 and Deuteronomy 14. 871s
It's repeated where the Lord says, for you are a people, holy to the Lord your God. 879s
The Lord, your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people. 885s
His treasured possession. 892s
The Israelites, people, were chosen specifically. 896s
They had that relationship, that promised relationship. 900s
Israel had God's perfect law. 905s
They had it all. They had the relationship. 908s
God gave them his perfect law. 910s
Let's go ahead and go to Deuteronomy 5. 913s
Deuteronomy is in the Old Testament. 917s
This is the fifth book of the Old Testament. 919s
It is the final book in the Pentateuch, the five books that Moses wrote. 922s
Deuteronomy 5, where Moses, and I'm not going to read all of chapter 5, 928s
but Moses gives a retelling or recounting of the 10 commandments. 936s
He goes through them again because they have this covenantal relationship with God. 941s
And they have been given his holy and perfect law. 948s
Moses here in Deuteronomy, he's saying, this is remember this. 954s
Remember this? This is ours. 958s
This is what we have been given. 960s
He continued then we're looking at Deuteronomy chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. 962s
Now this is the commandment. 970s
The statutes and the ordinances that the Lord, your God, 972s
charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy. 975s
So that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you. 982s
So that your days may be long. 992s
Here therefore, O Israel and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you. 995s
And so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey as the Lord, the God of your ancestors has promised you. 1000s
Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 1009s
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 1013s
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 1019s
Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away. 1023s
When you lie down and when you rise, bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 1028s
Moses, the Israelites, they did not take God's law lightly. 1042s
They knew it was his holy command for righteous living. 1047s
The Israelites had the patriarchs. 1054s
In Genesis, chapter 15, we read of the covenant that God made with Abram saying that I will make of you a great nation. 1058s
In Genesis 17, he makes a covenant again with Abraham, changing his name to Abraham, and in chapter 17 of Genesis, he gives him the sign of the relationship that is circumcision. 1067s
So we have a covenantal promise made, we have a sign of the covenant, and then in Genesis 22, 1086s
God tells Abraham, I will indeed bless you and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. 1094s
And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves because you have obeyed my voice. 1105s
Let's go ahead and turn to Genesis, chapter 28. 1117s
Genesis is the first book in the Bible, so it's the first book in the Old Testament. 1121s
Genesis, chapter 28. 1126s
And we're going to look at verses 13 through 15. 1135s
28, 13 through 15. 1140s
And the Lord, oh, this is Jacob. 1143s
Jacob is having that dream. He sees the latter. 1145s
And the Lord stood beside Jacob and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie. 1148s
I will give to you and your offspring. 1157s
And your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. 1159s
And all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 1167s
Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 1173s
So they have the Patriarchs. They have Israel has Abraham. They have Isaac. They have Jacob. They have these covenantal promises that God made with the Patriarchs. 1184s
And God promises that even the Messiah, the one who saves will be flesh and bone from Israel. 1201s
Let's go ahead and go to the prophet Jeremiah. So if you go to the center of your book, this is Old Testament. If you go to the center of your Bible, you're going to find yourself in Psalms or Proverbs. 1213s
If you keep going to the right, you're going to find Isaiah and then you will find Jeremiah. We're going to be in Jeremiah chapter 23. 1226s
Jeremiah chapter 23 beginning in verse 5. Where this is a promise given by the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah. 1236s
The days are surely coming says the Lord. When I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 1251s
In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety and this is the name by which he will be called the Lord is our righteousness. Let's keep going in the prophets to the right. 1265s
We're going to pass, oops, that went too far. We're going to pass Jeremiah limitations is the key old Daniel when you find amus. Well, Jose, amus, obadaya Jonah. It's right after Jonah. We're going to be in Micah chapter 5. 1280s
Verse 2, this is probably familiar from the advent readings. We read this every year. 1301s
But you, obathlethum of Ephraim, Ephraim, who were one of the little clans of Judah. From you shall come forth for me, one who is to rule in Israel. 1310s
Who's origin is from old from the ancient of days. So Israel has the promise. They have the promised covenantal relationship. They have God's own holy and perfect law that was given to them. 1322s
They have the patriarchs and the prophets and they have the Messiah. They know the Messiah is coming from Israel. 1340s
So what happened? Well, let's go back to Romans chapter 9, looking at verse 6, because Paul addresses that question. 1355s
He says, it is not as though the word of God had failed. It is not as though the word of God had failed. Let's stop here for just a moment. 1373s
It's really key to acknowledge that there is not a God of the Old Testament and a God of the New Testament. It's not a split God. God is God is God is God. 1389s
There is no splitting of it. So we have same God in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have the same word in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 1406s
It's also worth highlighting the same promises that were made in the Old Testament are the very same promises that are kept in the New. 1418s
The same promises made are the same promises that are kept. Looking again at Romans chapter 9, beginning in verse 6, it is not as though the word of God had failed. 1433s
For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel and not all of Abraham's children are his true descendants, but it is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you. 1449s
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 descendants. 1463s
For this is what the promise said about this time, I will return and Sarah shall have a son. 1473s
Nor is that all. Something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 1479s
