Is Election Fair? – Part 1
Romans 9:1-33 (1-13)
June 18, 2017
As you know we are currently knee deep into our conversation
Regarding the sovereign election of God.
Because we looked at the Scriptures and learned that
Man is spiritually dead by reason of the fall,
We have learned that the only possible way for man to be saved
Is if God sovereignly chooses to save him.
Man cannot (and would not) initiate salvation on his own.
It must be done according to the divine prerogative of God.
This reality is commonly known as:
• Sovereign Election
• Predestination
• Unconditional Election
Now we have also noted that this doctrine is not without its opponents.
Indeed there are many, however, one thing that cannot be denied
Is the presence of this reality everywhere in Scripture.
• We’ve seen the O.T. and Israel as “God’s Chosen People”
• We’ve seen the N.T. and the many passages referring to God’s elect.
And last week we looked at what I believe to be the most compelling argument for election in all of Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Where we encountered a passage that makes absolutely no sense
If it does not mean that God chooses whom He will.
However, as I told you in closing last time,
There is ONE CRY THAT SEEMS TO DROWN OUT ALL THE OTHERS.
When people hear of sovereign election we continually hear the cry: “THAT’S NOT FAIR!”
And those who take issue with the fairness of election
Inevitably assume that to hold to election
Is to portray some sort of evil reputation upon God.
One pastor on the radio writes:
“This doctrine makes our heavenly Father look like the worst of despots.”
(MacArthur, John [The Doctrine of Election, Part 1, a sermon on www.gty.org,] code: 90-273)
A Calvary Chapel pastor writes:
“Five-point Calvinism, makes God a monster who eternally tortures innocent children. It removes the hope of consolation from the gospel. It limits the atoning work of Christ. It resists evangelism. It stirs up argumentation and division and promotes a small angry judgmental God rather than the large-hearted God of the Bible.”
(ibid)
Another says:
“To say that God sovereignly chooses who will be saved is the most twisted thing I have ever read that makes God a monster, no better than a pagan idol.”
(ibid)
A website from theological students in Canada:
“This doctrine makes God a diabolical monster and reduces man who was created in the image of God to a mere robot.”
(ibid)
Dave Hunt:
“This doctrine’s misrepresentation of God has caused many to turn away from the God of the Bible as from a monster.”
(ibid)
Well, I think that just about sums up
What many think about the doctrine of election.
If sovereign election is true, then according to these men,
God would be a monster.
But this is where we all have to be very careful.
We are not afforded the liberty of setting the definition
Of fairness or justice or even love
And then using our definition to define who God is.
On the contrary, we learn who God is,
And that changes our definition of fairness, justice, and love.
We don’t define God by our terms, we define our terms by God.
But this is commonly the problem.
Men like those we just quoted are so worried that
God may be considered “unapproachable” by sinners.
They are afraid that if we uncover the truth about God’s sovereign election
That sinners might think Him to be some sort of monster, be turned off by Him,
And then not want to come to Him.
But do you understand that the goal has never been to make God acceptable to sinners?
The goal has always been to make sinners acceptable to God.
So we aren’t really concerned about how the world perceives God,
We are only concerned about who God is,
That we might accurately proclaim Him to the world.
Now, that being said, I certainly believe in sovereign election,
And I most certainly do not think this makes God a monster
Or the worst of despots.
But none the less, the question remains:
IS ELECTION FAIR?
In order to answer that question, I must really first ask you another one.
And that is: WHO IS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY; YOU OR GOD?
Because we have already seen that election is real.
If we are now asking if it is fair then we must be at a point where we are now going to put God on trial as to whether or not His methods suit us.
• You either have to deny that God is a God of election (which you
cannot do according to all the Scriptures we have seen over the last two
weeks)
• Or, you have to put yourself in the chief seat of authority, and put
God on trial, and ask Him if He is right in what He has chosen
to do.
And that really is the heart of the problem.
In the end, we think too highly of man, and too little of God.
Or as R.C. Sproul put it, “We don’t know who we are and we don’t know who God is.”
IT IS HUMANISM
Where we believe that this whole thing is somehow about man.
After all, if it doesn’t seem right or fair to man
Then it just can’t be because it really is all about us.
