Romans 9

Hello all and happy night before most of you have to go back to work/school.  Fortunately for me I have nothing but time on my hands so I am able to stay “on schedule.”  So here we are, Romans 9 just above halfway done.

There are 3 critical points within this chapter that I want to touch on, the first being in verses six through eight. 

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

Here Paul is referring to the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17.  It is not by biology or flesh that we are Abraham’s decedents, therefor inherits to the promise, but through the promise we are decedents.  I feel that this is an idea that is often overlooked by most readers.  We are simply sons and daughters of Abraham, and I knew when I was little I definitely thought we all came from him.  I blame this on the song we used to sing in Sunday school “father Abraham.” Here is the song if you so wish to hear it.  However, there is more lineage than that, but I don’t know it.  Every promise God makes in the bible is a promise to us now because we know it is a wholehearted promise. 

The second point is verses eleven through sixteen.  Here Paul will truly show us what God’s about and will break down for us what we are in His likeness.  These verses, for me, are very convicting.

for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

God knows our hearts before we even develop them.  He knows who is pure and who is stone.  He does not reward one over the other though and he does not hold our coldness against us.  He simply uses the one that allows themselves to be used.  Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 in verse 15 and here we are shown that out God cannot be controlled and He is not at are beck and call.  So often we question and challenge Gods will for our lives, but who are we to do this against our creator?  My foot notes put Gods way simply for us: “Keep in mind the kind of God we worship: He is sovereign; he is not arbitrary; in all things he works for our good; he is trustworthy; he will save all who believe in him.  When we understand these qualities of God, we know that his choices are good even if we don’t understand all his reasons.” 

Let that sink in…

In verse twenty and twenty-one we are given a summarized illustration of the verses above:

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

The last point I want to touch on is in verses thirty to thirty-three. 

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Paul is making an extremely important point here.  It is made numerous times throughout the bible but we, having the forgetful nature that we do, need to be reminded constantly.  The point being: actions speak louder than words.  The Gentiles, Gods not chosen people, gained righteousness through their actions and faith, not through the law.  Where as most of the Jews stay so strict to the law that they are distracted by it.  The Gentiles understood Gods grace and did their very best to honor him with their lives.  My footnotes so nicely put that here “Paul explains that God’s plan is not for those who try to earn his favor by being good; it is for those who realize that can never be good enough and so must depend on Christ.”  The Jews worked to be good enough and the Gentiles lived by favorite saying: “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”  Another wonderful point that my footnotes make is about verse 32.  Many people feel that they need to earn their way into heaven when this is not the case at all.  “God asks us to be humble but many of us are unwilling to humble ourselves because that requires us to put our will at Gods disposal.”  This ties nicely back with verse 20, we think we know what is best for ourselves when in actuality we know nothing.  Maybe we don’t feel that God taking away our child, parents, pet, ect. was fair, but it was best because out of that we have been able to turn to God and grow in our relationship.  We grew in our relationships with those who love and care for us, with our church family, and so much more. 

God made us strong enough to deal with whatever he throws our way, he gives us the tools we will need and he will always be there.  God tells us this in 1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Challenge of the week:  Look at everything you life right now good, bad, difficult, happy, heartbreaking, etc. Now…thank God for it, all of it. Whether he is blessing you or challenging you, you are growing. 

Also, here is a fun little story I found, it’s really short: http://2good2lose.com/thoughts.shtml