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As we know, the original Christians were Jewish. They naturally began to obey Jesus' great commission (Matthew 28:18-20) by witnessing to their Jewish families and neighbors. Since the promises of the Messiah was to Israel and since Jesus of Nazareth was that Messiah, Israel should have embraced Him. But the Jewish people as a whole did not. Those who were becoming Christians seemed to be overwhelmingly Gentile. This was a severe disappointment to the early evangelists. More than this, it was a theological dilemma. The promises of God were to Israel; but if Israel as a whole was unresponsive, did this mean that God's promises to Israel had failed? Did it mean that God was impotent in the face of unbelief? No. God is all powerful and can do all things. God loves all people and sheds His many blessings on the faithful and the unfaithful. But God will not force us to love Him. God has opened His arms to us by the blood-stained hands of Jesus Christ on the cross. He has revealed the truth of His word to us in the Bible. He has left His Spirit to touch hearts that are being prepared to yield to His will. The fact that individuals reject Jesus Christ does not change the fact that Jesus Christ is truth. God will be God in all circumstances, He is unchanging. His eternal attributes stand before us as light in the darkness. Man's limited understanding and judgments of truth will not effect what God has done and will continue to do in the hearts and minds of those He is calling to come and love Him forever. The believer's from Old Testament days, "true Israel", looked forward to the Messiah's coming and believed in Him who was to come. The believers from New Testament time and after, "true Israel", look back in time, to Jesus Christ, believing in Him who came now some 2000 years ago. This part of Romans teaches us about the doctrine of election. The Jewish nation began with God's election of Abraham. Abraham did not know God nor did he seek God. Rather, God sought Abraham. (Genesis 12:1-5) In Abraham's children we see the continuation of God's election. Ishmael was born of Abraham's natural powers, (Genesis 16:1-4), but Isaac's conception was a case of God's supernatural intervention. Isaac was the first of "the children of the promise". (Genesis 17:15-16; 18:10; 21:1-2, and Romans 9:6-9) The principle of election is also shown in Jacob and Esau. "Before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls, - Rebecca was told, 'the older will serve the younger.'" (Romans 9:11-12, Genesis 25:22-23) In the same way, today, spiritual birth, results from God's election, is supernatural. We cannot begin spiritual life in ourselves since, according to Ephesians 2:1, we are spiritually dead. In order for us to become spiritually alive, God must intervene. Our sovereign, holy, merciful Lord elects those who will come to Him. Sinful man can respond to this teaching in different ways. He can embrace this doctrine and thank God for His grace and mercy, or he can charge God with being unrighteous for showing partiality. However, as we have learned, no one deserves to be chosen by God. In Romans 9:14, Paul strongly declares that it is impossible that any injustice or unrighteousness should be attributed to God. The whole idea is abhorrent. To prove this point Paul quotes God's words to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Exodus 33:19) The circumstances preceding this statement are that while Moses had been on the mountain talking with God, Israel had gone headlong into worship of the golden calf. All were guilty, even the High Priest. (Exodus 32) Had strict justice been served, all would have perished on the spot. But God showed mercy to those who did not deserve it. Therefore, if the mercy of God that is sovereignly given out, is now going to be declared unfair, then the objector is going to have to say God was unfair in sparing any of the Israelites in the incident of the golden calf! God chose to have mercy on a portion of Israel (even though three thousand died in one day) and God continues to be sovereignly merciful in our day in the process of bringing individuals to faith in His son. If you are a Christian, do not think it is by your will, or any good within you, that has caused God to elect you. If that were so, it would lead to boasting and arrogance. Our spiritual birth is an act of God. What have we done that God should choose us? Nothing. We have done everything that would cause God not to choose us. The correct perspective on election is to see God sovereign over all things, and accept His mercy with humble praise and thanksgiving. God's purposes are not clear to us, for we are not God. (see Isaiah 55:8-9) We will not know the 'whys' of all situations, nor can we in our finite thinking understand them. Paul now uses Pharaoh as an example. In the first five plagues, Scripture notes that Pharaoh hardened his heart. (Exodus 8:32) Finally, during the last five plagues, after enduring with much patience the hardness of this man's heart, God gave him over to that hardness, and Scripture states, "God hardened Pharaoh's heart." (Exodus 9:12) There will come a time when God will no longer strive with the hardened hearts of sinful man. (Romans 1:24) In this section of Romans, God is pictured as a potter working with "clay". The clay here depicts people as sinners. God does not make people sin. He takes the clay as He finds it. The mercy of God is that He patiently endures with individuals who are responsible for their own sins. But some might say, "If God does not approve of my conduct and actions, then why did He make me this way or give me this background? On those grounds I am no longer responsible." Paul rebukes such a question with, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?" All to often we question God because we want to be god over ourselves. We must come before God with a sincere and contrite heart, not with arrogance or indifference. Each of us has questions and some might earnestly ask why doesn't God show mercy to everyone? Sincere questions will be answered. Paul addresses this question in verse 15, saying that God is sovereign. God has reasons that may forever remain unknown. We must accept His authority and trust Him. God's ultimate objective is to make His glory known. What this means is that God considers the display of His attributes to be worth the whole historical drama of the creation, the fall, election, and redemption. From God's point of view the revelation of Himself, "I Am that I Am," is the great and unshakable priority. Whenever we think of election, we tend to focus on the negative, wondering why some are passed over. But the Bible focuses on the positive, saying that this is the day of God's grace. The demonstration of God's justice in judging sinners is an important part of what God is doing in human history. But God is also making known the riches of His glory in saving some. Why shouldn't you be among those people? If all God wanted to do was
send people to hell, He would not have promised us His love and grace.
There would be no need for a Bible, for preachers, for a Savior. But
God has given us all these things, and much more in order to know Him
and receive Him. The message is: Repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
Turn from your sin now. Today God is setting the way of salvation
before you. God's election is not exclusive, it is inclusive. God does
save people. His election is extended to all people through the
preaching and teaching of the Scriptures by the power of His Holy
Spirit. The question is, what will you do with this knowledge?
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