The reality is that it is all about the glory of God, not man,
And since God is the ultimate authority then whatever He does
Is always right because God answers to no one but Himself.
I know our text is supposed to be Romans 9, but first
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 18:1-6
Now there is a question for you.
“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?”
Now in that passage we aren’t talking about their election, but rather God will either discipline or bless them, but the question remains.
Who is the potter?
Who is the clay?
Who is in charge?
If you look at the end of the book of Isaiah,
• Isaiah sees the coming (and future) salvation of Israel.
• Key to their salvation is understanding of who God is and who they are.
One passage speaks volumes about the day when they return to God.
Isaiah 64:5-8 “You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”
You can pick up on several attitudes of salvation there.
• We definitely see “poor in spirit”
• We definitely see “mourning”
• We definitely see “meekness”
These people finally reached a point where they realized who was God and who was not, and they decided to submit fully to Him.
That is salvation.
• It always has been.
• It is to fully confess Christ as “Lord”
So I really need to ask you who is the ultimate authority here;
You or God?
Before we ask if election is fair
Then I need to know who is getting to decide what fair is.
Because if we are taking the definition of fair from fallen sinful man, then the answer is, “NO” because man thinks he deserves far more than he actually does.
But if we are taking the definition of fair from holy God, then the answer is still “NO” because no man deserves to be chosen.
That is why I told you last week, God is not fair.
If He were, no one would be saved.
But in God’s sovereign prerogative this holy and just God
Has graciously determined to save some who don’t deserve it,
And we believe that as the Potter, He has every right to do so.
Romans 9:21 “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?”
Well, let’s look at this 9th chapter of Romans
And talk about the fairness of election.
Because I think what you will find is that God is NOT FAIR,
And for you and I that is a very GOOD THING.
Now, just some background here.
Romans 9,10, & 11 are all about Israel.
• Romans 9 – The Present state of Israel (they are lost)
• Romans 10 – The Possible state of Israel (salvation through Christ)
• Romans 11 – The Promised state of Israel (salvation, for they are chosen)
You should also know; this is a very difficult portion of Scripture for Paul.
He is attempting to be the Jew who chronicles that Israel is lost.
Imagine that for a moment…
• He is already considered a traitor
• He is already hated
• And now he is about to just stop way over the line and talk about how Israel is
lost.
Because this is such a hot topic Paul leaves no stone unturned,
And the benefit for us is absolute doctrinal treasure.
The chapter begins with Paul first off revealing that though Israel is lost,
He has nothing in him but DESIRE FOR THEIR SALVATION.
(9:1-3) “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”
You can’t read a statement like that
Without coming to grips with the great missionary heart of Paul.
I point that out because it is important to know that
Paul believed in sovereign election as much as anyone
And it did not affect his missionary zeal.
One of the criticisms of Calvinistic doctrine is that
It kills evangelism and kills prayer
(after all if God has already determined it, why bother?).
BUT A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
Does not kill evangelism, it motivates it,
Because the evangelist understands
He is being used by God to call out the elect.
AND A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
Does not kill prayer, it drives men to it,
Because we understand that
Nothing occurs apart from His divine intervention.
You certainly see that with Paul.
He is not indifferent toward unbelieving Israel,
He is passionate about their salvation.
And that isn’t hard to prove, if we had time.
• Just look at the book of Acts at the number of times this apostle to the Gentiles first went to the synagogue to do his preaching.
But you see Paul’s heart.
The next thing we see about Israel is THEIR PRIVILEGE.
No nation can ever say that they were ever
As spiritually blessed as the nation of Israel.
In fact, I have often called these “The 8 Great Rejected Privileges of Israel”
(9:4-5) “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
You see their privileges.
Adopted, the presence of God, the covenants, the Law, the temple, the promises, the patriarchs, even the Christ.
SO WHAT ARE WE TO DEDUCE AT THIS POINT?
Well simply this: Israel is lost, but it is not for lack of revelation.
Can we agree there?
Israel is lost, but it is not because they didn’t have access to the truth.
To put it another way, Israel is lost, but it is NOT GOD’S FAULT.
And that is the next point of Paul.
(6) “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.”
See Paul already knows where the argument is going.