So let's go ahead and open up to the gospel of John chapter 8, because Jesus addresses this himself with the grumbling Pharisees. 1489s
John chapter 8, beginning at verse 31, then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. 1504s
They answered him, we are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying you will be made free? 1526s
Jesus answered them, very truly I tell you everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. This slave does not have a permanent place in the household. The son has a place there forever. 1536s
So if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham yet you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word. 1547s
I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father. They answered him, Abraham is our Father. 1559s
Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did. But now you are trying to kill me. A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God, this is not what Abraham did. 1570s
And then jumping down to verse 48, the Jews answered him, are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? 1587s
Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it and he is the judge. 1596s
Very truly I tell you who ever keeps my word will never see death. The Jews said to him, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets yet you say, whoever keeps my word will never taste death. 1607s
Are you greater than our Father Abraham who died? The prophets also died, who do you claim to be? Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me. He of whom you say, He is our God, though you do not know him, but I know him. 1621s
If I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. 1640s
Then the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, very truly I tell you before Abraham was I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Jesus is addressing right there, who is the true descendant of Abraham? 1656s
They are trying to lift up their own status because Abraham is their flesh father, their flesh ancestor. But Jesus says that's not what makes you the descendant of Abraham. Look at Galatians. 1682s
So if you go past Romans, first and second Corinthians, you are going to find yourself in Galatians. Galatians chapter 3, beginning in verse 16, 1701s
where Paul and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is writing. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to offspring as of many, but it says and to your offspring. 1717s
That is to one person who is Christ. My point is this, the law which came 430 years later does not ennull a covenant previously ratified by God. So as to nullify the promise. 1733s
For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise, but God granted it to Abraham through the promise. 1747s
So Israel had the covenantal promise, the covenantal relationship. Israel had the perfect law. Israel had the patriarchs. 1758s
They had the Messiah and yet it was Israel that clung to righteousness by the law. And Jesus says that's not where the descendants come from. 1778s
And Paul and Galatians, God uses Paul through that letter to the Galatians to tell us that it's not the law that was given that makes that covenantal promise. 1798s
It's the promise made to Abraham that makes the descendant. Let's go to Romans again. Go to chapter 2, please. 1811s
Chapter 2 verses 28 and 29. 1826s
For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather a person is a Jew who is one inwardly. 1835s
And a real circumcision is a matter of the heart. It is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God. 1848s
So again, that sign of the covenant, that sign of the covenantal relationship is the outward circumcision. It's an external sign. 1860s
But when the Messiah came when Christ came, then he was or is the new covenant, the completed covenant, the completed covenantal promise. 1871s
And it is the promise that we have in God. That promise of His forgiveness. The promise that He was sacrificed for our sin. And we know that it was accepted because the tomb is empty. 1885s
So what we're looking forward to celebrating in just a couple of weeks, we know that the promise is ours. It's secured for us. And so in that promise that covenant made through the blood of Christ shed for us, we have the circumcision of the heart. 1899s
And that is what makes us and all believers is real. That is what makes us and all believers true is real. True descendants of Abraham because we are descendants of the promise. Let's go back to Romans chapter 9. 1923s
As we dig in deeper, so I kind of lied, I think, kind of lied. I mean, I didn't lie about anything that we've talked about. 1955s
But I said that I was breaking it up into these sections as made by the NRSV translators. And I'm actually going to finish this section on God's election of Israel. 1964s
We're going to finish this beginning in inverse 11 next week because it rolls really nicely into God's wrath and mercy. 1983s
So we're going to roll just those last few verses 11 through 18 into next week. A couple of key points that we want to take away from today or highlight. 1998s
Aside from this because this is always highlighted in our worlds or should be highlighted in our minds. 2014s
Paul is not rejoicing that there are some who are not saved. He is not rejoicing that there are any of his brethren, any of his people that would not be or are not saved. 2025s
He takes the matter of salvation very seriously. He knows it is a matter of life and death. And it is. It's a matter of eternal life eternal death. 2043s
And so we want to take away from this. We want to take away that same passion that think passion that Paul has for these people that he doesn't even know necessarily that same passion that he has that all would come to no Christ. 2064s
And the beauty of mission and the beauty of witness is that we can give and give and give God's word. We can give and give and give his love and it doesn't take anything away from what he has done for us. 2082s
It doesn't take anything away from who we are in Christ. 2102s
So we are going to pick up next week finishing up God's election of Israel, but it really rolls into God's wrath and mercy. And without fail predestination, election. 2111s
It's going to come up. I know Don is laughing already. 2127s
Oh no. It's going to come up. When we talk about it, we're going to remember God is God. I am not God. You are not God. 2131s
So I am really, really eager to continue in this study. I think these are beautiful, beautiful chapters that Paul writes to the church in Rome. 2143s
And I think that we can really get a lot. I don't know, sorted in our own minds and hearts. Does that make sense? 2156s
All right. Now I'm just babbling. So God bless. 2166s
Thank you. 2176s