If you step out and say that Jews are lost then you have every Jew breathing down your neck saying that is not possible because God promised that He was going to save Abraham’s descendants.
(The Jews very much believed in sovereign election)
I mean we saw that confidence even in the New Testament when you have John the Baptist talking to the Pharisees, “And do not suppose that you can say, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’ For I tell you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
There was a supreme confidence in the fact that we are all saved
Because of the promises God made to Abraham.
So… Paul, if you’re going to insinuate that Israel is now lost then we need to ask you about all of those promises in the Old Testament.
• Was God lying?
• Or was God just not able to follow through on His promises?
Paul anticipates the question.
And so after revealing that they are lost,
Paul immediately reveals that the lostness of Israel
Is not at all due to weakness in God or to some lack of integrity in God.
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed.”
Well then Paul, you’re going to have to explain
How God could promise the salvation of Israel,
And yet not be a failure
Even though you now suggest that Israel isn’t saved.
Well here it is:
“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”
Now what Paul is about to do
Is explain to you THE PARTICULARS OF GOD’S SALVATION.
Let’s look at it together, there are 3 points Paul wants you to know.
#1 A SPECIFIC SALVATION
Romans 9:6-7
As already noted, Paul began by saying:
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed.”
In other words, the reason we see lost Jews today
Is not because God lied, or was unable to finish what He promised.
The reason it appears like God’s word failed
Is because people failed to understand what God really said.
Many read that statement in Genesis 17 to mean that God’s salvation
Was a UNIVERSAL salvation to anyone who came from Abraham’s seed.
This is absolutely not true.
“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”
In other words, just because you are a descendant of Jacob,
Does not make you a true Jew.
And to a degree Paul already dealt with this in chapter 2.
Romans 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
Outward creeds, outward ceremonies, even outward ancestry
Does not make you a true follower of God.
And Paul elaborates on that by what he says next.
(7) “nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”
He is quoting Genesis 21:12.
SETTING
God has promised a child to Abraham.
Abraham was impatient and went in to Hagar.
But Abraham’s impatience did not hinder the will of God, for Sarah did have Isaac
Genesis 21:8-12 “The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”
Abraham was distressed about forcing Hagar and Ishmael away.
The context seems to suggest that at least part of Abraham’s anxiety
Was due to the fact that he was worried about his descendants.
God set Abraham’s mind to ease by revealing that it is ok to send Ishmael away, “for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”
It is that point Paul uses to reveal that being a physical descendant of Abraham means nothing in regard to salvation.
All we have to do to reveal that is ask about Ishmael’s descendants.
Jews did not consider his descendants as God’s chosen people,
And yet they were descendants of Abraham.
GOD’S SALVATION IS NOT UNIVERSAL, IT IS SPECIFIC.
But now, honestly, at this point,
The Jews would have been in wholehearted agreement.
But then we must ask a very important question.
WHY ISAAC?
That will lead us to the 2nd attribute of God’s salvation
#2 A SUPERNATURAL SALVATION
Romans 9:8-9
Some would argue, that it may be through Isaac,
But how does that prove that Jews are lost?
The reason is because they miss the point
To what salvation through Isaac reveals.
IT IS NOT that God chose Isaac’s blood line
Over the blood line of Ishmael or one of Abraham’s other sons.
It is still not a hereditary thing.
It is still not a genetic thing.
And so here Paul explains why Isaac is important.
“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.”
This of course is what separated Isaac from Ishmael.
Ishmael was of the flesh. Isaac was of the promise.
The birth of Ishmael was no miraculous thing.
Take a fertile man who goes in to a fertile woman,
And it is no surprise that you get a child 9 months later.
But Isaac is a completely different story.
Abraham was able, but Sarah was not.
Sarah was barren.
But God intervened for Isaac.
(9) “For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” He is quoting Genesis 18:10
CONTEXT
God had already made the promise about Abraham’s descendants
That we read at the opening of this sermon.
(“I establish My covenant between you and your descendants after you”)
Of course Abraham didn’t know how that was possible,
And at the end of chapter 17 tried to get God just to take Ishmael.
Genesis 17:15-19 “Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”
After this, God would appear to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre,
And Abraham would prepare a dinner for them.
(It was at the same time that God revealed His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah)
It was then, that God made a promise again to Abraham.
Genesis 18:9-14 “Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
NOW WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THAT?
Well look at what Paul chose to quote out of that passage.
“AT THIS TIME I WILL COME AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”
The way Paul reveals the culmination of the promise
Is that ONE IS AFFECTED BY THE OTHER.
The idea is that “SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON” because “I WILL COME”
Now I am not insinuating a virgin birth,
Or even that Isaac was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
What I am saying is that God intervened directly in Sarah’s body
To enable her to have a child.
This child was born by a legitimate miracle, of supernatural means.
THIS IS WHAT MAKES ISAAC SPECIAL.
• His birth, his life, his descendants
• Are not those who are so by the work of man,
• But those who are so by the promise of God.
And this is what Jews failed to understand.
It was not those who are genetically linked to Isaac who are saved.
But those whose birth is of the same kind as Isaac’s.
This is why Paul wrote what he did to the Galatian church.
Galatians 3:6-9 “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
Abraham’s children are children of the promise, not children of the flesh.
Genuine salvation is both SPECIFIC and SUPERNATURAL.
#3 A SOVEREIGN SALVATION
Romans 9:10-13
“And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 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.”
Let’s make sure we see what Paul was saying.
Rebekah had conceived twins from Isaac.
Paul calls him “our father Isaac” based upon the previous point,
that we are children of the promise.
And once Rebekah had conceived, before she gave birth,
God came and told her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”
He is quoting Genesis 25:23.
CONTEXT
Genesis 25:21-23 “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
And so you see that before the boys were ever born,
God had elected who would serve the other.
Notice what Paul adds in his text.
“the twins…had not done anything good or bad”
In other words, what God decreed
Was not a matter of consequence, but a matter of choice.
This was absolutely 100% the sovereign selection of God.
In order to prove that
Paul quoted another Old Testament passage
written several thousand years later which recounts the story.
(13) “Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Malachi 1:2-3 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”
This verse was not a prophecy, it was merely an appraisal of history.
When you look back to trace what happened to Jacob’s line,
And compare it to what happened to Esau’s line,
There is no doubt that God favored Jacob over Esau.
Israel is continually blessed
Edom is continually rejected
Paul is revealing that God’s salvation is a sovereign salvation.
• Salvation exists because God chose to give it.
• It only exists by His supernatural power,
• And it only exists for those He chooses to give it to.
Now the reason God’s sovereignty gets a bad rap
Is because people read that verse wrong.
There are two ways you can read this verse.
You can read that verse as though Esau gets shafted,
And Jacob gets what he deserves.
Or you can read that verse as though Esau gets what he deserves,
And Jacob is a recipient of grace.
The fact of the matter is, if man is born,
Suffers his entire existence, and then spends eternity in hell,
He has only gotten exactly what he deserves.
Justice has been played out with extreme accuracy,
If man only inherits judgment.
You’ll see, that’s where Paul is going next:
Romans 9:14 “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”
Esau was NOT treated worse than he deserved.
But if a man somehow has a life of blessing,
Which ends in eternal glory,
The only way to explain that is that God must have
Bestowed some sort of unmerited favor upon that individual.
We call it GRACE.
And we are out of time here, but at this point we are already answering the question as to WHETHER OR NOT ELECTION IS FAIR.
The obvious answer is: NO, IT IS NOT.
Fair equals that because of the fall, all humanity is an offense to God and deserves to suffer for their entire existence, first on earth and then in hell.
We don’t want fair – we want Grace.
And this is really Paul’s point to Israel.
• You are lost, but you cannot blame your lostness on God, you certainly had enough revelation.
• In fact, the only reason any of you are saved is because God refused to let you all go and saved some in spite of what they were.
• Election is not about God being fair, it’s about God being gracious.
Out of all the people on the earth,
God specifically chose whom He would save,
And then He supernaturally saved them
Apart from any ability of their own,
And this was not done according to their worth
But according to His sovereign choice.
Salvation is SPECIFIC
Salvation is SUPERNATURAL
Salvation is SOVEREIGN
That means it isn’t fair, it is pure grace.
We’ll continue on with this next time.
